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From a i5 2500k to a i7 6700k: my impressions

Associate
Joined
9 Jun 2015
Posts
142
I changed my rig mostly because it was old and I didn't think I'd get much of a change by upgrading the CPU - I kept upgrading the GPU instead (560ti, 670, 770 and now a 970)

I never overclocked my i5, apart from when I was trying to run GTA4 a bit better (it didn't help)

I never max out the games as I aim to display 1080p@60fps, and often it means using FXAA only. The only games I couldn't run @60fps were the Assassin Creeds and Watch Dogs (but I obviously haven't played ALL games).

The performance boost from the i7 is MASSIVE. It feels like there's nothing my 970 can't handle anymore. I've even reinstalled Assassin Creed Unity (notorious for poor optimisation) and now the angry revolutionary mobs of Paris are displayed in butter-smooth 60 fps. It doesn't even feel like it's the same game anymore. I never imagined games were so CPU reliant.

I have no idea how my i5 would have performed if overclocked à 4.8ghz. My current i7 6700k is at 4.2ghz and the cpu is sitting comfortably at 50 degrees.

I'm really glad I made the upgrade anyway. Thank you guys for the advice you gave.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
9 Jun 2015
Posts
142
thanks for the insight..suppose it helps those who are thinking about upgrading there cpu but are not quite sure

inc me

:D

I was so uncertain about that change that I thought the market would decide for me: I advertised my old rig on gumtree to see if it would go at a decent price. I immediately got calls and someone picked it up the day after.

I realise now that I should have made the move a long time ago. I can't believe I almost bought a 980ti to improve performance, while the cpu was to blame!
 
Associate
Joined
31 Mar 2012
Posts
1,737
Good that you've seen gains but your results are slightly confounded by the games you mention (which use more than 4 threads). If you had started with a 2600k or 2700k decently overclocked to 4.8ghz, you would see minimal improvement.

Clock for clock the skylakes are 30-40% faster than sandybridge anyway. You've doubled your threads and overclocked it and assessing performance in well threaded titles. Not surprising really.

Not trying to **** on this don't get me wrong. Trying to save some people with well clocked sandy i7 cpus from making a mistake, as they are more likely to be gpu limited.
 
Last edited:
Caporegime
Joined
1 Jun 2006
Posts
33,484
Location
Notts
you will notice a difference. 6700k or 5820k even at stock.

sometimes it not even about the overclock.gaming is better on new gear.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
9 Jun 2015
Posts
142
I'm sure overclocking the i5 2500k would have helped (although it didn't with GTA4).
I never did any serious OC because I would have had to change the case, the heatsink, etc. and I thought that if I had to do all this, I could as well change this all ageing rig. I also didn't believe games depended on the CPU so much, so I didn't see the point of it.

Also, an overclocked i5 would be better than a stock one, but how good would it be? A bench to verify that would be welcome.

Am pleased so far with the upgrade... as long as those cpu idle random freezes don't persist (hopefully not that notorious skylake bug..)
 
Soldato
Joined
31 Oct 2002
Posts
9,850
I changed my rig mostly because it was old and I didn't think I'd get much of a change by upgrading the CPU - I kept upgrading the GPU instead (560ti, 670, 770 and now a 970)

I never overclocked my i5, apart from when I was trying to run GTA4 a bit better (it didn't help)

I never max out the games as I aim to display 1080p@60fps, and often it means using FXAA only. The only games I couldn't run @60fps were the Assassin Creeds and Watch Dogs (but I obviously haven't played ALL games).

The performance boost from the i7 is MASSIVE. It feels like there's nothing my 970 can't handle anymore. I've even reinstalled Assassin Creed Unity (notorious for poor optimisation) and now the angry revolutionary mobs of Paris are displayed in butter-smooth 60 fps. It doesn't even feel like it's the same game anymore. I never imagined games were so CPU reliant.

I have no idea how my i5 would have performed if overclocked à 4.8ghz. My current i7 6700k is at 4.2ghz and the cpu is sitting comfortably at 50 degrees.

I'm really glad I made the upgrade anyway. Thank you guys for the advice you gave.

Nice, glad your happy with it.

Skylake really is a kickass chip - it's selling extremely well also, so shows how popular it is.

I also noticed a massive difference in performance when I upgraded back in August from a i7 920 @ 3.8Ghz to a 6700k @ 4.8Ghz (1.3v). Same GPU (390X) minimum FPS's jumped a massive amount, really shocked me.
 
Caporegime
Joined
17 Jul 2010
Posts
25,658
So on the back of this, I also have an i5 2500k running at 4.2GHz. I've had it since June 2011 so it's rather long in the tooth but it's still doing very well in games. Much like the OP I've upgraded graphics (GTX460-GTX670-GTX780 6GB-GTX 980), doubled my RAM to 8GB and added an SSD. Would I see any decent benefit and aid the longevity by going to 16GB of faster RAM, currently I'm using 1600Mhz) and finding an i7 and over clocking that?

Price to change would be around £50-60 for the RAM from MM, unsure what any i7 would go for.

Or should I just bite the bullet and go for a full board, CPU and RAM and be done with it?
 
Caporegime
Joined
1 Dec 2010
Posts
52,095
Location
Welling, London
The problem I have with CPU's is every advancement is so incremental.

I get a sandybridge. Should I upgrade to ivybridge? No, not worth it. Should I go Haswell? No, not worth it. Should I go Skylake? No, not worth it. Unlike GPU's, a good upgrade takes so long.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
9 Jun 2015
Posts
142
So on the back of this, I also have an i5 2500k running at 4.2GHz. I've had it since June 2011 so it's rather long in the tooth but it's still doing very well in games. Much like the OP I've upgraded graphics (GTX460-GTX670-GTX780 6GB-GTX 980), doubled my RAM to 8GB and added an SSD. Would I see any decent benefit and aid the longevity by going to 16GB of faster RAM, currently I'm using 1600Mhz) and finding an i7 and over clocking that?

Price to change would be around £50-60 for the RAM from MM, unsure what any i7 would go for.

Or should I just bite the bullet and go for a full board, CPU and RAM and be done with it?

You can do like me: let the market decide! put your motherboard and cpu on sale, and if it goes, then you do the upgrade. Once I had sold mine, then the upgrade really wasn't too expensive. Especially considering how long the last one had lasted.
 
Associate
Joined
13 Nov 2014
Posts
479
Location
London
with i5 2500k or i7 2600k or Ivybridge i5 and i7 3770k . these CPUs need to overclocked or else it will be bottleneck with all new games but when they overclocked to 4.4 or 4.5Ghz then upgrade to Skylake its only small boost in some games and some games doesn't improve anything.
 
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