Should I get an i7 2700k or an i7 3770k?

[TheDoctorIsIn]

I have noticed recently that a lot of newer games are being more demanding on CPU power, more so now that because of this, my Galaxy GTX 670 SLI is being prevented from reaching their true potential. I know my processor is being bottlenecked, as in most games, I have MSI Afterburner running as well, and I have the overlay show me some information about my GPU. My frame rate, for example, in Metro 2033 running in my native resolution on 1920x1080 barely reaches the 50 fps mark on Very High settings, and GPU usage is shown to not be anywhere near 100%. If I turn down the resolution to 1280x720, however, frame rates skyrocket to over 120, with GPU usage being higher. If I am correct, this means that my framerate and my GPU usage was low because the GPU sits idle while it waits for the CPU to process the frame to be rendered? Long story short, I'm thinking it's time to upgrade my i5 2300.

So after doing a bunch of research on shiny new i7's, the 3700k caught my eye, but upon further inspection, my mobo is compatible at the most recent with the i7 2700k. What I'm wondering, is should I go for the 2700k now, or save up for a new mobo that is compatible with the 3770k? My current budget is limited (18 years and senior in high school), but I could afford the 2700k now. I may or may not be over clocking the new CPU, I have never really over clocked anything before (besides the old family PC's GPU, which was only by maybe 10Hz on an integrated graphics card from 2004). I am aware that only the k-variants of Intel CPU's are overclockable, which is why I want to get one, just in case I do end up OC-ing it down the road.

My current specs:
Intel i5 2300 @2.8ghz
Galaxy GeForce GTX 670 SLI
8gb DDR3 Corsair Vengeance
Liquid Cooling System, as well as air cooling (so heat shouldn't be a problem)
750w Power Supply

Apologies for the wall of text, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Cons29]

well, you have a 2.8ghz cpu, it will bottleneck an sli.
pair it with a good "k" cpu and overclock it. im loving my 2500k, upgrading did not even cross my mind despite the ivy and current cpu's

 

[AlexSmith96]

You have an LGA 1155 motherboard. The Intel i7 3770k is also an LGA 1155 socket CPU. Your current motherboard can support it. Its an excellent gaming and overclocking performer and is the best CPU compatible in your mobo.

 

[Kraszmyl]

The sandybridge will be more overclockable than the ivybridge and the ivybridge will be slightly faster clock for clock.

If you don't care about temps and overclocking I would suggest the ivy bridge and save yourself the money and get the non-k, if you wish to get into overclocking then get the sandybridge.

 

[zink1701]

Do not use that game to test frame rates on anything, its well known that Metro 2033 is poorly optimized and even on the the best cards (at the time) people were getting crappy frame rates. As for the CPU unless you are going to do a lot of video encoding ect go for the cheaper option (but if you have the cash to burn then buy the better CPU 😀). I have a i5 2500k CPU (overclocked) with a GTX 680, I have never had any bottlenecks with this setup. If you are getting the K series then DO overclock it from the start even if its a little. Buy a cheap cooler (EVO 212) and OC from day 1.

 

[TheDoctorIsIn]

Metro 2033 isn't the only game it does this in, I was merely using it as an example. It also does this in games such as Battlefield Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4 (Oh, God does it do it in Battlefield 4. Auto sets it to mostly high settings, GeForce Experience recommends everything Ultra, lucky to get stable framerate over 60 on Operation Locker TDM on low), TF2, Crysis, Crysis 2, almost any game you could shake a virtual stick at.

 

[Kraszmyl]

Ya your 2.8 is definitely limiting you there no one is really disputing that. However you don't really need an I7, that being said it cant hurt if you can afford the extra 100$ to throw at it either.

It really just comes down to getting a sandy or ivy cpu. As mentioned earlier the sandy will overclock better and give you better thermals but the ivy has a minor clock for clock advantage and higher base/turbos out of the box.

So you should be targeting a 2500k , 2600k, 2700k, or 3770 cpu. If you want to really burn some money and don't care for overclocking then you can look at the e3-1280v2.

Edit

Comparison Chart

http://ark.intel.com/compare/65725,65719,61275,52214,52210,52206

 

[lazyboy947]

your not going to see a real benefit when going with an i7 over an i5 for gaming, and as u said money is a little problem even though u can afford it, should u get it lol, personally i'd go i7, just me, and at this point in time go with the 3770k unless u can get the 2700k for quite a bit lower. If u dont want to overclock or if so only a little, consider the xeon 1230 v2/v1, their the SB and IB based and are basically a standard i7 with the same clock speeds with no integrated gpu a few more sever oriented features and still a quad core with HT and all the reg i7 features and specs other than the igpu and is not a K edition part, but can OC normally to the turbo boost via the BLCK or FSB or something like that. The xeon usually goes for $230 the price of a i5, unless u want to overclock and know for sure ur going to then go with the K part, and whether u want i5 or i7. even tho u have an i5 its surely the clock speed holding u back

The performance difference from SB to IB is noticable but not a whole lot, when it comes down to it, get what one is cheaper and if not cheaper by alot then go newer. Unless ur current board doesnt have an update or support for IB cpus then obviously stick to SB.

U can attempt to overclock the 2300 to something like 3.4 but is surely more tricky than with the unlock k cpus.

 

[TheDoctorIsIn]

Alright, so since i7's don't have a huge performance increase over i5's (I could have sworn i7's were your best bet for gaming, something to do with the architecture?) and I spotted the i5 3570k on Newegg for $229USD. This is well within my current budget, and seems to be a fairly good improvement over my current one. I'd prefer to get an unlocked processor, that way I can hold off on upgrading it a bit longer and overclock it instead.
The i5 I found is here:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504
Would this still severely bottleneck my GPU, if at all? My main concern is being able to run my games at my native resolution with as little lag as I can manage (anything less than 60 fps is bad in my book, so I start to turn down graphics and resolution until I find the sweet spot). For example, with my current build, in 1920x1080, Battlefield 4 runs, well, poorly to say the least. Had to fiddle with it and run at 1280x720 on low with the 32-bit version to get decent frame rates (I have a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium) I'm aware that Windows 8 helps, but I'd rather steer clear of that. Mother got it on her laptop and she thought it was abysmal. Besides, my friend and I play the game together, my graphics setup is more powerful than his as far as I know, but his game runs fine, which led me to believe it was a processor problem. I know that the CPU is responsible for the resolution you play at, but even turning the resolution to what I believe was 800x600 (Ew.) Framerates were still bad, and changing the graphics settings did nothing either (low GPU usage rearing its ugly head again), so this is what really put me in the market for a new processor. Mine was ancient and begging for an upgrade anyway.

Tangents aside, will the processor I linked earlier allow me to play most games at 1920x1080 without bottlenecking?

 

[AlexSmith96]

Chances are that it will bottleneck. Best CPU match for 670 SLI by game-debate.com is i7 3770k. Its significantly 26% faster than i5 3570k. Please consider buying atleast that.

 

[TheDoctorIsIn]

I'm thinking that since due to my current situation as far as income, being able to just barely afford the i7 3770k, I should get the i5 3570k for almost $100 cheaper, and then further on down the road, if I feel it's time for another upgrade, go for the i7 3770k or whatever would be better for me at the time? Any thoughts?

 

[AlexSmith96]

Just remember one thing. The i7 may have advantage over i5 in the future as i7 has the Hyperthreading Technology.
You can see Benchmarks online.
Battlefield 4
i5 4670k - 31fps
i7 4770k - 40 fps
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Core_i5_4670K_and_i7_4770K_Comparison/