Question Upgrade i5-10400F?

[ibex333]

Please see my computer in sig below. I currently have i5-10400F. Its a nice CPU for my needs, but I wonder if its any bottleneck for my video card, and if I will gain much by upgrading to i7-10700kf? Its important to mention I DO NOT intend to upgrade my video card. Not this year and not the next.

As I understand my computers motherboard wont allow me to install 11th Gen CPUs, so I can only do up to 10th gen.

Keep in mind this is for gaming only. I don't care about any performance gains for any other tasks. The main idea for me is longevity and relevancy for any titles coming out now and in the next few years.

 

[Tech Junky]

Can't see your sig on mobile but if you're spending get the 11th gen to unlock the extra features.

Really at this point I would rebuild to 12th gen as it's simply swapping the Mobo and CPU. Sell the current Mobo/CPU to make up the difference.

 

[lobz]

No signature for us who browse AT forums on the go, please update/edit your original post with just the basics, like motherboard, RAM, GPU etc.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

His rig is OEM - Dell G5000~i5-10400F~16GB DDR4 RAM~RTX3070

Only spec'd with a 360w or 500w PSU. With a 3070 not certain I'd be adding an 10700 series. H470 chipset board. If it has the usual Dell cooling even the 10400f could be thermal limited under extended heavy gaming loads.

On a high note, the CPU mounting system they use can often take some aftermarket cooling by using M2 12-20mm screws with the cooler's Intel mounting kit. The PSU and VRMs may be sus. If it sticks the 10700kf or whichever model chosen, to 65W or something like that, the performance uplift might not be enough to justify the upgrade.

 

[Tech Junky]

Ahh, dell OEM case that's custom. Forget what I said and build a new system from the ground up and sell the Dell.

 

[Markfw]

Ahh, dell OEM case that's custom. Forget what I said and build a new system from the ground up and sell the Dell.

I second this. But take out the 3070. That system only needs the cheapest video card you can get, since it won't game anymore. And get the new 7600x AMD AM5 chip. It will be upgradeable for a quite a while.

 

[Exist50]

You'll probably want to wait for Raptor Lake reviews to device. Also depends on your future plans.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Intel Core i5-10400F Benchmarks - Geekbench

Intel Core i7-10700KF Benchmarks - Geekbench

There could be an 18% uplift in CPU limited games in the best case scenario.

If the OP wants to try, I wouldn't stop him.

$234 for the i7: https://www.ebay.com/p/10038174804

Assuming he is able to sell his CPU for a good price, the damage might be $150 to $180.

 

[Tech Junky]

You'll probably want to wait for Raptor Lake reviews to device. Also depends on your future plans.

RPL isn't that big of a deal compared to ADL. Snagging ADL at a lower than launch price is a good deal either way. RPL isn't offering anything exciting in comparison to ADL in terms of performance or tech. The true waiting game will be the refinement on Arrow Lake shifting to a completely new process and chiplets.

There could be an 18% uplift in CPU limited games in the best case scenario.

18% isn't really something worth going through the upgrade process. For $100 more going ADL will bring more significant growth to the system. The 10/11th gen chips are just placeholders on a monolithic die that didn't really bring much to the table. Gaming performance is mostly dependent on the GPU anyway. When you open a game and open task managed you'll see the CPU at 50% use or less.

3070

This is where the performance is.

The main idea for me is longevity and relevancy for any titles coming out now and in the next few years.

If you want strictly gaming performance bump then you need to upgrade the card. Waiting a couple of months with the new releases coming is where your money is best spent if you're not looking for a complete overhaul. Upgrading just the CPU won't do much in terms of game performance. Waiting for a 4xxx series or opening the options to AMD/Intel would be more productive. intel is a bit dodgy at the moment until they workout some of the kinks in their drivers. The alternative would be using Linux instead with open source drivers that get more attention and quicker updates.

 

[igor_kavinski]

18% isn't really something worth going through the upgrade process. For $100 more going ADL will bring more significant growth to the system.

If you want strictly gaming performance bump then you need to upgrade the card.

Don't disagree with you on the ADL upgrade but the OP probably doesn't wanna do that (he may also have to get a new case for that). And he already said that he ain't gonna get rid of his 3070

 

[Tech Junky]

Don't disagree with you on the ADL upgrade but the OP probably doesn't wanna do that (he may also have to get a new case for that). And he already said that he ain't gonna get rid of his 3070

Just stating the facts for an informed decision. Doesn't make sense to drop $200 on a CPU to get the same results.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

If you're playing on a 60 Hz or 75 Hz panel I wouldn't bother upgrading the cpu as a 10400F should be plenty for such a framerate target. Do you have two sticks of RAM in dual channel though? Dell is notorious for selling systems with a single stick of RAM even when you order one with two, and a system with only one stick of RAM will create an enormous bottleneck for your gpu.

 

[Exist50]

RPL isn't that big of a deal compared to ADL. Snagging ADL at a lower than launch price is a good deal either way. RPL isn't offering anything exciting in comparison to ADL in terms of performance or tech.

Sure, but for someone buying soon, it should be a very reasonable option. Especially in the i5/r5 to i7/r7 tiers.

 

[Tech Junky]

reasonable option

Of course but, why pay more for RPL when ADL is the same thing. There's nothing significant with RPL. If you go higher tier then you get some more e cores.

 

[Exist50]

Of course but, why pay more for RPL when ADL is the same thing. There's nothing significant with RPL. If you go higher tier then you get some more e cores.

Who said anything about paying more? And Raptor Lake seems to offer more cores and clocks across most of the product range. The i7 is supposed to be a straight improvement over the Alder Lake i9.

 

[Tech Junky]

Who said anything about paying more? And Raptor Lake seems to offer more cores and clocks across most of the product range. The i7 is supposed to be a straight improvement over the Alder Lake i9.

Let's say the 12700k is $300 and the 13700k is $450. The extra e cores and a smidge higher clock rate for 150% of the price. Apples to apples not comparing anything to an i9 that has a stupid tax applied.

 

[Exist50]

Let's say the 12700k is $300 and the 13700k is $450. The extra e cores and a smidge higher clock rate for 150% of the price. Apples to apples not comparing anything to an i9 that has a stupid tax applied.

...where are you seeing those prices?

 

[Tech Junky]

...where are you seeing those prices?

Educated guess since I got ADL at launch.

 

[ondma]

...where are you seeing those prices?

Yea, just took a quick look at a couple of sites, and the 12700k is more like 400.00. I did not see it anywhere at close to 300.00.

In any case, the original question was in relation to upgrading within the 10th gen chips. Probably not worth it IM0. In order to get a worthwhile upgrade the OP would probably need to upgrade to 12/13 gen Intel or AMD 7xxx. This would require both a new motherboard and memory, as well as the cpu.

 

[Exist50]

Yea, just took a quick look at a couple of sites, and the 12700k is more like 400.00. I did not see it anywhere at close to 300.00.

In any case, the original question was in relation to upgrading within the 10th gen chips. Probably not worth it IM0. In order to get a worthwhile upgrade the OP would probably need to upgrade to 12/13 gen Intel or AMD 7xxx. This would require both a new motherboard and memory, as well as the cpu.

Could theoretically keep the mem with 12th/13th gen (or 5800X3D, for that matter), but yeah, a big upgrade regardless. But with nothing else likely to be in that price range for over a year...

 

[ibex333]

Ahh, dell OEM case that's custom. Forget what I said and build a new system from the ground up and sell the Dell.

If only... The reason why I bought a Dell is because I had back surgery and can no longer build computers. (hauling cases up and down, etc, etc)

Its one thing asking a relative to lift this computer on the table so I can replace a CPU, and a whole other thing to be building a machine from the ground up. ; )

But yeah, pretty much its all clear- no point for just around 18% boost in performance.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Sorry to hear about your back. My father in law has the same issues.

Try running afterburner while gaming and see how the CPU is doing on clockspeed and usage. If it isn't getting near the rated boost. You can pull the side panel off and point a small desk fan in there while gaming. Cheapest and easiest solution.

 

[Tech Junky]

@ibex333 immobility is a real obstacle to deal with even at 10-20# for a case. There are probably some barebones systems preassembled and you just add some sorts to make it a bit easier or grab the neighbor kid to assist. ADL/ RPL both offer using the same Mobo and ram. DDR4 is just as good as DDR5 for less cash. The performance difference isn't huge but the price is. If you sell the Dell it makes up for most of the new build. Switching from paste to a graphite pad makes switching the CPU a lot simpler. There right even be a small PC shop that could do all of the assembly for a modest fee of you provide all the parts.

There are ways to get where you want to be. You just need to get a little more creative in how to get there.

@ondma yeah I checked prices as well after that post and figured they had dropped since the initial release and was shocked to see them at the same level. I guess I should be happy mine started with a 3 in front of it. The boards though have dropped $50-100 though. Newegg had .ine down to $140 which is a good savings. Only on else though for a day.

 

[ondma]

Could theoretically keep the mem with 12th/13th gen (or 5800X3D, for that matter), but yeah, a big upgrade regardless. But with nothing else likely to be in that price range for over a year...

Yea, I forgot you can use DDR4 with Alder Lake.