intel i3 or i5?

**Tilitoon** · 03-04-2012, 14:10

If you are only planning on playing D3 then go for the i3, it'll be cheaper and good enough to play DIII @ max (paired with a decent video card). If you want to play any modern games such as BF3 then go for the i5, it's the best gaming CPU at the moment.

Originally Posted by shenistank

would a radeon hd 7750 1gb be able to run d3 on high?

Easily.

Originally Posted by shenistank

Would you happen to know how well a Intel Core i5 2310 quad core would run diablo 3?

Pretty good.

**Kuma Hobby** · 03-04-2012, 14:21

if you just plan on getting a new cpu, don't get any of them right now. Ivy bridge will come out this month (April 29th) featuring 10-15% performance boost, consuming 20% less power, using the same socket (LGA1155 or 2011 for the extreme series) which means you don't need a new mobo, and pricing similarly with the 2nd gen intel i quad core.

these will be the 3rd generation of i3, i5, and i7. No reason to get i5-2500k or i7-2600k right now when i5-3570K or i7-3770K will be superior in term of performance to respected i-series and just cost you about as much as 2nd gen cpu. So if you want to get i3, the ivy bridge i3 will also be a better choice.

**gruenel** · 03-04-2012, 20:36

You're right, Ivy Bridge i3 will be released after Diablo 3 though.

**BohemianStalker** · 03-04-2012, 21:13

I also advise i3 if you go for diablo 3. It is more than enough.

**Chaboi** · 04-04-2012, 00:35

Originally Posted by Kuma Hobby

if you just plan on getting a new cpu, don't get any of them right now. Ivy bridge will come out this month (April 29th) featuring 10-15% performance boost, consuming 20% less power, using the same socket (LGA1155 or 2011 for the extreme series) which means you don't need a new mobo, and pricing similarly with the 2nd gen intel i quad core.

these will be the 3rd generation of i3, i5, and i7. No reason to get i5-2500k or i7-2600k right now when i5-3570K or i7-3770K will be superior in term of performance to respected i-series and just cost you about as much as 2nd gen cpu. So if you want to get i3, the ivy bridge i3 will also be a better choice.

Dont listen to this. The thing about a computer is there will ALWAYS be something better "just a couple months out". I say purchase your i5 or i3 and get your computer ready to go. When building, you never know when you will get a faulty part, and it is better to take care of it sooner than later. DONT WAIT.

**Kuma Hobby** · 04-04-2012, 05:48

Originally Posted by Chaboi

Dont listen to this. The thing about a computer is there will ALWAYS be something better "just a couple months out". I say purchase your i5 or i3 and get your computer ready to go. When building, you never know when you will get a faulty part, and it is better to take care of it sooner than later. DONT WAIT.

so why getting something inferior if there is a new version just hit around the market? with about same price? You're paying the same exact $200-220, except for a better version of i5. It's not like the ivy bridge costs $100 more than sandy bridge. They are pricing almost the SAME. Unless you need a computer right now for other purposes, why get something you know it will be outdated in a month? You will just blow your money away with an inferior product.

I mean sure, if ivy bridge costs a lot more, then you can always look for a cheaper alternative. But the fact that it doesn't cost that much more, buying a 2nd gen cpu right now just doesn't make any sense. And you can always wait for reviews on the benchmark and see how much better ivy bridge will do than its counterpart. I'm pretty sure many people want to get most out of their money for the buck.

Originally Posted by gruenel

You're right, Ivy Bridge i3 will be released after Diablo 3 though.

it doesn't hit the market this month? I'm pretty sure various sources reveal intel will have it by April.

**Tilitoon** · 04-04-2012, 19:15

Ivy is not out yet, so you have no idea how "superior" it is. I'm pretty sure it'll be a great architecture too but we can only speculate right now. Do I need to bring back the topic of Bulldozer, which was supposed to be AMD's super extra powerful CPU meant to compete with Intel ?

Also, I mentioned this in another post, but there are always a few more risks involved when you are an early adopter. I am personally willing to take those risks sometimes, because I am a computer enthusiast and I my knowledge about computer hardware allows me to troubleshoot and fix problems, but I wouldn't recommend my grandma to build a computer with the absolute latest technology. If you remember, when Sandy Bridge launched, they had to mass recall all the B2 motherboards because of the problems with the SATA ports...

Sandy is now a very robust platform and the CPUs are excellent so if someone is building a computer right now, I would say it's not a bad choice to go for it.... If you really want to wait, well, it's up to you but it's a bit more risky.

**Kuma Hobby** · 04-04-2012, 20:41

hmmm, true that there are always some risks involves when you're getting the latest technology, but i think this time is safer due to the fact that it uses the same mobo socket and similar architecture except it's smaller and less power consuming. Yeah I remember the mass recall and intel discontinues the LGA1336 chipset. I just think it's more worthwhile to wait because the latest technology will cost about the same with what the market currently has, and I'm probably willing to take that risk because it's intel. If it costs A LOT more money, then no way in hell I'm gonna get it.

oh, i think some presses already got their hands on the i7-3770k and test out the benchmark and show how ivy bridge would increase performance for games. http://www.anandtech.com/show/5626/i...ore-i7-3770k/1

**Chaboi** · 05-04-2012, 01:00

Originally Posted by Kuma Hobby

hmmm, true that there are always some risks involves when you're getting the latest technology, but i think this time is safer due to the fact that it uses the same mobo socket and similar architecture except it's smaller and less power consuming. Yeah I remember the mass recall and intel discontinues the LGA1336 chipset. I just think it's more worthwhile to wait because the latest technology will cost about the same with what the market currently has, and I'm probably willing to take that risk because it's intel. If it costs A LOT more money, then no way in hell I'm gonna get it.

oh, i think some presses already got their hands on the i7-3770k and test out the benchmark and show how ivy bridge would increase performance for games. http://www.anandtech.com/show/5626/i...ore-i7-3770k/1

Its tough to gauge when there are only a couple chips out there. On top of that, it doesnt seem like the OP has massive experience with current PC tech, my recommendation stands. Go with the i5 from sandy bridge, you have one month before launch, just the right amount of time to get all the kinks out of your computer (or replace parts that fail) without compromising play time.

**muddyhawk** · 05-04-2012, 18:33

I read some where that the quad core will be able to handle the physics much better than the i3. I am in a similar situation between picking the two under a budget. I have decided to go with a 560 Ti video card. Would it make big difference to go with the i5 (approx $100 more) with future games in mind requiring more cores to play on high settings. I feel like i5 is viewed as being superior due to its ability to overclock relative to the i3. For someone who has no desire to overclock, would it be worth the money??