Upgrade to I52500K or wait?

[cupofjava]

hi,

I'm currently running quite an old system, but put a new mid-range graphics card in over a year ago to try and keep it 'current' enough to play some of the latest games. Now I'm getting more time, I'm looking to invest into upgrading it to a modern gaming PC as im really struggling to run games like BF3 with good enough FPS to play properly online even on the lowest settings - I'm guessing mostly because of a CPU bottleneck?

Current system:

Core2Duo E6600 @ 2.8Ghz (poor over clocking motherboard)
MSI P965 NEO-F PCI-Ex
4GB Corsair PC2-6400 DDR2
Radeon HD5770 512MB

I obviously want to bring it back upto date making it a decent gaming system, and had originally wanted to add the I5 2500K, a decent overclocking motherboard and up the Ram to 8GB, whilst holding onto the graphics card for a bit longer. What's the best option for me here? obviously i don't want to upgrade now to regret it later when Ivy Bridge comes out; but im struggling to run some games. I have heard that by using the same socket the new processors will be backwards comparable on some motherboards? if this is true it makes the option of upgrading now more appealing, as in a year or so I could drop the i5.

 

[akker]

Well.

I've got 4890 1GB which is slightly faster than 5770 and I am able to play BF 3 on high settings, so you should go for i5 2500 K. Of course you'll need a new motherboard , so take Asus P8Z68-V LE, ASRock Z68 Pro3 or ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3. For now 4GB is enough for gaming, but RAMs are really cheap right now so you can take 4GB more

 

[cupofjava]

is it true that the Ivy Brdige will be backwards compatible with socket 1155 though? which is obviously what i'd be upgrading too if i get the I5

 

[akker]

is it true that the Ivy Brdige will be backwards compatible with socket 1155 though? which is obviously what i'd be upgrading too if i get the I5

Yes, it will be compatible backwards with s.1155.

 

[shanky887614]

Yes, it will be compatible backwards with s.1155.

WRONG. not all socket 1155 motherboards support/ will support ivy bridge


make sure you research if your's can or not



no point going above a core i5 2500. i picked up a i5 2400 because it was £15 cheaper for 3.1ghx compared to something like 3.3ghz for i5 2500


i didnt feel the 300mhz was worth the extra money, besides i was on a tight budget and i managed to spend £384 on motherboard,ram,cpu,psu,case,dvd writer



get i5 2400 or i5 2500. you need to get i5 2500k if you want to overclock



the i7 is not worth the money at the moment because its an extra £100 for practically no boost in games at all



best to save money now and upgrade sooner in the future. by that i mean better graphics card then ivy bridge/v2 if it uses the same chipset

 

[venur]

If your not going for an eyefinity set-up I'd go with a i5-2500k. Only 220$ and so far it easely cap BF3 on Ultra setting in 60player game.

The only reason I'm waiting for the ivy-bridge myself is because I'm going for a 3monitor set-up and waiting for the 7990 to be released.

And I might end buying the i5-2500k if the price of the 3000's serie is too high.

Some persons will tell you to wait for Ivybridge with upgraded mobo but it just depend on your own needs vs your budget.

 

[Beitzel15]

I think only the Z68 mobo's will be take the ivybridge... so go with 1155 but make sure you DO NOT get P67 and DO GET the Z68 mobo!

2500k if you're going to OC..