Time to upgrade the i5-2500k?

drunkenmunky · 8 May 2015 at 15:28

I recently made a new build but mistakenly bought a motherboard with no overclocking capabilities so I can't overclock my cpu. My own fault since it was a rush decision and I'm about 4 years behind on PC technology.
But with games becoming more demanding should I consider upgrading the cpu if I want to play games in 1080p/60fps with max/ultra settings? Or would I be better off replacing the motherboard and overclocking the cpu?
I have a GTX 970 and 8GB Memory. I haven't got any games to test yet but there was some slow down on 3dMark in certain tests. Could this be my cpu not up to performance?
I was looking at upgrading to either an i7-4790k or i7 4820k.

Telecaster · 8 May 2015 at 15:41

I have no CPU issues when gaming with my overclocked 2500k, your cheapest upgrade would probably be a Z77 board if you can find one.

A 4790k and a Z97 board will set you back a fair bit, a 4820K probably isn't a wise move TBH.

drunkenmunky · 8 May 2015 at 15:49

What motherboard would you recommend for my Phemon Micro-ATX case? I was looking for a micro Z77. Someone said they used to do them but they are hard to find now. Instead I bought an Asus H61M-F but regret it now. Thanks

edit: Just found an ASRock Z77M Micro ATX. Only one left in stock. Would this be suitable for my needs?

TallPaul_S · 8 May 2015 at 16:04

Good luck finding a decent mATX Z77 board. I'm trying to find one that can do SLI and having no luck. I've found an ASRock Pro-4m but it doesn't support SLI, nor does the Z77M

there's very, very little other choice.

So bear this in mind if you ever want to pick up a cheap used 970 to go SLI...

dacads · 8 May 2015 at 16:11

It's a real shame about the Z77 mATX availability guys, the best you can do is keep an eye out for a used one maybe but even that may be long in the tooth.

drunkenmunky said:
What motherboard would you recommend for my Phemon Micro-ATX case? I was looking for a micro Z77. Someone said they used to do them but they are hard to find now. Instead I bought an Asus H61M-F but regret it now. Thanks

edit: Just found an ASRock Z77M Micro ATX. Only one left in stock. Would this be suitable for my needs?

That motherboard is certainly an improvement and should allow for some overclocking. It is not great by any means but should be enough for your needs.

stulid · 8 May 2015 at 16:27

GA-Z77MX-D3H

The X in the product name is important, the non X had limited settings in the BIOS to overclock.

drunkenmunky · 8 May 2015 at 17:32

TallPaul_S said:
Good luck finding a decent mATX Z77 board. I'm trying to find one that can do SLI and having no luck. I've found an ASRock Pro-4m but it doesn't support SLI, nor does the Z77M there's very, very little other choice.

So bear this in mind if you ever want to pick up a cheap used 970 to go SLI...

I have no intentions of going SLI. I don't think my case would fit 2 cards with all the wires and other bits. Plus I don't have great cooling.
Just found an Asus P8Z77-M PRO which does SLI

dacads said:
It's a real shame about the Z77 mATX availability guys, the best you can do is keep an eye out for a used one maybe but even that may be long in the tooth.

That motherboard is certainly an improvement and should allow for some overclocking. It is not great by any means but should be enough for your needs.

I ordered the Asrock but cancelled it just before it was dispatched and have found the GA-Z77MX-D3H for just £10 more which has better overclocking. Shame it doesn't have wifi though.

stulid said:
GA-Z77MX-D3H

The X in the product name is important, the non X had limited settings in the BIOS to overclock.

Thanks, it was hard to find this board but I found somewhere with stock so I think I'm going to go with this one.

dacads · 8 May 2015 at 18:15

Glad you found a better one mate, motherboard wifi usually sucks anyway just get yourself a decent PCI or USB adapter. Or home plugs could be another option worth considering.

Akagi · 8 May 2015 at 18:35

It won't be time to upgrade your i5 for some considerable time yet. You have already waited through Ivybridge and Haswell, I'd wait through Broadwell as well, and then get a Skylake i7 DDR4 setup if you have the itch. Though in reality, you could probably ignore Skylake and Cannonlake as well unless you need more PCI-E bandwidth, judging by the tiny progressions being made currently...

PurplePhoenix · 8 May 2015 at 22:44

TallPaul_S said:
Good luck finding a decent mATX Z77 board. I'm trying to find one that can do SLI and having no luck. I've found an ASRock Pro-4m but it doesn't support SLI, nor does the Z77M there's very, very little other choice.

So bear this in mind if you ever want to pick up a cheap used 970 to go SLI...

You can pick up rog gene for about £100 ish

implosiveturnip · 9 May 2015 at 00:39

drunkenmunky said:
Just found an Asus P8Z77-M PRO which does SLI

The Asus P8Z77-M PRO is a great board, and clocks my i7 higher than my full size p8z77-v. If you can find one for sale I'd snap it up quicksharp; there's not many of them kicking around.

the_darjeeling · 9 May 2015 at 12:11

Acme said:
It won't be time to upgrade your i5 for some considerable time yet. You have already waited through Ivybridge and Haswell, I'd wait through Broadwell as well, and then get a Skylake i7 DDR4 setup if you have the itch. Though in reality, you could probably ignore Skylake and Cannonlake as well unless you need more PCI-E bandwidth, judging by the tiny progressions being made currently...

This pretty much, a 2500K will be more than capable for the foreseeable future.

TallPaul_S · 9 May 2015 at 15:03

PurplePhoenix said:
You can pick up rog gene for about £100 ish

If you can find one you mean

A ROG Gene V would be perfect, I'm keeping an eye on that P8Z77-m pro, don't any of you lot go beating me to it