Upgrading from my trusty i5-2500k

[daresso]

Hi Gents,
I am writing to ask for your thoughts. I would like to upgrade from my i5-2500k.

I will need a new board, RAM, and CPU. What’s a good price to performance package for £500 or less ?


Relevant Information:
GPU - 2070 EVGA Black which I just purchased from OCUK last week.
Monitor - 1440p, IPS, 60 Hz
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
Budget - £500

Thank you,
R

 

[Kelt]

Wait and see what the Ryzen 3*** series brings in a couple of months.

 

[ChocoViennese]

I upgraded from the same CPU to a Ryzen 5 1600x with X470 board, as already suggested, for that budget, the new Ryzen CPUs may be worth waiting for.

 

[Double07]

My motherboard died which was housing my i5-4690k, so not a particularly large step up from the 2500k. I therefore went with a Ryzen 2600 BUT I did this with the new 3xxx chips coming in mind, and I was forced to make the choice just now though as replacing the board just seemed like a complete waste of money. I have been pleasantly surprised by the change. In a lot of the games I play there isn't really much of a difference given the single core strengths of the Intel chips, but in every other aspect it obviously is significantly faster due to the 6c/12t performance.

It depends on just how desperate you are to upgrade, but if you aren't forced into it like I was I would seriously consider waiting to see what the new Ryzen chips offer as they really could be something special. I am hoping so, given my situation, however it doesn't look like you would have to wait too long to be sure one way or the other.

 

[daresso]

Wait and see what the Ryzen 3*** series brings in a couple of months.

Thanks for all the replies. I don’t need to be at the bleeding edge so I would rather upgrade now than wait until the summer. The i5 is struggling to keep 60 fps in the two games I am playing, Battlefield V and The Division 2. Definitely bottlenecking the GTX 2070.

The 2600 seems like a value. What about the 2700 ? Or an intel offering ? Or should I spend £100 and get an i7-2600k?

 

[Troezar]

Thanks for all the replies. I don’t need to be at the bleeding edge so I would rather upgrade now than wait until the summer. The i5 is struggling to keep 60 fps in the two games I am playing, Battlefield V and The Division 2. Definitely bottlenecking the GTX 2070.

The 2600 seems like a value. What about the 2700 ? Or an intel offering ? Or should I spend £100 and get an i7-2600k?

I wouldn't waste any money on your current platform, I'm there now and have held off. I don't need bleeding edge but a 3600 plus a B550 or X570 board will last a long time, especially with PCIe 4.0, m.2 support, DDR4 etc. I'd do all the upgrading in one hit. Easier and cheaper.

 

[Orcvader]

I would've thought the 2500K clocked at 4.7GHz would still do the job, considering you're on a larger resolution as well.

Try look for a second hand 2600K/2700K/3770K, the extra threads will at least help you with those two games but I definitely would suggest waiting for Ryzen 3000 series to come out for your next major upgrade. Intel's CPU performance hasn't really moved much from SB onwards, and the current Ryzen chips are similar level, but the 3000 series has been hinted to have a decent leap from current gen.

 

[daresso]

Thanks all. I am being a stubborn motherclucker because I am getting all this good advice and still researching upgrades.

Hypothetically, what would be a good MoBo, CPU Combo at approx £500, give or take a few squids.

 

[Troezar]

Thanks all. I am being a stubborn motherclucker because I am getting all this good advice and still researching upgrades.

Hypothetically, what would be a good MoBo, CPU Combo at approx £500, give or take a few squids.

If you shop around an ASUS Crosshair Hero VII and a 2700X could be had with a lot of change

 

[subbytna]

If you shop around an ASUS Crosshair Hero VII and a 2700X could be had with a lot of change

He needs DDR4 ram too though

 

[Troezar]

He needs DDR4 ram too though

He didn't mention it but for £50 over the £500 he could have that too.

 

[MartinPrince]

An overclocked i7 2600k/2700K to say ~4.7Gzhz (which should be quite easily achieved on ~1.35v) will definitely see an improvement in Battlefiled V and The Division 2. Either that or get the Ryzen 2600 is you want something right away and don't fancy waiting, which is understandable.

 

[CuriousTomCat]

If you absolutely must upgrade now, then an option would be to upgrade to a 2600k. You could then throw it in the trash or sell it in a couple of months and get the new Ryzen 3600 8c16t CPU, motherboard and memory. Doing that would still cost less than a 2700x system.

 

[greatash]

I wouldn't spend £100 on a 2600k, find a Xeon 1270 v1 for £50 which is an i7 2600 to tide you over a couple months.

Other route would be r5 2600/b450/16gb ddr4 for around £300-350, 3600 when they release and sell the r5 2600 and you'll still be under £500. That's the way I went, 2500k was unplayable in some games and I didn't want to wait nearly a year so went with 2600/b450 pro carbon and 16gb 3200. Gpu usage is always 99% with a v56 at 1440p so I may not even get the 3600 and wait for the 4600

 

[BongoHunter]

Something like this maybe - doesn't sound like you need more than the B450 chipset, so quite reasonably priced motherboard, stock cooler on the CPUs is pretty good

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD416G30= £98.99
• 1 x MSI B450 TOMAHAWK (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £99.95
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 Eight Core 2700X 4.35GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £299.99

Total: £509.43 (includes shipping: £10.50)
​

 

[MartinPrince]

I wouldn't spend £100 on a 2600k, find a Xeon 1270 v1 for £50 which is an i7 2600 to tide you over a couple months.

The 1270 is not exactly the same as the 2600 as it doesn't have the IGP but it does only use 80W as opposed to the 95W of the i7 2600. Though in this context I wouldn't get it as you're locked to the 3.8Ghz maximum. The last seven 2600K's that have sold on Ebay have gone for less than £70 with one going for £55 so if one is going down that route it's much better value to get the unlocked chip and put even a moderate overclock on it.

 

[andy_mk3]

2600k to tide you over for a few months will give you some better performance if clocked high. Zen2 3xxx in a few months.

2600x if you're buying today.

 

[Storrm]

I wouldn't waste any money on your current platform, I'm there now and have held off. I don't need bleeding edge but a 3600 plus a B550 or X570 board will last a long time, especially with PCIe 4.0, m.2 support, DDR4 etc. I'd do all the upgrading in one hit. Easier and cheaper.

This

 

[daresso]

Thank you everyone !

 

[Gjiir]

Also have a 2500k and have been looking at upgrades. I mainly play games at 1080, so dont need bleeding edge, i always go back for the buck.

Having read a bit about the new AMD cpu coming out soon i decide to hold off and see.

Will of course need a new mobo, prolly upgrade my geforce 970 at the same time too, and RAM, and Case, and.....no i think thats enough!