Would upgrading my Phenom II X3 to an i5-3550 help framerates at all?

Galzus · 2012-07-20, 01:06 AM

My current rig is:

Phenom II X3 710 2.6hz
GTX 560 Ti, factory overclock
4 sticks x 2GB DDR3 1333mhz
OCZ Vertex 3 120gb SSD

I run at 1920x1080

My PC struggles with modern games even on medium settings... I've been looking at new CPUs and my budget would allow for an i5-3550 at most, should I do it?

This rig is about 2-3 years old now

Mutant · 2012-07-20, 02:56 AM

Your CPU is your weak link.

An i5 3550 would be a good upgrade, you might consider a 3570K if you think you might like to overclock.
Also get 8 GB of ram, its cheap and 8GB will ensure you don't run out for gaming.

Yasuo · 2012-07-20, 05:23 AM

You could always see if your fourth core is stable if you dont want to spend the money on upgrading, then OC to 3.0.. But if you have the money, upgrade for sure.

Galzus · 2012-07-20, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by Yasuo

You could always see if your fourth core is stable if you dont want to spend the money on upgrading, then OC to 3.0.. But if you have the money, upgrade for sure.

I tried that a long while ago, it didn't work well unfortunately.

Getting me an i5 while my desired mobo is on sale! Thanks for the advice, everyone

Rbstr · 2012-07-20, 10:01 AM

...He already has 8gb of ram.

I think the i5 is a good choice and you should get some longevity out of it. The 560 is a pretty decent graphics card.

Mutant · 2012-07-20, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by Rbstr

...He already has 8gb of ram.

I think the i5 is a good choice and you should get some longevity out of it. The 560 is a pretty decent graphics card.

Yeh, I totally read it as 4 GB lol.

Greenthy · 2012-07-26, 07:26 AM

Just in the weird case that u hadn't bought one already:
Why not go for an Phenom II X6 ?

Intel is generally considered better, but you'll be saving your mobo costs.

Rbstr · 2012-07-26, 10:34 AM

If he goes to the 1055T @ ~$180, it's just some more cores and 200mhz for ~$180.
If we look at the ranking chart he's down with the cheaper Core 2 quads still.

It's not nearly substantial enough of an upgrade.
The only AMD upgrade I see worthwhile for him is to an FX-4170. I think that would be a good deal at $140. But he technically needs AM3+. His motherboard might have a BIOS available that lets him run it...but I don't know.

Goku · 2012-07-26, 10:52 AM

Really the only X6 I would be looking at is one of the BE's due to the higher clocks (unless you are TDP limited). The Core i5 upgrade will last him way longer anyway vs any X6.