Will I get a 10% FPS Boost If I upgrade to 2133 mhz

Jason_Sturgess · 5 Dec 2016 at 23:40

I have a i5 2500k Factory clock with 8GB DDR 3 1600 MHZ

If I upgrade to 16GB 2133mhz will I see a 10% Boost in my FPS on my 980 TI ?

I also plan to boost my i5 2500 up to 4.6

Rroff · 6 Dec 2016 at 00:05

Doubtful - when I was testing with BF4 it took going from 1600MHz to 2400MHz to see around 5% increase in framerate.

Threepwood · 6 Dec 2016 at 00:09

You probably wont find 2133 stable with a 2500k, mybe if lucky, I never have.

If by 'factory clocked' you mean you have no overclock on the 2500k, well, this is where you should be putting your attention for much more real gains.

new boy · 6 Dec 2016 at 00:36

No you will be lucky to see 1%

However, there will be the odd game here and there where you might see a decent boost, maybe even your 10%, but they will be the exception. Crysis 3 comes to mind as a game that loves memory speed.

I'm sure the money spend on upgrading your ram could be better spent or saved though.

Jason_Sturgess · 6 Dec 2016 at 22:38

So what do you guys recommend ? Boost my i5 2500 Factory clock first with a water cooler ? and just keep my 8GB 1600 ram

Disco_P · 7 Dec 2016 at 00:46

Disco_P · 7 Dec 2016 at 00:47

Though get a decent air cooler rather than wasting money on an AIO. They're cheaper, perform better and far more reliable.

Threepwood · 7 Dec 2016 at 01:46

^^ this.

gEd · 7 Dec 2016 at 01:56

After a bit of concerted effort last week, I finally got my 2500K stable at 4.3Ghz (1.35V) with an old but decent air cooler. Any more volts and it starts throttling down. You're much better off overclocking the cpu than upgrading the RAM.

spoffle · 7 Dec 2016 at 02:24

Where did you get 10% from?

pingu666 · 7 Dec 2016 at 05:57

you can get that from miniums, but not average

DarkBahamut · 7 Dec 2016 at 18:22

Upping the speed of the RAM isn't going to help much, but I'd argue moving from 8 to 16GB would. There are plenty of modern games that are really pushing RAM usage up and 8GB really isn't ideal anymore.

Dicehunter · 7 Dec 2016 at 21:15

Disco_P said:
Though get a decent air cooler rather than wasting money on an AIO. They're cheaper, perform better and far more reliable.

Since when does an air cooler perform better than an AIO ?

Disco_P · 7 Dec 2016 at 22:49

Dicehunter said:
Since when does an air cooler perform better than an AIO ?

So technically there are a few AIOs that beat the best of big air by a few C. Still not worth it though. Only reason I see to get an AIO is if an air cooler won't fit, there is just too many caveats to them.

Dicehunter · 7 Dec 2016 at 23:12

Disco_P said:
So technically there are a few AIOs that beat the best of big air by a few C. Still not worth it though. Only reason I see to get an AIO is if an air cooler won't fit, there is just too many caveats to them.

I really like air coolers as I agree there are way too many things that can go wrong, My personal favorite is the Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 3 followed closely by the Noctua NH-D15 but I personally just don't like having 2 pounds of metal hanging off the CPU socket compared to maybe a quarter of a pound with an AIO that's supported via tubing and a rad.

To answer the OP's original question, It depends on the game, Your minimums may go up but your averages will stay around the same.

I tested Rainbow 6 Siege at 1600MHz and 2400MHz just to show the difference and you'll notice that 2400MHz gives a nice little boost to the minimums but that's about it, Average stays the same and forget the maximum scores as they aren't reliable at all.

I ran each test 3 times to make sure the difference was correct between the clocks.

1600MHz

2400MHz

Jamesyboyjim · 8 Dec 2016 at 10:09

Disco_P said:
So technically there are a few AIOs that beat the best of big air by a few C. Still not worth it though. Only reason I see to get an AIO is if an air cooler won't fit, there is just too many caveats to them.

AIO's also look a lot better and improve general airflow around the case. But in terms of performance, I went from a phanteks tc14pe to a Corsair H100i and only saw a few degrees difference.

KillBoY_UK · 8 Dec 2016 at 12:58

new boy said:
No you will be lucky to see 1%

However, there will be the odd game here and there where you might see a decent boost, maybe even your 10%, but they will be the exception. Crysis 3 comes to mind as a game that loves memory speed.

I'm sure the money spend on upgrading your ram could be better spent or saved though.

Fallout 4 especially and The Witcher 3 LOVE more memory bandwidth even going from 2133 to 3200+ DDR4

El Jimben · 8 Dec 2016 at 16:01

Saw this video the other day which benches some games with a stock and overclocked 2500k and 1600Mhz vs 2133MHz RAM.

ededed84 · 13 Dec 2016 at 14:10

El Jimben said:
Saw this video the other day which benches some games with a stock and overclocked 2500k and 1600Mhz vs 2133MHz RAM.

wow... this is exactly what i needed to see

about to upgrade from 2500k and had lots of questions around ram and doubts over the need to upgrade. between this and another post I now know my answers.

Doogles · 13 Dec 2016 at 14:21

Dicehunter said:
Since when does an air cooler perform better than an AIO ?

The Noctua D15 beats most if not all AIO without leaking, making pump noise and being cheaper so is a winner.