Intel BX80637I53550 Core i5-3550 Ivy Bridge Four-Core 3.3GHz 6MB L3 Cache Socket 1155 77W Desktop Processor
$ 199.98
Intel Core i5-3550 Quad-Core Processor 3.3 GHz 6 MB Cache LGA 1155 – BX80637I53550
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3 thoughts on “Intel Core i5-3550 Quad-Core Processor 3.3 GHz 6 MB Cache LGA 1155 – BX80637I53550”
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First Intel build and I am thrilled!,
I almost bought the i7 Ivy Bridge model instead. Glad I did not! This thing is more than I need even now. I have always supported AMD but with their FX chips falling below expectations I decided to make the switch to Intel and waited for the Ivy Bridge to be released.
My new rig is as follows:
Intel i5 3550 Processor@ 3.3GHZ
EVGA NVIDIA GTX 550Ti with 1GB RAM
8GB of DDR3 Corsair Vengeance RAM @ 1600MHZ
Western Digital 1TB HDD with 32MB Cache
Gigabyte Z77-D3H Motherboard (Highly recommended for this processor if you DON’T want to SLI/Crossfire)
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.
Even with a mid-level graphics card I can run Crysis 2 on Extreme setting WITH DX11 tessellation and the High Resolution texture pack. Skyrim is maxed out on everything including anti-aliasing and filtering. I can finally play Shogun 2 in all its glory.
I had my graphics card in my previous build which I had for about 5-6 years. That system was a AMD X2 @ 2.8GHZ with 4GB of DDR2 and running Vista Ultimate 32-bit.
That AMD system could run Skyrim almost maxed out but it struggled with games like Shogun 2 and could not pull off Crysis 2 or Dues Ex Human Revolution. My new system chews these out like nothing. The processor and RAM were obviously the biggest difference maker.
One more excellent point about this processor: Excellent power running at only 77W with new Ivy Bridge and my computer barely gives off heat! My room used to heat up with my old system. With this one I do not even notice an increase in temp….I’m running just the stock heat-sink and fan!
I would highly recommend this processor over the top of the line for dual core i3’s and the i7’s. This processor is the perfect “sweet-spot” for people who want the most bang for the buck. The i3’s are definitely more than enough for most games, but it won’t be too long before developers start coding for quad-core regularly. Also, the LGA1155 socket type will give a person room for an upgrade if they choose to switch to the Ivy Bridge i7 if need be.
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|Solid CPU,
This is a very fast CPU. I click and if I blink, it’s already open by the time my eyes open.
You just have to remember that some motherboards that claim to support this CPU actually do but may need to have their BIOS updated to the latest version. The Gigabyte Intel Z68 Micro ATX LGA 1155 Motherboard (GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3) I choose for this CPU supported this CPU but would not boot past the POST screen until I flashed the BIOS. The only thing that saved me was that I have the previous generation of this same CPU on the same socket on a different PC, so I moved borrowed the old CPU to boot the new board to flash the BIOS. Eventually, boards will ship with the proper BIOS, but because this technology is so new, logistically I had to make the board catch up to this CPU.
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|Good price/power/performance,
I have two of these in asus Z77 motherboards. One runs Linux for my massive software raid server, and never even breaks a sweat. The case is a rack mount with limited ventilation, but there is no heat buildup problem even fully loaded. The other is in a general pupose computer my mother uses for office apps and some limted photo editing.
This will run an HD video stream, like playing a BluRay, but I would not recommend trying to edit AVCHD video with this processor. I have another system with a 3770, and it is not useful for multiple AVCHD streams in Vegas Pro or Premiere 5.5. It can barely do a single AVCHD camera – the stutter on preview is bad enough to make syncing audio difficult.
You’ll probably just need an add-on graphics card to do the video editing, as the CPU should be adequate so long as you get some help from the graphics for the codec.
I also just put a 3540 into my son’s machine, on which he runs Linux, and it is quite adequate for that, but Linux is far more efficient than Windows for development work like building applications, etc.
I like the Ivy Bridge power/performance. This is not a big improvement performance-wise over SandyBridge, but it gives a considerably better power-performance product, which lends itself to quieter operation. I didn’t do much with SandyBridge, as I had upgraded the generation just before SB. But the socket is incompatible with the earlier 8xx/9xx series (These are LGA155, like SB, the previous gen was LGA1156).
I bought new memory for these builds – the new spec is DDR3 at 1.5 volts, and I see reports of it working with 1.65 volt memory, but I haven’t tried that. The spec memory voltage range for IB/SB is 1.425 – 1.575 volts. But I just saw that intel has a performance tuning protection plan for the k series for 25 or 35 bucks they will allow you one free no hassle smoke test replacement.
So 4 stars for the marginal graphics performance, but it would be five stars for other applications like servers. It’s a really good way to get a cost effective, highly performing Linux system or Windows desktop for business or non demanding graphics use.
Not for intensive video or gaming.
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