Buy i3 now, upgrade to i7 later?

[Mashugana]

I need to upgrade in steps due to budget. Can I get a motherboard that will support an i3 now and then a potential upgrade to an i5 or i7 later? I know a lot of the Ivy/Sandy Bridge tech is compatible, but I was not sure if motherboards supported that wide a range of CPUs.

Thanks.

 

[AMD Radeon]

asrock h77m is the sweetspot for budget upgrade

support all ivy/sandy cpu and reasonable price

pair it with i5 ivy, will be great price/performance

 

[butremor]

do you really need i7 ?

quote- You can use this hierarchy to compare the pricing between two processors, to see which one is a better deal, and also to determine if an upgrade is worthwhile. I don’t recommend upgrading your CPU unless the potential replacement is at least three tiers higher. Otherwise, the upgrade is somewhat parallel and you may not notice a worthwhile difference in game performance.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

for you it would make sense to get Pentium G2120, G870, G860, G850, G840, G645, G640, G630 and then get i5-3570

 

[camohanna]

Just remember haswell is coming out in the coming year. You can either upgrade to that or take advantage of the lowered prices for ivy bridge!

 

[Mashugana]

Thanks for the fast replies! And no, I do not need an i7. At least I do not think so. I just want to play Guild Wars 2 and Elder Scrolls Online at 1680 × 1050. Nothing crazy

My current CPU is a Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 @ 2.53GHz Wolfdale 45nm Technology. If I kept everything in my PC and just replaced the motherboard/CPU with an asrock h77m and either an i3 or i5 (depending on what I can afford), would I see a performance difference?

It looks like anything short of an i3 is just a 2 tier leap - not 3 like you suggested. Is the leap from Core 2 Duo to i3 or i5 noticeable?

And I assume my 4.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 ram will need to be replaced as well if I get the motherboard, yes?

Thanks again!

FYI, total current system:

Operating System: MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 @ 2.53GHz Wolfdale 45nm Technology
RAM: 4.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 398MHz (6-6-6-18)
Motherboard: Dell Inc. 0RY007 (Socket 775)    40 °C
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5670 (Sapphire/PCPartner)    34 °C
Hard Drives: 466GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AAKS-75A7B0 ATA Device (SATA)
Optical Drives: TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H653F ATA Device
Power: Antec 450w
Audio: AMD High Definition Audio Device

 

[AMD Radeon]

Is the leap from Core 2 Duo to i3 or i5 noticeable? for i5, LOL exactly pick the cheapest i5 ivy, it is usually 3470

 

[unoriginal1]

Thanks for the fast replies! And no, I do not need an i7. At least I do not think so. I just want to play Guild Wars 2 and Elder Scrolls Online at 1680 × 1050. Nothing crazy

My current CPU is a Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 @ 2.53GHz Wolfdale 45nm Technology. If I kept everything in my PC and just replaced the motherboard/CPU with an asrock h77m and either an i3 or i5 (depending on what I can afford), would I see a performance difference? Is the leap from Core 2 Duo to i3 or i5 noticeable?

And I assume my 4.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 ram will need to be replaced as well if I get the motherboard, yes?

Thanks again!

FYI, total current system:

Operating System: MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 @ 2.53GHz Wolfdale 45nm Technology
RAM: 4.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 398MHz (6-6-6-18)
Motherboard: Dell Inc. 0RY007 (Socket 775)    40 °C
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5670 (Sapphire/PCPartner)    34 °C
Hard Drives: 466GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AAKS-75A7B0 ATA Device (SATA)
Optical Drives: TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H653F ATA Device
Power: Antec 450w
Audio: AMD High Definition Audio Device

Yes you would notice a difference. Yes you will need to get new ram (ddr3). Keep in mind you will most likely need to buy a new OS as well. Assuming your current OS is a OEM copy (most people tend to get them because of pricing).

What is your current total budget? Upgrading those parts I'd like to see a better GPU included as that will become your weak spot very quickly.

 

[Mashugana]

Best answer selected by Mashugana.

 

[Mashugana]

Thanks again all. I own the OS - bought a boxed version of Win 7 64. I want to keep this upgrade under $200. Then maybe another $200 later in the year. GPU will probably get replaced later in the year.

Or does it make more sense to upgrade the GPU now? Is that my current bottleneck? I thought the Core Duo was holding me back

 

[FinneousPJ]

Just save your $200 and use $400 later in the year for best effect.

 

[Mashugana]

Well sure Finnueous, that's the responsible thing to do, but I want to play GW2 now!



You're right - I keep trying to tackle this on the cheap and the simple answer is I need a full $400-600 upgrade. Ah well. Back to WoW until I can get some cash....

 

[FinneousPJ]

You'll be glad in the end you did it properly.

 

[unoriginal1]

You'll be glad in the end you did it properly.

+1