2500k Upgrade Questions, Part Deux

[gregoryvg]

Thought this might get more visability/answers in a new post:

Thanks guys for all the good ideas/suggestions.

Based upon what I read in the previous post, here are some thoughts:

1. Should I upgrade my CPU to a used I7 2600k or i7 3770? According to AMDistheBEST link, those CPUs are about 20 - 30% faster than my i5 2500k? Depending on how cheap I can get a used one it might be a good upgrade and would probably help my PC last another two years easy.

1a. What is the best way to buy a used CPU? What kind of price would I be looking at?

2. If I do the above, would faster RAM be an asset or still not as important?

--- OR ---

1. If I keep the 2500k - I'll probably get an additional 4gb of RAM (2x2). It's like $40 at Amazon and seeing reviews of newer games (and GTA 5) it looks like these games dip over 8gb.

SSD Drives!

I do have Windows 7. But do SSD drives really last 5 years? I was tempted to only get 512gb to use only for the upgrade and than just get a new bigger (like 2tb) one with a new build in a couple years, but it they actually last that long I might splurge for a 1tb one now and just reuse it in my new build.

I am looking way forward to getting an 8-core CPU but will be waiting until Ryzen ships their next gen (at least) and Intel has a competing product. It's nice to finally start seeing new CPUs pull decisively away from the 2500k which was so good for so long. It seems newer games are being able to harness to power of more than four cores, and with DX 12 and umm, the other one (forgot the name) it seems like 8 cores will be the near future.

Edit: Oh, I use my PC purely for games. Some recent/demanding games I am playing are: GTA 5 (just really started getting into it), Total War: Warhamer and Civ 6. In the near future I will be getting Dawn of War 3. Hopefully one day Left 4 Dead 3 will be coming out - c'mon Valve!!

 

[gregoryvg]

Man, looking around on eBay for used i7 2600k and i7 3700k and are they expensive, at least for what I'm looking for. Was hoping to get one for $50-70, but most are going for $140 or so it seems. I did find a couple of "good" deals, though they are not buy now.

One is an Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz Quad-Core (BX80619I73820) Processor going for about $46 with about 7.5 hours left on the bid. It's not a "k" series, but a decent base clock speed and turbo-boost of 3.8Ghz, I think it would be considerably faster than my 2500k in highly multi-threaded games and probably just a little behind in games that aren't.

Would a i7 3000 series CPU work in my Asus P7P68 motherboards? I think Ivy bridge CPUS are compatible in a Sandy Bridge motherboard, but just want to make sure.

The other is an Intel Core i7-2700K 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor going for about $52 with several days left. Price being equal, this one would probably be better as I could overclock it to 4.2 - 4.6 Ghz most likely.

 

[Sheep221]

Man, looking around on eBay for used i7 2600k and i7 3700k and are they expensive, at least for what I'm looking for. Was hoping to get one for $50-70, but most are going for $140 or so it seems. I did find a couple of "good" deals, though they are not buy now.

One is an Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz Quad-Core (BX80619I73820) Processor going for about $46 with about 7.5 hours left on the bid. It's not a "k" series, but a decent base clock speed and turbo-boost of 3.8Ghz, I think it would be considerably faster than my 2500k in highly multi-threaded games and probably just a little behind in games that aren't.

Would a i7 3000 series CPU work in my Asus P7P68 motherboards? I think Ivy bridge CPUS are compatible in a Sandy Bridge motherboard, but just want to make sure.

The other is an Intel Core i7-2700K 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor going for about $52 with several days left. Price being equal, this one would probably be better as I could overclock it to 4.2 - 4.6 Ghz most likely.

Be aware i7-3820 is LGA2011 and will not fit into LGA1155 board, and CPUs are cheap because boards are very expensive and not very available. Although the CPU itself is fast, please avoid it, it's a dead platform.

And yes ivy bridge CPUs will work with P68 board as long as you have updated bios to version containing microcode for ivy bridge CPUs.

 

[Spjut]

Check your specific motherboard model on Asus' site and it'll have a list with officially supported CPUs.

If it's the P8P67
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8P67_REV_31/HelpDesk_CPU/

 

[gregoryvg]

Be aware i7-3820 is LGA2011 and will not fit into LGA1155 board, and CPUs are cheap because boards are very expensive and not very available. Although the CPU itself is fast, please avoid it, it's a dead platform.

And yes ivy bridge CPUs will work with P68 board as long as you have updated bios to version containing microcode for ivy bridge CPUs.

Thanks, that would have been a bad buy. I was getting a little excited, was even thinking of getting two; one for my pc and the other to replace my son's i5 3570k. Back to the drawing board.

 

[gregoryvg]

Check your specific motherboard model on Asus' site and it'll have a list with officially supported CPUs.

If it's the P8P67
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8P67_REV_31/HelpDesk_CPU/

Thanks, that gives me what I was looking for; a nice list of CPU's compatible with my motherboard. Looks like it's between an i7 2600k/2700k or the i7 3770/3770k. Now just need to find one (or two) in my price range; i.e. cheap, lol.

 

[Insomniator]

You dont need a second thread for this

 

[Pohemi]

Unless you can find one REALLY cheap, I wouldn't bother upgrading the processor on your current system. As previously stated somewhere it's a dead platform, and you're better off waiting to upgrade the ENTIRE platform. Go with a nice 1TB SSD and you can utilize it on your upgrade, whenever it comes along.

 

[AMDisTheBEST]

Another forum member was able to pick up an used i7 6700k and a z bard for just 270 pounds or roughly $300 USD. That is insane.

 

[Burpo]

If you don't need the GPU, or plan on overclocking, this Xeon is a decent deal..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SCRATCHED-I...681630?hash=item5d6f903a5e:g:0MwAAOSwopRYdQ8O

 

[gregoryvg]

You dont need a second thread for this

Perhaps not, but I wanted to get some advice as to the relative bene

Unless you can find one REALLY cheap, I wouldn't bother upgrading the processor on your current system. As previously stated somewhere it's a dead platform, and you're better off waiting to upgrade the ENTIRE platform. Go with a nice 1TB SSD and you can utilize it on your upgrade, whenever it comes along.

Yeah, before I started looking, I was thinking/hoping I could pick up a used i7 2600k/2700/3770k for like $50. Boy, I was wrong, they are going for between $150 - 200. They didn't depreciate much. The sad thing is, you know there are literally thousands of these in people's old computers or sitting around in a box somewhere after an upgrade - not being used. Even the non-k versions are going for $100+ At those prices, I'll just wait until I am ready for a full upgrade.

 

[Sheep221]

Perhaps not, but I wanted to get some advice as to the relative bene


Yeah, before I started looking, I was thinking/hoping I could pick up a used i7 2600k/2700/3770k for like $50. Boy, I was wrong, they are going for between $150 - 200. They didn't depreciate much. The sad thing is, you know there are literally thousands of these in people's old computers or sitting around in a box somewhere after an upgrade - not being used. Even the non-k versions are going for $100+ At those prices, I'll just wait until I am ready for a full upgrade.

The problem is, there is nothing much faster for 1155 platform than 2500K, I mean the latest flagship in the family was 3770K but it wasn't much faster in anything other than having a HT and few % of IPC increase in tweaked Ivy Bridge architecture.
I'm running a 2550K, which is basically same CPU as 2500K and I don't see any reason jumping to i7, either way the new i7 was over 100 bucks more expensive over i5, which means if you want to go to i7 now you still have to pay them. Used i5s are going for around 100, but i7s are still for about 200 or more. Paying that for CPU with 2010-2012 technology is basically nonsense when you can get a similarly priced new i3 and mATX board combo with better performance. Those CPUs are still good for most things, but they had been surpassed and so will start to lose market value some day for sure. If you can get one for free from someone's rig with dead board I guess it's worth to take it but otherwise I would not buy 6+ year old unlocked CPU and rely on promise it was not overclocked or stressed somehow.
You are better off just either selling your entire rig and get a new one or just give it to someone when you are ready to upgrade.