What to expect

[Garen]

So im working on a new quiet build and plan on getting an i5 3570k and wanted to know if anyone can help me out with something. My current pc has an intel q8400 and wanted to know if I will notice a big difference in performance? Also updating from 800 ddr2 to 1600 ddr3, a 60gb kingston v100 ssd to samsung 830 120gb. Thanks!

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Well change from an Intel® Core™ 2 Quad to a quad core 1st generation Intel Core i5 processor would yield about 15% to 20% performance improvement at the same clock speed. The move from a 1st generation Intel Core i5 (quad core) to a 2nd generation Intel Core i5 would yield around 10% to 15% more and then going to the 3rd generation Intel Core i5 processor should give you around 5% to 10% without using the IGP at the same clock speed. So as long as you are using an appication that can tap into the performance (no games) you would see about 35% or more overall performance increase at the same clock speed.

 

[Tsumi]

Depends highly on what you're doing. For general OS usage, absolutely nothing, since you're moving from SSD to SSD. For gaming, it depends on your GPU and the games you play. For encoding and other applications that rely on the processor, what was said above.

 

[Acer_Sheep]

I don't believe there is "just" 35% increase from core 2 quad to third gen i5. SB/IB is completely redesigned architecture. I own 2550K myself and it is at least 50% faster in everything, from general usage and responsiveness to hardcore design and gaming.

Even users switching from Nehalem reported massive increase in performance, including many of those present on [H].

Getting 2500K or 3570K or any other quad core i5 will give you double the performance for sure.

 

[drescherjm]

I don't believe there is "just" 35% increase from core 2 quad to third gen i5. SB/IB is completely redesigned architecture. I own 2550K myself and it is at least 50% faster in everything, from general usage and responsiveness to hardcore design and gaming.

It's running at a higher clock than the core2. The IPC comparison numbers were based on the same clock speed.

 

[Tsumi]

I don't believe there is "just" 35% increase from core 2 quad to third gen i5. SB/IB is completely redesigned architecture. I own 2550K myself and it is at least 50% faster in everything, from general usage and responsiveness to hardcore design and gaming.

Even users switching from Nehalem reported massive increase in performance, including many of those present on [H].

Getting 2500K or 3570K or any other quad core i5 will give you double the performance for sure.

He's the intel rep, I'm pretty sure he knows what he's talking about.

Those reporting massive performance increases are also overclocking. Most Nehalem topped out around 4 ghz, while 4.5 ghz is a walk in the park for the 2600k and 3770k. That's a 12.5% clock speed advantage on top of a 10-15% IPC advantage, so yes, it's going to be significantly faster. What the Intel rep was saying is at the same clock speeds. Not to mention people tend to exaggerate things.

There's an approximately 35% IPC advantage when going from C2Q to 3rd gen i5. That is completely sound and valid, and backed up by numbers. Then there's the overclocking speed advantage, which, at 4.5 vs 2.66 ghz, is a 70% frequency increase which is on top of the 35% IPC.

Now, whether this all matters to the OP's general usage is a completely different story.