3570k, Is it overkill? (New builder needing advice)

Denyzn

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Nov 29, 2013
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So I've been wanting to build a new computer for a while now. My current pc is about getting old, and it's becoming sluggish. 4 years ago I walked into a Fry's Electronics and bought the most expensive pc on the shelf(at work right now, I can post stats later if they become relevant) because I just graduated high school and was ghetto rich from my first job.

While the pc was fast and I was satisfied at first I definitely don't want to go that route again for a few different reasons.

I'm not extremely knowledgeable of hardware at the moment and don't pretend to be an expert. But I do learn extremely quickly and can remember things rather easily. Besides, I have the internet :) anyone can do anything these days if they know how to use a search engine.

So I open Google with building a new pc in mind, and figure the couch had got to be a decent place to start. After briefly looking around it seems that the i5 3570k is the current favorite (it was the 2500k last time I took a go at this). The processor everyone seems to love, good value, high end but cheap enough to not start hitting that heavy diminishing returns threshold.

Okay, 3570k, sure! Why not?

I plan on mostly playing WoW, LoL, and watching videos or surfing the Web. But my current computer can do those things just fine atm.

There are two main reasons I want to upgrade; to have the option to fire up BF3 or graphic modded skyrim on(or at least near, I don't need all the super intense filtering) max settings and run them at a seamless frame rate. And secondly, to have a somewhat future proofed rig.

My question to you fine folks is whether or not I need that much processor. Basically I have all the reasons to buy it. What's harder to find is the reasons not to buy it. Has anyone bought a cheaper cpu and achieved the results I'd like to? Am I giving the processor too much credit, and I should be spreading my a focus more over the other hardware?

Also curious if some of the people who are more adept at the ebb and flow of hardware releases and prices would have something to say. Is there some new architecture around the corner that is going to bring this processor one step closer to obsolete? Or lower the price considerably? Should I take care and do a lot more research before I decide to buy? Or snap up any deals I can in this holiday madness?

Thank you for reading and thanks in advance for any help or advice you offer.
 
Solution
Considering all you do, I'd definitely go for an i5-4670K. Hyperthreading won't help you, so i7 is out. Most of your games are only programmed for two-three threads (except for BF3 and such, but that'll still run amazingly well on an i5), so the FX series isn't your best bet.

So my recommendation is an i5-4670K.

It should easily last you playing games on max for 3 years seeing as the i5-2500K is about that age and can still do exactly what you are asking.

As far as motherboard goes; go for a Gigabyte Z87-UD3H. They're pretty much the best value motherboard you can get without going into crazy enthusiast boards that you don't need. It has a digital, heat-sinked VRM and a very high reliability rate so you're good to go.

For RAM...

elemein

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Mar 4, 2013
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What are your old specs? (they're always relevant to be honest)

The current favourite is actually not the i5-3570K, but is instead the i5-4670K for the exact same reason you mentioned: new architecture. The 4670K has the Haswell architecture whilst the 3570K uses the older Ivy Bridge architecture. Intel won't be coming out with a new major architecture change until Skylake (two gens ahead) as the next generation is a die shrink from 22nm FinFET to 14nm FinFET; this change is called Broadwell.

Will it do what you need? Yes. To be honest, a good i3-3220 will be able to do WoW, LoL, BF3 (and BF4 actually) and is a fine workhorse for a fully modified Skyrim (thats actually really dang system intensive to be honest.)

What do I reccomend for future proofing? Well, the i5-4670K would of course be my reccomendation, but the 3570K is also a good option. Another alternative is the FX-8320, which is much more budget friendly whilst being able to give you the functionality you need; as long as your needs stay relatively the same for the coming years and you don't have any plans of needing to do something that has few threads and high system intensity. These are becoming less and less common; however, the i5-3570K still has hiher performance than the 8320 in most aspects; with the 4670K only pulling even further ahead.

It really depends on your budget and uses. Almost any modern mid-high end CPU will do what you need just fine-- really, even a Pentium G2020 will be okay for most of your needs. Though if you're going to be putting a fair chunk of change into this build, I don't reccomend going with anything but a flagship, or atleast close to it in functionality.

Processors like the i7-4770K, i5-4670K, FX-8350, and FX-8320. Though the FX-6300 and i3-3220 is okay too. On the very low end, the Pentium G2020 and the FX-4300 are fine, but definitely not preferable.

Another extremely important part of a computer for your uses. You DEFINITELY want a really good GPU. I wouldnt recommend anything lower than a GTX760 for your uses; preferably something along the lines of an R9-290 or GTX770. These are definitely key parts.

Give us more insight; like your budget, more exact uses, how long you plan to keep the build and your current build of course.
 
Hi. One thing first. 3570k is getting old. New version of that cpu is 4670k So better buy is get new LGA 1150.
So buy 4670k or 4770k . Of you do not OC then best buy is Xeon 1230V3.

Here is Xeon build so it is not forOC use. But cpu performance is same as the 4670k do have when OC to 4.5GHz.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($244.48 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($149.00 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($299.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1134.38
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-29 16:22 EST-0500)

Then OC build. Noe remember parts are now good price. In a week they are not.
I did go to 1000w psu. (it was cheaper than 800w)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($113.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($149.00 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($299.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Rosewill Lightning 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1268.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-29 16:33 EST-0500)

Then last 4770k build with GTX 780.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.89 @ TigerDirect)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($113.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($136.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($149.00 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($518.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Rosewill Lightning 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1640.80
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-29 16:39 EST-0500)

For this last build Id take Asus PRO mobo.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z87pro

 

Denyzn

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Nov 29, 2013
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Thanks for the answers so far guys :D

Good to know 3570k is not as favoured as a quick search would leave me to believe.

Like I mentioned before, my current pc is an out of the box setup from Fry's. It's an HP Pavillion, not sure of the model. Here's what I know...

OS: Windows 7 /// SP-1 /// 64 bit (was upgraded from the OEM Windows Vista it came with)
CPU: Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q9300 2.5ghz
RAM: 4 GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

That's all the info I really know how to get to, I'm sure someone can recommend a software that could pull better information?

As far as more specific insight, I will be playing LoL and most likely WoW going forward, possibly SC2 and DotA2. I'd like to be able to blast some higher end games I have right now like I said before. And to give a rough estimate of what I'd like to get out of it. I'd like to be able to run any big ticket games I might want to play that come out in the next, lets say 3 years, on "highish" settings(doesn't have to meet ultra).

I don't plan on needing a certain amount of threads, but then again, I don't even have a real understanding of what that means, haha. I just know that I read games don't really utilize i7 fully and it's usually next to pointless? All I can say is that all I really use my computer for is gaming and internet. I foresee no need to run any kind of fancy software other than video games and chrome :)

Thanks for the recommendations AxlFone, but my budget is more around $600-700(I know I failed to mention that before, sorry). If it is highly advised, I could wait, the budget could go up to about $1000. I'm under the assumption that 6-7 could get me a decent upgrade from what I have though. Let me know if I'm wrong. I have a copy of Windows 7 so I can save a bit there. Unless, by some miracle, someone can convince me that I need Win8 for some reason. Also have 2 500gb harddrives in this PC so I'm hoping I can recycle those? *shrug* Is that bad?
 

Denyzn

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Nov 29, 2013
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I just realized I failed to address that fact that you mentioned GPU as well. I am aware the GPU is of almost equal importance to the CPU, I just kinda wanted to choose a CPU and build around that, instead of going crazy and looking at CPUs, MOBOs, GPUs, and RAM all at the same time. I'm kinda anal I guess idk...
 

elemein

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Mar 4, 2013
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Considering all you do, I'd definitely go for an i5-4670K. Hyperthreading won't help you, so i7 is out. Most of your games are only programmed for two-three threads (except for BF3 and such, but that'll still run amazingly well on an i5), so the FX series isn't your best bet.

So my recommendation is an i5-4670K.

It should easily last you playing games on max for 3 years seeing as the i5-2500K is about that age and can still do exactly what you are asking.

As far as motherboard goes; go for a Gigabyte Z87-UD3H. They're pretty much the best value motherboard you can get without going into crazy enthusiast boards that you don't need. It has a digital, heat-sinked VRM and a very high reliability rate so you're good to go.

For RAM, 2x4GB 1600MHz RAM should be fine. If you use a lot of RAM, then 2x8GB 1600 MHz is justified, but its unlikely you'll need the second option over the first.

For a PSU, I'd go for something with some headroom for your purpose but is reliable, efficient, and not too expensive. Something like the EVGA 600B or Silverstone Strider Essential 600W will do just fine. I'd aim for ~600W in your envelope. I wouldnt go below that because the extra headroom is nice.

For an SSD; 120 GB Samsung 840 EVO.
For an HDD; 1 TB Western Digital Caviar Black; get a higher capacity if needed.

I definitely recommend getting a good CPU cooler, like the Noctua NH-D14.

And of course, the GPU; for your build this'll be pretty dang expensive since you are asking for a lot (all games at max for 3 years is a tall order). I recommend going for a GTX770 at minimum, preferably something as hefty as a 780Ti would be nice, but really, a 780 should be okay. Go for something around that range. If you go AMD, then go for a 290 or 290X. A 280X is really cutting it on being enough, but if you need to, a 280X should be okay too.

Those are my recommendations.
 
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Denyzn

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Nov 29, 2013
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Awesome, thanks for all the info! At the very least you have given me a lot of insight and informed me quite a bit. I'm sure I'll be back here with more questions in the future haha. Peace