I'm looking at going from AMD to Intel, and the issue now is that it's hard to find a 2500K anymore.

Im looking at the 3570K instead ,but I don't like the sound of the temperatures that they seem to get up to. I like a cool CPU, and plan to do a moderate overclock up to 4.0

The 2500K seems like the perfect bang for buck Gaming CPU to me, and I can find one if I look hard.

Question is, should I keep hunting for the old CPU or is the 3570K still a good choice.

Integrated graphics of the 3570K doesn't seem to be a bonus because I've got a good card.

Also, is there any difficulty getting the mobo/socket needed for the 2500K these days ?

Opinions?

Well to get the i5 2500k I guess would depend on where you are located..If you are in the USA, NewEgg still has the 2500k and about 200 different mobos for that socket (1155).

I would well unless you MUST have the latest and greatest go with an i5 1155 socket setup.. Greap PC and I have one and anything I thrown at it I have mostly maxxed graphics settings and it runs real good.. I also run 3 monitors so it works well..

There are little gains over going with the latest IB vs SB right now perhaps the nect gen will fair a bit better.. even the 3.0 PCIx doesnt gain much over the 2,0 slots..

IvyBridge from what I have been told has a TIM issue under the heat-spreader causing high Temps.

I just ordered a 2500k a few weeks ago and I went through the same process you are going through. I didn't know if I should get the IB or SB. I'm happy with the sandy and I haven't even O/C'ed it yet and it still eats my games like a fat kid eating cake! I'm in the US and I ordered my parts through newegg.com, I love that place!

So all that just tipped the scales. I'm going 2500K

Any tips on a good bang for buck 1155 socket mobo ? I usually go for the second least expensive one

I've been very happy with my Asus Z68 (overclocked with minimal fuss), but also heard good things about the Asrock as well.

This is the board I just bought ASUS P8Z77-V LE for $160. So far I like it, it's my first Asus board. Lots of features and the layout is good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131823

OK I have good availability for both the P8Z68 and the P8Z77.

I'll just need to look at which model suits best; M , V , deluxe premium, pro

I have to admit I'm pretty tribal in favour of ASUS. I'll go for one of them. No need to O/C over 4.0 for games so my guess is that any of these boards are going to do the trick

It might just come down to wi-fi included because I need that.

I got my 2500K about 8 weeks after they hit when Microcenter first put them out for $189.00 without having to get a mobo. Slapped it in my P67 MSI board & the sucker will hit 4.2Ghz without voltage bump & 4.9ghz @ 1.35 volts. Temps never go above 50c with Coolermaster Hyper 212 whether at 4.2 or 4.9. I highly recommend this CPU.

SlackAdjuster

After about 2 weeks, I'm finally going to be able to test my new system out. Friday night the wife having a girls night (dinner and movies) that means I'll be flying BMS/DCS and possibly playing Arma II. I'll check my FPS, since I haven't O/C'ed my 2500k yet, it's still at stock speeds 3.3Ghz.

Arma will be a good test of the CPU I think. Especially draw distances. It's going to be fun just turning the 2500K up

Yeah Arma/Arma2 had traditionally been one of the hardest games to get performance for me, through my upgrades to i7-920, 5870s, the 2500k finally made it decent, but even now with a 2500k/670GTX4GB I still play at ~1600 draw distance and FXAA so I can keep the eyecandy and framerate up, so just be careful with that draw distance as it can quickly make your CPU/GPU upgrades meaningless

I'm finally feeling good about being able to handle Arma3, but I still hope they find some way to put more load on the GPU and less on the CPU in Arma3.

?? my Athlon X2 6000+ at 3.2 Ghz and my 8800 GTS-SSC/640 chewed through ArmA II w/ no problems.

Really? with AA/AF on?

I started with Arma on a 8800GT as well before moving on to other things, but was never able to turn up the eyecandy or get 60FPS, maybe I'm missing some secret Arma2 grease

i doubt i was getting 60 Fr/Sec..

But this isnt Call of Duty, so Super Uber fast refresh rates werent a priority.

was prolly getting 20-25 Fr/Sec average.

I gave my old Steam account to my brother so He can use His PC to Play ArmA II (i figured he'd like it since he played Ghost Recon, and claims it was better when it took you 45 minutes to cross a map.) He hasnt touched it in a while... and I doubt I can get another COmbined Arms copy for $20 again (i got it at WalMart, they've stopped stocking it since then.)

Ah I think somewhere along the line I became a framerate snob or something <60FPS and I tend to feel like it affects my gameplay on FPSes, though it probably doesn't.

Doesn't help that I have the FRAPS FPS counter showing on my G15 keyboard display all the time too... good info, maybe I just need to hide the framerate counter and play the games and not worry about FPS so much... I will will work on this framerate issue of mine, it will probably save me lots of money on h/w upgrades if I can conquer it, like I did my initial annoyance at lack of AA on console games when I first started to play consoles a year or two back and barely notice now.

Anyhow sorry for the OT W1ndy, and Cali congrats on the new system and hope you enjoy Arma2 in new found glory

For a long time, I measured frame rates and wanted more. For a few years now I only measure FPS for discussions in these forum postings.

I simply ask: "Is it smooth to my eyes" at maximum settings (0AA -- my preference). For years now, virtually everything has been "smooth".

Sometimes "smooth" has been a very low frame rate (around 20 and even less). I played Crysis on an HD3870 (400 old style shaders). It was "smooth" -- but I knew the FPS was in the low 20s and under. Thing is, Crysis added motion blur so the low frame rates (high teens) looked smooth.

Anyhow, I now realize that with my eyes (20/15 to 20/20 vision but maybe they react slow -- don't know), a steady 20FPS and higher is smooth -- very rare to get less (though it can be done on a few CPU limited games). No game feels slow to me (remembering I don't measure FPS but simply go by what I "see"). I am not bothered by an occasional stutter (that's usually bad programming).

I doubt I'll actually NEED a CPU or GPU upgrade for years. However, I'm sure I'll upgrade CPU or GPU or both this Fall -- just for the fun of it

My old system ran Arma II great also it was a e6600 2.4ghz, 4gb and a 8800gt.

Hiya just seen this post, hope everything going good in new pc land
I been mulling over same question for about a year to be honest. At some point im going to have to bite hard an just go buy the bits I want to finish the 'rebuild'.
Sandy or Ivy, both slim trim ladies, Bulldozer or pile driver. Bulldozer i was bitterly disapointed with the reviews so i abstained. but what of the un known? Well er we dont know. I frequently keep my eyes on TTL reviews. This is his ivy review.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9685x0ORYjI&list=PL098598E068EDBCB6&feature=plcp
I didnt really help me make a decsision either But I think i will probably go with an Ivybridge till I change my mind again
I want as much 'future proofing' as i can get, PCIe.3 isnt been used yet, by well anything an tests are apparently showing that it makes no diffrence in games right now. But what about 1 or 2 years down the line? I dont upgrade PC's very often, Infact untill last year my PC had remain completly unchanged for the previous 3-4 years. I doubt that will change. 5-6 years down the road ill be asking myself the same question. Which chipset?

If i had a Sandybridge, i'd not make the jump to Ivy. But I dont so Ivybridge seems to be the logical jump. Now if only AMD would come along an stir things up that really make my life hard