So as I said in the title, I'm looking to upgrade from my current i5-3350P CPU @ 3.10GHz. It's pretty much the weakest part of my system and seems to be holding it back quite a bit in performance (passing recommended specs on all but the CPU). Anyways, I'm stuck with an LGA 1155 and want to know what would be a good upgrade. Budget is around $200-250. Could POSSIBLY go higher but only if it's seriously worth it.
Upgrading from i5-3350P CPU @ 3.10GHz
- Thread starter YWZMatt
- Start date
TechyInAZ
Titan
yeah, there are intel core i7 2600Ks on newegg but their still $300.
Your best option would be to get a cheap intel i5 4430 and get a z97 or h97 motherboard.
Your best option would be to get a cheap intel i5 4430 and get a z97 or h97 motherboard.
Obnoxious
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- Jul 24, 2012
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Pick up an Xeon E3-1230v2. They provide similar performance to i7's but fractionally cheaper.
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $226.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
P.S. You'll also need a dedicated/discrete graphics card with the Xeon however, such as Nvidia or AMD/ATI; otherwise your system won't boot. The Xeon doesn't have integrated graphics, hence you'll need a discrete GPU. I'm assuming you already have one.
All the best.
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $226.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
P.S. You'll also need a dedicated/discrete graphics card with the Xeon however, such as Nvidia or AMD/ATI; otherwise your system won't boot. The Xeon doesn't have integrated graphics, hence you'll need a discrete GPU. I'm assuming you already have one.
All the best.
Obnoxious :
Pick up an Xeon E3-1230v2. They provide similar performance to i7's but fractionally cheaper.
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $226.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
P.S. You'll also need a dedicated/discrete graphics card with the Xeon however, such as Nvidia or AMD/ATI; otherwise your system won't boot. The Xeon doesn't have integrated graphics, hence you'll need a discrete GPU. I'm assuming you already have one.
All the best.
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $226.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
P.S. You'll also need a dedicated/discrete graphics card with the Xeon however, such as Nvidia or AMD/ATI; otherwise your system won't boot. The Xeon doesn't have integrated graphics, hence you'll need a discrete GPU. I'm assuming you already have one.
All the best.
Haha yeah of course I already have a graphics card. As far as I know intergrated graphics are pretty crap. Also my current card doesn't have integrated graphics either.
Also, are there advantages to having more cores with newer games coming out?
Obnoxious
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Not necessarily, quad-cores usually suffice and are more than adequate; hence why i5's are often recommended for gaming. However games such as Far Cry 3 and supposedly Watch Dogs benefit from an i7's performance level rather than i5's, hence purchasing a CPU with better performance could profit you in that sense.
Games such as Battlefield 4 however does utilise Hyper Threading (HT), therefore you could benefit from 8 threads in total to offer you a more smoother game play experience. Not all games however utilise HT, but perhaps more in the future will.
No, the Xeon is superior and the i5 is inferior/weaker. I'd purchase the Xeon; it only costs a little more than an i5 but performs on par with an i7-3770.
The i5 is quad-core with no HT = 4 cores / 4 threads
The i7 is quad-core with HT = 4 cores / 8 threads
The Xeon is quad-core with HT = 4 cores / 8 threads
The Xeon is a better investment and you shouldn't need to upgrade your processor for quite some time, albeit Skylake (6th generation) should offer something new in 2015/2016.
All the best.
Obnoxious :
Not necessarily, quad-cores usually suffice and are more than adequate; hence why i5's are often recommended for gaming. However games such as Far Cry 3 and supposedly Watch Dogs benefit from an i7's performance level rather than i5's, hence purchasing a CPU with better performance could profit you in that sense.
Games such as Battlefield 4 however does utilise Hyper Threading (HT), therefore you could benefit from 8 threads in total to offer you a more smoother game play experience. Not all games however utilise HT, but perhaps more in the future will.
No, the Xeon is superior and the i5 is inferior/weaker. I'd purchase the Xeon; it only costs a little more than an i5 but performs on par with an i7-3770.
The i5 is quad-core with no HT = 4 cores / 4 threads
The i7 is quad-core with HT = 4 cores / 8 threads
The Xeon is quad-core with HT = 4 cores / 8 threads
The Xeon is a better investment and you shouldn't need to upgrade your processor for quite some time, albeit Skylake (6th generation) should offer something new in 2015/2016.
All the best.
So do you think if I have a GTX 770 and 8gb ram, this processor upgrade will be a pretty big performance upgrade? As in, do you think my current processor is holding back the GTX 770?
Icaraeus
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In terms of gaming it won't, but the extra threads from the Xeon will help with other tasks like video compression, editing, photoshop and other media-related tasks. Also the reduced load on the CPU while gaming will keep your CPU working nice and easy.
Any i5 that is 3Ghz+ shouldn't bottleneck your GPU.
Any i5 that is 3Ghz+ shouldn't bottleneck your GPU.
So if all I really do is gaming, the upgrade is pointless? Then why does my friend who has a slightly worse GPU but a better CPU (the i5 3470 mentioned earlier) have much better performance in games? Also, I'm under the recommended requirement for the CPU in Watch Dogs but not GPU. I'm sorry to sound like an ass here but I'm fairly sure that a CPU upgrade is going to help.
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