I5-3570K from q6600 or upgrade to GTX670?

[tempestblayze]

I am starting to reconsider my Haswell PC idea and just might get the i5-3570K. I realized that I will definitely be paying a premium for the first 6 months when it comes out for maybe just a 10% increase in processing power over Ivy Bridge. Meanwhile, it's the christmas season and there are sales all over the place for 1155 motherboards, RAM and coolers.

I currently have a Q6600 l overclocked to 3.4. I buy these parts for gaming and I am wondering what to do. The consensus seems to be that I should NOT wait for Haswell because of minimal performance boost and “new shiny” CPU price.

The bigger question I have is should I get the i5 3570k, Mobo and Ram or , just get a gtx 670 upgraded from a 560ti? What will give me a bigger performance boost? I would really like to be set for at least 2 years of gaming. If I go the CPU, mobo, ram route, I will definitely need to hold off on getting the GPU for at least half a year.

My comp specs are:

Q6600 @3.4
GTX 560ti FPB 1gb
8GB of DDR2 800
1900x1200 Monitor
SSD C Drive
Seasoninc 750W PSU

 

[BuddiLuva]

You're in a right dilemma.

IF you get the i5 its potential will be so limited by the 560ti, that you will probably see almost no performance increase.

But if you upgrade the GPU then it will push the CPU to its limit. Which may possibly get you better performance

I'd personally say get the GPU for now until you can afford the new CPU too.

And overclock the CPU a bit more.

 

[spentshells]

Perhaps sell the entire old PC it still has game maybe not to the level you would like but others would love it.

Take that money and replace the rest of the system Remember now PSU requirements are down for higher performance. If you dodge the SSD and go for gaming performance this is a very good option

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

I would bet that the Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 even overclock is already bottlenecking the GTX 560ti. Going from an Intel Core 2 Quad to a 1st generation Intel Core i5 should yeild around 15% to 20%. From the 1st generation Intel Core i5 to a 2nd generation Intel Core i5 you get maybe 10% to 15% improvement in performance. From the 2nd generation Intel Core i5 to the 3rd generation Intel Core i5 would give around 6% and all of these are at the same speed. So really you are looking at a 30%+ performance by going from the old processor to the Intel Core i5-3570K and then whatever you can get from overclocking of it.

I would say that you will see more performance improvement from a new board and processor.

 

[tempestblayze]

So either way it seems that a CPU upgrade will definitely be beneficial.

It does seem to be a dilemma. Maybe a compromise is in order. Go with the CPU upgrade and downgrade the 670 to 660ti and sell my 560ti to compensate.

What would be a good sale price for the used EVGA 560ti FPB 1gb?

 

[spentshells]

I did see a pretty great review you may want to look at this just give me a moment you might be suprised with the results.

 

[spentshells]

http://www.ocaholic.ch/xoops/html/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=817&page=7

It's german or something but the results will likely shock you

If games are the priority a 670 seems to be the much better option.

 

[Au_equus]

So either way it seems that a CPU upgrade will definitely be beneficial.

It does seem to be a dilemma. Maybe a compromise is in order. Go with the CPU upgrade and downgrade the 670 to 660ti and sell my 560ti to compensate.

What would be a good sale price for the used EVGA 560ti FPB 1gb?

$110-120 (USD)
IMHO, get the 7950, but if you're going green, then the 660ti.
How much are you spending on the upgrade?

 

[idiotekniques]

i had a Q6600 G0 stepping oc'd to 3.3ghz with a 5850 1gb card, 4GB of ram.

Playing BF3 at 1900x1200 i had to play with everything on low to get decent fps that stayed aroudn 30-40fps - but often enough closer to 30fps.

i swapped in an i53570K, 16gb of ram on an Asrock z77 extreme4 mobo, stuck with the same 5850 card and now in BF3 with everything on High and Ultra I get 45-60fps (v-sync is on) and closer to 60fps more often than not.

going from a q6600 to an i5 was a huge upgrade gaming wise for me.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

upgrade the cpu. your current cpu is already bottlenecking your gtx560. I found even with a 6850, going from a 3.5ghz Q6600 to i5 3570 there was a very noticeable improvement in FPS in most games.

 

[twelve25]

q6600 to i5-2310 was a HUGE upgrade even in slightly older games like bad company 2 and on a 5770. 560 Ti is a pretty decent graphics card, but 6600 is way outdated.