Core i5 3570 stock performance's good for demanding games at 1080p?

[vanguard27]

Or buying the K version is just an overkill?

 

[BSim500]

Or buying the K version is just an overkill?

I have an i5-3570 (non K). Stock performance is just fine (with a decent GFX card of course). On a Z77 board, you're not limited to stock perf though and can hit a potential max 4.2GHz. Non-K i5's Ivy's aren't "locked" like i3's, they're "limited OC". You're still looking at +800MHz over stock (max Turbo + 4-bins) though:-

i5-3570 normal Turbo = 3.8GHz 1-2T / 3.7GHz 3T / 3.6GHz 4T

+ 400MHz limited OC on a Z77 board of Sandy & Ivy Bridge's (though not Haswell's) = max Turbo of 4.2GHz 1-2T / 4.1GHz 3T / 4.0GHz 4T.

If your motherboard has "Multicore Enhancement", it could potentially have a max OC of 4.2GHz under all loads. I've done just that with mine, and never felt the need for a K chip for 4.4GHz, etc, it's just so fast even at 3.8-4.0GHz. Technically if you added 2.5-5% BCLK, you could reach 4.3-4.4GHz - best to just aim for a stable 4.2GHz though keeping BCLK @ 100Mhz. All you need to do is literally set your multiplier to 42x, enable MCE & Turbo Boost and that's it. Most can hit 4.2GHz stock voltage. Likewise, an i5-3470 can hit 4.0GHz, and an i5-3350P can hit 3.7GHz the same way, for even bigger bargains.

 

[OCGuy]

Yes

 

[TeknoBug]

Even my i5 3550 does just fine, though overclocked to 3.9GHz with an ASRock board (Asus can do it too).

 

[videogames101]

yes

 

[pyjujiop]

Any recent Intel i5 desktop CPU or better--Sandy, Ivy, or Haswell--will get the job done.

 

[escrow4]

Technically excluding multiplayer shooters, RTS's and sloppy ports (I'm looking at you Crysis 3), where overclocking helps but depends on you if its worth it. I'm running a non K 4770 in my gaming box. Never really liked overclocking. Too much effort for little gain. Plus that 4770 stock settings hits 3.7GHz across all cores, and seeing as most games are 2-3 cores at best, its more like 3.8GHz. Seeing as an overclock would give me roughly 500MHz on top of that, meh, not worth it.

 

[Blue_Max]

Any i5 (from the classic 2400 and up) are perfect for gaming.

Not just adequate - perfect. If you have a 3570 now, don't bother with replacing the chip - it's not worth the trouble and expense since what you have is perfectly good.

 

[Tequila]

Any i5 (from the classic 2400 and up) are perfect for gaming.

Not just adequate - perfect. If you have a 3570 now, don't bother with replacing the chip - it's not worth the trouble and expense since what you have is perfectly good.

Even my i5-760 Lynnfield is still doing well. Most recent game is ESO with everything maxed and it is very smooth.

 

[NewYorksFinest]

It will fine as long as you don't cheap on the graphics card.

 

[toyota]

what is the goal here? a stock 3570 will most certainly not fully push a high end video card in every game. a few games will not even stay above 60 fps. and why would you be buying a 3570 or 3570k? do you already have the mobo? if not then go 4670k. personally I would go 4770k if budget is not tight as Crysis 3 just drove me crazy in spots dipping into 40s with a 2500k at 4.4. and yes I am referring to the cpu limited areas. It pushes my oced 4770k to 80% at times.