I3 540 @ stock vs i5 3570k @ 4.4GHz for games

[FLanighan]

How much of a difference would there be between these two CPUs for playing modern games like Skyrim and BF3 with a GTX 570 video card?

 

[rds1220]

How much of a difference would there be between these two CPUs for playing modern games like Skyrim and BF3 with a GTX 570 video card?

Both will play games but the I5 will be better. The I3, while compleatly capable of playing games can sometimes start to bottleneck in heavily demanding multiplayer games like 64 player maps on BF3. The I5 can be heavily overclocked, the I3 can't. The I5 won't have any problems in those games the I3 MIGHT especially in BF3. The I5 is all around better for gaming especially if you are going to overclock.