Yes, the older system will run slower than a new system, but, nothing ground breaking has happened since Sandy Bridge i5's released(which the 2300 is) vs. the latest i5's now. The i5 2300 is still a relevant gaming Cpu, and pairs well with the 960. It would still be a hard sell to tell someone to upgrade that system for a new i5 build, because the performance upgrade vs. cost is still high. Yes, better performance, BUT, no where near what the cost is.