i5 2500k for 2016 games

[neonyziee]

How good is the 2500k for 2016 games? Overclocked, of course.

I'm looking to play games like Battlefield 1 on decent framerate with card like GTX 960 or maybe 970. I also play CS:GO, but I know that a CPU like 2500k can handle it pretty well.

My current rig is Q8400, AMD 7770, 4GB DDR2 RAM.

 

[popeyetyty]

How good is the 2500k for 2016 games? Overclocked, of course.

I'm looking to play games like Battlefield 1 on decent framerate with card like GTX 960 or maybe 970. I also play CS:GO, but I know that a CPU like 2500k can handle it pretty well.

My current rig is Q8400, AMD 7770, 4GB DDR2 RAM.

That CPU is great and all but it is outdated like my FX 6300, so when you can i would get a newer CPU, but it can run Battlefield 1 CS:GO black ops 3 and all those games with the GTX 960 and especially the 970.

 

[photonboy]

It's a great CPU.

If we use PASSMARK as a rough guide for stock settings->

Single thread performance
i5-2500K-> 1900

FX-6300-> 1407

i5-4590-> 2118

*So a small overclock (about 10 to 15%) should give you similar performance to the i5-4590.

Benchmarks: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7963/the-intel-haswell-refresh-review-core-i7-4790-i5-4690-and-i3-4360-tested/11

I can find benchmarks for scenarios where you'd see more dip, but I think this shows fairly well that the i5-2500K is still a great processor.

I'll comment on the GPU below.

 

[photonboy]

GPU:
First, here's a benchmark that averages a lot of games. You can use the R9-390 for the RX-480 (on average but not same for every game)->
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_1080/26.html

If buying a new GPU I can only recommend:

1) $200+ (RX-480, after-market card with 1x8-pin or 2x6-pin... preferably 8GB VRAM so maybe $260USD approx when prices stabilize)

2) GTX1060?
No reliabile info yet. (competing with RX-480 likely)

3) GTX1070 (again, buy an after-market card. Prices should stabilize as low as $420USD)
See performance chart

Other:
I do NOT recommend any earlier NVidia cards due to lack of certain DX12, VR and other features. I also don't recommend earlier AMD cards for similar reasons though their DX12 support is better than NVidia's pre-GTX1000 cards.

Summary:
It boils down to budget, but as it stands it's really only the RX-480 for about $250USD that I can recommend.

 

[popeyetyty]

What is your budget on a GPU only??

 

[neonyziee]

What is your budget on a GPU only??

Currently $0. I'm going to buy a GPU later when I see what can nvidia offer with their mid-range priced cards (GTX 1060 for example). I'll maybe even go for RX 480. I'm looking to spend as little as possible. Graphics card is not the topic here.

For now I'm sticking with my 7770, maybe for month or two, then I'm going to get a new one.

Same goes for CPU budget, trying to spend as little as possible. I've figured out that 2500k is the best buy (~ $120). There is a 3570k option (~ $160), but I don't think it's worth extra bucks, since 2500k can overclock more and compensate for the differences they have at stock speeds. (at least I think, I would like if someone could confirm or deny this)

 

[popeyetyty]

What is your budget on a GPU only??

Currently $0. I'm going to buy a GPU later when I see what can nvidia offer with their mid-range priced cards (GTX 1060 for example). I'll maybe even go for RX 480. I'm looking to spend as little as possible. Graphics card is not the topic here.

For now I'm sticking with my 7770, maybe for month or two, then I'm going to get a new one.

Same goes for CPU budget, trying to spend as little as possible. I've figured out that 2500k is the best buy (~ $120). There is a 3570k option (~ $160), but I don't think it's worth extra bucks, since 2500k can overclock more and compensate for the differences they have at stock speeds. (at least I think, I would like if someone could confirm or deny this)

Sounds like a plan

 

[neonyziee]

It's a great CPU.

If we use PASSMARK as a rough guide for stock settings->

Single thread performance
i5-2500K-> 1900

FX-6300-> 1407

i5-4590-> 2118

*So a small overclock (about 10 to 15%) should give you similar performance to the i5-4590.

Benchmarks: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7963/the-intel-haswell-refresh-review-core-i7-4790-i5-4690-and-i3-4360-tested/11

I can find benchmarks for scenarios where you'd see more dip, but I think this shows fairly well that the i5-2500K is still a great processor.

I'll comment on the GPU below.

Is it better to go with Ivy or Haswell non K or sandy K chips? Is overclocking really necessary for BF1?