How does the 2500K look today?

[Lee Saxon]

The 2600K is lucky enough to have been run in some modern benchmarks; you can compare it to Kaby Lake on a number of data points in Bench. My poor 2500K is not so lucky.

Unfortunately I'd say that the 2600K vs Kaby Lake comparisons aren't blow-outs, at least in most metrics.

However, looking back at 2500K vs 2600K, the former was meaningfully behind in certain metrics, so...

 

[psolord]

I use mine at 4.3Ghz with a very mild voltage increase. Works like a champ, but sometimes it shows its age.

In gaming so far it's great and paired with a GTX 1070 has given me some drops from 60fps only in Watchdogs 1 & 2, Witcher 3, Deus EX, Grand Theft Auto 4 & 5 and in large battles in Ashes of the Singularity. Nothing too serious, but a better cpu would be preferable for sure.

It's the apps that give me some trouble, compressions and decompressions, it is a slouch in encrypted files, which thankfully I only use for the house documents and oh I wish it was faster in video encodings for my amateurish hobbyist Youtube channel.

Speaking of which, I have uploaded a huge bunch of Overclocked gaming benchmarks with frametimes and whatnot here.

Last year I published the benchmarks with the 970 vs a i7-860 and a Q9550, which you can find in my signature. This year I plan to do the same with 1070 but vs i7-860 and i7-8700k. Spoiler alert, the 2500k wins in the vast majority of the tests with the 1070 vs the i7-860 as well, with the honorable mention that the i7-860 ain't doing too bad either. . You can't beat that clock with hyperthreading.

For me as a home user, the Sandy Bridge was the best cpu from Intel during the past few years. Cannon Lake will be the next big thing.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Good thing about the 2500k is that you can drop in a 3770k and probably game nicely for another few more years. Cheap upgrade.

 

[psolord]

Thought of that too.

Then decided that the good thing with the 2500k, is that you can save 160 euros for the 3770k and throw it on a 8700k upgrade!

J/K, 3770K is a good option and I might go for it for some testing in the future.

However my P67 will still limit me to PCI-e 2.0 8/10b encoding. Wow my system is old. xD

 

[Insomniator]

Running mine at 4.4 ghz. Don't really have any issues with it... runs everything fine. Some hiccups when multitasking I guess, if I'm trying to watch a 1080p stream on my second screen while gaming on first.

I have a 6850k and parts sitting on my desk but I'm too lazy to bother installing the hardware, setting up windows, re-overclocking etc... when I know I'm not even going to notice a difference. I may just return the parts actually and maybe upgrade to 8700k in a few months.

 

[spat55]

It's looking fairly weak, Battlefield 1, Watch Dogs 2 and many other recent AAA titles now struggle to run on it although it's done well to last this long now Intel need to hurry up with the release of the 8700k.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I have a trail of systems -- the children of my hardware excesses -- including a 2600K (being refitted for me good-ol' Moms), and a 2700K which I just mentioned 5 minutes ago for troubleshooting over in "Graphics/Nvidia." All that latter is back in order, so I'll twist the clock up again to 4.7.

Just because . . . . I can . . . .

 

[VirtualLarry]

To put things in perspective, I've seen the stock-clocked 2500K equivocated in benchmarks, to the Kaby Lake G4560, if that tells you anything. Of course, the 2500K can be overclocked...

 

[SPBHM]

To put things in perspective, I've seen the stock-clocked 2500K equivocated in benchmarks, to the Kaby Lake G4560, if that tells you anything. Of course, the 2500K can be overclocked...

it really depends on what, MT for a stock 2500 is still a good bit faster;
here the 4560 is 80% of a stock 2500 for applications (mostly heavy MT)
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/965-2/performances-applicatives.html
but for gaming (current games) the 4560 is 93%, so quite close

now... that's a stock 2500, mostly stuck at 3.4GHz under load, even a bad 2500K should be able to OC by 30% with some effort, so 2500K OC would probably perform more or less like a stock i5 7400/7500 or something like that most of the time.

 

[Borealis7]

i've upgraded from an i5-2500K to an i7-7700K in Jan'17, i don't feel much improvement in games because the GPU remained the same, but i do feel Windows10 running smoother than before the upgrade, and WinRar certainly likes it. on the other hand, idle temps are higher, and come Winter i'll start overclocking and i'm sure Load temps will be quite high very fast. i don't do it now since these days my room ambient can reach 30C

 

[Campy]

This video should interest you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4chk3fWb6xI

 

[NTMBK]

It looks kind of like this:

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well, I just had a helluva experience. The PSU was slowly going south on my 2700K box. I replaced it with a Seasonic Gold X-series 650. That got rid of all the troubles. An hour later -- the system apparently died. I scrambled and fretted over my configuration, my software, my files, my main HDTV feed, my peace of mind . . .

Turned out, the new Seasonic Gold went south itself. I had a spare. Back in bidniss!! It pays to think over your possible difficulties and plans for fixing them before acting on impulse.

Yes! It's a GREAT DAY! A GREAT DAY -- INDEED!!

Sandy is now about seven years old. For a range of things, these "K" processors just won't quit. If I want to do serious gaming, I've got my i7-6700K, but this Sandy system has plenty of life left.

I plan to write an article soon on "Hardware Addiction."

 

[DaveSimmons]

My 2500 NON-K with a 980ti is still fine for the games I play at 1080p, but I don't play online multiplayer shooters.

I'll be upgrading to one of {7700, 8700, Ryzen} once Coffee Lake is out, but I don't expect it to make a huge difference.

 

[Intervenator]

Modern upgrader's dilemma:

Is <current CPU> bottlenecked in any of the applications I use? If yes, upgrade. If no, continue.

To what degree will I see performance improve with <new CPU>, what features will become available with <new chipset>, and are these two benefits worth the cost of <new CPU> and <new motherboard>? If yes, upgrade. If no, continue.

Do I really want better performance, or do I just looking for confirmation bias because I want to spend this money that I have no burning need for to experience the thrill of an upgrade? If yes, upgrade. If no, do not upgrade.

 

[evident]

My main desktop is still an i7-2600K. really feel no need to upgrade at all.

My laptop is a kaby lake i7-7700HQ and i think it's pretty much on par with the 2600K, so i guess that kind of holds me over from upgrading my desktop at the moment.

 

[rbk123]

Seemed when it came out, everyone could at a minimum get it to 4.5G with little effort. I run mine there and use it for Handbrake which it cranks out pretty well. I checked Fleabay for prices on the 3770k and everyone wants way too much.
Wish I could OC my 4560 to 4.5G.

 

[PingSpike]

Yeah, 3770(non-K) fleabays are like $140 I think. The Ks are probably a good bit more. That's dangerously close to new i5 prices. The top of the line chip on the platform usually holds its value well past when it makes sense though as everyone wants to upgrade to it. Nobody is going to be looking for an old 1155 i3 to drop in an old machine.

 

[WhiteNoise]

I still run a 2500K in one of my rigs. It is clocked at 4.5GHz. Chip still does everything needed and along with the GTX 980 paired with it; plays any games I need it to. Looking back I have to say the 2500K is one of the best chips I have owned. It is going to have to last another couple of years I hope before needing to be replaced.

 

[nathanddrews]

The 2500K is still relevant. At least, I tell myself that to avoid upgrading from my 3570K (approximately the same CPU).

 

[Hans Gruber]

My 3570K is still a beast @ 4.5ghz. I tell myself that but I also think it's time to put it in the garage on assignment. The 2500K same thing but still works.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Yeah, 3770(non-K) fleabays are like $140 I think. The Ks are probably a good bit more. That's dangerously close to new i5 prices. The top of the line chip on the platform usually holds its value well past when it makes sense though as everyone wants to upgrade to it. Nobody is going to be looking for an old 1155 i3 to drop in an old machine.

I would think those prices will come down once coffee lake comes out, at least for non-K models.

 

[SPBHM]

I would think those prices will come down once coffee lake comes out, at least for non-K models.

hopefully, because the i3 8100 will be a decently quicker for ST and close for MT

it might be possible to get a cheaper 4c/8t 1155 as a Xeon e3 right now, but it lacks OC (even the 4x OC the locked i5/i7s had on 1155)

 

[formulav8]

It looks kind of like this:

Funny stuff buddy, my wifes looks quite the same naked.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Is there a perspective on this? Suppose you could find some boutique motherboard for socket 1155 that offered DDR4 slots and could give you PCIE 3.0 with NVMe compatibility? Once you alleviate bottlenecks at the bottom of the storage pyramid, and assuming your game needs are mild or non-existent, would you feel more comfortable waiting for a processor upgrade? Of course -- Sandy doesn't offer PCIE 3.0, and you could make the argument about the memory as well.

Just a thought.

I replaced a 2011 PSU in my mom's "new" i7-2600K. We got her a 27" LG HD monitor for under $200, for various frustrations she had with 1080 resolution in the first place. then, because she's in a new room now after her hip-replacement surgery so she needn't use any stairs, I had to contemplate running a twisted-pair across the ceiling for her connection, and I found an Archer/TP-link Wireless AC NIC which surprised me. I might not have been so surprised had our old CISCO router not burned out last month to be replaced by a NetGear Nighthawk R7800. ~ 450Mb/s is a real jump up from Wireless-N, and it would be more if we chose the 5 Ghz band.

Should I have simply bought or built Moms a new Skylake-Kaby-Lake whatever? Or was it otherwise a good idea to blow $300 on the monitor and NIC? Those latter items really don't become part of a major upgrade decision. They're just "accommodations."

Helluva nice system for a 92-year-old who mostly surfs the web and answers e-mails. And it's already six years old and then some. That's an interesting comparison by itself. Granted -- the computer's memory works like it did in 2011 . . . . If there's any humor in that, I won't pursue it, because it's too close to home to be funny.