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SlavfromBulgaria

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Apr 29, 2020
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Hello!
Almost 4 months ago I finally had to upgrade to something better than my old laptop. The problem is, I'm 17 years old (and as you probably saw I'm from Bulgaria), so I can't really afford anything too fancy because I hate milking my parents since a kid and use my own money for every purchase. I got a really good deal on a used PC from a very cool guy with an i3-2120 and a GTX 580, Trendsonic 750w gamingbeast ecopower PSU (I know it's not very good but it's 80% plus efficiency and has caused me no problems so far). I upgraded the RAM to 12gb of DDR3 running at 1333Mhz and added a 480gb ADATASU630 SSD. It quickly grew on me and became a very snappy machine in no time, especially compared to my old laptop. The problem was that the GTX 580 isn't supported by many newer titles I wanted to play, so I got another very good deal on a RX 570. Yes,yes,before you say it, I know it's a massive bottleneck. And that's why I didn't mention the motherboard while listing the specs. The problem is, after getting the RX 570 I can run any game I want, but in more intensive titles the CPU is really holding me back.
Here's the reason I'm writing for:
I wanted to upgrade my CPU to something like an i5-2400/i5-2500. My motherboard is an Intel manufactured motherboard, but it may be some kind of a ripoff, because I can't get a name from it. I know it's a H61 Socket motherboard. I haven't got any problems with this PC so far, like literally none. Everything's been cream and butter and I hope it stays that way.
So I got a used i5-2500 with an option to test it, so I did, but it didn't work. It just refused to run and I returned the CPU and stuck to my i3-2120 that immediately booted up after putting it back in. I don't know if I landed a bad CPU or not, but it might be possible that the motherboard refused to run it because of the limit of 77W TDP of most H61 motherboards, but other people didn't have any troubles.
Here's the question:
Is it possible to upgrade the CPU to a used i5-3470/i5-3570? I can find them for quite cheap used here in Bulgaria. My motherboard is running an American Megatrends BIOS, that has been updated to a later 2017 version that the guy I got the PC from said it was the most stable while testing. Since these CPU's have a 77W TDP and they run on a H61 socket, can you tell me if I have any chance of success of running it? Can you give me your opinion? I'm happy to hear every piece of advice you give me.
(Managed to find it on Italian Amazon with list of supported CPU's, but it's precisely not supporting the i5-2500. https://www.amazon.it/Sofobod-H61-Motherboard-LGA1155-Supporto/dp/B07KM6W4KR )
Thanks in advance!
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I applaud you for your integrity and willingness to be smart and frugal. You will go far my friend if you keep this up. :)

As far as your current dilemma, you've figured out that you can't use the i5-2500, but is the 2500k and i7-2600/2600k also excluded? As far as the i5-3470/3570, you can try them without the bios update, and then if they don't work, you can do the upgrade and then reinstall them.
A H61 motherboard like yours will MOST LIKELY require a bios update to support 3rd generation CPUs. Without knowing what model of motherboard it is, its impossible to know where to look for a bios update.

So i would say no, it will not support any 3rd generation CPUs unless you can identify the board and update the bios.

If you spam f2 or delete during bootup to get into the bios, do you get any identification information?
 
A H61 motherboard like yours will MOST LIKELY require a bios update to support 3rd generation CPUs. Without knowing what model of motherboard it is, its impossible to know where to look for a bios update.

So i would say no, it will not support any 3rd generation CPUs unless you can identify the board and update the bios.

If you spam f2 or delete during bootup to get into the bios, do you get any identification information?
Other than the BIOS vendor and version, no, but my friend actually just managed to find it on the Italian amazon. And, the BIOS is updated, as I have mentioned. Here it is, the list says it should support those, but precisely doesn't support the i5-2500 I mentioned. That's why it didn't run. https://www.amazon.it/Sofobod-H61-Motherboard-LGA1155-Supporto/dp/B07KM6W4KR
 
I applaud you for your integrity and willingness to be smart and frugal. You will go far my friend if you keep this up. :)

As far as your current dilemma, you've figured out that you can't use the i5-2500, but is the 2500k and i7-2600/2600k also excluded? As far as the i5-3470/3570, you can try them without the bios update, and then if they don't work, you can do the upgrade and then reinstall them.
 
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I applaud you for your integrity and willingness to be smart and frugal. You will go far my friend if you keep this up. :)

As far as your current dilemma, you've figured out that you can't use the i5-2500, but is the 2500k and i7-2600/2600k also excluded? As far as the i5-3470/3570, you can try them without the bios update, and then if they don't work, you can do the upgrade and then reinstall them.
Thank you very much!
The strange thing is, the motherboard doesn’t support the i5 2500 and the i5 2500k, but it does support the i7 2600 and the i7 2700k, as well as the i7 3770, but they aren’t that cheap here in Bulgaria and I don’t think there will be much of a difference while gaming.
 
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Thank you very much!
The strange thing is, the motherboard doesn’t support the i5 2500 and the i5 2500k, but it does support the i7 2600 and the i7 2700k, as well as the i7 3770, but they aren’t that cheap here in Bulgaria and I don’t think there will be much of a difference while gaming.
Hyperthreading will help a lot.

Having owned both a 2500k and a 2600k, the difference is pretty large.

But the i5 3470 will still be a nice upgraded so you actually get 4 real cores.
 
Thank you very much!
The strange thing is, the motherboard doesn’t support the i5 2500 and the i5 2500k, but it does support the i7 2600 and the i7 2700k, as well as the i7 3770, but they aren’t that cheap here in Bulgaria and I don’t think there will be much of a difference while gaming.
Interesting. Well, at least you have a really good idea of everything that works in the board in case you run into a deal. :)
I have ordered an i5-3470 already and it arrives tomorrow. I will come back to you on this, hopefully while using the new CPU. Thank you for your time!
Awesome! Should be a nice solid upgrade for sure: :)
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i3-2120-vs-Intel-i5-3470/752vs822
 
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So, I've got some news.
I successfully upgraded to an i5-3470! Didn't need a BIOS update, everything booted up immeadiately without any trouble's whatsoever.
I want to thank you for your help and advice! I'm starting the benchmarks with the new CPU.
Thanks again!
 
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