Performance difference between Wolfdale and SB?

[bambinobomber]

Is there a considerable difference between a Intel Pentium Dual Core E5500 @2.8GHz and a SB i3 2120?

I'll be using this PC exclusively for low-end gaming (indie games and Valve games), watching movies, streaming and Office. I'm happy with my current CPU, but my dad needs a new PC for his office so I'm giving him this one and getting a more decent system for gaming. The reason I'm not making the jump to quad core is because I feel that it would be way too overkill for my needs, and the extra money will be used instead to get a quality PSU (I got a TR2 600w last Black Friday, but I've heard so many horrible things about it) and a case with better cooling.

Right now I'm using a GTX 550 ti, but in the future I might upgrade to a GTX 660 or a 7870. I'd like to think that the i3 will not bottleneck a mid-end card that's working at a 1440x900 resolution.

 

[mocchan]

There isn't an E5500 option on this website, however, there is an E5300. The difference in speed between the two CPU's is 200Mhz, not that big.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=98

You can see that you'll gain a considerable amount of performance with the i3 over the Pentium

 

[Deleted member 217926]

^ Yep. First generation core "i" processors were 15-20% faster clock for clock than the Core2 lineup and the second gen Sandy Bridge chips are 10% or more faster than that depending on the benchmark. So realistically 25-30% faster clock for clock and then the i3 has Hyperthreading.

An i3 will not bottleneck those cards. Those cards are pretty much overkill for 1440 x 900 though.

Good idea replacing the TR2. It's one of the worst power supplies on the market especially at it's price.

 

[mocchan]

^ Yep. First generation core "i" processors were 15-20% faster clock for clock than the Core2 lineup and the second gen Sandy Bridge chips are 10% or more faster than that depending on the benchmark. So realistically 25-30% faster clock for clock and then the i3 has Hyperthreading.

An i3 will not bottleneck those cards. Those cards are pretty much overkill for 1440 x 900 though.

Good idea replacing the TR2. It's one of the worst power supplies on the market especially at it's price.

+1 :lol:

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Hey if they priced it with Coolmax and Powmax and the rest of the crap then it would not be as bad. As is it's priced like a quality model and people who don't know any better think they are getting a quality unit just based on price.

 

[mocchan]

Very true :lol: (No offense to the OP intended) I would wish some people would do their research beforehand before purchasing PSU's. My brother had purchased a Raidmax PSU and my goodness...I yelled at him like I never did before LOL!

 

[bambinobomber]

Do you think the Antec Neo Eco 520c is enough to power a GTX 660?

 

[bambinobomber]

Best answer selected by bambinobomber.

 

[mocchan]

Do you think the Antec Neo Eco 520c is enough to power a GTX 660?

Yes, definitely Great PSU!