Final thoughts and rating

The Intel Core i5-3570K processor represents a logical replacement for the popular Core i5-2500K that's found a home in many an enthusiast and system integrator system. Clocked in a little higher and imbued with faster integrated graphics and improved Quick Sync trickery, all at no extra cost to the consumer, it will become the best choice for folk looking to spend around £150 on their next CPU.

Compatible with a wide range of extant motherboards and, on average, around 10 per cent nippier than the chip it effectively replaces, one would assume that we'd be singing its praises from the rooftops. Trouble is, the beefier integrated graphics, whilst undeniably better, still aren't able to play modern games at a decent resolution and with attractive eye candy; AMD's Llano chips are plain better for gaming. Perhaps of more concern to our readers is just how hot the chip becomes once overclocked and over-volted - you'll need a high-quality cooler to keep the CPU's temps in check.

The conclusion is quite simple, really. Run the Core i5-3570K at stock speeds/voltages and it provides the best bang-for-buck in the £150 space. Those who want to run it at significantly higher speeds may need to factor in the purchase of a top-class heatsink, more so than for the Core i5-2500K that's been doing the rounds for over a year now. We can but hope the introduction of the 3rd Generation Core chips drives down the price of the still-impressive 2nd Generation CPUs: that would be a win-win situation for you, the readers.

The Good

Excellent overall performance
Improved graphics and Quick Sync capabilities
Decent power consumption

The Bad

Our ES chip gets very toasty under load
Not a huge leap over the Core i5-2500K

HEXUS Rating

Intel Core i5-3570K

HEXUS Awards

Intel Core i5-3570K

HEXUS Where2Buy

The Intel Core i5-3570K processor will be available to purchase from Scan Computers* starting April 29, 2012.

HEXUS Right2Reply

At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.

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Liking the sound of the i5-2550K, what else do we know ?

Looks like a similar deal as 2500 vs 2600 i.e. HT doesn't really seem help for a lot of stuff. Maybe the Windows 8 scheduler will help, unless the EUs are already saturated by apps used in the benchmarks?

We'd expected slightly better idle power-draw from the 3570K.

How come? They both use the same die and power gate extensively, power draw by the CPU itself is only a few watts and differences would likely be lost in the margin of error/lack of precision with measuring before the PSU. Not complaining, that way gives you a better idea of real consumption - there's no point having an efficient CPU if the motherboard uses 5 times as much *cough*Atom*cough*.

Seems like my 2500k fairs well enough for now.

Phage
Liking the sound of the i5-2550K, what else do we know ?

The Core i5 2550K is very poor value for money considering the Core i5 2500K is cheaper and still has the IGP present.

Increased price for one notch clockspeed increase on a K CPU, minus the IGP for the likes of Quicksync, so unless they are almost guaranteed excellent overclockers I'd also consider them very poor value for money and a bit pointless TBH.