Is the Intel i5 3340 still good for gaming

georgea

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Feb 23, 2015
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Hello.

I decided to upgrade my system since I bought recently DA:I and it's unplayable. I'm on a tight budget though so I'll do it gradually starting with a new CPU.

My question is whether the i5 3340 still good for at least a year or so before I built a proper gaming machine.

To my knowledge, any 4 core processor is good to go, and I do plan on buying a 750ti card plus psu next month. But I want to be sure.

My current rig (it's quite bad):
Intel Pentium G2030
H61 mobo
Geforce GT220
350W-450W psu (can't remember)

Thanks.
 


So any i5 would do? I'm cutting budget wherever I can.
Is the r7 260 much better 'cause I heard the 750ti is quite power-efficient and that's the main reason I want it.
 


I know and I'm waiting to build a rig with Broadwell.



It's going to the attic the moment I get a new card next month.
 

The i5 is fine. There is very little difference between 3rd and 4th gen intel cpus (~5% max.). R7 265 is better than a 750ti. It is true that the 750ti is more power efficient, but it only adds up to a few more $ per year on your electricity bill, and the 265 doesn't produce excess amounts of heat/require excess amounts of power anyway. The 750ti is only really a good choice when you are limited by power supply wattage or case size, otherwise the 265 (or the 260X) is the price/performance king.
 


Thanks, I'd look into it.
You didn't answer my question though. Would any Ivy Bridge i5 do, say, is there a different in gaming between a 3470 and a 3330?

 

Sorry. The only difference is clock speeds, which don't make a huge difference - especially when it is between 3.3ghz and 3.4ghz for example. Max dip in performance will be ~5fps in a cpu limited game. Just get whichever is cheaper.
 
yeah get whichever ivy bridge i5 is cheaper, and the 750ti is good for not consuming much power, it'll do BF4 multiplayer on ultra even with the taxing msaa on...turning that off would help even more. What's your exact power supply? If it's just an OEM one, just get the 750ti, if you get a gpu that sucks alot of power it could blow and kill the whole computer.

BF4 750ti gameplay, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL6iN-DUJCw

you don't need a haswell, see if there's even a cheap used sandy bridge locked i5 on ebay, I've seen them for $100 before. CPU improvements have stagnated since sandy bridge in 2011 anyway tbh, no real world usage in gaming between sandy ivy and haswell, 10% improvement to ivy and maybe ~6% improvement to a haswell. Some of the haswells like the i5 4440s are clocked lower than the ivys and sandy bridges, so honestly it balances out lol.....you can save alot of money just getting a sandy bridge i5