Upgrading from I5 2500k - new CPU, MOBO & RAM

Muso · 26 Jan 2019 at 19:55

Hi!

I recently upgraded the graphics card on my pc from gtx 960 to 6 GB 1060 hoping it would help me run modern games nicely unfortunately it seems not and I'm sure my old I5 2500k is holding things up.

So my question is, what would I need in terms of a processor, mobo and ram to be able to play games at 1080p really well?

The current game Im trying to play is GTA 5 and its dropping down to 40FPS quite often which is really annoying, Ive toyed with the graphics settings but no joy. From checking task manager the CPU is quite often running really high so this has to be the issue. (CPU is overclocked as high as I can get it whilst remaining stable)

Ideally I want to spend as little as possible but wanted to know what my best option would be.

Cheers!

Muso · 27 Jan 2019 at 08:58

I've done a bit of research and it seems that some sites recommend the I5-8400 as a the current best mid range gaming cpu but for £50 more I could get the I5-9600 which according to benchmarks is about 15% quicker. Ideally I'd like something which will last me a while as I've had my CPU & Mobo since 2011.

Something else I didn't mention was that I only game in 1080p and am a fairly casual gamer.

orbitalwalsh · 27 Jan 2019 at 09:04

720p which is heavy CPU bound ! 4 and 6 cores still not maxed out and almost the same with 6 core holding 5 FPS average lead .
Granted you can clock the 8600/9600 a lot higher

Keeping costs down

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Intel Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz (Coffee Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - OEM= £229.99
1 x Gigabyte Z390 UD Intel Z390 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £119.99
2 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B30= £128.99

Total: £618.46 (includes shipping: £10.50)

Muso · 27 Jan 2019 at 09:52

Thanks for your reply mate, I was hoping to spend quite a bit less though. I think I'm going to go with an I5 8400 build for around £400

Threepwood · 27 Jan 2019 at 12:31

is your 2500k at stock or overclocked?

Muso · 27 Jan 2019 at 14:33

Hi Guybrush!

Yes it's overclocked to 4.3 i can't get much more out of it.

Cheets

locky123 · 27 Jan 2019 at 14:49

My son's gaming pc has just been update from i5 2500k with GTX 970 due to poor game performance at 1080p / 60hz. As far as I could tell it was more cpu limited. I went for Ryzen 2600X/B450 mobo/16gb ram and he seems pleased with results. There isnt a cheap fix but bought when ebay recently had a discount day so cost £340.