i3-560 vs i5-760 - strictly gaming

[UaVaj]

looking to build a gaming rig for the kid. ram is 8gb. video card is a 560ti. a 580 just became availble, if either of these cpu can keep up with it. already have a 1156 mb so lets keep it between these two.

i3-560
3.33GHz
L1 64kb+64kb
L2 512kb
L3 4096kb

or

i5-760
2.8GHz to 3.33GHz
L1 128kb+128kb
L2 1024kb
L3 8192kb

overall specs alone clearly say i5 for general usage.

since this is strictly gaming, looking for tested reviews to solidify end results. especially regarding minimun frame rate numbers. for popular games such as: bf3, crysis 2, metro, cod, wow, sc2.

 

[Zodiark1593]

i5, then ramp up the clock speed some. With a decent cooler and a 4.0+ GHz overclock, the 1st gen i5 is a very respectable chip.

 

[tynopik]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/143?vs=191

 

[AtenRa]

i5-760 all the way, although an OverClocked Core i3 560 would be fine too.

 

[Puppies04]

The quad core (I5) is going to be better especially in BF3 and any future games that make use of quad cores.

Pretty much any benchmarks you find are going to show you this, google is your friend.

 

[Haider]

Hmmm sounds interesting as I need balance a tight budget and build. I'm old school overclocker i.e. Pentium (original) where the FSB and multipliers were unlocked and usually meant tuning the vcore of the cpu and getting a good heatsink and fan on, picking an Asus motherboard and you were there. Now you have power supplies, all sorts coming into play. Any guides anyone can recommend i.e. well written and informative...

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I5 without a shadow of doubt

 

[nforce4max]

i5 hands down and it what I am using right now, better yet it is the last of the easy overclocking with the locked multipliers. Also it will overpower any dual core around in any threaded workload without the sky high power consumption of the alternatives.
3.5ghz is easy even with stock voltage and power consumption doesn't greatly increase until you push higher. Will easily turbo to 4ghz on all 4 cores when temps allow depending on the board.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

I would have to say the Intel® Core™ i5-760 which was one of the more popular of the 1st generation Intel Core processors for gaming.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Yup, overclocked i5-760 will suit the 580 quite nicely.

 

[biostud]

i5+o/c like mine

 

[SPBHM]

I would have to say the Intel® Core™ i5-760 which was one of the more popular of the 1st generation Intel Core processors for gaming.

it was the lowest cost option for a while, the dual core i3/i5s was released later, the i5 7xx is exactly like the 1156 i7's but without HT,
the 6xx and 5xx CPUs were made using the 32nm process and with an external memory controller + IGP...

the 760 is a superior CPU, it's a better choice, but the i3 when overclocked should still be enough.

 

[UaVaj]

given the 3.33GHz variants. same generation i3-560 or i5-760 and even i7-950 yield very similar results (fps) when it comes to gaming performance in today's current titles.

since most of today's game only utilize 2 core. an i3 will be just fine. an i5 will be nice for future proofing when future games do utilize more than 2 core. an i7 is simply not necessary for gaming.

for more performance off 2 core. over clock to 4GHz+ is a must. most games' performance gains seem to level off at this speed/level.



this is my general consensus from reading/researching multiple reviews.

 

[Mars999]

get the quad, forget the dual core

 

[2is]

given the 3.33GHz variants. same generation i3-560 or i5-760 and even i7-950 yield very similar results (fps) when it comes to gaming performance in today's current titles.

since most of today's game only utilize 2 core. an i3 will be just fine. an i5 will be nice for future proofing when future games do utilize more than 2 core. an i7 is simply not necessary for gaming.

for more performance off 2 core. over clock to 4GHz+ is a must. most games' performance gains seem to level off at this speed/level.



this is my general consensus from reading/researching multiple reviews.

When was the last time you researched games and # of threads they used? It would seem like it was at least 7 years ago based on this post. The amount of games that use more than two cores is immense.

 

[Puppies04]

Hmmm sounds interesting as I need balance a tight budget and build. I'm old school overclocker i.e. Pentium (original) where the FSB and multipliers were unlocked and usually meant tuning the vcore of the cpu and getting a good heatsink and fan on, picking an Asus motherboard and you were there. Now you have power supplies, all sorts coming into play. Any guides anyone can recommend i.e. well written and informative...

Not a lot has changed if you are going to get the I5 760. The later model "I" chips changed things but you don't have to worry about that.

A Decent PSU and Mobo has always been a good idea for any kind of OCing. You need good solid and "clean" power if you are going to pump extra juice through a CPU.

As for aftermarket heatsinks, you will find you get more headroom for OCing higher if you upgrade from the standard intel one but reasonable OCs can still be implemented using the standard CPU cooler.

There are loads of guides online, here for example.....

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-750-overclock,2438.html

Have a read and see what other results google throws up then come back here if you hae any further questions.

 

[UaVaj]

When was the last time you researched games and # of threads they used? It would seem like it was at least 7 years ago based on this post. The amount of games that use more than two cores is immense.

do note the difference between (1) fully using a core and (2) passing a little over flow.

download hwinfo and see for yourself. do not have to take my word for it.



it would be so nice if current games able to "FULLY" take advantage of all available core. then instead of building this value i3/i5 system. would be building a dual processor i7-3970X all out system instead for myself and give the kid the current system. could only imagine the performance with all 12 core core being utilized to 100%. would not even have to OC (which i am against - unless necessary).

 

[2is]

It doesn't have to "fully" use 4 cores to see a marked improvement over a dual core. Almost all the games I play today are massively better performing under a quad core over a dual core. And many games that don't "fully" use 4 cores is merely because they don't need to as they'll hit an FPS cap due to a GPU bottleneck before being able to fully load all cores, particularly if you're talking about more powerful quads like i5's and i7's. That doesn't mean there isn't a noticeable improvement.

Then there's the games that do fall into your example, poor threaded performance, buy why castrate yourself with a dual core because of those games? It's not like you're losing performance with a quad, and you still get the benefits of better performance in games that will utilize 3+ cores, of which there are plenty.

In the end, it's your money. If you've managed to convince yourself a dual core is all you need, despite quite literally, everyone in this thread recommending otherwise, go for it. You may have saved a few bucks in the short run, but at the cost of worse performance, significantly worse for many games, and an earlier upgrade path which negates your short run savings.

 

[UaVaj]

i5-760 ~$125
i3-560 ~$75

the sweet spot for gaming today is 2.5 core.



btw. i did go the extra $50. only time will tell if i will ever make use of that $50. chances are. when games do finally catches up with utilizing more than 2 core. there will be something else newer with better IPC and this quad core will be obsolete. just like the pentium D. although dual core. cannot keep up with an i3.



for those that are on a tight budget. a dual core i3 will be plenty.
for those that are not on a budget. a quad core i5 is a nice luxury to have.

 

[ShintaiDK]

i5 760. The 560 also suffers from the old FSB style conenction to the Ironlake chipset on the CPU package.

 

[Mars999]

Unreal Engine 3 is one example plus Supreme Commander, Crysis ect... many new games support more than one core or two. But last I checked 3 cores was sweet spot

 

[2is]

i5-760 ~$125
i3-560 ~$75

the sweet spot for gaming today is 2.5 core.



btw. i did go the extra $50. only time will tell if i will ever make use of that $50. chances are. when games do finally catches up with utilizing more than 2 core. there will be something else newer with better IPC and this quad core will be obsolete. just like the pentium D. although dual core. cannot keep up with an i3.



for those that are on a tight budget. a dual core i3 will be plenty.
for those that are not on a budget. a quad core i5 is a nice luxury to have.

Kinda of my whole point is that games don't really "need" to catch up, they're already there.

Assissins Creed
Black Ops
Black Ops II
BFBC2
BF3
Dirt 3
F1 2012
Shift 2
Gotham City Imposters
Dues EX: HR

These are all the games I've played in the last year, and every single one used more than 2 cores. What games are you playing that don't?