Switch to i7 2600 or keep i5 2500k

[mrblotto]

Currently I have an i5 2500k in my rig. I have the opportunity to swap it out for an i7 2600 for no cost. I'm not that into gaming much lately (latest would prolly be STALKER CoP)
I do not overclock either. Is it worth it ?

TIA

 

[scannall]

Currently I have an i5 2500k in my rig. I have the opportunity to swap it out for an i7 2600 for no cost. I'm not that into gaming much lately (latest would prolly be STALKER CoP)
I do not overclock either. Is it worth it ?

TIA

If it's a no cost upgrade, then why not? If nothing else it will boost the systems value down the road when it's time to upgrade to a new machine.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

man, i heard i7's are smarter than i5's

 

[nurturedhate]

If it's a no cost upgrade, then why not? If nothing else it will boost the systems value down the road when it's time to upgrade to a new machine.

If it is actually a 2600 and not a 2600k then I think the 2500k would have the better resale value.

 

[Burpo]

Definitely worth it for the hyper-threading.. Windows will see it as 8 processors instead of 4..

 

[Leyawiin]

If you don't OC you might as well.

 

[SPBHM]

if you don't OC, sure.

if you OC (turbo + 4x multiplier) the 2600 non K max is around 3.9GHz under load (a little higher for lower load turbo, and also could go higher overall with whatever you can get from bclk OC),

the 2500K can go as high as the CPU or cooling limit, even the worst 2500Ks should be able to go at least around 4.2GHz

 

[MrCommunistGen]

If, like you said, you don't overclock and never intend to, the i7-2600 will be faster than the i5-2500K.

The i7-2600 has Hyper-Threading which can give a significant boost in well threaded workloads (heavy multi-tasking, video encoding, 3D rendering etc). It also has a 100MHz higher base clock which should result at +100MHz at 1,2,3 and 4 core loads. There's also the matter of the 8MB vs 6MB L3 cache - although the extra overhead of Hyper-Threading may make the extra cache necessary to avoid L3 thrashing, rather than an explicit benefit of +2MB L3.

 

[Headfoot]

I'd swap it if you don't overclock. But its a bit sad considering Sandy i5s and i7s are some of the greatest overclocking chips ever created.

 

[Yuriman]

If OP has an overclocking chipset there's still the possibility of a 400mhz overclock with the 2600, which can almost certainly be done without touching voltage. I vote "yes" either way.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

even trade and you don't OC? heck yeah