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Intel Core i5-3570S

Intel Core i5-3570S: A Retrospective and Relevance in 2025

Architecture, Compatibility, and Use Cases for an Obsolete but Resilient Processor

1. Key Specifications: What Does Ivy Bridge Offer?

The Intel Core i5-3570S, released in 2012, belongs to the Ivy Bridge generation. This 22nm chip features 4 cores and 4 threads, with a base frequency of 3.1 GHz and Turbo Boost up to 3.8 GHz. Its TDP is 65W, which is 20% lower than the standard version i5-3570K (77W).

Key Features:

- Support for PCIe 3.0 (up to 16 lanes) — relevant for mid-range discrete GPUs.

- Integrated Intel HD 2500 graphics — basic video processing and less demanding games.

- No Hyper-Threading support — multi-threaded performance is limited.

- Geekbench 6 scores: 663 (single-core), 1857 (multi-core). In comparison, a modern budget CPU, the Intel Core i3-13100, scores around ~2400/9000.

Architectural Limitations:

- Lacks support for AVX2, NVMe (only via third-party controllers), and modern AI instructions.

2. Compatible Motherboards: Searching the Secondary Market

The processor socket is LGA 1155. Suitable chipsets include:

- H61/B75 — budget options without overclocking.

- Z77 — overclocking support (relevant for "K" versions).

Examples of Models:

- ASUS P8H61-M LE (around $30-40 on the secondary market).

- Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H (up to $60).

Important:

- New motherboards for LGA 1155 have not been produced since 2015. When purchasing used, check the condition of capacitors and the socket.

- UEFI support is limited: some boards do not work with drives larger than 2TB.

3. Memory: Only DDR3

The processor supports DDR3 memory with frequencies up to 1600 MHz (officially) and a voltage of 1.5V. Real-world tests show stable operation with 1866 MHz modules, but this depends on the motherboard.

Recommendations:

- Optimal capacity is 16 GB (2x8 GB). For games in 2025, this is insufficient, but it will suffice for office tasks.

- DDR3L (1.35V) is compatible but does not provide energy consumption benefits.

4. Power Supply: Calculation for a Budget System

With a TDP of 65W and no discrete graphics card, a 300W PSU is sufficient. However, for a gaming build:

- A mid-range graphics card like the NVIDIA GTX 1650 (TDP 75W) + i5-3570S will require 400-450W.

- Recommended models: EVGA 450 BR (80+ Bronze, $45) or Be Quiet! System Power 10 (450W, $50).

Important:

- Old PSUs with low efficiency (e.g., 70%) may overload the circuit. Choose certified 80+ Bronze units.

5. Pros and Cons: Who is it Suitable for in 2025?

Advantages:

- Low price: the processor costs $25-40 on the secondary market.

- Energy efficiency: suitable for mini-PCs or media centers.

- Adequate performance for basic tasks (office, browsing, 1080p video).

Disadvantages:

- No support for DDR4, PCIe 4.0, USB 3.1 Gen2.

- Limited upgrade potential: the maximum for LGA 1155 is the Core i7-3770K.

- Weak integrated graphics: a discrete graphics card is required for gaming.

6. Use Cases: Where is the i5-3570S Relevant?

- Office PC: Paired with an SSD and 8 GB DDR3, the system can run Windows 10/11 (with limitations), LibreOffice, and browsers.

- Media Center: Streaming video (Netflix, YouTube) in 1080p, music, light emulators (RetroArch).

- Light Gaming: Minecraft, CS:GO, Dota 2 (30-60 FPS on low settings with a GTX 1050 Ti level GPU).

Real Example:

A user built a PC with an i5-3570S, 16 GB DDR3, GTX 1060 6 GB, and a 512 GB SSD. In GTA V (1080p, medium settings), the system achieves 45-60 FPS.

7. Competitors: Comparison with Modern Alternatives

- AMD FX-8350 (2012): 8 cores, but weaker in single-threaded performance (Geekbench 6: ~450/2200). Consumes 125W — inefficient for upgrades.

- Intel Core i3-10100 (2020): 4 cores/8 threads, Geekbench 6: ~1500/4500. New systems based on LGA 1200 will cost about $200 (CPU + motherboard + DDR4).

- Ryzen 3 5300G (2023): 4 cores/8 threads, with integrated Vega 6 graphics. A complete setup (CPU + motherboard + DDR4) starts from $250.

Conclusion: The i5-3570S lags behind even budget new releases but is favorable in price for "budget upgrades" of old PCs.

8. Build Tips: How to Avoid Issues

1. SSD is Essential: Kingston A400 (240 GB, $20) will speed up system boot times.

2. Update BIOS: Older motherboards may lack UEFI support.

3. Add a Graphics Card: Even a used GTX 1050 Ti ($60) will improve gaming performance.

4. Check Cooling: The stock cooler may be noisy — replace it with a Deepcool GAMMAXX 400 ($25).

9. Final Conclusion: Who Should Consider the i5-3570S?

This processor is worth considering in two cases:

1. Upgrading an Old PC: If you already have an LGA 1155 motherboard and DDR3, for $40 you can revive the system.

2. Budget Build for Undemanding Tasks: Media center, office computer, or a server for a home network.

Alternative: For $150-200, you can build a system based on the Intel Core i3-12100 (2023), which is 3-4 times more powerful and supports modern standards. But if the budget is strictly limited — the i5-3570S can still deliver decent performance.

In 2025, the Intel Core i5-3570S is not a choice for the future, but an example of how old hardware can receive a second life. Use it wisely!

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

April 2012

Model Name

The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.

i5-3570S

Code Name

Ivi Bridge

CPU Specifications

Total Cores

Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).

Total Threads

Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.

Basic Frequency

3.10 GHz

Max Turbo Frequency

Max Turbo Frequency is the maximum single-core frequency at which the processor is capable of operating using Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and, if present, Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 and Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost. Frequency is typically measured in gigahertz (GHz), or billion cycles per second.

3.80 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Frequency

3.80 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology dynamically increases the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom to give you a burst of speed when you need it, and increased energy efficiency when you don’t.

2.0

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) delivers two processing threads per physical core. Highly threaded applications can get more work done in parallel, completing tasks sooner.

CPU Socket

The socket is the component that provides the mechanical and electrical connections between the processor and motherboard.

FCLGA1155

Technology

Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.

22 nm

TDP

65 W

PCI Express Version

PCI Express Revision is the supported version of the PCI Express standard. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (or PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for attaching hardware devices to a computer. The different PCI Express versions support different data rates.

3.0

Intel 64

Intel® 64 architecture delivers 64-bit computing on server, workstation, desktop and mobile platforms when combined with supporting software.¹ Intel 64 architecture improves performance by allowing systems to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory.

Yes

Instruction Set

The instruction set is a hard program stored inside the CPU that guides and optimizes CPU operations. With these instruction sets, the CPU can run more efficiently. There are many manufacturers that design CPUs, which results in different instruction sets, such as the 8086 instruction set for the Intel camp and the RISC instruction set for the ARM camp. x86, ARM v8, and MIPS are all codes for instruction sets. Instruction sets can be extended; for example, x86 added 64-bit support to create x86-64. Manufacturers developing CPUs that are compatible with a certain instruction set need authorization from the instruction set patent holder. A typical example is Intel authorizing AMD, enabling the latter to develop CPUs compatible with the x86 instruction set.

64-bit

PCI Express Configurations

PCI Express (PCIe) Configurations describe the available PCIe lane configurations that can be used to link to PCIe devices.

up to 1x16 | 2x8 | 1x8 & 2x4

Memory Specifications

Memory Type

Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.

DDR3 1333/1600

Max Memory Size

Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.

32 GB

Memory Channels

The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.

Bus Speed

5 GT/s

Max Memory Bandwidth

Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).

25.6 GB/s

ECC Memory Supported

ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support.

GPU Specifications

GPU Name

Intel® HD Graphics 2500

Graphics Base Frequency

Graphics Base frequency refers to the rated/guaranteed graphics render clock frequency in MHz.

650 MHz

Graphics Frequency

Graphics max dynamic frequency refers to the maximum opportunistic graphics render clock frequency (in MHz) that can be supported using Intel® HD Graphics with Dynamic Frequency feature.

1.15 GHz

Number of Displays Supported

Miscellaneous

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)

Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) allows one hardware platform to function as multiple “virtual” platforms. It offers improved manageability by limiting downtime and maintaining productivity by isolating computing activities into separate partitions.

Yes

Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) continues from the existing support for IA-32 (VT-x) and Itanium® processor (VT-i) virtualization adding new support for I/O-device virtualization. Intel VT-d can help end users improve security and reliability of the systems and also improve performance of I/O devices in virtualized environments.

Yes

Instruction Set Extensions

Intel® SSE4.1 | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® AVX

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology is an advanced means of enabling high performance while meeting the power-conservation needs of mobile systems. Conventional Intel SpeedStep® Technology switches both voltage and frequency in tandem between high and low levels in response to processor load. Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology builds upon that architecture using design strategies such as Separation between Voltage and Frequency Changes, and Clock Partitioning and Recovery.

Yes

Execute Disable Bit

Execute Disable Bit is a hardware-based security feature that can reduce exposure to viruses and malicious-code attacks and prevent harmful software from executing and propagating on the server or network.

Yes

Cache

CPU Cache is an area of fast memory located on the processor. Intel® Smart Cache refers to the architecture that allows all cores to dynamically share access to the last level cache.

6 MB Intel® Smart Cache

Intel AES New Instructions

Intel® AES New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI) are a set of instructions that enable fast and secure data encryption and decryption. AES-NI are valuable for a wide range of cryptographic applications, for example: applications that perform bulk encryption/decryption, authentication, random number generation, and authenticated encryption.

Yes

Intel Clear Video HD Technology

Intel® Clear Video HD Technology, like its predecessor, Intel® Clear Video Technology, is a suite of image decode and processing technologies built into the integrated processor graphics that improve video playback, delivering cleaner, sharper images, more natural, accurate, and vivid colors, and a clear and stable video picture. Intel® Clear Video HD Technology adds video quality enhancements for richer color and more realistic skin tones.

Yes

Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)

Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT), also known as Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), provides acceleration for memory intensive virtualized applications. Extended Page Tables in Intel® Virtualization Technology platforms reduces the memory and power overhead costs and increases battery life through hardware optimization of page table management.

Yes

Intel InTru 3D Technology

Yes

Intel Quick Sync Video

Intel® Quick Sync Video delivers fast conversion of video for portable media players, online sharing, and video editing and authoring.

Yes

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6

Single Core Score

663

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

1857

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

775

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

2439

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

1993

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

4630

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Core i3-6157U

771 +16.3%

PRO A6-8570

721 +8.7%

Core i5-3570S

663

Xeon E5-4650 v3

631 -4.8%

Pentium G3260

591 -10.9%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Xeon E3-1265L v2

2208 +18.9%

Core i5-2500K

2032 +9.4%

Core i5-3570S

1857

Core i5-3340S

1703 -8.3%

Core i3-6100U

1531 -17.6%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Core i7-7560U

808 +4.3%

Core i3-4130

792 +2.2%

Core i5-3570S

775

Xeon D-1531

751 -3.1%

Core i5-7200U

736 -5%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Core i5-3570

2708 +11%

Core i3-8100H

2590 +6.2%

Core i5-3570S

2439

Core i7-2860QM

2287 -6.2%

Opteron 4334

2119 -13.1%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Core i5-8305G

2048 +2.8%

Pentium Gold G5600T

2025 +1.6%

Core i5-3570S

1993

Xeon Silver 4214R

1968 -1.3%

Ryzen 5 PRO 3500U

1944 -2.5%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Core i7-6822EQ

5241 +13.2%

Core i5-3570

4953 +7%

Core i5-3570S

4630

Core i7-2760QM

4392 -5.1%

Pentium Gold G6500

4145 -10.5%