CPU upgrade help

quest · 27 Feb 2013 at 11:33

Hi, I was hoping for some advice, I currently have a cheap zoostorm pc with a Intel G630 and 8gb ram that I've upgraded the GPU in to a 2GB HD6670 and the psu to a 550w OCZ. I need to use it for CAD and 3ds max and want it to render more quickly. Was thinking of adding a i5 3570K or would an i7 3770k be worth it?

also would I need to upgrade anything else to get better performance on these programs?

Cheers

snips86x · 27 Feb 2013 at 11:51

What is your budget?

I would be thinking socket 2011 as the 1155 is being replaced by Haswell.

quest · 27 Feb 2013 at 11:54

£200-£300

snips86x · 27 Feb 2013 at 12:03

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB2133C11DC) £43.99
1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme Rev.2 High Performance Quiet CPU Cooler(Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
Total : £258.36 (includes shipping : £9.50).

The i3 has hyperthreading and the Z77 will give you an upgrade path to an i5/i7 later on if you need it. The problem with the i5 is the £200 price tag and the need for a 3rd party cooler as the stock ones can be loud, but if your not intending to overclock, you could save and get the non-k version.

Doomedspeed · 27 Feb 2013 at 12:10

Snips has a poitn but i wouldn't bother replacing it all, like he suggests. Depending on your motherboard, do you know what motherboard you have?

I used my PC for CAD while at Uni (its now a gaming PC). Upgrading to an i5 would help a lot with the 3D side of CAD work. The i7 would help loading and manipulating HEAVY models but the i5 will be more than enough..

On the rendering side, more RAM would help. I know during some of my renders my program froze when it reached the 8GB RAM limit. The Rendering that was supposed to take 10 hours actually took 50+ due to lack of RAM.
So id suggest getting 16GB of RAM.

quest · 27 Feb 2013 at 12:18

Thanks

I don't think I'll be overclocking, would the i5 3570k at £160 be worth it even if I don't intend to overclock?

Is the hd6670 ok? would I see a big difference if I replaced it with a £100-£150 card?

Idleman · 27 Feb 2013 at 12:32

Slightly over budget. The Cpu and ram are a "Today only" offer, have added a cheap cooler as the OEM 3570K does come with a stock cooler.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £161.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD316GB1600C11DC) **OcUK Exclusive** £47.99
1 x Alpenföhn Civetta CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £12.98
Total : £314.35 (includes shipping : £9.50).

Doomedspeed · 27 Feb 2013 at 12:37

quest said:
Thanks

I don't think I'll be overclocking, would the i5 3570k at £160 be worth it even if I don't intend to overclock?

Is the hd6670 ok? would I see a big difference if I replaced it with a £100-£150 card?

Yes it would. Beware the OEM CPU doesn't come with a cooler.

For Video editing the 6670 would be fine for gaming a 7850 2GB would be perfect.

quest · 27 Feb 2013 at 12:39

I think the motherboard might be a Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2PV

think I'll get the 3570k and cooler for now and add a new motherboard, graphics card and ram when I have more funds

thanks for the help

horrorwood · 27 Feb 2013 at 12:44

Ok that board will support an Socket 1155 CPU, just make sure you update the bios to F4 before changing CPU.

You said you don't intend to overclock (not that you can on a H61 board anyway), so an i7 3770 is available at just over your budget.

Where as an i5 3570 is available under £200.

I would not change anything apart from your CPU, I think some people in this thread did not realise a G630 is socket 1155!

stulid · 27 Feb 2013 at 12:46

Idleman said:
Slightly over budget. The Cpu and ram are a "Today only" offer, have added a cheap cooler as the OEM 3570K does come with a stock cooler.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £161.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD316GB1600C11DC) **OcUK Exclusive** £47.99
1 x Alpenföhn Civetta CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £12.98
Total : £314.35 (includes shipping : £9.50).

The Gigabyte Z77-D3H is only £4 more and even 8 Pack says its the better board (huge Asus fan)

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=23804949&highlight=username_8+Pack#post23804949

quest · 27 Feb 2013 at 12:48

horrorwood said:
Ok that board will support an Socket 1155 CPU, just make sure you update the bios to F4 before changing CPU.

You said you don't intend to overclock (not that you can on a H61 board anyway), so an i7 3770 is available at just over your budget.

Where as an i5 3570 is available under £200.

I would not change anything apart from your CPU, I think some people in this thread did not realise a G630 is socket 1155!

will I need a new cooler for the 3770?

Doomedspeed · 27 Feb 2013 at 13:02

quest said:
will I need a new cooler for the 3770?

Have you got an after market cooler already?

If not, buying the retail version with supply you with a stock cooler.

gandhi · 27 Feb 2013 at 13:20

I was in the same position as you recently and opted for the Xeon e1230v2. It will run on most Z77 boards, is 4 cores hyperthreaded and the same price as a 3570k. Granted it only runs at 3.7 on full turbo and no overclocking but I'd rather have an effective 4 extra cores for rendering than a 25-30% increase in speed!

Doomedspeed · 27 Feb 2013 at 13:34

gandhi said:
I was in the same position as you recently and opted for the Xeon e1230v2. It will run on most Z77 boards, is 4 cores hyperthreaded and the same price as a 3570k. Granted it only runs at 3.7 on full turbo and no overclocking but I'd rather have an effective 4 extra cores for rendering than a 25-30% increase in speed!

Not a bad plan...

Will it run on his current motherboard?

Idleman · 27 Feb 2013 at 13:42

stulid said:
The Gigabyte Z77-D3H is only £4 more and even 8 Pack says its the better board (huge Asus fan)

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=23804949&highlight=username_8+Pack#post23804949

I agree with you concerning which is the better board But at the time of posting the spec the D3H was £89. As my spec was already over budget and he stated he was unlikely to OC, the LX was a good compromise.

Idleman · 27 Feb 2013 at 13:56

Doomedspeed said:
Not a bad plan...

Will it run on his current motherboard?

Not according to the GB Cpu support list.

Also need to remember if you do get a Xeon with a Z77 board to ensure to check what Bios you need to have installed. For example the Asus LX board needs to have Bios 1603 already installed. Something worth checking before purchase.

stulid · 27 Feb 2013 at 16:49

Idleman said:
I agree with you concerning which is the better board But at the time of posting the spec the D3H was £89. As my spec was already over budget and he stated he was unlikely to OC, the LX was a good compromise.

You sure? as the Asus board is at its current offer price of £79.99 in your spec.

The basket code doesn't take into account live price changes

so that means the D3H must have been at £83.99 at the time of that spec.

gandhi · 27 Feb 2013 at 17:40

Doomedspeed said:
Not a bad plan...

Will it run on his current motherboard?

Gigabyte don't list it as supported but they do list the Sanybridge Xeons and ivybridge desktop processors. I'd be willing to risk it (or at least email gigabyte or otherwise research the compatability)

quest · 5 Mar 2013 at 11:49

The motherboard I have is actually the Asus P8H61-MX, will this be ok for a 7850 card as wella s the i7 3770?