Help choosing Intel parts

[Shirva]

Hello, been lurking some but first post. My son needs a new system so I am passing down my AMD Phenom II X6 1100T system to him. Been an AMD fanboy but ready to make the switch to Intel I think. Trying to decide between i7-3770K or i5-3570K. From what I've read the biggest difference is i7 has hyperthreading. Seems most the posts I have read say to go with the i5. Do games not use the hyperthreading? Or because they are not real cores, they are not as good?

I play 3D games mostly. Main game I am playing right now is Planetside 2. Half the time, the game tells me it is CPU bound, othertimes GPU bound.

GPU is a Radeon 6970 2GB. I'll be keeping that for now. (still debating doing crossfire or waiting for 8xxx in spring, buts another topic).

back to the point: i5 or i7 ? will buying the i7 give me an extra year of life?

please point me to a matching motherboard, cooler, and memory. I'd like 16 GB now with the option to upgrade to 32 GB without replacing sticks unless that is too cost prohibitive. I'm ok picking the other parts.

Thanks in advance,
Shirva

 

[skitz9417]

i5 3570k

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Here is a very good piece on hyper-threading in games http://www.overclock.net/t/671977/hyperthreading-in-games

In the end it really comes down to the fact that very few games will use more than 4 threads. For this reason the hyper-threading and even additional cores have minimal value on a gaming system. So the Intel® Core™ i5-3570K is the processor of choice for a gaming system.

 

[Shirva]

that was good reading. Helped a lot. Thanks.

seems everyone agrees on i5, so i5 it is.

now I am down to motherboard. Been an Asus fan but most posts recommend ASRock.

 

[getochkn]

When they first came out, Asrock MB's weren't the best. In the last few years they have really stepped up to be reliable boards, feature loaded and very comparable to the bigger name brand boards. 8-9 years ago when they first hit, I used them as cheap boards and they sucked. Now, I haven't had a problem with them in years and use them a lot in builds.

 

[slatanek]

As for the mobo it depends on your budget really - if you care about the features (USB BIOS flashing, very good audio codec, Crossfire and SLI certification, OC, overall great quality) you could go with Asus V GENE. If you want something cheaper with similar features you have the Asus P8Z77-M PRO. You really can't go wrong with Asus, it's just a matter of money and preference. I have a cheap AsRock B75 Pro3-M board and it's performing well, although it feels a bit cheap, the EFI is uninspiring and you get only basic control over things like fans. But it costs only €60.

For the memory it's difficult to get this wrong - memory production got really good since we have DDR3's for quite some time now. Just pick a 1.5V, 1600MHz with 9 CAS latency. Brands to look at: Corsair, Samsung, Crucial, Geil, Patriot. If you pick two 8GB sticks you'll still have room to upgrade without switching out the modules. Low profile modules are a good idea since those high fins can get in the way if you'll use a fancy CPU cooler.

If you don't plan to overclock the stock cooler will do just fine.

 

[Shirva]

Think I will stick with Asus. Been with them a long time now and am comfortable with them. Thanks for the memory tip. You guys have all been so helpful to me. I really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Shirva

 

[smorizio]

shirva spend the extra few dollars on your new build and pick up an after market heat sink.
intel coolers use platic clips that dont lock well..i seen a lot of people pc that have heat issue with there cpu where the cpu clips are not holding the cooler down tight. i find the best coolers are the ones with back plates and screws. also be care full with the case your going to use a lot of times the hard drive bays and long video cards hit. newer cases have bays you can remove or a space where the main hard drive and video cards line up. (r500 case)>

 

[Shirva]

This is the case I am looking at: CoolMaster HAF XM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

What cooler do you run/recommend ?

Thanks,
Shirva

 

[smorizio]

evo 212 or a clone of it.

 

[Shirva]

Here is what I ended up with.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/txZb


Shirva

 

[iceclock]

decent build, enjoy ur new shiney pc

 

[Shirva]

Best answer selected by Shirva.