Upgrade from i7 4770k @ 4.4 to what?

ntemples1 · 14 Oct 2018 at 09:14

hi all I’ve got the following system which I bought as a overclocked bundle from OCUK

I7 4770k @ 4.4
8gb ddr 3
1080ti evga

I game at 2560x1600

Is my cpu bottlenecking me?

If so what would be the best upgrade route? I wouldn’t mind going to Amd, any advice would be appreciated thanks!!

wedrum · 14 Oct 2018 at 09:17

Nope keep it.
Another 8gb of ram would be good.

nomadd · 14 Oct 2018 at 09:38

ntemples1 said:
hi all I’ve got the following system which I bought as a overclocked bundle from OCUK

I7 4770k @ 4.4
8gb ddr 3
1080ti evga

I game at 2560x1600

Is my cpu bottlenecking me?

If so what would be the best upgrade route? I wouldn’t mind going to Amd, any advice would be appreciated thanks!!

Leave well alone (except for the already mentioned additional RAM), especially at today's prices. Enjoy what you have. Reassess this time next year, when lot's of genuinely new stuff will have turned up from both AMD and Intel.

Ps. Latest rumours are for falling RAM prices next quarter, around 5%. So no rush.

ntemples1 · 14 Oct 2018 at 09:42

Ok thanks guys good advice! I’ve had this system for quite a while now so it’s been unbelievably good value!!

TNA · 14 Oct 2018 at 10:05

ntemples1 said:
hi all I’ve got the following system which I bought as a overclocked bundle from OCUK

I7 4770k @ 4.4
8gb ddr 3
1080ti evga

I game at 2560x1600

Is my cpu bottlenecking me?

If so what would be the best upgrade route? I wouldn’t mind going to Amd, any advice would be appreciated thanks!!

I am in the same boat. If you are bored, maybe get a deliding tool and repaste it to lower temps and try and shoot for a higher overclock. Mine does 4.7GHz and I never even delid it. I know a delid will result in 4.8GHz at best so I never bothered personally.

Best way to see if you are being bottlenecked by the cpu is running something like msi afterburner. If you keep seeing the cpu at 100% then you are. I am at 4K and I rarely see the cpu above 50%.

I am waiting for zen 2 myself. Will be nice to move to a 7nm CPU and go back to AMD. Not had a AMD CPU in years and I used to have them a lot more than Intel.

Rroff · 14 Oct 2018 at 10:09

Unless you are doing stuff that can take advantage of a lot of cores there isn't really a compelling upgrade path right now. I'm kind of in the same boat with a 4820K at 4.4GHz - I've built a couple of AMD 2600 systems for people recently so have some idea of how they stack up side by side and they really don't distinguish themselves in a lot of stuff enough to make it work the money as an upgrade path (that isn't to say those CPUs are bad or that there isn't areas where it might be worth upgrading to them).

It is a horrible place to be in right now as it is hard to justify the money Intel wants for anything that is anything close to an upgrade i.e. I wouldn't personally want to go from a 4/8 i7 to a 6/12 CPU now - I'd want atleast an 8/16 setup if I was upgrading.

Personally I'm just hanging on seeing how things unfold and/or if any nice deals come up i.e. if something is particularly appealing on Black Friday sales I might jump (though they've not been great the last 2-3 years compared to like 2013).

Finners · 14 Oct 2018 at 10:15

Agree with upgrading ram. Worth looking if you have a single stick or 2x4gb sticks. If single you are missing out on dual channel which has some benefits in itself.

Also if it's very slow ram like 1333mhz or below might be worth upgrading to 2x8gb 2133mhz or higher.

All depends on what games you play if they like higher memory speeds.

Rroff · 14 Oct 2018 at 10:25

Finners said:
Also if it's very slow ram like 1333mhz or below might be worth upgrading to 2x8gb 2133mhz or higher.

On these platforms you have to go from like 1333MHz or 1600MHz with average timings to some good 2400MHz (or 2133Mhz with very tight timings) to be worth it performance wise - anything else is pretty negligible and the gains going above 2400MHz are pretty small (not to say don't go above 2400MHz but you can pay a lot more for faster kits while 2400MHz will get you most of the jump in performance).

EDIT: On my 4820K I actually settled for 2133MHz with very tight timings as it gives the best overall blend of performance over a broad range of tasks though in most cases it is only like "1%" some outliers aside.

ramdrive · 14 Oct 2018 at 10:35

Same boat here, I am holding off to next year also.

I am however looking for a new case and CPU cooler!

ntemples1 · 14 Oct 2018 at 10:57

wow I just checked i have had this system since 27 November 2013!!! 5 YEARS!! I can't believe it!!

Rroff · 14 Oct 2018 at 10:59

Yeah I built the core of my system around then and really struggling to see the need to upgrade and not grabbed by any of the new tech.

ntemples1 · 14 Oct 2018 at 11:06

Just checked and I Have this ram: https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/Categ...RAM-1866MHz-C9-Memory-Kit/p/CMY16GX3M2A1866C9

I had to strip the heatsinks off in order to get them in with the cooler I have, it's been rock solid though.

ntemples1 · 14 Oct 2018 at 11:09

As for games the main one I’m playing at the moment is assassins creed origins, and odyssey to start after origins, as far as I can see it’s very cpu demanding

ramdrive · 14 Oct 2018 at 11:12

2400Mhz ram made a noticeable performance difference to my system.

But I would not invest anymore money in DDR3 with DDR5 around the corner for your new build.

MasterOC · 14 Oct 2018 at 11:41

Ran team xtreem 2666 kits with my 4770k and was a decent lift from 1333 although 2133 with tighter timings will be better suited

kosch · 14 Oct 2018 at 11:43

I had the upgrade itch on my 4790k after I picked up a secondhand 1080ti and a Alien Ware ultra wide curved 3440x1440 (coming from 1920x1200). I then looked at all the current price trends (and how mental they have gotten since I bought the Z97 platform and decided I couldnt afford it unless I could ride the secondhand wave of everyone moving to the new z390 & CPU's and picking up some bargains. Built it back in late 2014 and has lasted well. Although been through several GPU upgrades since then, 980, 980 SLI, 980ti, 1080ti.

So to cure my itcht I decided to look into delidding my 4790k to get some more OC out of it (4.4 atm) , replacing my current H80i with a H150i, adding a proper fan controller and upgrading all the fans in the chasis for my 750D and then have me some fun squeezing some more performance out of it.

I also started looking into swapping out my RAM (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...00c11-2666mhz-dual-channel-kit-my-055-tg.html) with some higher speed modules but seems quality high speed DDR3 even in the second hand market or retail is like rocking horse poop at the moment.

Finners · 14 Oct 2018 at 12:11

ntemples1 said:
Just checked and I Have this ram: https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/Categories/Products/Memory/VENGEANCE®-Pro-Series-—-16GB-(2-x-8GB)-DDR3-DRAM-1866MHz-C9-Memory-Kit/p/CMY16GX3M2A1866C9

I had to strip the heatsinks off in order to get them in with the cooler I have, it's been rock solid though.

That's decent enough RAM, I don't play origins but 8gb seems just enough looking at YT vids however it seems to be very sensitive to CPU speed and RAM speed/bandwidth equally. Looking at these two videos there is decent gains going from single to dual channel and faster speeds. So you'll need to see if you have a single stick in there or two.

~>Dg<~ · 14 Oct 2018 at 12:26

get another 8gb ram . thats all.

ntemples1 · 14 Oct 2018 at 14:33

I’ve got 2 x 4gb in dual channel, I’ll look at getting 8gb x 2 but might have to tough it out until next year when new gear comes out.