Which Intel i5 Ivy Bridge is best on a budget

[dokholiday]

Hi, I'm trying to build a gaming rig and I decided to go with an Intel i5. Which Ivy Bridge model for i5 is the best? Are there big differences between them?

For gaming, typically run League of Legends, Civ5, and Guild Wars 2.

Thanks!

 

[Skern]

If I can remember correctly Intel Core i5-3320M gives you the most for your money out of the Ivy Bridge series.

 

[Hazle]

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/cpu/#sort=a8&s=12
currently, an i5-3330 or 3350P. though if this is a brand new build, consider getting a haswell i5-4440/4430 (whichever's cheaper at the time), for a few dollars more, and for a small performance gain worthy of those few dollars.

LoL & GW2 aren't all that demanding. Civ V i hear is slightly more demanding, but should still be playable with whatever you pick among the above, provided you got a decent graphics card to go with it.

 

[dokholiday]

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/cpu/#sort=a8&s=12
currently, an i5-3330 or 3350P. though if this is a brand new build, consider getting a haswell i5-4440/4430 (whichever's cheaper at the time), for a few dollars more, and for a small performance gain worthy of those few dollars.

LoL & GW2 aren't all that demanding. Civ V i hear is slightly more demanding, but should still be playable with whatever you pick among the above, provided you got a decent graphics card to go with it.

It's brand new for core components (CPU, mobo, GPU), the rest of the stuff I'm using from my first rig (ram, HD, power supply). The 4440/4430 has better performance than the 3330, then?

Yea, those games are pretty soft, but I'd like to leave room for something bigger down the road. Not Crysis or BF, just mid-range.

 

[Silver Wolf]

I am on a tight budget myself. I chose a little more expensive of a i5 (i5-3470) but there were used i5-3440's for like $75-100ish and new ones for about $150ish. I spent $190 on my i5-3470 and love it.

 

[dokholiday]

I am on a tight budget myself. I chose a little more expensive of a i5 (i5-3470) but there were used i5-3440's for like $75-100ish and new ones for about $150ish. I spent $190 on my i5-3470 and love it.

That's interesting, I was reading a wicked good thread on TH about the getting an IB or Haswell i5 and now I'm second guessing everything! I know that the price difference is minimal but so is the performance gain, apparently, does anyone have anything reassuring to say about going IB over Haswell? It's still what I'm leaning towards but the forums are confusing my mind.

 

[Hazle]

when building from scratch, unless the IB i5 comes at a real low price MUCH cheaper than the cheapest Haswell i5, it's kinda recommended to go with the latest for a few dollars more with a bit more gain. but if you prefer to save that few dollars, than IB's the next best choice.

if this was an upgrade from Sandy Bridge, Haswell just isn't worth it. even if you have an 1156 i5, you may be better off waiting for the next gen of CPUs.

my i5-3330 + 670 build i currently have is only a few months old (before this an i5-2310+6870. GPU died, & i really felt like building from scratch), the cpu much slower than an i5-3470. despite being a real demanding game, ACIV runs great at the highest setting, though i doubt it's running at a solid 60fps. was it worth the money? yes. would i've been happier with Haswell? probably. did i regret not getting Haswell? NOPE.