i7 920 to i5 3570k, worth it for me?

[yurano]

Well you're right that the game uses 2 main threads and others just taking some work off. You could notice it I've said "20-25%" and in my earlier posts that the cpu never exceeded the 25%.

You say that, yet in your original post...

In 25 raids with any cpu currently @ ultra -> CPU usage 20-25% and GPU usage 30-50%. So going for a new CPU is pointless.

This is the second time (to my knowledge) that someone has tried to explain WoW's CPU dependence yet you still don't get it.

Since WoW is CPU bound as shown by the 100% utilization of 2-3 cores, you will benefit from a faster CPU. Faster CPU here refers to increase per core performance NOT more cores/threads. There are two ways of achieving faster per core performance: 1) Overclock, 2) New CPU architecture.

When comparing the i7-920 to the i7-3770K, we see that both CPUs have 4 cores and 8 threads, due to hyperthreading. From benchmarks http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=551 , we can see that the 3770K performs ~70% better than the 920. Since the number of cores/threads and the prevalence of hyperthreading is the same, we conclude that the 3770K has 70% better per core performance than the 920. Since the 3570K and 3770K have the same architecture, we can assume that the per core performance of the 3570K is equivalent to the 3770K when comparing the primary threads.

As a result, WoW performance SHOULD increase when going from the i7-920 to the i5-3570K due to the increase in per core performance.

[Cyanotical]

i suppose a better way to look at it is like this, it takes a lot of GPU load before your CPU becomes the limiting factor, a single GPU on a 4 core cpu is not really bottlenecked, benchmarks will show better results with an overclock because they can drive multiple GPUs to 100% shifting the primary load point back on the cpu, but benchmarks are a terrible way to judge gaming performance

even still, with 4 gpus, a 50% overclock does not increase my 3dmark or unigine scores very much, and thats because the issue is optimization, not bottlenecks

but, back to wow, the 2 primary threads are not optimized for today's tech, the engine was originally written to run on a P3 or P4, so throwing more cores at it doesnt do much when a single thread isnt even maxing out a core, thats where the operations per clock cycle comes in, and why a bridge chip is superior to all others in terms of gaming, bridge chips perform more operations per clock cycle than others, this results in a much higher framerate in wow, because you are bypassing the major flaws and going straight to the heart of the problem

and since operations per clock cycle is directly dependent on your clock speed, overclocking your CPU directly increases your framerate in wow, the higher you can clock the higher your framerate will be, its not a GPU bottle neck because it has nothing to do with your GPU, GPU loads are low in wow because there is not much work for your GPU to do

[llDemonll]

I'm in the same boat...I haven't had the patience to ever read or learn about overclocking my i7-920...not that it's limiting me from anything though

[Faithh]

You say that, yet in your original post...



This is the second time (to my knowledge) that someone has tried to explain WoW's CPU dependence yet you still don't get it.

Since WoW is CPU bound as shown by the 100% utilization of 2-3 cores, you will benefit from a faster CPU. Faster CPU here refers to increase per core performance NOT more cores/threads. There are two ways of achieving faster per core performance: 1) Overclock, 2) New CPU architecture.

When comparing the i7-920 to the i7-3770K, we see that both CPUs have 4 cores and 8 threads, due to hyperthreading. From benchmarks http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=551 , we can see that the 3770K performs ~70% better than the 920. Since the number of cores/threads and the prevalence of hyperthreading is the same, we conclude that the 3770K has 70% better per core performance than the 920. Since the 3570K and 3770K have the same architecture, we can assume that the per core performance of the 3570K is equivalent to the 3770K when comparing the primary threads.

As a result, WoW performance SHOULD increase when going from the i7-920 to the i5-3570K due to the increase in per core performance.

O gooddddddddddddddddddddd...

In 25 raids with any cpu currently @ ultra -> CPU usage 20-25% and GPU usage 30-50%. So going for a new CPU is pointless. If this game only uses 2 cores, an overclock is helpful but if it's using more than 4 orsomething OC is pointless as well.

This game is really crap programmed and bad optimized.

Didn't you notice 2 different statements? Two IF's. Again Two IF's.

Once more, I wasn't sure how many threads the game uses thats why!

"3770K has 70% better per core performance than the 920."

Pretty much wrong.

Cinebench 11.5

i7 3770K 7.5 score
i7 920 4.8 score

7.5-4.8/4.8 * 100 = 56%

[Jinto]

I am still on the i7 930 but its overclocked to 4GHz. Too lazy to rebuild my computer and none of the games I play would really benefit from a CPU upgrade. That said though stock 920 vs stock 3570k is a pretty significant jump. If overclocking is not an option I would do the upgrade. The 3570k is pretty cheap anyways, there is still a market for older i7s and you can probably do the upgrade for $150 all inclusive.

[yurano]

O gooddddddddddddddddddddd...

Didn't you notice 2 different statements? Two IF's. Again Two IF's.

Once more, I wasn't sure how many threads the game uses thats why!

Regardless of how many threads WoW uses, since the 920 is 4+4 threads same as the 3770K, the 3770K is better. There are rarely any games that utilize more than 3 threads, the 3570K's performance is approximately equivalent to the 3770K. AKA, the 3570K will be significantly better than the 920.

In 25 raids with any cpu currently @ ultra -> CPU usage 20-25% and GPU usage 30-50%. So going for a new CPU is pointless.

You need to using "25% CPU usage" to justify lack of CPU upgrade potential in WoW, especially if you're using an i7. Just because your CPU usage isn't reported as 100% by Windows, it doesn't necessarily mean you're not CPU bottlenecked. This is the point many posters have tried to drill into your head, but you're just ignoring it.

"3770K has 70% better per core performance than the 920."

Pretty much wrong.

Cinebench 11.5

i7 3770K 7.5 score
i7 920 4.8 score

7.5-4.8/4.8 * 100 = 56%

Because Cinebench's scores are fully indicative of a processor's performance. /Sarcasm

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=551

Windows 8 x264 5.0.1 First Pass
3770K - 73.5 FPS
920 - 43.1 FPS
+70%

WIndows 8 x264 5.0.1 Second Pass
3770K - 14.6 FPS
920 - 8.9 FPS
+64%

Windows 8 POV Ray 3.7RC6 Single Threaded
3770K - 312.4 Pixels/s
920 - 168.5 Pixels/s
+85%

Windows 8 Mozilla Kraken Javascript Benchmark
3770K - 3962.2 ms
920 - 6627.2 ms
+67%

And I could go on... but I won't... but I could.

[Royals Ego]

Oh my, this thread has turned into quite the discussion/debate

anyway, to clarify, I will be upgrading from 920 stock 2.66ghz to 3750k OC around 4.2ghz (whatever the automatic gives me)

so i think it's a justified upgrade, moar fps with further camera distance

[llDemonll]

What people were trying to tell you is that the same performance boost could be achieved by simply buying a good heatsink (less than $100) and overclocking your current processor rather than buying a new processor and motherboard ($350+)

[BicycleMafioso]

What people were trying to tell you is that the same performance boost could be achieved by simply buying a good heatsink (less than $100) and overclocking your current processor rather than buying a new processor and motherboard ($350+)

... and a heatsink on top of that.

[Deleted]

For people interested in overclocking, This method worked best for me and my I7 920. Make sure to disabe HT if you plan to mostly get best preformance in games.
http://www.overclockers.com/3-step-g...core-i3-i5-i7/
I used the below site for the "quick and dirty" 4GHZ overclock
http://www.overclock.net/t/538439/gu...-930-to-4-0ghz
overclocked results compared to a 3770k below:
http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=29402&all=1

Anway have fun with your new rig!

[llDemonll]

... and a heatsink on top of that.

right....so it's $350-400 more no matter what haha

For people interested in overclocking, This method worked best for me and my I7 920. Make sure to disabe HT if you plan to mostly get best preformance in games.
http://www.overclockers.com/3-step-g...core-i3-i5-i7/
I used the below site for the "quick and dirty" 4GHZ overclock
http://www.overclock.net/t/538439/gu...-930-to-4-0ghz
overclocked results compared to a 3770k below:
http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=29402&all=1

Anway have fun with your new rig!

weekend reading material now

[Faithh]

Oh my, this thread has turned into quite the discussion/debate

anyway, to clarify, I will be upgrading from 920 stock 2.66ghz to 3750k OC around 4.2ghz (whatever the automatic gives me)

so i think it's a justified upgrade, moar fps with further camera distance

Have fun with it Don't forget to use a 3rd party cooler instead of the intel stock cooler. The CPU's voltage at 4.2GHz (auto overclocked) would be around 1.25V and an intel stock cooler isn't going to cool it.

The only option with your 920 was overclocking, but it's a big journey to have 4GHz for example stable for 24/7. It's alotttttttttt more complicated on that platform than a bridge platform.

[Masoa]

I'm in a similar situation as the op. My old x58 motherboard has a partial failure and since I don't really want to get a replacement 2008 board in 2012 so I went with a z77 and the 3570k.

Everything else will carry over from the old build including a prolimatech megahelems heat sink. The old 920 I got could only do 3.2 year round and 3.6 during the winter time. I had other problems with the build such as my 5870 downclocking for YouTube videos making hd videos unplayable for me. From what I understand ivy bridge plus a z77 has a tech called virtua MVP which will autoswitch to the integrated video for non gaming tasks pretty much eliminating my issue.