Real gaming performace i5-3350P vs. i5-3570K

[robemenaker]

My wife and I are due for a motherboard/CPU/memory upgrade. We both have Core2Duo CPUs with 800Mhz RAM and it seems to be the performance bottleneck. We both have NVidia GTX 560ti Fermi cards.

My question is, is there any reason to get the i5-3570K over the i5-3350P for our CPU? Are we going to see any real improvement in gaming performance between the two?

Thanks!

 

[rolli59]

Not at std clocks but based on what GPU they are matched with and how far the "K" CPU can overclock the gap will widen.

 

[griptwister]

The 3570K is an unlocked processor. There is a difference between the two, but if you want to save money and don't plan on over clocking, go with the i5-3350P. I think the difference was only 5-10FPS, except when the K model was OC'd, then it was much higher.

 

[bentremblay]

Does the i5-2500K figure into this? (Just started looking into switching from AMD to Intel, so trying to sort this out.)

 

[griptwister]

Does the i5-2500K figure into this? (Just started looking into switching from AMD to Intel, so trying to sort this out.)

if you can get one for a good price, it's worth it. But, I'd rather spend the extra $20 for the i5-3570K. It run's on less wattage and It OC's. The non-K models cannot OC. (Or OC past a certain point)

 

[Unknowngama]

For the extra $20, the 3570k will do you much much much better than any processor out there. It is proven to be the best gaming processor in 2012. It tops many of the I7's including the 3930K which is atleast 300-350 bucks more than the 3570k.

 

[bentremblay]

I got this as reply:

if you can get one for a good price, it's worth it. But, I'd rather spend the extra $20 for the i5-3570K. It run's on less wattage and It OC's. The non-K models cannot OC. (Or OC past a certain point)

And this was in thread:

For the extra $20, the 3570k will do you much much much better than any processor out there. It is proven to be the best gaming processor in 2012. It tops many of the I7's including the 3930K which is atleast 300-350 bucks more than the 3570k.

So robemenaker, looks like consensus!
I guess question is: any reason not to go for that performance?

(Before I decided to swap out my MoBo I was looking at the FX-4300 or 8320.)

 

[InvalidError]

In my case, there was a $50 difference between the i5-3470 and i5-3570k. (+$30 to go from h77 to z77 motherboard.)

Since I tend to have bad luck with overclocking and didn't feel like spending the better part of two weeks sorting out my system after an OC attempt that corrupted the OS on my previous PC, I decided to go with the i5-3470 and not having to worry about even being tempted to OC again and keep the extra $80 in my pockets. (I mainly wanted to upgrade from 8GB to 16GB RAM but 16GB DDR2 cost a whopping $330 vs $380 for i5-3470/h77/16GB, easy enough choice.)

While overclocking may allow you to "extend the life of your PC", do you really think a 10-15% improvement will really make or break anything? In the vast majority of cases, no, not by a long shot. If your PC starts feeling too slow at stock clock, overclocking even by 20% won't save it for long if at all.

So I personally wouldn't bother with it and save my money for a more substantial upgrade further down the line.

 

[angaddev]

In my case, there was a $50 difference between the i5-3470 and i5-3570k. (+$30 to go from h77 to z77 motherboard.)

Since I tend to have bad luck with overclocking and didn't feel like spending the better part of two weeks sorting out my system after an OC attempt that corrupted the OS on my previous PC, I decided to go with the i5-3470 and not having to worry about even being tempted to OC again and keep the extra $80 in my pockets. (I mainly wanted to upgrade from 8GB to 16GB RAM but 16GB DDR2 cost a whopping $330 vs $380 for i5-3470/h77/16GB, easy enough choice.)

While overclocking may allow you to "extend the life of your PC", do you really think a 10-15% improvement will really make or break anything? In the vast majority of cases, no, not by a long shot. If your PC starts feeling too slow at stock clock, overclocking even by 20% won't save it for long if at all.

So I personally wouldn't bother with it and save my money for a more substantial upgrade further down the line.

I completely agree, with a k series you will have to spend at least $30-40 more on a Z77 mobo and $20-50 more for the actual CPU, plus you run the risk of damaging your components if you aren't careful. I love overclocking but if price matters, go for the lockec i5, at stock clocks there is less than 2% difference.

 

[robemenaker]

Best answer selected by robemenaker.