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Does an i5 2500k still hold it's own?

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Soldato
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31 Dec 2006
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Does an i5 2500k still hold its own?

I have an i5 2500k (Sandy Bridge) LGA1155 3.3GHz, not OC'd... I've been out the loop for some time now, but wondering if I should be considering an upgrade anytime soon, or if there's anything around the corner worth waiting for? I do a lot of Photoshop work, some video editing, gaming etc.
 
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I would say OC it (invest in good cooling if needed), I have a 2500k at 4.2ghz and it's more than holding its own.

Wait and see what skylake brings, it would be a minimal upgrade from 2500k to any current chip (if you OC it as that's where the 2500k really excels)

May want to have a read of this thread to see why sandybridge/2500k still holds it's own http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18623237
 
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Would it be worth investigating the watercooling route for this then, if I were to OC? I've never done that before, but always been intrigued.

I currently have a Be Quiet! Dark Rock Advanced cooler. I'm more than prepared to invest in better cooling if it will give me much better performance from my CPU though.

I have a TJ08E case (micro ATX setup), not sure what limitations that may have.
 
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Overclock it a bit and it will easily match brand new i5's. Tech hasn't moved far since Sandybridge. :)

The dark rock advanced should see you to at least 4.2GHz even with a mediocre chip. :) Probably 4.4GHz with a half decent one.

I've had one at 4GHz with the stock cooler, and one at 4.6GHz with a Kuhler 620. :)
 
That's a decent enough cooler to get a reasonable OC, stick with it and see what kinda OC you can get then think if you need a better cooler.

This guide should get you started with some good info, if you have one of these mbs http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/01/07/how-to-overclock-the-intel-core-i5-2500k/1

Basic advice though is 1) start by just adjusting the multiplier (should be able to get to 4ghz with no voltage increase 2) increase in small steps and load test each time with something like prime95 while monitoring temps (anything below 75 max over a few hours of prime is good and safe)
If you bsod during load test then depending on temps you can decrease multiplier or increase voltage if possible
 
I'm still running my i5-2500k.
Had it at 4.5ghz for a while, but knocked it back to 4.4 when I had some stability issues recently. Eventually traced those to a faulty GPU, but haven't bothered winding up the OC again as I can't notice the difference.

My Process went : wind the multiplier to 44. Knock offset voltage down a bit. Done! Mine's on a corsair H70 with push pull fans. temps are always very reasonable.
 
Get it OC'd, like others have said. I have nearly had mine 3 years now and it's been running at 4.4 all that time with no problems at all. I am using a silverarrow cooler which has been great. I see no point upgrading mine and till at least Skylark comes out and then I hope it’s a descent jump in performance.
 
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Yeah get it oc'ed.

I dont think my chip is "golden chip" and it is clocked at 4.7Ghz, doesnt really go above 60-63'c under prime95 using a H105.
 
I had mine clocked to 4.9 the other day but I started getting slight issues so I now have it rolled back to 4.8. Got an H80 on it and it runs absolutely fine, no overheating at all.
 
handofbod said:
I had mine clocked to 4.9 the other day but I started getting slight issues so I now have it rolled back to 4.8. Got an H80 on it and it runs absolutely fine, no overheating at all.
Click to expand...

You'll be fine, at 4.8 that 2500K won't hold you back at all, the only reason to upgrade would be for features or if you fancy chasing benchmarks.
 
This is all great to know... I have an EVGA Z68 DDR3 MATX mbd, plus 8GB XMS3 DDR3 RAM. Any issues there? If I stick with CPU and OC it, would upgrading MBD or RAM be worthwhile? I'm also running an Asus GTX 670 DirectCU II 4096MB GDDR5 GPU. Had considered one of the new 970's, but unsure if I'd get much benefit from that.
 
Don't bother upgrading your MB, 8gb Ram is fine and will be enough for some time. Unless your ram is terrible there's very little benefit in upgrading for better timing/speed. Generally you should upgrade motherboard and cup together unless you can't oc in your board (shouldn't have any problems with that one).

Upgrading from 670 to 979 Would be a very noticeable upgrade, if your in no rush though then wait till Q1 next year to see what else comes out as 970/980 are just the first of a new range, not to mention what Amd will bring out.

Do you have an SSD? If not then that would be a great upgrade.
 
Yeah hoping Skylake provides a proper upgrade from my i7 Sandybridge CPU as up to now the tick tocks have provided little gains from a gaming point of view.
 
I can't see any reason at all currently to upgrade from my 2500k, it does everything I want and its only sitting at 4Ghz.
 
Ive posted this before but worth a repost since a great read and effort done by the guy over at anandtech forums:)

2500k vs 4790K with 60 games tested:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2389580

Shows no difference really, benchmarker says its GPU limited think he must be right considering he has a Geforce titan GPU.

Clearly evidence that most game developers are offloading most of the work via the GPUs which is a good thing of course.
 
Chvz144 said:
Had the same question/same cpu... glad I found this thread,

Anyone recommend a cooler for OC'ing?
Click to expand...

Depending on budget and case any of the corsair closed loop coolers will do a great job getting you into 4.5Ghz+ with good temps
Maybe cheaper air coolers but I've only used the corsair ones over the past few years and get to 4.8ghz with temps lower than 70 under load on my 2500k
 
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