Upgrade? i7-2600 to an i5-3470

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
D

dallas4u

Honorable
May 15, 2013
5
0
10,510
I currently have an HTPC with an i7-2600 processor. It works fine in HD with the HD 2000 GPU for Blu-Ray and OTA HD. Wondering if going to an i5-3470 with the HD 2500 GPU will be an improvement at all both processor wise and graphics wise? The i5 is an Ivy Bridge, but specs show the only thing the i5 will probably give me is the ability to run faster memory? It doesn't look like, per the link below, that the HD 2500 is an improvement over the HD 2000 as the base and max frequencies show slower on the 2500 than the 2000. I do some video conversion as well, and will be watching some 3D video, and I assume the extra threads, hyperthreading, and turbo of the i7 will out-weigh the ability to run quicker memory on the i5?

http://ark.intel.com/compare/68316,52213

I'm guessing the i7 is still the better option. Opinions/thoughts?
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
O

o1die

Illustrious
May 16, 2001
14,175
0
42,960
Be sure your motherboard supports the 3470 and flash the bios only if needed. The bios file will be listed at the top of the post screen. If you have an oem board by dell, hp, gateway, it may not support the cpu at all, or have no bios updates. You might be better off getting a low end video card instead; the 5450 or 6670 might work with your old power supply if it's 300 watts.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

dallas4u

Honorable
May 15, 2013
5
0
10,510
Sorry... Should have stated they are both in Dell PCs, my current config is the i7 in an Optiplex 990, and the i5 would be in a 3010. The 3010 is being offered to me for a good price, so I was wondering if the change in processor would give me anything over my current setup?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

dallas4u

Honorable
May 15, 2013
5
0
10,510
No, I'm not changing out the processor in my current setup... it would be a new PC. So, right now I have an Optiplex 990 as my HTPC running an i7-2600 (Sandy Bridge... not the 'S' version like I thought). It has the on-board HD 2000 GPU... runs all HD I can throw at it just fine. Can get a really good deal on an Optiplex 3010 running an i5-3470 (Ivy Bridge) which has the on board HD 2500 GPU. Here is the comparison:

http://ark.intel.com/compare/68316,52213

Looks to me like the i7-2600 beats the i5-3470 in everything (even the on board graphics?) except memory speed, yes? This would NOT be an upgrade... is that correct?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom