Worth upgrading: i7 870 from i3 530

[IAmBill]

I'm pretty sure the answer will be a resounding "yes" simply based on the fact that I'm going from dual core to quad core, but I wanted to be sure.

 

This is for an HTPC that is principally an 1080p gaming machine / console emulation machine... I can get an i7 870 from eBay right now for about $85 and could probably sell my i3 530 for ~$15 if I wanted to. So net $70, do you think I should just do it? Bear in mind, I might do a full system upgrade in about a year or so.

[don_svetlio]

sure as long as the board can support it - Nahalem are HOT and POWER HUNGRY

[IAmBill]

Hmmm, is there any reason to believe any given H55 board wouldn't support it? I mean, it's meant to support it...

[xTrixieHD]

waiting for a fuckhead to say

"EH GET AN NEW I7 OMG ITZ LIKE 0.00000000000000000000000000000001% BETTER OMG GET IT FOR SO MUCH MOER MUNY MORE PERFOMRAMCE AND NEW THINGS ARE SO MUCH BETTER"

[harrynowl]

sure as long as the board can support it - Nahalem are HOT and POWER HUNGRY

They're not actually all that bad. They begin to climb a lot when you pile on the volts because it's 45nm Hi-K MG but at stock speeds any board that lists it as supported should be just fine.

 

Hmmm, is there any reason to believe any given H55 board wouldn't support it? I mean, it's meant to support it...

Should support it fine. Just wouldn't recommend heavy overclocking. Although you could probably get away with (and I recommend) doing what you can with the stock voltage.

 

waiting for a fuckhead to say

"EH GET AN NEW I7 OMG ITZ LIKE 0.00000000000000000000000000000001% BETTER OMG GET IT FOR SO MUCH MOER MUNY MORE PERFOMRAMCE AND NEW THINGS ARE SO MUCH BETTER"

Well you didn't answer OPs question either so good job!

 

And stock vs stock a new i7 is a good 50% faster btw.. although most of that is from the clockspeed jump achieved with Sandybridge.

[IAmBill]

And stock vs stock a new i7 is a good 50% faster btw.. although most of that is from the clockspeed jump achieved with Sandybridge.

 

Yeah, but how much of that are you seeing in gaming benchmarks? As of right now, the main CPU intensive thing I'd be doing is emulating 6th gen consoles and I have every reason to believe that the 870 will do that just fine as my 530 very nearly does it fine. Until the 7th gen console emulators get to a point where I can unplug the physical consoles and toss them in a closet, I don't see the point of buying a cutting edge CPU since they'll only get better from now until then. I really don't see any reason to buy a new system at this time, I'm just wondering if I should be "maxing out" my current platform since it's pretty cheap to do so.

[techguru]

I'm pretty sure the answer will be a resounding "yes" simply based on the fact that I'm going from dual core to quad core, but I wanted to be sure.

 

This is for an HTPC that is principally an 1080p gaming machine / console emulation machine... I can get an i7 870 from eBay right now for about $85 and could probably sell my i3 530 for ~$15 if I wanted to. So net $70, do you think I should just do it? Bear in mind, I might do a full system upgrade in about a year or so.

yes its worth it for the right price

[harrynowl]

Yeah, but how much of that are you seeing in gaming benchmarks? As of right now, the main CPU intensive thing I'd be doing is emulating 6th gen consoles and I have every reason to believe that the 870 will do that just fine as my 530 very nearly does it fine. Until the 7th gen console emulators get to a point where I can unplug the physical consoles and toss them in a closet, I don't see the point of buying a cutting edge CPU since they'll only get better from now until then. I really don't see any reason to buy a new system at this time, I'm just wondering if I should be "maxing out" my current platform since it's pretty cheap to do so.

I know, I was just noting to the not so intelligent post made by @xTrixieHD that it's not 0.001%.

 

My answer was still yes as I clarified on motherboard support.