I3-2100 VS i5-2500K

[fantanel]

Hello,
I am John, and I need your advice:

- my current spec:
CPU = Intel E6750
MB = Gigabyte (I`m not at home, and I don`t know the full name)
RAM = 2GB
OS = Win7 Home Premium
GPU = Geforce GTX 460 SE Cyclone
2xHDD set up in RAID0


- my goal:
upgrade my Motherboard, CPU and RAM


- why ?
better enjoy 1-2 hours of gaming / day after work
- why (2)
I play SWTOR and I have 20-60 FPS, and constantly 20 FPS while I PvP (fight versus other human players)

Keep in mind that I am not a manic gamer, I just need to enjoy a bit of free time after work (when my wife will let me).


- what I have found:
Intel Core i3-2100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078
vs
Intel Core i5-2500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072



- what I picked up in the forum:
i5 better than i3, BUT the price is Almost DOUBLE... is it Really that good?


- also please tell me what does a Z68 chip motherboard mean ? what should I look for?

Thank you very much for your time.

 

[nna2]

Z68 is the chipset, it has support for newer things that have came out recently

so basically, the core i3 has two cores with hyperthreading which turns it into 4

the i5 has 4 physical cores but no hyperthreading

i3 would be a better choice but if real means that much to you then go i5

 

[kettu]

Hyperthreading won't turn a dual core into a quad core. Not even close infact. Having said that, since you're not a manic gamer I would recommend the i3. In many games there's no difference at all. Also you don't need a high end mother board. Something inexpensive like this would serve you nicely:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121503]

 

[fantanel]

thank you.

one more question. Do I want 8 GB DDR3 at 1333 MHz? or less ? or more ?

I see that the RAM is not that expensive.

 

[kettu]

thank you.

one more question. Do I want 8 GB DDR3 at 1333 MHz? or less ? or more ?

I see that the RAM is not that expensive.

Well, 1333MHz is fast enough. Also 4 GB works fine. But as you said, RAM is fairly cheap. I would buy something suitable from this list:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...69&IsNodeId=1&name=8GB (2 x 4GB)&Order=PRICE]

 

[truegenius]

whats your budget

i3-2100

hyper-threading will make a 2 core similar in performance to a 2.4 core

z68 have maximum features in i core series chipset
look for 'z68' in name or see board's specifications to find it out

also i core series (sandy bridge) only supports upto 1333mhz ram, and if you have a 32bit window then 4 gb is then maximum that you can use
http://ark.intel.com/products/52210/Intel-Core-i5-2500K-Processor-%286M-Cache-3_30-GHz%29

 

[AdrianPerry]

For a well priced, budget focused build, something like this will be ideal:

i3-2100
H61 motherboard (cheaper than Z68 and I don't believe any of the Z68 mobo features would be of use to you)
450-500w PSU
ATI 6870 (depends alot on budget as to what GPU you can afford 6870 is a great mid-range card)
4GB 1333MHz or 1600MHz RAM, CL9, 1.5v
7200RPM HDD

Main question is: How much are you willing to spend?

Sandy Bridge motherboard chipsets consist of: H61, H67, P67, Z68 - you can google these for more info

 

[deadjon]

whats your budget

i3-2120k is priced same as i3-2100
and 2120k is unlocked with 3.3ghz of base speed

hyper-threading will make a 2 core similar in performance to a 2.4 core

z68 have maximum features in i core series chipset
look for 'z68' in name or see board's specifications to find it out

also i core series (sandy bridge) only supports upto 1333mhz ram, and if you have a 32bit window then 4 gb is then maximum that you can use
http://ark.intel.com/products/52210/Intel-Core-i5-2500K-Processor-%286M-Cache-3_30-GHz%29

What is this magical 2120k you keep going on about?

Its never existed and never will

Before giving people on this forum ANY advice, make sure you know what you're on about.

 

[signor]

What is this magical 2120k you keep going on about?

Its never existed and never will

Before giving people on this forum ANY advice, make sure you know what you're on about.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Intel-Prepares-Overclocking-Friendly-Core-i3-2120K-CPU-201302.shtml

one of the first links in google, this chip exists bro.

BOING FWIP

 

[deadjon]

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Intel-Prepares-Overclocking-Friendly-Core-i3-2120K-CPU-201302.shtml

BOING FWIP

Dude, that was in May. Not a word since then has been said.

It would be a terrible idea for Intel to release a 2120k, as the sales of pretty much every single i5 Sandy bridge processor would drop and everybody will be after the cheap and cheerful gamer freindly i3. Plus with IVB round the corner it would be very unwise for intel to waste time getting people upgrading to Sandy Bridge now, they want IVB to fly off the shelves.

[EDIT] I googled it as soon as he said it. I found nothing conclusive. Including that link

I Certainly would be one of the folk to buy an i3 2120k if it was released. With the low level of heat and rediculous 5ghz clocks produced by Quad Core SB imagine what we could do with a Dual Core SB...

 

[signor]

after much research into this it was an initial idea opened by intel back in march.
The information was release as a difinative by many site and was blown out of proportion by forums.

Intel have not confirmed nor denied the idea of i3 K's however it is not a product officially announced.

Some sites still gave ideas that it is to be released just after the ivybridge to blow the AMD chips out of the water due to the price.

In summary I would guess that intel have the chip available but are unable to produce it massively without effecting sales of the ivybridge and sales of the i5 K's.

All in all although there was alot of hype about the chip it probably wont ever be release.

counter boing fwipped :-(

 

[DelroyMonjo]

Hey, truegenius. Give me a link to where I can buy one of these mythical I3 2120K's.
This is the second time today you have mislead someone looking for answers. Cut it out!

ASRock H67M (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $79.99 $7.56 Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157233

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNQ $24.99 Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231190

Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32120 $129.99 Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077 Dual Core, Hyper Thread
TOTAL $242.55

You should be good with the GTX 460SE, they overclock quite well.
The Raid 0 array will most likely be a headache as it won't recognize the new controller. Someone with more knowledge on RAID might be able to help you with this..

 

[truegenius]

now it seems ok

well i was searching for i3 in k series and got some strong reviews and discussions and that why i have stated that, but more research showed me the truth.

well where is the second time can you provide me a link, i lost flags to all threads and my account is problematic, that is it does not notify me.
( (wrong info) it seems a fastest way to get your doubts clear but not a good one)

 

[DelroyMonjo]

Not important where your other reference was. I see you have been properly advised of the I3 2120K situation.

 

[truegenius]

well i got them and corrected them

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Here I will help clear up this even more from everything that I have read and seen we have no plans to release an unlocked Intel® Core™ i3 processor, so there will be no Intel Core i3-2120K processors. The closest that we have come is a processor like the Intel Core i3-2105 which does have the Intel HD 3000 Graphics that are the same as used on the Intel Core i5-2500K and the Intel Core i7-2600K and i7-2700K.

 

[fantanel]

Thank you all for your time. Here is what I have decided upon:

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077

MB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121527&Tpk=Intel%20DZ68DB

and 8GB of Corsair memory.

Have a nice day.

 

[truegenius]

seems nice

 

[fantanel]

hello, I just want to let the community know what the outcome is.
If you look at the first post, you know what my old setup was.

with the Old setup I had ~20 FPS in the game, with all the settings to Low (all settings that could be turned off were off)

After a Bios update (the MB comes with a .14 BIOS rev and the latest is .32 or something like that, and if you check the change log, the changes are Important) and a fresh setup of Windows7, I see a HUGE increase in performance:

- the game has ~40 FPS with full details.
- loading times are 5-10x faster.
- unigine benchmark shows a tiny score increase, but for me the difference in performance is Huge, so I do not care.

thx again, bye-bye.