Question I5 to i7 or 8gb to 16gb RAM

[JamesCorvin]

Hey guys! I want to upgrade my pc for gaming. I now have an i5 3570 and 8gb ddr3 1600mhz and i want to know if its worth going to i7 3770 and wait a bit for more ram or upgrade ram first. Im using a gtx 970. Im playing games like Ac Odyssey ,re2 remastered and i want to get rage 2. Thanks!

 

[InvalidError]

Overall result is that HT doesn't help in gaming while tendency is HT actually hurting the game performance. Sure, there are few exceptions but rather than arguing with me over HT, go argue with the study if you don't like it's results.

Since Ryzen's launch revealed a bunch of scheduling issues in Windows and popular games then took the better part of a year for those to get sorted out, I'd disregard any benchmarks older than 2018 as likely outdated. While many have updated their benchmarks in late 2017 to account for Windows and game updates, none of the usual suspects appear to have bothered re-testing SMT on vs off.

 

[Bearmann]

This site predicts that at high quality you won't see any appreciable difference with the CPU upgrade:

https://www.gpucheck.com/compare/nv...70-3-40ghz-vs-intel-core-i7-3770-3-40ghz/high

I agree with Aeacus that your best bet is probably to save up for a RAM/CPU/MoBo upgrade.

 

[Bearmann]

You know, it could be better just to get an SSD and that makes the computer feel NEW and fast. The HDD is normally the thing that slows your computer down, even more than just 8GB of ram.
What is your boot drive?

Yes, it will boot up faster and load the game faster, but that won't affect the actual gaming will it? Once the game is loaded into the RAM, it won't access the hard drive unless there was insufficient RAM to hold the game, right?

 

[InvalidError]

Yes, it will boot up faster and load the game faster, but that won't affect the actual gaming will it? Once the game is loaded into the RAM, it won't access the hard drive unless there was insufficient RAM to hold the game, right?

Pretty much. An SSD will allow any swapping that may be required to happen faster but still not fast enough to avoid stutter when they do. Also, depending on how tight on RAM you are, this extra swapping will cause unnecessary wear on the SSD.

IMO, there is no substitute to having a comfortable amount of spare RAM, which is why I put 32GB of DDR3-1600 in my i5-3470 seven years ago. (At $180 for 32GB back then, this is still less than half the least amount I had ever spent on RAM on my previous systems, easy decision.)

 

[JamesCorvin]

Sorry i did not reply to a lot of people here. I do have an ssd (240gb). Also i see ram usage going to @ 5.8 Gb in demaning games (RivaTuner was used). Since i have just 8 i assume the rest is used by windows and background apps(steam,uplay) Saving for a newer mobo+cpu is out of the question atm...i will first get 8 more Gb of ram. Need to find some cl9 kingston at 1333 mhz tho. My mobo is asus p8b85-m.Will using kingston cl11 1600 mhz work? Asking since thats what i found at a store nearby.

 

[Bearmann]

Sorry i did not reply to a lot of people here. I do have an ssd (240gb). Also i see ram usage going to @ 5.8 Gb in demaning games (RivaTuner was used). Since i have just 8 i assume the rest is used by windows and background apps(steam,uplay) Saving for a newer mobo+cpu is out of the question atm...i will first get 8 more Gb of ram. Need to find some cl9 kingston at 1333 mhz tho. My mobo is asus p8b85-m.Will using kingston cl11 1600 mhz work? Asking since thats what i found at a store nearby.

It is best to add RAM exactly like what is already there, but even then, it may not play well together. Sometimes the voltages and other things can be adjusted to make them work together. There's no way to know until you try it. The best is to buy a matched kit of 16 GB (2 x 8 GB.) Maybe you can sell what you have and buy a new kit of 16 GB. If you buy locally, will they let you bring it back if it doesn't work for you?

 

[JamesCorvin]

It is best to add RAM exactly like what is already there, but even then, it may not play well together. Sometimes the voltages and other things can be adjusted to make them work together. There's no way to know until you try it. The best is to buy a matched kit of 16 GB (2 x 8 GB.) Maybe you can sell what you have and buy a new kit of 16 GB. If you buy locally, will they let you bring it back if it doesn't work for you?

The guy at the store said its 90% chance it will work and if not i can take them back and get 2 sticks of 8 Gb.Will have to wait until tuesday for the memory to arrive tho

 

[Bearmann]

The guy at the store said its 90% chance it will work and if not i can take them back and get 2 sticks of 8 Gb.Will have to wait until tuesday for the memory to arrive tho

Sounds like a plan

 

[JamesCorvin]

Hey guys! so i installed two additional sticks of 4 gb (kingston cl 11 1600MHZ) on top of my 8 gb (2x4 cl 9 1333 ,also kingston) and the uefi set all 4 sticks to cl9 1333 MHZ. i did two bench tests on Ac Odyssey and got 51 frames average the first time and 47 the second time and i can already tell it's a bit better; the average fps went up and the stutter went waaay down. i'm now installing the game on the ssd and i will check again.
for now i'm ok with the 3570 and i'll postpone the cpu upgrade;

I want to thank you all for the effort and time you took to respond !