Is Core i5-2500 (non k) @ 3.30GHz still a good choice for new games?

[saif magdob]

My PC Specs:


Processor: Intel Core i5-2500 (non k) @ 3.30GHz

Memory: DDR3 8GB

Motherboard: GA-Z77X-UD3H

Graphic card: GALAXY GTX 650 1GB

PSU: EVGA 430W

Resolution: 1920x1080

 

[ShadyHamster]

It really depends on your expectations, other hardware and resolution you game it.
Pared with your current GPU it's a perfectly fine CPU.
It will start to bottleneck if you upgrade your GPU in the future to something more powerful or looking to game at 120hz+ at 1080p.

 

[norcalsc]

Bf1 will choke it

 

[need4speeds]

It's pretty good if you stick with 1080p gaming. A video card upgrade will help. A GTX1060 would be pretty good with that cpu.

 

[nikoli707]

the 2500(non k) is starting to show its age. that said, if you pair it with a gtx1060 or rx580 for regular 1080p@60 gaming, you wouldn't likely see any significant gaming performance increase even if you upgraded to an 8700k/2700x. sure there would be a few games that would return some smoother gameplay, but it wouldn't be a deal breaker. if you can tolerate the non gaming cpu performance now and all the inferior chipset features, you can still get another couple years of gaming performance out of the 2500.

 

[dontlistentome]

There are already games that need more CPU, either in cores or threads. This will only increase as time goes on.

Since you already have this setup I'd say a videocard upgrade is worth it for MOST games. A 1gb 650 won't cut it at 1080p, it's not really great for 720p either. Look for a 2gb DDR5 card of at least GTX 660 level, or AMD HD 7870 level. A card like that would match up well with your CPU. Newer cards, like a GTX 1050, use less power and so are more desirable considering your power supply. I'd say a 1050 Ti is the most card you should get for that system, considering prices today.

To give you an idea of what I'd suggest depending on the games you play, Overwatch and Fortnite- 1050 GTX or similar is great. PUBG- 1050 Ti. Assassin's Creed Origins, Far Cry 5, Battlefield 1 multiplayer- you need more CPU and videocard to really get good performance.

 

[Scott_130]

Should be good. I'm still rocking the I5 3470 1050TI.

 

[gamerk316]

The older i5's are starting to show their age a bit. While still capable, it's hard to justify a new build based on the i5 2500.

 

[mdd1963]

for new games, no. For that matter, any i5 that starts with a number less than 7xxx is even becoming somewhat challenged/disadvantaged, as 4c/4t is feeling the ages of time.

 

[nikoli707]

i used my 2500k@4.5ghz with a 980ti and didnt have any issues that i could notice. sure, the upgrade to the 8700k smoothed a few games out but for the most part my gaming didnt change much.

since you have a z77 board, you can overclock the non "k" 2500 by as much as 4 bins:
4 cores:3.8
3 cores:3.9
2 cores:4.0
1 core: 4.1

You can watch plenty of videos of 2500k vs 8700k paired with gtx1080s, even gtx1080tis, and make the call. most games make no difference with a few aaa titles gaining 10-20% fps. i firmly believe a bin overclocked non k 2500 could handle a gtx1060/rx580 with minimal cpu bottleneck at 1080@60. but since you have an evga 430w psu, you would be better off getting a single 6 pin gtx1050ti, though i do believe there are some single 6 pin gtx1060s. otherwise if you feel compelled it is going to cost you somewhere around $500 on an r5 2600/i5 8400 system without gpu since basically nothing except for the psu and hard drives can be reused in a new build.