does the generation of a intel processor matter much ?

[LshortyTV]

I am getting a intel core i5 3570k quad 1st generation and I was wondering what is the difference between 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation of I processors and does the fact that my i5 3570k is a 1st gen make it bad, oh by the way I got it for £80

 

[k1114]

The 3570k is not 1st gen. Maybe they were talking about stepping which won't matter. It's 3rd gen, one reason why they decided to have it start with a 3. These are just the i series generations and really is just marketing names. The 4000 series are the current gen. If it's for gaming then even a 2500k still maxes anything with a capable gpu/s.

 

[Deus Gladiorum]

Well for one, your i5-3570k is a third generation i5. It's not first gen. An easy way of telling this is by the first digit after the i5. The first generation i5's didn't have 4 digits, so it just had names like i5-650. 2nd generation then started adding another digit to the beginning of its model name to specify that it was a 2nd generation sandy bridge (e.g. i5-2500), followed by 3rd generation ivy bridge (i5-3570) and now 4th generation haswell (i5-4670).

2nd, the differences are in performance. Every generation has a new batch of processors with newer, (usually) more efficient architecture for better performance. However, Intel doesn't really push the envelope from one generation to the next, because they only have one source of competition (AMD) and AMD isn't exactly giving Intel a run for their money. As such, Intel doesn't need to put in that much effort into R&D to compete with AMD so there's not exactly a disparity in performance from a 3rd generation to a 4th generation i5.

Anyway, the i5-3570k is a fantastic processor. It's only a year old, but it's amazing at what it does. It'll easily net you top performance for years to come, whether you're gaming, editing, or doing whatever, and 80 quid is a fantastic price to get it at.

 

[k1114]

Don't give such bull about effort and amd is not the only competition. They are losing a lot with all the arm cpus taking over the current market share. Tablets outsell pcs because people just don't need the power. And you can't magically have a large increase in performance. There has been a small increase each tick and tock since the beginning. http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/cpu-charts-2013/-01-Cinebench-11.5,3142.html But with the arm competition intel is focusing on power usage to combat it.

 

[jaguarskx]

The generation can make a difference in performance. Below is the average performance increase assuming the same clockspeed and # of cores

2nd gen Core 2 Duo / Quad -> 1st gen Core i3/i5/i7 (Nehalem) = 10%
1st gen Core i3/i5/i7 (Nehalem) -> 2nd gen Core i3/i5/i7 (Sandy Bridge) = 12%
2nd gen Core i3/i5/i7 (Sandy Bridge) -> 3rd gen Core i3/i5/i7 (Ivy Bridge) = 6%
3rd gen Core i3/i5/i7 (Ivy Bridge) -> 4th gen Core i3/i5/i7 (Haswell) = 6%

4th gen Core i3/i5/i7 (Haswell) -> 5th gen Core i3/i5/i7 (Broadwell, 2014) = Unknown, but likely another 6% or so. Main focus is die strink from 22nm to 14nm to reduce power consumption.

5th gen Core i3/i5/i7 (Broadwell, 2014) -> 6th gen Core i3/i5/i7 (Skylake, 2015) = Unknown, but many hope that it will be a return to double digit % increase. It is a new CPU architecture. Not sure if Intel plans on calling Skylake CPUs Core i3/i5/i7.