I5-2300

[maxson]

Currently I use Athlon II x4 640 but from my previous thread, some says my processor bottleneck my XFX HD6770. Then saw 2nd processor, the i5-2300 but with 2.8Ghz. Between these two processor which is better? Does the i5-2300 have L3 cache?

http://www.digitalversus.com/cpu/face-off/8430-10289-versus-table.html

According to the site above for the i5-2300; "Integrated graphics don't support DirectX 11 which would have improved the bitrate in some games"

Please don't tell me to go for the i5-2500k. I want comparison between Athlon II x4 640 and Intel i5-2300.

 

[amuffin]

The i5-2300, the integrated graphics is nothing to worry about because you are using a 6770. Though all you would have to do is overclock that x4 640, and honestly i don't think it is bottlenecking at all!

 

[maxson]

The i5-2300, the integrated graphics is nothing to worry about because you are using a 6770. Though all you would have to do is overclock that x4 640, and honestly i don't think it is bottlenecking at all!

Even at lowest setting on Deus Ex: Human Revolution, sometimes it gets lagged, below is my pc specs.

Athlon II x4 640 3.0Ghz
XFX HD 6770 1GB GDDR5
Samsung SpinPoint 4 HD322J 320GB
4GB DDR3 1333Mhz
Windows 7 32bit
ASRock n68c-vs3 ucc motherboard

Actually I plan to overclock my processor but my motherboard just support 95W of TDP, so overclocking a processor requires more watt, right? So i stuck with 3.0Ghz. But, if i replace my motherboard that support up to 140W of TDP, and overclock the processor maybe to 4.0hz or more, does it mean the performance will at least same as the i5-2300? Or almost? Or better?

 

[InvalidError]

If you notice HDD access when the game "lags", you might want to consider upgrading to Win7/64bits and 8GB RAM.

While the game only recommends 2GB, game requirements have a tendency to be to be significantly understated and with Win7/32, you cannot use your full 4GB RAM since some of the address space is lost to memory-mapped IOs.

 

[amuffin]

Your board only supports processors that need 125w to run, however you can overclock.

 

[jaguarskx]

Generally speaking, Intel's Sandy Bridge CPUs (like the i5-2300) are about 25% more powerful than the AMD Athlon II X4 CPUs. Therefore, your Athlon II X4 would need to be overclocked to 3.5GHz to equal am i5-2300.

The Intel HD 2000 & HD 3000 graphic cores are limited to DX10. But since you are using a Radeon HD 6770, that doesn't really matter.

 

[randomkid]

The i5-2300, the integrated graphics is nothing to worry about because you are using a 6770. Though all you would have to do is overclock that x4 640, and honestly i don't think it is bottlenecking at all!

++ To overclocking the Athlon II x4 640 3.0Ghz. It is a decent CPU that has been in the Tom's best CPU for the money for some time until the Intel i-series arrived. But it is still decent until today so no need to replace.

If you notice HDD access when the game "lags", you might want to consider upgrading to Win7/64bits and 8GB RAM.
While the game only recommends 2GB, game requirements have a tendency to be to be significantly understated and with Win7/32, you cannot use your full 4GB RAM since some of the address space is lost to memory-mapped IOs.

In playing skyrim, I learn about the "Explorer Suite" that can enable large memory aware setting in some applications which tells the application that it can use more than 2GB of RAM. Maybe the OP can try it. It stabilize my skyrim gaming. But OC is still recommended.

 

[TheAtomium]

I think you actually have a pretty good balance of hardware there. As others have said, a switch to 64-bit may help, but really the next upgrade for you is more likely your graphics card. This is probably only worth doing if you can stretch to a 6950, or 560 Ti, though.

Of course, if you upgrade your CPU too, that will be even better, but the only really worthwhile upgrade for you would indeed be a 2500k (sorry ).

 

[maxson]

Errm..I might overclock the processor by using a new motherboard, and I might get the ASRock 990FX Extreme 3 or 4. Fyi, my current motherboard does not support 125W of TDP, just 95W. But from some old news (link is below), my processor have a great chance to be unlocked. I wonder whether the motherboard (ASRock 990FX) have a capability to do the job.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/AMD-Athlon-II-X4-640-with-Thuban-Core-Spotted-Is-Fully-Unlockable-200200.shtml

 

[amuffin]

Use your current board to overclock.

 

[maxson]

Use your current board to overclock.

My motherboard only support 95W of max TDP. My processor already at 95W of TDP, so overclocking the processor requires more watt and voltage and TDP.

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=N68-VS3%20UCC&cat=Specifications

 

[amuffin]

It does not work that way. You can still overclock. Think about it, a higher end phenom processor that needs 125w to run. When overclocked, uses roughly 200W. Think about this, it does not work that way. You CAN overclock!

 

[InvalidError]

Think about it, a higher end phenom processor that needs 125w to run. When overclocked, uses roughly 200W. Think about this, it does not work that way. You CAN overclock!

Some motherboards have more headroom on their voltage regulators than others, pushing them beyond their rated maximum is much like overclocking itself: mileage may vary on a case-by-case basis.

Not all PSUs are built equal. Some can barely meet their rated maximum (although rare for CPU regulators) and others have a fair amount of headroom beyond that but exact limits tend to vary between same-model units.