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i5-2500k upgrade: guaranteed SUCCESS? Questions inside...

videopho

videopho

Diamond Member
Old cpu is i5-760 with a single GTX-480 card in a 3D HTPC environments.

Upgrade is 75% completed now:

1) Mobo GA-Z68X-UD3-B3 mobo along with an i5-2500k (will overclock around 4.1 ghz for sure) .

2) Will rid of gtx-480 and replaced by two 460s in SLI mode. (460 sli is roughly 10-15% improved over single 480)

FYI...Have one 460 already from another rig, and another is en-route from the Egg and due to be here on Monday.

Play mostly flight sim and latest FPS games in 3DVision.

Will (1) and (2) help improve frame rate, significantly?
And by how much overall, may be 30%?
Am I hopeful or wishful?


FYI: CPU benchmarks show i5-2500k is roughly 40% improved over i5-760.
 
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Check to make sure your flight sim supports SLI. FPS will, no problems. I'm not sure your graphics card swap will give you much in performance, however.

GTX 480 vs GTX 460 1GB SLI

Sure, it is faster, but sometimes hardly at all. Also, that was the fastest version of the GTX 460. If you get the 768MB or the 1GB SE versions, will probably be the same performance as the single GTX 480. If you want to go FASTER, then you need either a single GTX 580, or go with something like dual GTX 560 Ti in SLI.

CPU upgrade will help if your flight sim is CPU limited. FPS probably won't benefit that much but will benefit from a graphics upgrade.
 
10-15% improvement is not enough reward for the hassle of dealing with SLI. I bet you'd be perfectly happy with just the cpu upgrade.
 
As mentioned, this is a HTPC so noise and heat are two biggest factors coming into play.
That said, the 480 is already too noisy and runs hot (my mistake when picked this a year ago).
Not to mention I already have a 460 as spare at my disposal.
 
Get the right 460's, and they will be quiet. I love the "twin frozer" editions.
 
Can't be sure at all of the quantitative effects, but you might consider keeping your toaster-oven dGPU card and deploying the on-chip Intel iGPU and Lucid Virtu to integrate them. As I understand, using the iGPU motherboard plugs [VGA, HDMI/Display-Port or single-link DVI] will reduce power consumption on the dGPU and therefore the thermal issues.
 
With this much change in my hardware upgrade.
Is new windows needed or I simply have to reactivate it through on line or a live person?
 
videopho said:
With this much change in my hardware upgrade.
Is new windows needed or I simply have to reactivate it through on line or a live person?
Click to expand...

Changing motherboard = need new drivers and Windows activation. I would recommend uninstalling all drivers before swapping out the hardware. After new hardware goes in, install drivers and activate Windows. If it has been a while since Windows was last activated, it will probably activate online. Otherwise, call the number it gives you.
 
New mobo and cpu are now in place and operational including all new drivers installed and updated.
So far so good. Going to a same brand mobo (Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3) helped out a great deal.
I have 3 days to reactivate windows as it indicates.
Some benchies...
stock clock 3.3ghz
CPU @ 39c idle.

CPU @ 46-50c (Super PI 32M @ 10m 15.221s)

Prime95 Torture Test (I use it for 24hr burn-in)
After one hour and still going...
CPU @ 60c

Will update temps as new data become available.
I will replace the current gtx-480 with a pair of 460's in SLI mode prior to window re-activation.
I wanted to make sure everything is hanky dory before committing.
This is a 3d BR movies and PC gaming HTPC so the gtx480 was a mistake as it was too loud and ran too hot for the environments it was in. A pair of 460s should run a bit less noisy and draws a bit less heat. (power load is about the same)
 
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O/C to 4.1ghz now...
It is at constant 67c now into over an hour running Prime95 Lucas-Lehmer test.
Is it normal for i5-2500k @ 4.1ghz?
Never used stock fan, btw.
I use the Artic freezer 7 at the moment due to its small profile. (HTPC case mind you)
 
Had to reapply the thermal grease on the HSF once due to the 2500k running a bit too warm or close to high 80c in P95 stress test.
cpu is at 4.1gzh with P95 currently running at 72c into two hours.
I most likely opt to stay at 4.1ghz due to HTPC environments.
Reactivated windows on-line w/o a hitch 🙂

Questions:
Is 4.1ghz good enough for SLI config?
I've read someplace that cpu o/c is mandatory for sli/crossfire in order to keep up with the gpu?
 
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