Upgrade from 960T to Intel I5 2500k

[mr1hm]

Hey guys,

I have a completely stable AMD Phenom II X4 960T/AMD Phenom II X6 1600T/1605T overclocked around 4.0ghz.

I can use the CPU as a X6 4.0ghz @ 1.408v with Northbridge Freq around 2800-3000mhz @ 1.275v - 1.3v. However, these huge overclocks are starting to take a toll on the CPU and myself.... Getting tired of monitoring temps all the time and random issues that have been going on.

I've been keeping an eye on my local microcenter and saw the Intel I5 2500k going for 159.99 but offers no bundle savings on motherboards.

Intel i5 2500k: $159.99
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Z77: $134.99
Total Estimate: 294.99 without tax.

The Intel i5 3570k is priced at 189.99 WITH $50 bundle savings on most LGA 1155 motherboards.

Intel i5 3570k: $189.99
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Z77: $84.99
Total Estimate: $274.98
After Tax: $296.29


First question as title implies: Is it worth it upgrading to the i5 2500k or i5 3570k from a AMD Phenom II X4 960T?

2. Is the i5 3570k alright as well? the total does end up being a bit cheaper because it has bundle savings on motherboard and probably could end up buying a higher priced quality built motherboard because of it.

3. What do you guys think of the ASRock Z77 Extreme 4?

I'm mainly gaming but, I do lots of music production and sometimes my 960T will not be able to handle the load of all the plug-ins and etc.

Thanks.

 

[wr6133]

I just bought the Intel setup in my sig below to replace my AMD setup also below as my primary gamer..... so the same boat as you

While I still love my Phenom X6 the Intel is showing me better framerates gaming with the GTX670 (670 was formerly with the AMD rig). As I've only had the new setup a day thats about all I can comment. So to me so far its worth it.

 

[mr1hm]

I just bought the Intel setup in my sig below to replace my AMD setup also below as my primary gamer..... so the same boat as you

While I still love my Phenom X6 the Intel is showing me better framerates gaming with the GTX670 (670 was formerly with the AMD rig). As I've only had the new setup a day thats about all I can comment. So to me so far its worth it.

I'm glad to hear, although I'll be using a less powerful card, HD 6870, I feel like even when unlocked AND overclocked, the 960T is still bottlenecking me in certain situations in games. I mainly play Battlefield 3 and Starcraft 2. I'll see noticeable stuttering at times and just plain old random fps drops.

I'm just so tired.... temp monitoring... making sure northbridge hasn't gone through some kind of bbq.... just over it...

EDIT: also see unplayable amounts of fps stuttering in games when overclocking the HD 6870 to 940/1150. maybe those speeds cause a CPU bottleneck?

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Something like 80% of the performance comes from video card. With that in mind the Intel® Core™ i5-3570K and the Intel Core i5-2500K are about two if the best gaming processors on the market. Here is some benchmarks that may help you see what the change may gain you. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=102

 

[mr1hm]

Something like 80% of the performance comes from video card. With that in mind the Intel® Core™ i5-3570K and the Intel Core i5-2500K are about two if the best gaming processors on the market. Here is some benchmarks that may help you see what the change may gain you. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=102

sweet stuff, thanks for this.

Seems like I'll be pickin up I5 3570k + ASRock Z77 Extreme4 for cheaper than an I5 2500k + motherboard.