2500K still the best all rounder?

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BallaTheFeared

Diamond Member
Nov 15, 2010
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Do you guys even notice the IPC gains from SB to IvB and Haswell? It's single digits clock for clock.. that's not really noticeable frankly.

Is there a reason to upgrade from a 2500K to a newer quad core? It's 2 generations old and there's still absolutely no reason to switch.. Intel is so slack without competition.

Haswell is double what Ivy was over SB, plus it's much more efficient once overclocked.
 

john3850

Golden Member
Oct 19, 2002
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In the handbrake with the Android Presets the HW at 42k-43k are even with my ib 3770 at 45-46k or + 300GHz.
During the c2d days a faster steeping came out which oc higher but did less work do to slower cycles.
Does the 2500-2700 have a slower cycle timming then the ib etc.
 

jacktesterson

Diamond Member
Sep 28, 2001
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Benchmarks are overall stupid and Way overblown on these forums.

If gaming is primary focus, there is absolutely no reason to upgrade from Sandy Bridge.
 

JimmiG

Platinum Member
Feb 24, 2005
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And the point here is it may beat it, but by what margins? Is it worth it for me to dump my entire setup, get a new MB and Haswell when I have an OC SB? NOPE.

Nah, if you already have a 2500K @ 4.x GHz or better, no point in upgrading. It's fast enough, and the improvement even if you get a "golden" 4770K that goes to 4.6+ GHz @ 1.2V, will be very small. If you need something noticeably faster, you need to jump on board the LGA-2011 platform and get a 6-core CPU.
 

BallaTheFeared

Diamond Member
Nov 15, 2010
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And the point here is it may beat it, but by what margins? Is it worth it for me to dump my entire setup, get a new MB and Haswell when I have an OC SB? NOPE.

It's about a $350-$400 investment, less the $250~ you'd get for your old stuff, so $100-$150 to upgrade?

Worth it? I dunno, was to me, but I got more for my old i5 than I paid for my new one.
 

guskline

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2006
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I had 2 2500k rigs and really liked both of them. Sold the one cpu to get a 3770k when MC had them for $229. Sold the other one to get the 27" 2560 x 1440 monitor. Loved them both. I do agree that now building a rig 4670k would be smart for Intel.
 

blackened23

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2011
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Benchmarks are overall stupid and Way overblown on these forums.

If gaming is primary focus, there is absolutely no reason to upgrade from Sandy Bridge.

It was only stated that buying a 2500/2600k as a new purchaser for a new system is idiotic since a Haswell will beat them even with an 800-900mhz clock deficit, and that Haswell is the same price or cheaper. Anyway,not a single person here stated that it was "worth" upgrading a SB to a Haswell. That is all in the eye of the beholder, but not everyone cares about a 21% IPC increase since it probably won't be noticeable and because of the cost associated with it (400$ total average) - most people won't notice the performance difference whatsoever. But the fact remains that not a single person here is arguing that SB owners should make the switch. You're creating an argument where there is none.

The real argument is with the OP who stated that the 2500k is the best price/performance chip on the market. That is clearly not true because it is the same price or higher than the Haswell, and unless you're using the used market to gauge prices (good luck with the used market there, I know *I* would never buy a used CPU) - there is absolutely not a single sane reason to get a SB over Haswell. That's the real argument. Price/performance - it favors the Haswell, period. I'll say it one more time: nobody suggested that SB owners SHOULD upgrade.
 
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blackened23

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2011
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yup :thumbsup:

So are you arguing longevity or price/performance? As stated the latter argument is not valid, as the Haswell is the same price or cheaper. Also, nobody ever stated that you should upgrade to Haswell, not a single person - so i'm still confused as to why people are creating that discussion when nobody ever started it. Anyway, we all do agree that the SB was a great chip in terms of longevity, it is still a good chip to this day (despite not being the best for someone purchasing a new system build from scratch)
 
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Rhezuss

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2006
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I love my 3770k and it's the first CPU that I know I can keep for 3-4 years.
 

sad_guy

Member
May 1, 2013
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So are you arguing longevity or price/performance? As stated the latter argument is not valid, as the Haswell is the same price or cheaper. Also, nobody ever stated that you should upgrade to Haswell, not a single person - so i'm still confused as to why people are creating that discussion when nobody ever started it. Anyway, we all do agree that the SB was a great chip in terms of longevity, it is still a good chip to this day (despite not being the best for someone purchasing a new system build from scratch)

I'm arguing longevity.

I'm not creating a discussion, but a thread about how much i love mah processor.
 

Makaveli

Diamond Member
Feb 8, 2002
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well, it doesn't overheat while overclocking, it doesn't need delidding, it can hit 4.8 Ghz on a good aircooler, and it doesn't bottleneck the latest graphics cards or games even at 1080p, i guess that makes it a pretty good all-rounder.

Its a great chip and glad you enjoyed it.

However because of the IPC gains in Ivy and haswell they don't need to hit the same clock speed to give the same performance. I would take a haswell chip at 4.4Ghz over a 2500k at 4.8! None of these chips will bottleneck at 1080p so its moot point.

For a new build I wouldn't look at anything less than Ivy. With how slow things have been moving as of late I think you will easily get 5 years out of your computer. I'm already approaching the 4 year mark on my rig.
 

cytg111

Lifer
Mar 17, 2008
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meh, yes, if you have sandy now, it makes lesser sense to upgrad..eh sidegrade to anything else atm.
coming from pre sandy, you'd get haswell - if your neurons are still firing correctly.
 

tential

Diamond Member
May 13, 2008
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So are you arguing longevity or price/performance? As stated the latter argument is not valid, as the Haswell is the same price or cheaper. Also, nobody ever stated that you should upgrade to Haswell, not a single person - so i'm still confused as to why people are creating that discussion when nobody ever started it. Anyway, we all do agree that the SB was a great chip in terms of longevity, it is still a good chip to this day (despite not being the best for someone purchasing a new system build from scratch)

Was going to chime in but it seems blackened23 has said every single thing I wanted to say in the thread.

I still find it amazing that with the mass availability of benchmarks, people still just compare clockspeeds completely ignoring IPC improvements. No wonder Pentium 4 didn't destroy intel.
 
Nov 26, 2005
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I think it was in an online article that I seen the same statements about the 2500K. Might of been an Anandtech review ???
 

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
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I love my 2500k long time. I think I'll love my 4770k long time, too, and I'll put the 2500k upstairs in the guest room.

Win/win. :)
 

Black Octagon

Golden Member
Dec 10, 2012
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One thing that the 2500k has over Ivy and Haswell is sheer ease of overclocking. Turn up that multiplier, mess gently with the vcore and perhaps the llc. Nothing more is needed unless you're going for a very high OC. Even an overclocking newb like me hit 4.6+Ghz with very little effort (and only stopped because I wanted to stay under 70C)

Ivy and Haswell are more involved in the overclocking department, from what (little) I've read.
 

Subyman

Moderator <br> VC&G Forum
Mar 18, 2005
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If you had to buy a CPU right now, it certainly wouldn't be a 2500k, so you can't call it the "best all rounder" at this moment. You could, however, say that the people that bought a 2500k when it came out got one of the most long legged chips in recent memory. A 2500k today is still very strong and much more than what most people need. For a gamer, it was a great chip to buy at the time and still performs.

I'd say we give the 2500k a lifetime achievement award :)
 

2is

Diamond Member
Apr 8, 2012
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One thing that the 2500k has over Ivy and Haswell is sheer ease of overclocking. Turn up that multiplier, mess gently with the vcore and perhaps the llc. Nothing more is needed unless you're going for a very high OC. Even an overclocking newb like me hit 4.6+Ghz with very little effort (and only stopped because I wanted to stay under 70C)

Ivy and Haswell are more involved in the overclocking department, from what (little) I've read.

I have a 2500k and a 3770k, the only involvement is IB runs hotter. Haswell does seem to have a few more quirks with memory speed vs core speed and uncore/core voltages.
 

nyker96

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2005
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i recently upgraded from an x4 620 to a 2500k@4,2 and it's running pretty nicely, coupled w/ a new hd 7790 gcard upgrade, I feel i can turn up the graphics setting on games a notch or two. other than that, daily stuff feels faster as well, but to be honest, my old x4 620 runs everything pretty decently, but I just got the upgrade itch and bought a 2500k+board off ebay for 200. the new 4xxx+board is like 335 on sale at the time, I saw the benchmarks, not sure it's like 50%+ faster than 2500k to warrant the price difference.

plus i got lucky, this 2500k can do 3,5-6 on stock volts, but I just felt 4,2 is plenty for what i do, did about 12hrs linpack on 3,5 tho. not a hickup on stock volt.

so far, I like it a lot, i think 2500k is gonna be like i7 920, gonna last a long time to come. maybe only reason to upgrade it for the future is to get better power management features considering Intel is investing heavily on that now.
 

Exophase

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2012
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I can't even find 2500Ks for sale anymore at the usual places (Microcenter, Newegg), so that instantly puts it out of the price running for someone looking to buy new at those places. Maybe you can find good deals on remaining stock, I don't know, but if so that can't last for that much longer.

Telling someone to try to buy a 2500K for a new rig may not be the best advice.
 

XiandreX

Golden Member
Jan 14, 2011
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In my humble opinion the 3570k has been one of the better deals in recent memory. I am in no way saying its the best just that it has held its own. :D
 
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