Gaming Cpu Upgrade

[Back-From-Purgatory]

Long story short, I'm looking to upgrade my Core2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz CPU, because apparently it's holding my graphics card back (nVidia GTX 560)... And I'm kind of noticing when I'm playing more graphically intense games (Most notably, Tera/Trackmania 2/BF3). I'm not a real sucker for high end graphics... but I am a sucker for a smooth frame rate... If I can have that and high end graphics at the same time, awesome.

This is what I've more or less settled on after a little browsing: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz

So I'm looking for a little feedback on this jump, I more or less understand the tiers and such in graphics cards, but I've never really dealt with upgrading my CPU before, so getting a little feedback from other PC gamers would be nice.

Would this be a worthy jump? From my Core2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz to an i5 2500K 3.3GHz? Keeping in mind, I am on a bit of a budget, the "bang for your buck" factor would have to be through the roof for me to go into anything more expensive than this.

Also, if anyone could point me in the direction of a detailed tutorial to install a new CPU, that'd be appreciated... I've built my PCs from the ground up before... except that the store has always seated the CPU on the motherboard for me before I brought home everything else (They did it for free, and saves me a step, so why not).
In this case, I'm not building a totally new computer though, I'd just be getting a new CPU, so I don't want to take my PC all the way into the store for them to just put a new CPU in.

[Cootie]

The i5 is behind the i7 CPU obviously, but the one that you picked is going to be an improvement on the outdated chip that you have now. It will be a pretty big jump in performance since you have a nice graphics card but a old CPU.

[Oliver]

don't listen to Cootie, the i5 is a very nice CPU.

[Tony-DarkGrave]

At 5/4/12 12:22 PM, Oliver wrote: don't listen to Cootie, the i5 is a very nice CPU.

still doesn't beat i7 but is still a better upgrade than what the OP currently has.

[Back-From-Purgatory]

At 5/4/12 03:11 PM, Tony-DarkGrave wrote:

At 5/4/12 12:22 PM, Oliver wrote: don't listen to Cootie, the i5 is a very nice CPU.

still doesn't beat i7 but is still a better upgrade than what the OP currently has.

Unfortunately, I don't have an extra $100 to spare for an i7, otherwise I would probably be looking into getting one of them instead. Even the i5 is gonna leave me pretty drained, but as long as it gets the job done, I'll be happy, I can always jump up to an i7 down the road.

It's just that I think my current CPU is getting ready to kick the bucket, I've had it a long time, and I'm starting to notice a great deal of slow down, both in game and when I'm booting up my system, and my Graphics card, HDD, and 8 Gigs of RAM are all fairly new, so it's rather my CPU or my motherboard (nForce 750i SLI FTW) that's starting to show its age.
Which has prompted me to look into upgrading my CPU.

[Tony-DarkGrave]

At 5/4/12 03:26 PM, Back-From-Purgatory wrote: It's just that I think my current CPU is getting ready to kick the bucket, I've had it a long time, and I'm starting to notice a great deal of slow down, both in game and when I'm booting up my system, and my Graphics card, HDD, and 8 Gigs of RAM are all fairly new, so it's rather my CPU or my motherboard (nForce 750i SLI FTW) that's starting to show its age.
Which has prompted me to look into upgrading my CPU.

with your i5 it should be pretty good with that much RAM and graphics card. so you should see a large improvement.

[waitn2drive]

if you can hold out 'til the 3rd gen cores have come down in price some, that's your best bet. idk what your time restrictions are, though.

[Back-From-Purgatory]

At 5/4/12 04:11 PM, waitn2drive wrote: if you can hold out 'til the 3rd gen cores have come down in price some, that's your best bet. idk what your time restrictions are, though.

I might end up doing just that... I was just about to put in an order for an i5 2500k... when I noticed something someone said in a review half way down the page...

"Cons: You'll probably have to get a new motherboard for the 1155 socket."

So now I have another question... would my nForce 750i SLI FTW motherboard even be compatible with an i5 2500k?

Because if not, I'm gonna have to hold off on making a purchase until I have more cash to throw around, because I can't afford to buy both a new CPU and a new motherboard right now.

[Cootie]

At 5/4/12 12:22 PM, Oliver wrote: don't listen to Cootie, the i5 is a very nice CPU.

When did I say it wasn't?

[BumFodder]

An i5 with a good speed is good enough. You wont genuinely need an i7 unless youre doing some serious rendering or you just like getting things that are way better than you need.

[Back-From-Purgatory]

At 5/4/12 11:27 PM, BumFodder wrote: An i5 with a good speed is good enough. You wont genuinely need an i7 unless youre doing some serious rendering or you just like getting things that are way better than you need.

I don't mind having slightly above what I actually need just so that it lasts longer before I'm forced to upgrade again, although, I was talking with a few people about this, and turns out I won't be getting a new processor at all right now... Because apparently my current motherboard will not support an i5. And I really don't have enough cash to buy both a new processor and a new motherboard.

Although I still plan to upgrade, it won't be right away... When I do have the spare cash to get both a new motherboard and CPU at the same time, I'll likely get an i5.