Getting an i5 Sandy Bridge to replace my G860 SB, should I keep the i5 or return it?

[Slant6 21]

Mostly play 3 games on my PC. NFS Shift (dual core) Il-2 (single core) and SF2 (dual or more core). First 2 are fine on my system (SB G860 with GTX 650 video card). SF2 is usually good, but sometimes bogs down when game throws lots of planes up, or in Vietnam campaign (the worst of the bunch IMO performance-wise). Will I notice much of a change if I replace the G860 (3.0ghz sandy dual core) with an i5-2380p (3.1 w/ 3.4 turbo) or am I wasting my money here? Thanks.

[SebastianP 5]

I'd go for the i5, it's a lot more "future proof" than the G860 if nothing else. I'm still learning how not to get shot down, so I haven't tried the Vietnam campaign to see whether it'll bog down my i7.

[GodsLt 3]

I suggest getting the third generation Intel Core I5's and I7's...they are slighly more efficient, more powerful, and turbo boost adds about 1GHZ to the baseclock.

Or, you could also buy an I7 3770K (you can overclock)...but alternatively, it's your choice.

 

However, if you want to improve your performance, get a better graphics card. I can't stress this enough. If you have a tight budget, get a GTX660TI or a Radeon 7850 or 7950.

The GTX660TI would be my top pic...but you could research into others as well. Graphics card from Galaxy and MSI are really good. Try to get the Twin Frozr cards or at least the ones that do not have the standard slot cooler on them (they tend to run much warmer than their counterparts).