i5 2500k upgrade needed, I think (2nd hand buying advice)

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So my new GTX1080, on new games...

Assassins Creed Origins - Medium/high settings @ 1440p = av fps 35?!
Quantum Break - Medium/low settings @ 1440p = av fps, 26?!!
...Doom - Max settings @ 4k = 60fps


Got used to thinking this day wouldn't come, but 8 years on and my legendary i5 2500k is clearly a bottleneck. :(:(:( Games are clearly using more cores/threads now.

So...
I'm looking for a used i7 bargain to upgrade before I go to China next month, around £90-£270.
-This is to last me a few more years. When I'm back I will buy new.
-I'll be taking a barebone (cpu/ram/mobo+gpu) with me then buying a case/cooler there.
-This REALLY has to be as cheap as possible, proper bargain basement stuff
(due to customs value allowance, difficulty of buying/building there +the fact it might be confiscated. +China isn't cheap, and often buy fake parts).


-Im thinking to buy used i7, are there many 6 cores out there? Any Xeons?
I did notice the i7-3970X Extreme is 6 cores/12T, AND quad channel ram, for just £140.
Anything I should be aware of with these? I notice they're not efficient for 140w? Mobos expensive?

So guys, what's best>>>

1) Stick with socket 1155?
2700k (£90 - £115)
3770k (£110 -£120)
(+get an AIO cooler and OC - £110).

2) New socket, but keep DDR3 ram...
eg the i7-3970X @ £140 (+ a Mobo)

3) DDR4 system from fleaBay
eg i7-7740X @ £185 (+ Mobo + Ram)



Thanks in advance guys & gals :D
 
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Noticed Cpu bench only puts the 3770k at +2% compared to the 2500k? Is it even worth it (updating bios +£120 etc)? Although there are a handful of games that will benefit from hyper threading...
 
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I'd look at the performance increase of Haswell desktop (4670/4790k, 4770/4790k) as you can keep your DDR3. Really it's time to go DDR4 IMO but that will cost you £100+ for 16GB.

A 4690k may do it for you with a decent overclock. What's your current clock speed?
 
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If you wanna keep your ram, then the easiest path is to get a 3770k, or failing that, upgrade to a 4770k/4790k.
If you want hex core, then x79 platform has ddr3 support.
But tbh, not worth it now, as ryzen offers more performance for just a bit more outlay
 
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If you wanna keep your ram, then the easiest path is to get a 3770k, or failing that, upgrade to a 4770k/4790k.
If you want hex core, then x79 platform has ddr3 support.
But tbh, not worth it now, as ryzen offers more performance for just a bit more outlay
I found that - saw a 3820k that looked interesting, realised that it actually performs worse that my Haswell i5 at times
 
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I’m going to be selling some of my kit soon, which will include my 4790K, my mATX msi z97m motherboard, and 32gb of RAM. The Mobo will be going cheap because the second pcie slot doesn’t work. Other than that it’s been a great board; I’m currently playing MGS5 @ 3440x1440 on it. I’ll be offering a delid for those that want it.

If you’re looking for a performance jump a 4790k is what id go for, even if you don’t buy mine.
 
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Your cpu is fine... i had a 2500k...


In the games you just posted... your gpu is the bottleneck right.....
Not the cpu....
But still even then your numbers should be higher .. somethings up here
 
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I'd look at the performance increase of Haswell desktop (4670/4790k, 4770/4790k) as you can keep your DDR3. Really it's time to go DDR4 IMO but that will cost you £100+ for 16GB.

A 4690k may do it for you with a decent overclock. What's your current clock speed?

Glad you've mentioned that chip, currently looking at a rig which has the following, and only on £200 atm

ASUS Z87-K
4770K
CORSAIR WATER COOLING
2x4gb AND 1 x 8gb DDR3 corasir "shileded gaming ram" (16gb ttl)
RM750 corsair
Evga 780
240gb samsung evo
+ Windows 10 (key code installed in mobo?)


How much you guys rekkon that lot is worth? could be worth a punt? -Keep the cpu/mobo, flog the rest? Around 350 maybe?

Guess that would give me PCI-ex 3.0 as well?

I'd look at the performance increase of Haswell desktop (4670/4790k, 4770/4790k) as you can keep your DDR3. Really it's time to go DDR4 IMO but that will cost you £100+ for 16GB.

A 4690k may do it for you with a decent overclock. What's your current clock speed?
currently clock around 4.3ghz - Unstable after that, think my mobo has had its day. used to get 4.8 stable.

If you wanna keep your ram, then the easiest path is to get a 3770k, or failing that, upgrade to a 4770k/4790k.
If you want hex core, then x79 platform has ddr3 support.
But tbh, not worth it now, as ryzen offers more performance for just a bit more outlay

how much is ryzen barebone comparable to a newish i5/i7?

I’m going to be selling some of my kit soon, which will include my 4790K, my mATX msi z97m motherboard, and 32gb of RAM. The Mobo will be going cheap because the second pcie slot doesn’t work. Other than that it’s been a great board; I’m currently playing MGS5 @ 3440x1440 on it. I’ll be offering a delid for those that want it.

If you’re looking for a performance jump a 4790k is what id go for, even if you don’t buy mine.

Sounds interesting, how soon? I got to china in 3 weeks!!

I have no idea what you guys are talking about with the MM yet.... Do I want to know? :D


I've been looking at resource manager and cpu is often at 100%... that is bottlenecking aint it? if gpu is below 100%? thought it was that simple
 
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Soldato
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I recently upgraded from a 2500k to a 2700k.

Difference for me was palpable - 20fps more in BF1

Paid £75 for mine - want to get a 1070 to tide me over for another two years and then finally new machine
 
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how much is ryzen barebone comparable to a newish i5/i7?

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £429.47 (includes shipping: £10.50)

I have no idea what you guys are talking about with the MM
MM = members market, you need 1000 posts to qualify though :p

Your cpu is fine... i had a 2500k...


In the games you just posted... your gpu is the bottleneck right.....
Not the cpu....
don't be silly. OP has a GTX 1080. Barring GPU failure/failing, it will cope very comfortably with the games OP mentioned at 1440p (doom at 4k/ultra is just about managable for a GTX 1080)
it's well known that ACO struggles with quad core processors and needs at least 8 threads to perform comfortably.

@slim01 its easy to see where the bottleneck is - just run task manager. I'm betting that when you're in game and you tab out to task manager, your 2500k should be at 95-100% load and your 1080 will be at 60-70% load.
 
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My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £429.47 (includes shipping: £10.50)


MM = members market, you need 1000 posts to qualify though :p


don't be silly. OP has a GTX 1080. Barring GPU failure/failing, it will cope very comfortably with the games OP mentioned at 1440p (doom at 4k/ultra is just about managable for a GTX 1080)
it's well known that ACO struggles with quad core processors and needs at least 8 threads to perform comfortably.

@slim01 its easy to see where the bottleneck is - just run task manager. I'm betting that when you're in game and you tab out to task manager, your 2500k should be at 95-100% load and your 1080 will be at 60-70% load.


This exactly... Yes, I've never, not even once seen the 2500k at consistent 95% -100%, and above the GPU usage. Not even on "CPU heavy" Ashes of The Singularity. Which got 55-60 fps at stock, 1080p.


Well that INTEL +ASUS Z87-K is over £300 now :( Lot of stuff with it though.... Hmmm how much ebaying can i be bothered with... Shame Im not allowed on this MM - Im guessing spamming is a good way to get banned... and annoy lol

that ryzen 5 2600 - Will it have unlocked multiplier, or is that what the x version is? as in the k for intel?

I recently upgraded from a 2500k to a 2700k.

Difference for me was palpable - 20fps more in BF1

Paid £75 for mine - want to get a 1070 to tide me over for another two years and then finally new machine

This does sound like what I'm after... Just to tide me over for a few years. Yeah I'm getting exited about getting a new Ryzen with ddr4 pci-ex3 etc etc... But im looking at £450+ for like.... 10% improvement... In only a handful of bottlenecked games.

I'm hoping games that can utilise the HT won't at least run like dog **** if I get 2 2700k... Am I likely to be able to overclock higher than my 2500k, even though now i seem to struggle getting the 2500k stable?
 
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Man of Honour
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This exactly... Yes, I've never, not even once seen the 2500k at consistent 95% -100%, and above the GPU usage. Not even on "CPU heavy" Ashes of The Singularity. Which got 55-60 fps at stock, 1080p.
if your GPU is running at a higher % than your CPU, then there should be something not configured correctly. 1080 shouldn't be the bottleneck.

that ryzen 5 2600 - Will it have unlocked multiplier, or is that what the x version is? as in the k for intel?
all ryzens are unlocked.
 
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OK so I just won the auction on the 4770k for £329.

Total cost for upgrade after selling gumpf = £139...

Still not sure if thats worth it... 4790k would have been sweet, actual performance increases would be well over 10% from 2500k, guessing from looking at some benchmarks, but can't find anywhere that compares an OC'd 2500k to a OC 4770k... WHY do people bench review processors at stock... WHWHWYYYY?!?! :D

Pretty sure I wouldn't snag a deal for a 4790k for £139 ttl though... The board does support it though.... Maybe I'll go on the hunt still (maybe the 2nd highest bidder won't mind if i drop out... bit harsh on the seller though :D) WANTON WHEN ARE YOU SELLING YOUR KIT!! Pleeeeeeeeease today! :D
---------------------------------------

Details;
Est Value...
£45 - ASUS Z87-K MOTHERBOARD.
£130 - INTEL i7 4770K CPU 3.50 GHZ
£35 - CORSAIR Liquid cooler.
= £215

Gumpf...
£40 2X4GB AND 1X8GB (16gb ttl) DDR3
£50 CORSAIR RM 750 MODULAR PSU
£60 EVGA GTX780
£40 EVO 840 SSD 240gb
= £190

Est value = £405
Paid = £329
After selling Gumpf for £190 ttl (net, after fees+p&p)
= £139 Paid
 
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My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £429.47 (includes shipping: £10.50)


MM = members market, you need 1000 posts to qualify though :p


don't be silly. OP has a GTX 1080. Barring GPU failure/failing, it will cope very comfortably with the games OP mentioned at 1440p (doom at 4k/ultra is just about managable for a GTX 1080)
it's well known that ACO struggles with quad core processors and needs at least 8 threads to perform comfortably.

@slim01 its easy to see where the bottleneck is - just run task manager. I'm betting that when you're in game and you tab out to task manager, your 2500k should be at 95-100% load and your 1080 will be at 60-70% load.
Ye he has a 1080 but in 4k doom that will hit around 60

And quantum break is GPU HEAVYYYYYY im 1080p....
1440p?????

Oc origins in 1440p is gpu heavy too
 
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Judging by those specs, there must be something VERY weird going on in my system...

Ashes of singularity - All those cpus show around 20-40fps @ 1080p... My mild OC 2500k ran a very smooth 55-60fps on it... Their 7700k cant do 40? Never undestood why AoS was a cpu benchmarking tool.

The opposite with GTA V - There is no way I'd get even close to av 100fps on ultra @1080p... couldn't even get stable 60fps with high.

So guys I got the 4770k, but as mentioned above the 4790k appears a LOT faster in most benches I've seen, usually around 7-13%.

Is the 4790k basically just a factory overclocked 4770k?
Only difference I can see in specs of them is the 4790 is 4ghz (as opposed to 3.5).... So if I clock my 4770k to over 4ghz (should be pretty simple) then it should perform better?


Thanks for help guys,

Cant wait to play Assassins creed again, and hopefully this time a bit closer to 60fps, rather than 20 :s

Ye he has a 1080 but in 4k doom that will hit around 60

And quantum break is GPU HEAVYYYYYY im 1080p....
1440p?????

Oc origins in 1440p is gpu heavy too

From most of the Benchmarks I've seen on the 1080, it runs almost every game past 60fps (av) at 1440p, thats why I decided to get it... You saying a gtx1080 shouldn't be able to do 1440p on the games mentioned? What do you get on yours?

Cheers
 
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From most of the Benchmarks I've seen on the 1080, it runs almost every game past 60fps (av) at 1440p, thats why I decided to get it... You saying a gtx1080 shouldn't be able to do 1440p on the games mentioned? What do you get on yours?

Cheers
I dont have a gtx 1080 but here is a guy with a 1070 and your cpu getting higher fps than u.. this is probably 1080p maxed

I played the same game on a 4.9ghz 2500k last year and i hit 60 fine on a rx 580 (1080p mix of medium and max settings)

https://youtu.be/LHZqi19HaBY

I quantum break a gtx 1080 overclocked can just about hold 60fps...
 
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