Upgrading from i3 CPU

[rixtertrader]

When I upgraded my Camtasia 9.0 to 9.1, things got a little slower when editing video.

So the folks at Techsmith said that my system has an i3 processor which is below their minimum requirement.

That means I need to update my system. Sheesh! Seems like time flies so fast I'm upgrading every hour!

Anyway, I was wondering if it is possible to upgrade the CPU without having to get another motherboard and whether that would likely be enough to speed this up. If not, I am curious as to what motherboard/CPU combination I could get that is best bang for my buck, a definite speed/power upgrade, and won't mean having to go out and buy new graphic boards or other hardware. Just mb/cpu if possible (or just cpu if possible).

Thoughts on this?

I've been out of the loop in keeping up with technology (I'm old school, turning 60 and have built many machines in years past but haven't kept up in recent times).

Would love to hear suggestions from others here who keep up with this. My main use for the machine is VIDEO EDITING for Youtube videos.

Thanks.
Rick

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-3220 CPU @ 3.30GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.3GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8078MB RAM
Page File: 6220MB used, 3904MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 12
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (10.0, Build 16299)
Dual NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 to control 3 monitors

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Professional-M

------------------------
Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives
------------------------
Drive: C:
Free Space: 324.0 GB
Total Space: 428.7 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB

Drive: D:
Free Space: 109.9 GB
Total Space: 238.5 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: CT250BX100SSD1

Drive: F:
Free Space: 480.8 GB
Total Space: 953.9 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WDC WD10EZEX-60ZF5A0

 

[rhysiam]

That motherboard will take an i7-3770 or i7 3770K. They would be a very significant upgrade to your i3, they offer more than double the multi-threaded performance.
The "K" series CPU allows you to overclock (which your Z77 board supports), so if that's of interest to you, you can spring for the extra for the 3770K. Otherwise, the 3770 offers basically identical performance at stock and should be cheaper.
The only other thing to bear in mind is that if you're buying second hand, the "K" series CPUs can be overclocked, and may have been pushed very hard. It's a little safer buying a non-K CPU, but second hand always involves some level of risk... your call.

The other thing you should consider is stepping up to 16GB RAM. Do you have 2 free slots? If so, you can probably pop another 2x4GB DDR3 kit (not DDR4!) in there and double your RAM. Mix-and-matching RAM isn't guaranteed to work, but you're normally okay with standard 1333 or 1600mhz kits. That's likely to help too.

 

[rixtertrader]

That motherboard will take an i7-3770 or i7 3770K. They would be a very significant upgrade to your i3, they offer more than double the multi-threaded performance.
The "K" series CPU allows you to overclock (which your Z77 board supports), so if that's of interest to you, you can spring for the extra for the 3770K. Otherwise, the 3770 offers basically identical performance at stock and should be cheaper.
The only other thing to bear in mind is that if you're buying second hand, the "K" series CPUs can be overclocked, and may have been pushed very hard. It's a little safer buying a non-K CPU, but second hand always involves some level of risk... your call.

The other thing you should consider is stepping up to 16GB RAM. Do you have 2 free slots? If so, you can probably pop another 2x4GB DDR3 kit (not DDR4!) in there and double your RAM. Mix-and-matching RAM isn't guaranteed to work, but you're normally okay with standard 1333 or 1600mhz kits. That's likely to help too.

That is fantastic news! Thank you!

I never buy used, so I'll look to purchase the upgraded CPU. I'm not comfortable with overclocking, so if the stock does make a significant difference alone, I'll go that route.

If my machine does not have two extra slots to add 8g more, I'll look to just buy sticks of a higher capacity and replace the existing sticks.

This sounds like the easiest upgrade option.

Thanks!

UPDATE: Ooops. I say never buy used, but after looking at that $380 price tag I had to reconsider. So I found a used one selling as "very good condition!" from a 99% seller and added a $10 1-year warranty for a total shipped at $145. Not a lot of money for 1-year use if it dies after that, although I suppose if it goes past a year its going to be just fine until time to upgrade again. Will look into memory after installing cpu making sure all is working well.

 

[rhysiam]

That is fantastic news! Thank you!

I never buy used, so I'll look to purchase the upgraded CPU. I'm not comfortable with overclocking, so if the stock does make a significant difference alone, I'll go that route.

If my machine does not have two extra slots to add 8g more, I'll look to just buy sticks of a higher capacity and replace the existing sticks.

This sounds like the easiest upgrade option.

Thanks!

UPDATE: Ooops. I say never buy used, but after looking at that $380 price tag I had to reconsider. So I found a used one selling as "very good condition!" from a 99% seller and added a $10 1-year warranty for a total shipped at $145. Not a lot of money for 1-year use if it dies after that, although I suppose if it goes past a year its going to be just fine until time to upgrade again. Will look into memory after installing cpu making sure all is working well.

Very late response from me here, I've been away.

That's a very good price for an i7. Well done. Hopefully it all works okay? Second hand is always a bit of a risk but for a saving of nearly $250, it's hard to justify buying new!! CPUs are actually really robust too, you'd be unlucky to get a lemon. HDDs, PSUs, even motherboards fail pretty regularly, but CPU failures are far less common, especially with locked (non "K") CPUs. It happens, of course, but provided it boots and is stable for the first couple of hours of use, chances are it'll still be working flawlessly 5 years from now.

 

[rixtertrader]

That is fantastic news! Thank you!

I never buy used, so I'll look to purchase the upgraded CPU. I'm not comfortable with overclocking, so if the stock does make a significant difference alone, I'll go that route.

If my machine does not have two extra slots to add 8g more, I'll look to just buy sticks of a higher capacity and replace the existing sticks.

This sounds like the easiest upgrade option.

Thanks!

UPDATE: Ooops. I say never buy used, but after looking at that $380 price tag I had to reconsider. So I found a used one selling as "very good condition!" from a 99% seller and added a $10 1-year warranty for a total shipped at $145. Not a lot of money for 1-year use if it dies after that, although I suppose if it goes past a year its going to be just fine until time to upgrade again. Will look into memory after installing cpu making sure all is working well.

Very late response from me here, I've been away.

That's a very good price for an i7. Well done. Hopefully it all works okay? Second hand is always a bit of a risk but for a saving of nearly $250, it's hard to justify buying new!! CPUs are actually really robust too, you'd be unlucky to get a lemon. HDDs, PSUs, even motherboards fail pretty regularly, but CPU failures are far less common, especially with locked (non "K") CPUs. It happens, of course, but provided it boots and is stable for the first couple of hours of use, chances are it'll still be working flawlessly 5 years from now.

I paid just a couple of dollars for the 'warranty' plan to give me piece of mind. Just purchased another 8g memory stick today so in a couple of days when it arrives I should be flying much better. The i7 is currently working without any hitch so I think it's going to be okay. Thanks again!

 

[rhysiam]

Good good. Glad it's all working. That's a very significant upgrade there and the 3770 is still, even by modern standards, a very capable productivity CPU.