I5 2500k vs i5 3570k For gaming/live streaming?

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foozithepig

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Dec 14, 2012
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I cant decide which CPU to get, I have done research but could never find a good answer, some say i5 2500k and some say i5 3570k.
Also what motherboard will work best with the CPU? Nothing over 180 US dollars
And, what cpu cooler should I get? Nothing over 60 US dollars.
Don't forget I will be gaming and live streaming at the same time.

My build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sInR

Also, any tweaks I should make to the build?
 
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Ultimately, it really doesn't matter which CPU you pick. 3570k is faster at stock levels as it's based on newer tech, 2500k runs a bit cooler so can be overclocked higher. It's likely that with a moderate overclock there's very little between them. 3570k has some additional benefits from Ivy Bridge which might be beneficial, and so it's probably the recommended choice.

There's a bunch of good Z77 boards which come in well under your price cap. ASrock z77 extreme 4 is a safe bet. The Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H has a big chunk of money off it on Newegg right now, makes it much better value.
If you wanted to spend more, you could, but you'd need to see if there was anything actually worth getting on the really high end boards, other than elaborate heatsinks and colour schemes.

CPU cooler depends on how much you want to push your CPU. Nothing wrong with a 212 Hyper Evo for excellent value. If you want the best, the Noctua NH-D14 tends to get a lot of recommendations, as does the Phanteks version, but both are crazy expensive and the Noctua isn't much of a looker. There's a lot of other options but it really depends what you are aiming for.

As for changes, everything looks fine. You probably don't need 16Gb of ram, and you don't need a 750W PSU but you clearly have a healthy budget and it gives you options I guess. Additionally, it's perhaps worth pointing out that for your budget you can also buy a HD7970 which may offer better performance. There's not a lot in it though, especially if you prefer Nvidia, just worth a mention.
Also I don't like the case look 😀
 
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Thanks for the great information, is it better to have a higher clocked cpu or more benefits?

Are you sure a 7970 is better than a 670? And if so could you link me to one 😛?

Sorry for all the questions, this is my first build 😛.
 
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Well a higher clock doesn't equal higher performance. The 3570k can have a lower speed and still be faster due to the evolution between 2nd and 3rd gen i5s. If the price difference was significant, then get whichever is cheaper. If the price difference isn't a big deal, or it's small, then get the 3570k.

7970 vs GTX670 isn't clear-cut. The 7970 is definitely the faster card in theory, and AMD price drops mean it's competing with the 670 on price. It has more memory which will help if you want to play at higher resolutions/textures. There isn't really a bad answer as both will run more or less anything maxed out these days. Just thought it was worth a mention of consideration.
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/#c=101,70&sort=a5
You can see there's quite a few 7970s in amongst the 670s on price.
 
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Hi i made a lot of changes to your PC and made it a lot better.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 612 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-GD55 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($164.00 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($366.97 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($95.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: OCZ ZX 1250W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($178.49 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.89 @ Outlet PC)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1366.26
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-16 03:10 EST-0500)

Now it features a really nice CPU cooler, very good motherboard, dual channel ram (Dual channel is better than quad channel since it allows for higher overclocking, allows upgrading to twice the amount of memory and it provides the same bandwidth for less money).
The SSD now also has twice the capacity which im sure will be very usefull.
I also upgraded the graphics card to a Radeon HD 7970 OC which is quite a bit faster, runs cooler and quieter.
It also features a case, which in my opinion looks awesome and is on par functionality wise with the HAF 932.
I also upgraded the power supply to a more efficient, higher capacity one.
This one will be able to power your system even if it uses three high-end graphics cards and is overclocked with added voltage.
 
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+47% over his budget perhaps, but a damn fine built I might add.

I do agree that getting a Samsung, Asus, Pioneer, Sony, etc. optical drive is a much better choice once the budget is over $700 or so. Asus currently have some very attractive BluRay burners at tempting price points.
- USB HDD might be easier/cheaper for back-ups though.
- Just a future proofing idea...

NZXT Phantom black?
- Why not white or red, they look so much nicer (IMHO)
- You can tell I'm nitpicking as I'm commenting on case color.
 
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Hmm Kamen nice build there, i like it. Though, i'm thinking is that PSU necessary for that system? It has a good price but an overkill for that system even though the OP would be x-firing? Can that extra money saved for something else?
 
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From What I've seen of Tom's hardware, it depends on the resolution you want to use. Both cards are very solid and will run any game you want at ultra in 1080p at abouts 60 FPS and in 1440p at about 40. In 1080p, the 670 meets or beats the 7970, and let's not forget its lower price. However, if you want to game at higher resolutions, the 7970's extra memory/bandwidth gives it the edge.
 
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The PSU isn't really needed but since it's really good so even if he's not going to use it to its full potential in this system he might as well use it in his next PC.
Sure you can downgrade the memory to 8GB and it won't make a difference if he isn't multitasking heavily but since the price isncrease isn't that high he might as well go for 16GB.
And even if he downgrades both the PSU and GPU there won't be a lot of things he can improve in the system.
Well he could do one thing...

This build is pretty much a more gaming focused version of the PC i built earlier

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 612 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-GD55 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 850W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($103.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.89 @ Outlet PC)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1472.75
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-16 04:07 EST-0500)

This one is not as future proof but will provide much better gaming performance NOW.
 
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Or you could save some money by going with this build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 612 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-GD55 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($366.97 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 850W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($103.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.89 @ Outlet PC)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1111.75
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-16 04:15 EST-0500)

It will provide exactly the same gaming performance as the first build i posted.
 
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