[SOLVED] Upgrading my current CPU for LGA1155

[MrSomebody]

i7 2600 upgrade path. Hard choice between i5-3570k and i7 3770k for MB: z77mx-d3h+ gtx980... Mainly used for gaming.
Main idea is to not having the need to switch out MB and RAM.

 

[cdrkf]

i7 2600 upgrade path. Hard choice between i5-3570k and i7 3770k for MB: z77mx-d3h+ gtx980... Mainly used for gaming.
Main idea is to not having the need to switch out MB and RAM.

Don't go for the i5 - most modern AAA titles need more than 4 threads, that would be a downgrade from the 2600. i7 3770K would possibly be a worthwhile upgrade if you plan to over clock it (although at stock it isn't really going to be much faster than the 2600).

 

[MrSomebody]

Don't go for the i5 - most modern AAA titles need more than 4 threads, that would be a downgrade from the 2600. i7 3770K would possibly be a worthwhile upgrade if you plan to over clock it (although at stock it isn't really going to be much faster than the 2600).

I am considering an option to OC , however im literally looking for a bit more speed out of CPU.
Im playing CPU intensive games (Wildlands, Breakpoint, e.t.c), so when I compare the performance Im getting out of my G1 980, im very unhappy. Any game that is not CPU intesive (like world of tanks) is fine.
Of course, I dont have unrealistic expectations of hitting 140+ fps with 980 on Ultra graphics in new 3xA games, but stable 60 on medium, while well within VRAM of 980 I would expect at least stable 50fps, not 32-40fps. So would you asuggest I go for the i7 and OC ?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Pointless upgrade from 2gen i7 to 3rd gen i7. Performance difference is ~2%.
With overclocking you might be able to gain another ~10%.
Still - not worth it.

 

[cdrkf]

I am considering an option to OC , however im literally looking for a bit more speed out of CPU.
Im playing CPU intensive games (Wildlands, Breakpoint, e.t.c), so when I compare the performance Im getting out of my G1 980, im very unhappy. Any game that is not CPU intesive (like world of tanks) is fine.
Of course, I dont have unrealistic expectations of hitting 140+ fps with 980 on Ultra graphics in new 3xA games, but stable 60 on medium, while well within VRAM of 980 I would expect at least stable 50fps, not 32-40fps. So would you asuggest I go for the i7 and OC ?

I would actually say if OC is your plan, the try and get hold of an i7 2700K. Those are soldered to the heat spreader, whereas the 3770K uses thermal grease, which means you typically get a better overclock (and thus better performance in games) out of the 2700K.

 

[cdrkf]

Pointless upgrade from 2gen i7 to 3rd gen i7. Performance difference is ~2%.
With overclocking you might be able to gain another ~10%.
Still - not worth it.

His current cpu is an i7 2600 (non K) so it's locked to 3.8gh max... you can easily push a 2700K to 4.8ghz with a decent cooler (good examples can push 5+ ghz) which would be a ~ 25% performance jump which is more worthwhile.

I guess it depends how much it costs - a new cpu, motherboard and memory is going to be quite expensive so if you can find a 2700K or 3770K for a low price it makes sense.... a good cooler will be needed of course but that can be transferred to a new system in future.

 

[MrSomebody]

His current cpu is an i7 2600 (non K) so it's locked to 3.8gh max... you can easily push a 2700K to 4.8ghz with a decent cooler (good examples can push 5+ ghz) which would be a ~ 25% performance jump which is more worthwhile.

I guess it depends how much it costs - a new cpu, motherboard and memory is going to be quite expensive so if you can find a 2700K or 3770K for a low price it makes sense.... a good cooler will be needed of course but that can be transferred to a new system in future.

My current cooler is Evo212 and I cant really complain. I also have open case setup, so temps are not high (55-60c while on full load.

In regards previous comment- Yes, maybe upgrading CPU is not the smartest thing, but I really dont want to switch out everything, considering how I only play few titles... 🙁.

Going to 2600k .... Wouldnt the 3770k have newer instructions and better single core performance over 2600? OC is one thing, but 2600k is also 9years old... So tehcnically it wouldnt matter if its 2600k or 3770k if im gonna OC it anyway .. at least so it seems...

 

[geofelt]

If you were to upgrade to either a i5-3570K or a i7-3770K you would increase your single thread performance by around 15%.
Possibly more with overclocking.
On ebay, a used 3570K is $30-$50, a i7-3770K has sold for $80 to $200.
What you would give up with the 3570K is 4 threads.
This may or may not be important to your games.
Try this test to get a better idea:
Experiment with removing one or more cores/threads. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option.
You will need to reboot for the change to take effect. Set the number of threads to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many threads.
If you see little difference, your game does not need all the threads you have.

 

[tennis2]

i7-2600 can be OC'd +4 on the multi when using a Z series board.
If you really want to push beyond that, you could get into BCLK OC'ing.

If you do the +4 on your i7-2600, you'd have to be able to get the 3770K for a VERY small net price (after sale of your 2600, which won't bring as much because it's a non-K) to make it worthwhile.

 

[cryoburner]

i7 2600 upgrade path. Hard choice between i5-3570k and i7 3770k for MB: z77mx-d3h+ gtx980... Mainly used for gaming.
Main idea is to not having the need to switch out MB and RAM.

What sort of prices are you looking at for these CPUs? An i7 that's compatible with your existing motherboard might be an alright choice if you can find one on the used market for a decent price, but I certainly wouldn't buy one "new" at this point, as they tend to be overpriced compared to more modern offerings. It's now possible to pick up a 6-core, 12-thread CPU along with a new motherboard and 16GB of DDR4 RAM for around $300, after all.

 

[MrSomebody]

O.k, I did not expect this many answers, but its greatly appreciated.

I have tried to just disable HT and try my games , there was no noticeable drop/rise in FPS , andthat left me confused. Is the game issue or my pc in general. Im not hunting FPS, but sometimes FPS actually drops to 12fps and then jumps back on. Even while doing nothing....

I am well aware that a ryzen bundle or even 8th gen i5 bundle form amazon would probably solve my issue for around 400$, but cannot justify it while having a 980.

Im probably that worse kind of customer who wants the best quality and performance while penny pinching harder than MrCrabs from spongebob, but the problem is, havent touched pc components since I last put together my q6600 back in the day and this i7 build. If you dont follow the market you miss out on things. Im not even sure if there is much difference between i5 3rd gen and i7 r3d gen in comparison with my i7 2600.

I would probably be willing to spend up to 100$ for a CPU, and if that would solve the issue with bumping +15-20 fps on Breakpoint Id call it a day.
Not sure how will updating boards bios will turn out. Gigabyte is not really the best board to do it anyway and last Bios for it came out 2014... A bit reluctant to touch it tbh. I guess there is no hard answer if I should go for 2600k and try OC, or spend couple numbers more for 3770k, as it seems that at this point and age, both of those cpus are rather similar in performance..

I tried OC my 980, and games started crashing and stuttering with even +100mhz on base clock... so go figure.

I just noticed I havent put my specs fpr pc, so here they are.

z77mx-d3h + i7 2600,+Evo 212. 16gb ddr3 Kingston Hyper X 1866mhz, Crucial 240gb SSD+ 1TB Seagate, Gigabyte G1 980 + EVGA 600w PSU.

 

[tennis2]

Did you try OCing your existing CPU by +4 multiplier?

 

[geofelt]

When you disable hyperthreading, you reduce your thread count from 8 to 4.
Since you noticed no performance hit, you have established that your games do not make any effective use of more than 4 threads. If you play multiplayer with many participants, then extra threads can be very important.
Here is an older study on that subject:

Report: Despite Claims, Most PC Games Are Still Unable To Take Advantage Of More Than 4 CPU Cores

Well, you gotta love developers. This past year, we’ve been hearing from a lot of teams that their games were taking advantage of more than four CPU cores. And you know what? We decided to put a lot of CPU-bound games to the test. The results are a bit disheartening – to say the least – …...

www.dsogaming.com

Next, in the quest for better fps, you need to find out what is your limiting factor.
It could be your graphics card, particularly if you play fast action games.
Or, it could be your core speed and cpu single thread performance.
Here are a couple more tests:

a) Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 80%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 20% improvement in core speed might do.

I would be reluctant to back off on the number of threads to less for a $40 3570K.
$100 is likely to buy you a I7-3700K used if you shop well on ebay.

I would not try to update your bios unless there is a fix that seems to address your issue.
A failed flash can render your motherboard useless until or if you can figure out how to recover.
Check the update documentation first.
Do not update just on speculation.

What monitor resolution are you using?
A GTX980 is about the recommended card for 1080P gaming on breakpoint.

Run HWmonitor to check temperatures and clock rates.
Possibly you are throttling and do not know it.
If you see a max of 100c. you likely throttle sometimes.

 

[MrSomebody]

When you disable hyperthreading, you reduce your thread count from 8 to 4.
Since you noticed no performance hit, you have established that your games do not make any effective use of more than 4 threads. If you play multiplayer with many participants, then extra threads can be very important.
Here is an older study on that subject:

Report: Despite Claims, Most PC Games Are Still Unable To Take Advantage Of More Than 4 CPU Cores

Well, you gotta love developers. This past year, we’ve been hearing from a lot of teams that their games were taking advantage of more than four CPU cores. And you know what? We decided to put a lot of CPU-bound games to the test. The results are a bit disheartening – to say the least – …...

www.dsogaming.com

Next, in the quest for better fps, you need to find out what is your limiting factor.
It could be your graphics card, particularly if you play fast action games.
Or, it could be your core speed and cpu single thread performance.
Here are a couple more tests:

a) Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 80%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 20% improvement in core speed might do.

I would be reluctant to back off on the number of threads to less for a $40 3570K.
$100 is likely to buy you a I7-3700K used if you shop well on ebay.

I would not try to update your bios unless there is a fix that seems to address your issue.
A failed flash can render your motherboard useless until or if you can figure out how to recover.
Check the update documentation first.
Do not update just on speculation.

What monitor resolution are you using?
A GTX980 is about the recommended card for 1080P gaming on breakpoint.

Run HWmonitor to check temperatures and clock rates.
Possibly you are throttling and do not know it.
If you see a max of 100c. you likely throttle sometimes.

So first off. Im playing on TV, so my refresh rate is locked on 50hz.

Resolution is 1080p (1920x1080) .

Playing without VSync tears screen up more than DoomGuy.

Temperatures while playing for an hour on cpu is 52c and gpu on 60c, so im definitely not throttling.

Reducing eye candy gave a little boost to fps, so that proves the point of the cpu being the limiting factor.

Since my 2600 is non K, there is no OC I can take off. Gpu OC is off already as that was crashing the game.

I have turned off any possible power saving option, including one on nvidias control panel for gpu.

So far I think its time to look for i7 3770k and see how things go.
Ubisoft games are not the best optimised, but I watching youtube videos with 980 and different cpus, it clearly shows that I should be getting more eye candy and more fps, rather than freezing from time to time.

Thanks for the replies, Ill do my own research from this point on.

 

[Third-Eye]

So far I think its time to look for i7 3770k and see how things go.
Ubisoft games are not the best optimised, but I watching youtube videos with 980 and different cpus, it clearly shows that I should be getting more eye candy and more fps, rather than freezing from time to time.

Honestly, you should save your money toward a Ryzen 5 or 7 3000 series. A Ryzen 5 3600 would be a pretty big upgrade over an i7-2600 and around 30-40% faster than an i7-3770K. You're only going to gain around 10fps in most games upgrading to an i7-3770k or maybe 15fps with an overclock. Another thing to consider is newer games are better optimized for more than 4 CPU threads. GTA5 uses up to 8 CPU threads and that game came out on PC 4 1/2 years ago. The next console generation is going to have probably 16 CPU threads to work with so you would really want to have no fewer than 12 CPU threads in your gaming PC.

Another thing to consider is that when Ryzen 4000 comes out later this year (hopefully), Ryzen 3000 prices will likely drop as they did for Ryzen 2000. You could probably get an 8c16t Ryzen 7 3700X for around $200 in 6-8 months or a 3700 for around $170.

Also, the performance of the GTX 980 is somewhere between a GTX 1650 Super and GTX 1660. The 980 is still a good card for mid to high setting graphics at 1080p.

 

[geofelt]

When you reduce eye candy, it reduces the load on the graphics card.
Since you get at least a small boost in performance, it suggests that the graphics card is, at least, some of what limits your fps.
It would not be wrong to get a stronger graphics card. It can be carried forward to a new build.

The single thread passmark rating of your i7-2600 is 1747.
The rating of the i7-3770k is 2019, a reasonable boost even though you can not oc the 3770k on your motherboard.
The increase comes from a slightly higher stock clock. from 3.4/3.8 to 3.5/3.9

 

[RodroX]

Im with Third-Eye here. I also agree with others theres no much point in going from a i7 2600 to any Core i5 3xxx, maybe to a Core i7 3770K but it will all depend on how much you pay.

I feel spending around ~$200, on a used 8 year old chip its something you should really think well and probably avoid (unless of course you can really get a good offer on ebay). If this was i5 to i7 then it will be a very diferent story.

Right now in 2020 you have way more options than 2 years ago to upgrade a somehow "old" system. You could get a Ryzen 5 1600AF, which will be a good starting point for around $90 + a budget but good B450/(B550 soon) motherboard ~ 90 + some DDR4 3200 RAM and you are set to go with brand new system (which will be probably able to adopt the new Ryzen 4xxx later on).
Of course if you can go with the Ryzen 5 3600 that would be a huge step up, but even the Ryzen 5 1600AF (which is a Ryzen 5 2600 with a really tinny frecuency drop) will give you a good jump in performance too.

Cheers

 

[cdrkf]

When you reduce eye candy, it reduces the load on the graphics card.
Since you get at least a small boost in performance, it suggests that the graphics card is, at least, some of what limits your fps.
It would not be wrong to get a stronger graphics card. It can be carried forward to a new build.

The single thread passmark rating of your i7-2600 is 1747.
The rating of the i7-3770k is 2019, a reasonable boost even though you can not oc the 3770k on your motherboard.
The increase comes from a slightly higher stock clock. from 3.4/3.8 to 3.5/3.9

He has a Z series motherboard so surely he can overclock on that (with K series processor)?

 

[geofelt]

He has a Z series motherboard so surely he can overclock on that (with K series processor)?

True. And, overclocking might make a cheaper 4 thread i5-3570K upgrade worth the experiment.

 

[tennis2]

OVERCLOCK YOUR i7-2600 BY 4X MULTIPLIER

 

[tennis2]

https://www.anandtech.com/show/4083...-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/3