Worth the upgrade? Phenom 955 --> I5 2500K

C

Champ

Gawd
Joined
Mar 22, 2006
Messages
724
I'm sure the 2500k beats the 955, but is it really noticeable in terms of games like BF3 and basic multitasking?

I can basically sell the Phenom 955 PC for nearly the same amount I could build a I5 PC (no video card) and wanna know if it is worth it the time and hassle.

thx
 
yes. clock for clock you're looking at probably 30% or more improvement in both single and multithreaded applications.
 
Champ said:
I'm sure the 2500k beats the 955, but is it really noticeable in terms of games like BF3 and basic multitasking?

I can basically sell the Phenom 955 PC for nearly the same amount I could build a I5 PC (no video card) and wanna know if it is worth it the time and hassle.

thx
Click to expand...

Yes.
Your minimum framerate will skyrocket, especially on the larger 64 man servers. If you had an overclocked x6 or FX, it wouldn't be worth it.
 
Perfect. Thanks everyone will be doing the upgrade in a couple of days!
 
Depends on your existing hardware, don't listen to everyone saying an automatic yes.

But if you can get the i5 stuff for the same price as selling the Phenom II stuff, then it's worth it.
 
Tsumi said:
Depends on your existing hardware, don't listen to everyone saying an automatic yes.

But if you can get the i5 stuff for the same price as selling the Phenom II stuff, then it's worth it.
Click to expand...

No doubt about that
 
Yes, definitely go with the 2500K or 3570K for essentially a trade.

Have you checked out the comparison yet?

955 vs 2500K



vite0150 said:
It worth it only if you find a 2500k for a good price ($170)
Click to expand...

That's subjective. 30+ percent increase in overall system performance may only be worth $170 to some, but worth $215 to others, and whatever else in between to the rest.
 
As a 965 owner, even though it is beginning to feel long in the tooth, especially since I run a lot of VMs now, I opted for an SSD before a cpu upgrade. I am 100% positive you will notice the difference, but I am personally sitting out major upgrades like that until the next gen. Enjoy the 2500k though, it is (obviously) a hell of a chip!
 
TroyX said:
SSD will improve frames per second once the game is loaded?:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Exactly. To elaborate, an SSD will accelerate the hell out of booting and loading games/applications, but the CPU and GPU will really have the only effect on FPS.
 
If u dont have ssd yet, get that instead, unless you are running alot of cpu intensive stuff, imho ssd, or better graphix card would be better upgrade. Most game are graphix bound, or better yet, get a bigger/better monitor, 27+ or eyefinity set up.
 
TroyX said:
SSD will improve frames per second once the game is loaded?:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

The OP was also interested in multi-tasking improvement, and if even ONE task relies heavily on IO, the ssd will make a huge difference and allow the computer to still maintain its snappiness. Read the entire OP next time before rolling your eyes at a legitimate suggestion.
 
RamonGTP said:
The OP was also interested in multi-tasking improvement, and if even ONE task relies heavily on IO, the ssd will make a huge difference and allow the computer to still maintain its snappiness. Read the entire OP next time before rolling your eyes at a legitimate suggestion.
Click to expand...

Well, OP could sell the PII and get the i5 for the same price. Selling and then buying an SSD leaves him without a PC to use the SSD...
 
belae said:
If u dont have ssd yet, get that instead, unless you are running alot of cpu intensive stuff, imho ssd, or better graphix card would be better upgrade. Most game are graphix bound, or better yet, get a bigger/better monitor, 27+ or eyefinity set up.
Click to expand...

OP stated he wanted a bit of a boost in games performance as well as basic multi-tasking. The option is to essentially do a zero cost upgrade from a 955 to a 2500K.

I find it a bit tough to recommend a full blown EyeFinity/nVSurround setup when we don't know what current GPU hardware is being used and if it will transition to the 2500K, plus a 955 may be entering CPU bottleneck territory for such a setup.

Since the OP has only mentioned the performance differences between a 2500K and a 955BE, the 2500K wins every time, all other hardware in the system being equal.
 
First hand experience with this.

My old system was a Phenom II 940.

I won an Alienware system with a i7-920. Came with 2x ATI 5870's which were worse than my 2x 460's, so I tried a little test. Pulled my cards out, put them in that system and ran some games/benchmarks.

Everything ran faster. Everything. That completely sold me on Intel, their CPU performance, and how much it made a difference in everything.

Eventually I sold that system and put together a Sandy Bridge system.

I went from a 940 to a 2500K.

It was my first Intel CPU I had ever bought. And in my eyes, that system was the first 'real' enthusiast system I had ever managed to put together. (Yeah it's not x58 or x79, but I couldn't afford that, which is why I was on AMD's side for so long.)

From that point on, I've had no plans to go back to AMD. (I was hopeful for Bulldozer, but we saw how that turned out..)

The difference is astounding. None of my other hardware changed (aside from RAM, 'cause I was on a DDR2 platform, which only improved load speed, not FPS).

Every game, doesn't matter which, performed so much better with the SB system, even better than the x58 system. Every application, even Windows' snappiness, performed better. It was bliss.


I'm currently on a brand new (put together a few hours ago) Ivy Bridge system because my old motherboard died for some reason (P8P67-Evo). Figured I'd just jump to IB while I wait for a replacement board then sell that off.

New CPU is a 3770K. Cost far more than I wanted to pay, but I really wanted to see if Hyperthreading improved what I do and I couldn't afford the jump to SB-E (IB-E will no doubt come out, maybe I'll jump to that) despite wanting a 6 core CPU so badly.

Haven't overclocked or ran any tests yet, but I'm hopeful things will run even better now.


Basically, if anyone's using a Phenom system that isn't a 6 core (or unless you only run games with that 6 core), make the jump to SB/IB right now, even the i5 K CPUs. You won't regret it.
 
Yes, it is worth the hassle. I upgraded from an Athlon II @ 3.6 ghz to my current CPU, and the difference is simply astounding in EVERY task.
 
That's the exact position I'm in. Been running 940 for 3 1/2 years, but its time for a change. I have all the parts for my 3450k build, just waiting for weekend.to launch! I still love my 940 but.it won't keep up in BF3, even going from gtx460 to 7850. I figured I keep.a platform for .3 years might as well go for it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top