CPU upgrade?

[ZeR04U]

Currently have a 930i overclocked to 3.4 ghz (1366 socket type, 2 gens behind). Seems to run games fine but is it a good time to upgrade CPU/mobo? If I can get a year more out of the 930i and something special (like the 800 series for GPUs) is on the horizon I can wait, but if it makes no sense to wait for something specific or something is not RIGHT around the corner, might as well upgrade now.

I thought DDR4 RAM and a different size was going to be used for upcoming Intel CPUs (20 nm instead of 28) but that could be far off. Thought I read that somewhere but not sure if any of that is valid. Might be thinking GPU.

Thoughts?

 

[Charlie98]

Broadwell is coming soon, but it's just going to be a minor upgrade of Haswell.... Now's a good a time as any.

What is your 930i not doing that you think a new socket 1150 will? Just a little more speed or...?

 

[ZeR04U]

Eh I guess just a bit more speed. My plan was to hang onto the 930i for another year or so and then sell off the GTX 770, get an 800 series, and do the full upgrade. I generally just keep my PCs going and upgrade here and there on components as I feel the need arises.

Right now is a horrible time to invest heavily in a GPU, just wondering if it's worthwhile to upgrade my CPU and curious if the next CPU line was going to be (what I feel) is big as the GPU line. Doesn't sound like the case.

Guess I can wait, I don't feel my CPU is bottlenecking me in games. Should do some benches though. Haven't since I got the GTX 770 and haven't in a while on more current gen games.

 

[tweakboy]

You have the 770, now give it a home with a new mobo cpu when funds are available. gl

 

[netxzero64]

You're still good with your setup. Just overclock it at 3.8ghz and above.

 

[nwo]

First generation i5s/i7s are still decent CPUs, as long as you overclock them to around 3.5GHz or higher. They overclock pretty well considering that they have an low base clock speed. At stock clocks, they are pretty far behind current gen. But when OCed, they can compete with stock clocked Haswells pretty well.

I would just wait for Haswell refresh/Broadwell later this year. You might want to jump in one of the new CPUs or get a really good deal on a Haswell. Even Sandy/Ivy would be an upgrade from what you have now, but not worth the $$$ in my opinion.

 

[Pheesh]

you probably should wait it out on the CPU side until sky lake...unless for some reason you need 6-8 cores and 12-16 threads, in which case Haswell-E is coming end of this year.

 

[FalseChristian]

An i5 2500K would be a great upgrade. Sandy Bridge was such an improvement over your generation that it isn't funny. Your actually 3 generations behind (Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge and Haswell).

 

[nwo]

An i5 2500K would be a great upgrade. Sandy Bridge was such an improvement over your generation that it isn't funny. Your actually 3 generations behind (Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge and Haswell).

Unless you are talking about low resolution gaming, that does not seem to be the case.

But I agree with you, Sandy was a huge improvement. Just like going from a C2Q to the first generation i5 or i7, or even better.

Sandy is about 10-20% improvement at same clock speed. Most first generation i7s have difficulty going over 4GHz stable while Sandy bridge can do it at stock voltage. Factor in an average "modest" OC of 4.5GHz for a sandy bridge and you're looking at 20-30% performance difference (in multi-threaded applications) between a 4.5GHz sandy and 4GHz Nehalem i7. Unfortunately, you cannot expect the same performance difference in gaming.

Here are some benchmarks, i7 920 at stock, OCed to 4.2GHz vs. i7 3770k (Ivy) at stock and OCed to 4.2GHz:
http://alienbabeltech.com/main/ivy-bridge-3770k-gaming-results-vs-core-i7-920-at-4-2ghz/5/

Even I was blown away by the results, I thought the 3770k would have at least a 10-20% lead over the i7 920. Maybe that would be the case at 1080p or less, since the benchmarks I linked only include 1200p and 1600p.

 

[netxzero64]

So this is wrong then?

http://www.techbuyersguru.com/i5CPUshootout.php

 

[nwo]

So this is wrong then?

http://www.techbuyersguru.com/i5CPUshootout.php

I would say those benchmarks further prove my point.

Well, that was surprising! Despite a 60 percent theoretical advantage, and a 40 percent advantage in the 3DMark Fire Storm Physics test, the best result for the 4670K versus the 760 was 14 percent in Deus Ex (with 45 percent higher minimums), with three tests showing a 4-5 percent advantage, and two tests showing no advantage at all

 

[john3850]

I would add sata 3 card with good ssd and oc to 4000.
For every day use I take my 930@4200 with HT on over my 2500k.

 

[netxzero64]

@nwo

so would it be reasonable enough to upgrade from the first gen to the next on a gaming standpoint?

 

[tarmc]

Just overclock more and possibly upgrade video. Im still running. 920@4.0 and its works just fine for gaming

 

[nwo]

@nwo

so would it be reasonable enough to upgrade from the first gen to the next on a gaming standpoint?

No.

That is what I was trying to prove in my previous two posts. The benchmark I linked (i7) and the one you linked (i5) prove that even though the new generation CPUs are much faster than first generation at same clock speed, that difference is not reflected in majority of gaming benchmarks. The difference is there in majority of other benchmarks.

Therefore, strictly from a gaming standpoint, it would not be worth it to upgrade from first gen unless you have it running at stock clock speeds. If you are able to get a nice 3.5GHz or higher OC you are good to go.

 

[netxzero64]

I see.. because I am thinking if I would upgrade my current setup due to itch. I can play almost any game at max settings (FC3, SCBL, AC4, BF4 etc.). I am contemplating to check out my friends golden 3570k and z77 G1 sniper M3 for $300 both.

 

[nwo]

Go ahead, upgrade for the itch if you want. That part I can definitely understand and relate to. $300 for both is kinda a "meh" price. I'd expect a bit more of a friendly discount (~$250). Unless that 3570k is really a golden one and capable of pushing close to 5GHz in which case $300 is a very reasonable price. But, just be aware that you may not notice any performance difference in most games.

 

[netxzero64]

yeap. it can go 5ghz on air. with ambient temps of more than 30c

 

[nwo]

yeap. it can go 5ghz on air. with ambient temps of more than 30c

Nice, I say go for it :thumbsup:

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Go ahead, upgrade for the itch if you want. That part I can definitely understand and relate to. $300 for both is kinda a "meh" price. I'd expect a bit more of a friendly discount (~$250). Unless that 3570k is really a golden one and capable of pushing close to 5GHz in which case $300 is a very reasonable price. But, just be aware that you may not notice any performance difference in most games.

That's a peculiar dilemma that many of us are facing in different ways: The OP has what I interpret as an i7-930 skt-1366 processor, mildly overclocked -- and some say he should just OC it some more. "To upgrade or not upgrade -- that is the question. Whether nobler in the mind to boost your Nehalem more, or take action to buy a new set of components." This topic also comes up for the generation (and a half) following the Nehalem cores, as with my i7-2600K.

The IB cores pose more trouble for OC'ing than either Nehalem or SB. The Haswells especially seem limited in OC potential. But a Haswell 4770K OC'd to 4.4Ghz matches my SB-K i7-2600K at 4.6 Ghz.

So you can overclock the older cores more effectively, but the newer cores give you a stock-clock performance boost, even if limited to lower overclock speeds.

I can't recommend any particular course of action on this. The Nehalems still have plenty of life and they overclock. The Sandys overclock the best, while still offering a stock performance boost over 1st gen Nehalem. The gains in both stock performance and OC potential for IB are fairly limp compared to Sandy Bridge. The Haswells offer an equal performance boost, new instruction set and other features, but your OC is limited -- proven by numerous articles posted all over the web by lab-test reviewers.

It wouldn't be so hard to sort this out, if you could drop an SB-K or Haswell into a Nehalem mobo. But no such luck.

 

[nwo]

Yep, that's exactly my thinking BonzaiDuck. The clock for clock difference seems to be around 5-10% in favor of each new generation of CPUs. However, each newer generation seems to have a 5-10% lower overclock potential.

If you can get a 5GHz Ivy, I think you would be set for a while. Haswells have a really hard time going past 4.5 stable, most hit a wall at around 4.4 regardless of cooling.

 

[netxzero64]

Good insights from the both of you guys. I am actually torn the same as the OP because I am contemplating on getting a high end maxwell of the ivy of my friend as he is going for a sempron for mining and his ivy is at his storage room for now.

go for maxwell or for the golden ivy? which is better? I can only choose one as my budget would only apply for one upgrade for the next 2-3 months.

 

[nwo]

I think your GTX 680 still has a lot of life left, but that could also be said for your CPU as well. Your CPU is 3 generations behind while your GPU is only last gen. I would be extremely tempted to go for a 5GHz ivy. Not just because it sounds badass, but also because it will last you at least 5+ years at current pace.

I don't think we will see high end Maxwells until the end of the year (Q4 2014) and I don't think you have a reason to upgrade. A GTX 680 will easily last you at least another year or two, even if you have high standards.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I think your GTX 680 still has a lot of life left, but that could also be said for your CPU as well. Your CPU is 3 generations behind while your GPU is only last gen. I would be extremely tempted to go for a 5GHz ivy. Not just because it sounds badass, but also because it will last you at least 5+ years at current pace.

I don't think we will see high end Maxwells until the end of the year (Q4 2014) and I don't think you have a reason to upgrade. A GTX 680 will easily last you at least another year or two, even if you have high standards.

I hear that, too. Some threads I put in over the last two months chronicled a sudden desire I had to grab an IB-E 4930K ~$500+ processor, an ASUS X-79 Deluxe (new board with a mature chipset), and build a new box. No delidding -- the "E" processors use indium solder such as we're used to.

I was going to lay down something like a preliminary $1,800 buckets-of-ducats just for the itch to build a new system. Other folks here brought me to my senses: the X79 BOARD may be mature with a mature BIOS, but the X79 chipset is old. The BOARD addresses the IB-E processor, but the chipset was originally designed for the SB-E core.

So with this paradox that newer processors with smaller lithography are harder to OC but bring better stock or native performance features, I decided to wait for Haswell "E".

Since the money seems to be burning a hole in my pocket, I'll just take about a fourth of it and get myself a replacement for my GTX 570. Either a GTX 770 or even a 780 Ti. Stocks and flows: more money will pile up while I wait for an X99 chipset and some BIOS with motherboard to get "debugged."

I just posted in Vid Cards and Graphics my latest observation about Intel HD 3000 (or later, I suppose), Lucid Virtu and dGPU. I believe my system was slowed down by running both HDTV and desktop monitor off the GTX 570 in "dGPU mode" with HD3000 plus Lucid enabled. Nor did I notice any difference simply disabling the HD3000 and turning Lucid "off." I had decided to switch to iGPU mode. Wow! a real performance boost. And I'm wondering how the dGPU mode may have contributed to the occasional instability problem -- which so far, seems to have disappeared.

 

[tweakboy]

Get a 760 Ti.

But then again, you need a SSD, it will blow you away. gl