Intel Core i5 2500K versus Intel Core i3 2120 for gaming

I have Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor in my system with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 graphic card. I want to change my processor for better performance of my system. I use my computer mainly for gaming and the games which I play are usually games with usually heavy graphics. The PSU of my system is good to support newer processors and graphic card. I have browsed internet for various new processors. Out of many I have Intel Core i5 2500K and Intel Core i3 2120 in my sight as their specifications are good enough for heavy gaming. Before I buy any of the both processors, I would like to know how efficient they are when compared among themselves when it comes to gaming or other heavy processes. Can any experienced users share their views on the processors I have mentioned? Most probably I will overclock them for faster performance, so which processor will provide faster performance when overclocked?

I have worked on both the processors and also overclocked them. I suggest you that you go for Intel Core i5 2500K over Intel Core i3 2120. Intel Core i5 2500K is a SandyBridge type of processor while the other one is not. So if you will be overclocking the processor than it will be easy to be performed on Intel Core i5 2500K. Many new versions of Intel Core i5 2500K come with inbuilt tools and softwares for overclocking the processor. Much of the steps that were required to be done manually will now be automatically done by the processor. Intel Core i3 2120 is also good but it was never designed for purpose of gaming.

When a heavy game is played on a computer, it requires all the cores of the processor to be active even though they won’t be needed all the time. Intel Core i3 2120 is a processor designed such a way that manages the resources available with extreme care. So many times when a game requires all the cores of the processors to be active, Intel Core i3 2120 processor will try to optimize the use of resources which is reserved by the games even though not needed. So Intel Core i3 2120 is not a good option for gaming.

Intel Core i5 2500K is designed in such a way that it lets a process utilize all the cores of the processor. It never optimizes or reduces the consumption of resources until the process requests or the process gets terminated to automatically release the resources. So Intel Core i5 2500K processor is a very good processor when it comes to gaming. But I suggest that if you are using Intel Core i5 2500K processor; install process management software to keep a control on start-up of unwanted processes. Many cases of memory leak have been noted in use of this processor as it fails to optimize resources properly.

As a hardware retailer I can tell you that Intel Core i5 2500K is better when it comes to gaming and compared with Intel Core i3 2120. If you use a MSI Z68S-G43-G3 or Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H GEN3 motherboard for this processor, than it will give its best performance.

If price is compared, then Intel Core i5 2500K is more expensive than Intel Core i3 2120. In Liverpool, England where I live the price of Intel Core i5 2500K is £30 more than that of Intel Core i3 2120. The price may vary in your region, but the increased price is worth the performance it gives.

Seeing the current rapid development in hardware, it is preferred that you keep your processor overclocked. Overclocking the processor will ensure that it will keep working well for many years to come. Also the power consumption of the processor will reduce and the processor will run faster. Nowadays, a new development or version of processor is released every 2 to 4 months. It is not possible to replace your system with every of it. So overclocked version of Intel Core i5 2500K is designed so that it won’t fail you when it comes to new games and applications. It will be fine for games releasing in next 5 years.

I have multiple computers at my office and as a recreation activity we play Civilization V on our computers. So some computers use Intel Core i3 processors and some use Intel Core i5 processors. I have noticed that game running on computers with Intel Core i5 has more framerate than the other one. The difference is of around 6 fps.

When you benchmark Intel Core i5 2500K and Intel Core i3 2120 the difference between their performance is around 7%. The benchmarking difference reduces even more when you are playing games on it. For this, the benchmarking should be aimed at the CPU. When these processors are used along with IvyBridge processors the benchmarking difference is even low. So I suggest you that you these processors with IvyBridge processors for best performance. If you have a SandyBridge processor, then I suggest you to get an Intel Core i5 2500K processor.