Two Processors

[tropicmaster]

Am I going to be able to realize any appreciable usage gain between an I3 2130 and an I5 3570 at moderate load levels? I dont mind paying for a realistic performance increase, but am not interested in putting the bigger better processor in just for the stats. Keep in mind that my usage level compared to most of you guys would be like me driving a Yugo through a school zone while you are in an F1 on a road course!

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by tropicmaster

Am I going to be able to realize any appreciable usage gain between an I3 2130 and an I5 3570 at moderate load levels? I dont mind paying for a realistic performance increase, but am not interested in putting the bigger better processor in just for the stats. Keep in mind that my usage level compared to most of you guys would be like me driving a Yugo through a school zone while you are in an F1 on a road course!

It depends on what you do with your computer. It will run faster anyways because the i5 has turbo which makes it run faster than the i3. The i5 also has 4 cores instead of hyper-threading which significantly improves performance but as I said before, it depends on the workload. If you browse the web, you'll see no difference. Games in general will benefit from the i5 because it runs faster than the i3, but that depends on the speed of your video card and if you're cpu is actually the bottleneck or not.

So my two questions are:
What is the rest of the hardware in your computer and what do you do with your computer?

[Ghost]

That depends on what exactly you're doing. i3 is a dual core with HT and i5 is a quad core. Do you need 4 cores? If you use PC just for general everyday activities (web surfing, office work, watching movies, etc.) even Pentium G will be sufficient. Maybe even Celeron G.

i3 would be better if you want to do some heavier gaming. Tho I wouldn't recommend i3 2130, since Ivy i3s are out. If you need i3, go with i3 3220.

i5 is meant for multi-threaded work and gaming. Video, audio, 3D rendering, archiving, maximum gaming, multi-tasking (gaming and recording, etc). Going with i5 you can save a few bucks by going with cheaper models (i5 3450, 3470, 3550) instead of i5 3570.

[Fourstaff]

Zero to about 80% increase in performance depending on what your workload is.

[hat]

IMO, if you want to upgrade, it's 3570K or 3770K (3770K if you do lots of multithreaded stuff) or bust. You gotta get the K model if you're interested in overclocking. I'm not sure if you are or not, but I'm just throwing that fact out there.

[Hood]

Get the i5-3570K, you won't regret the extra $100, and in the near future when you decide you need even more speed, you'll be able to overclock safely and easily. Life's too short to sit around waiting for a computer. I find that even when just web-surfing, response is much quicker, and the whole system runs smoother. Her's the specs of my latest build -

Mainboard - Asus P8Z77-V
CPU - Intel i5-3570K (OC to 4.3 GHz)
RAM - 2x4 GB Kingston HyperX 1600 (OC to 1866)
Case - Corsair Carbide 400R
PSU - Ultra X4 750 (full modular, 80 Plus Bronze)
GPU - EVGA GTX 550 Ti Superclocked
CPU Cooler - Corsair H100 (240mm sealed liquid cooler)
Fans - 8 x 120mm
Boot Drive - Vertex 4 128 GB
HDD - 1 x 500 GB WDC Blue, 1 x 400 GB Hitachi DeskStar, 2 x 2TB WDC Green
ODD - LG M-Disc Super Multi
Audio - on board Realtek ALC892 / optical SPDIF
Speakers - 5 x Boston Micro90X, 2 x Boston subs, Sony 100w/ch surround amp
Monitor - Acer S231HL (23" LCD)
KB & Mouse - Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000
OS - Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

I have about $1000 inside the case (not counting large storage drives) and it's fast and quiet with no issues at all.

[Ghost]

Come on, people, learn to read.

Originally Posted by tropicmaster

Am I going to be able to realize any appreciable usage gain between an I3 2130 and an I5 3570 at moderate load levels? I dont mind paying for a realistic performance increase, but am not interested in putting the bigger better processor in just for the stats. Keep in mind that my usage level compared to most of you guys would be like me driving a Yugo through a school zone while you are in an F1 on a road course!

[tropicmaster]

Originally Posted by Aquinus

It depends on what you do with your computer. It will run faster anyways because the i5 has turbo which makes it run faster than the i3. The i5 also has 4 cores instead of hyper-threading which significantly improves performance but as I said before, it depends on the workload. If you browse the web, you'll see no difference. Games in general will benefit from the i5 because it runs faster than the i3, but that depends on the speed of your video card and if you're cpu is actually the bottleneck or not.

So my two questions are:
What is the rest of the hardware in your computer and what do you do with your computer?

This relates to an earlier post but I am contemplating building a new system and trying to find the right balance between power that I need for my usage habits, and whats newest,biggest, and best. I don't really have a budget per say with the caveat that I am unwilling to spend money without gain on the back end. For instance I shoot competitively as one of my other hobbies and I spend a lot of money doing things to my guns that an average shooter A. wouldn't understand, and B. isn't good enough to make use of, but for me .025" at 500 yards is the difference between top three and bottom of the pack. So anyway I am trying to come up with a build that will easily handle heavy web usage with a lot of multimedia sites running at once, FlightSim gaming on a moderate level, and minor photo and video editing. MS X Flightsim, Combat Pilot, Flaming Cliffs etc are the games I play along with a few RP such as LOTR etc.

I'm coming from a Coreduo E 6300/ Geforce 7300 LE so anything you guys have or suggest will be a huge upgrade. I just want to try to hit the sweet spot of what I need versus what is available. I am not good enough, nor know enough to want or need that last .025" out of my " gun". Does that make any sense? This is what I originally had in mind but after reading a lot of older posts on here and elsewhere I am starting to think that is too much horsepower for what I do:
Intel Core i5 Processor I5-3450
INTEL COPPER HEAVY DUTY LGA 1155/1366/2011 COOLING FAN
ZEROtherm Advanced ZT100 Thermal Grease
GIGABYTE GA-Z77MX-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL
Toshiba HIGH PERFORMANCE 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB CACHE SATA 6.0Gb/s
24X DVD-RW DUAL LAYER
EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P4-2662-KR GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
REALTEK 8-CHANNEL DIGITAL SOUND ONBOARD
REALTEK 10/100/1000 Gigabit Network Card (onboard)
APEVIA X-Cruiser2 Metal Case w/ Side Window-RED
(2X) 120mm HIGH-PERFORMANCE CASE FANS
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

I am starting to think this might be a better way to go:

Intel Core Processor I3-3220
INTEL COPPER HEAVY DUTY LGA 1155/1366/2011 COOLING FAN
ZEROtherm Advanced ZT100 Thermal Grease
PROFESSIONAL WIRING
Biostar TZ77B LGA1155/ Intel Z77/ DDR3/ CrossFireX/ SATA3&USB3.0/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard
8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600MHz (PC3 12800) Dual Channel
(2X) MEMORY HEAT SPREADERS
Toshiba HIGH PERFORMANCE 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB CACHE SATA 6.0Gb/s
24X DVD-RW DUAL LAYER
nVidia GeForce GTX650 1GB DDR5 2-DVI/HDMI SLI PCI-EXP Video Card
REALTEK 8-CHANNEL DIGITAL SOUND ONBOARD
REALTEK 10/100/1000 Gigabit Network Card (onboard)
APEVIA X-Cruiser2 Metal Case w/ Side Window-RED
(2X) 120mm HIGH-PERFORMANCE CASE FANS
hec X ORION 585 WATT POWER SUPPLY
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

[Fourstaff]

If you are going the cheap route, i3 3220 is a pretty decent performer, but judging by the fact that you are upgrading from E6300 suggests that you will be using the system for as long as it lasts, in which case get the i5 instead. Just don't forget to upgrade your graphics card 3 years down the road.

Also, build it yourself, you get to choose what you want and leave out those you don't (especially in the motherboard and case department).

You don't sound like an overclocker too, so this is what I would suggest:
i5 3330/3450
2x4Gb 1866Mhz ram
Motherboard of your choice, can be budget since you are not overclocking
GTX660
500w PSU of reputable brand Antec, Corsair, Thermaltake, etc.
100+GB SSD and HDD for storage
Other things you might need.

[tropicmaster]

Originally Posted by Fourstaff

If you are going the cheap route, i3 3220 is a pretty decent performer, but judging by the fact that you are upgrading from E6300 suggests that you will be using the system for as long as it lasts, in which case get the i5 instead. Just don't forget to upgrade your graphics card 3 years down the road.

Also, build it yourself, you get to choose what you want and leave out those you don't (especially in the motherboard and case department).

You don't sound like an overclocker too, so this is what I would suggest:
i5 3330/3450
2x4Gb 1866Mhz ram
Motherboard of your choice, can be budget since you are not overclocking
GTX660
500w PSU of reputable brand Antec, Corsair, Thermaltake, etc.
100+GB SSD and HDD for storage
Other things you might need.

I like the looks of that list and although not assembling the pieces I am considering having it build by a local pro with me doing the component purchasing. What about cooling? He is recommending all kinds of upgraded CPU fans,memory heat spreaders, thermal paste, exhaust fans, etc. Adding close to $200 to the build, necessary for what I am doing or not? And you are right OC, not gonna happen.

[Fourstaff]

Originally Posted by tropicmaster

I like the looks of that list and although not assembling the pieces I am considering having it build by a local pro with me doing the component purchasing. What about cooling? He is recommending all kinds of upgraded CPU fans,memory heat spreaders, thermal paste, exhaust fans, etc. Adding close to $200 to the build, necessary for what I am doing or not? And you are right OC, not gonna happen.

My dog can assemble a pc for you, and he doesn't have fingers to do the screwing. Its that simple.

Cooling? If you don't overclock the IVB are pretty cool (despite the "common knowledge"), just undervolt it a bit. Ditto for graphics card and DDR3, although those 2 doesn't need undervolting. Fans? one intake in front and one exhaust behind is generally more than adequate if you are not overclocking (or a small one). That depends on the ambient temps of your house though.

[MT Alex]

The fact that he is tacking on $200 for an aftermarket cooler and some thermal paste reinforces the notion that you should put it together yourself. If you can plug in a vacuum, you can build your own PC.

[Hood]

Originally Posted by Ghost

Come on, people, learn to read.

Yes