Should i buy an i5 2500 in 2017?

[Alexander Cuki]

Hi all, im not a big CPU guy so i need some help because i plan to purchase a new one. These are my specs

RX 460 2gb OC
i3 3240 3,4Ghz
motherboard gigabyte ga p61-s3
8gb RAM
Win 10

I need something that will not bottleneck my GPU like my current CPU does, and i think that i5 2500 is a good choice but im not sure since its a very old CPU. Also i want the two of them to utilize each other to max performance. Thanks in advance!

 

[Hellfire13]

It wont bottleneck, but the upgrade is not worth it. I would rather go for a 2nd gen. i7 or a 3rd gen. i5 atleast.

 

[Yamitime]

Your motherboard can handle some i7 cpu's too . Plenty of choice and the only thing you have to buy is a cpu .

 

[gopher1369]

It would be worth it if the price is right, but you would probably be better off going for an i5 3570. It's not a great deal faster, but with the age of Sandybridge/Ivybridge you really want the fastest your motherboard can support.

Yes an i7 is faster, but even old and used the i7s are still really expensive. You can get a 3570 fairly cheaply on Ebay.

 

[Alexander Cuki]

Thanks guys!

 

[geofelt]

I3-3240@3.4 is a quite good gaming processor with 4 threads.

I am not at all convinced that buying a I5-2500@3.3 is a step up.
You will get the benefit only when your cpu usage across all 4 threads is very high.

Some games are graphics limited like fast action shooters.
Others are cpu core speed limited like strategy, sims, and mmo.
Multiplayer with many participants tend to like many threads.

You need to find out which.
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To help clarify your CPU/GPU options, run these two tests:

a) Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You should also experiment with removing one or more cores. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option.
You will need to reboot for the change to take effect. Set the number of processors to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many threads.
If you see little difference, your game does not need all the threads you have.



It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system,
and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.
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If you decide you need more cpu, look to 7th gen intel if buying new. You will also need a lga1151 motherboard and ddr4 ram.
Your motherboard has no upgrade options giving stronger single thread performance.
Even the strongest cpu upgrade your motherboard can support,( the i7-3770K) does not offer the single thread performance of a modern G4620.