[SOLVED] Upgrading old build: Xeon E3 1280 vs i5 3570k vs i7 3770k?

[m-mag]

Hi there,

I opened a thread some time ago: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...-2100-pc-opportunities-is-there-hope.3587857/ as I wanted to upgrade my PC.

Specs:

• Gigabyte PH67A-D3-B3 (H67 but without a graphics card on-board) (https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-PH67A-D3-B3-rev-10/support#support-cpu )
• Intel i3 2100 Sandy Bridge socket 1155 LGA @ 3.1GHz, L3 Cache 3MB
• Memory 2 sticks: 2x4GB (a Kingstone HyperX and a Patriot, I think one was 1066 and another was 1333 so running @1066)
• PSU: CoolerMaster 500W
• HDD (yes, not SSD) 1TB SSD 500 GB Samsung 860 EVO
• GPU: Gigabyte nVidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (don't think I'll upgrade this for now, and it will be bottlenecked by other components)

I ordered RAM 2x8GB (still not delivered), got an SSD and feel things are doing fine. Now I want better performance when it comes to daily tasks, virtual machines (I'm a developer) and gaming. So I'm trying to balance those!

So I concluded my mobo could support up to the three CPUs: Upgrading old build: Xeon E3 1280 (or Xeon E3 1290) (Not V2 nor V3) vs i5 3570k vs i7 3770k.

I'm a little puzzled.

1. Is it worth it?
2. Which do you think will provide better performance vs. money? Most of the i7 3770k I found on eBay are too expensive for such an old CPU. I found some Xeons but not all the models are there (only the E3 1280 I could find with a reasonable price ($49))

PS. I know my mobo doesn't allow overclocking (does it?) but I been told the K version has marginal better performance. (And I know I'll lose OC completely if I get the Xeon's)

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

 

[mangaman]

The Xeon is not over clockable, but with prices going anywhere from 40-70 dollars, its an absolute bargain compared to the i7. Both the i7 and Xeon have 4 cores and 8 threads, but with the K series, you can overclock the i7 and i5.

The i5 processor is overclockable, but has no hyper-threading and is only 4 cores 4 threads, where as the Xeon and i7 are both 4 cores and 8 threads. The extra 4 threads help out quite a bit today with games and programs.

Looking at the wiki page, H67 only supports the onboard graphics overclocking. If you could overclock the CPU, you would be very limited.

With all of that in mind, the Xeon would be your best bet. The i7 is just too expensive and the i5 is only a 4 threaded CPU. The E3 1290 can get on the expensive side at times, but if you can find either at 40-70 dollars, go for the Xeon.