i5-3450 or i5-3570k OC - How much does the CPU (and OC) matter?

[TimeBreaker]

Hi there, I'm planning to buy me new PC hardware.
For the CPU, I plan to go for an Ivy Bridge processor, either the i5-3450 or the i5-3570k. The latter one has a free multiplicator and such, so I can overclock it a lot with a potential cooler and new thermal compound.

In normal games, the GPU is the limiting piece most of the time..
How is this for the Dolphin Emulator and Wii games? Maybe some of you have an i5-3570k (or i5-2500k SB?), do you gain a performance boost by overclocking it?

[orang]

Unless you're getting full framerate in the first place, a CPU overclock almost always results in a speed up. As you can see in my signature, my CPU is oveclocked, this is done especially for using dolphin :p

If you plan on intensively using dolphin, I would recommend buying the 3570k. An unlocked multipler can be a big help when overclocking. Just make sure your GPU isn't bottlenecking your system.

[Garteal]

a CPU overclock always results in a speed up.

fixed.

Overclocking will gain you a lot of FPS. I would definitely recommend you get a 2500K or 3570K. Pair it with a decent cooler, and you're set.
Make sure you have a discrete GPU.

[TimeBreaker]

Thanks guys, good to hear

I plan on buying a GTX 660 (I know it's not out yet), considering it will be about as fast as last generations GTX 570, that's a good amount of performance.
The CPU-Cooler would be a Thermalright HR-02 Macho.

I will use the Dolphin emulator often enough, money is not really a problem for me, so I will go for the i5-3570k

Is a Z77 board necessary for overclocking? I heard you can aso overclock with a H77 board.

[DefenderX]

Yes, it's possible, but you can just overlock via BCLK. This is not worth it, you can just gain some MHz more.

Get a Z77 MoBo instead, with that, you can overclock via the multiplier.

[AnyOldName3]

mulitplicator

Because of course, mulitplicator is a word. You mean multiplier.

[DefenderX]

yeah, you're right. my mistake, i fixed it. (Don't forget, I'm German )

[AnyOldName3]

I know that. We need tone of voice BB tags, although I'm not quite sure if there's even a word for that tone of voice. Anyway, it was meant to be humorous.

[TimeBreaker]

@DefenderX:
Do you know how much I can actually overclock it? I don't plan to go for 4.5GHz, 4.1GHz would actually be fine.
Since I plan on building a Mini Gaming PC and still try to keep it silent, I need to handle the temperatures somehow. The only Z77 board available for me (Mini-ITX and some other constraints) costs 70€ more than a good H77 board.

[DefenderX]

Well, 4.2GHz should be enough if you want to play all games (with LLE enabled).

The only Z77 board available for me (Mini-ITX and some other constraints) costs 70€ more than a good H77 board.

well, with the H77 board, you can only overclock via BCLK. This won't help you if you want to reach 4GHz+