Upgrade Dilema

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oMek

Gawd
Joined
Jan 3, 2007
Messages
656
I'm still running an older 2600k, intel 520, 7950, 8gb ddr3. Stock settings, NO OC

It has been having lots of issues as of late. Random reboots with no error code, graphics glitches, cold boot issues. I now have the cash and would like to do a total rebuild but am unsure if its even worth it atm. Prices are sky high, CPU bugs etc...

I have tried to fix my issues but they just keep coming back. Have tried different psu, ram, and am now running without a side on case due to heat. I'm sure it can be fixed but how much money is this old system going to eat in the process.

Any advise would be great!!!
 
If you spend $300-400 on a CPU upgrade (including motherboard, DDR4 RAM, and i7) what you're getting is an extra 4 cores and around 20-30% IPC. Now for gaming, most likely the CPU will not be the bottleneck, unless your display is 1440p or higher. So if enthusiast top-end gaming is the goal, or faster productivity with 4 extra cores, then upgrading would be worth it. At 1080p gaming, the returns of a newer CPU become significantly diminished.

I would recommend running a memtest to check your RAM, cleaning the dust out of CPU/GPU fans and applying fresh thermal paste, testing the hard drive, and buying a new 1155 socket motherboard if the problems persist. A used P67/Z68/Z77 chipset and overclock would give you a 10-15% performance boost, or you could buy an H series motherboard for cheap (under $50). Depends on how much you want to spend.
 
test/replace the cmos battery. it can cause all those issues and its old enough to possibly need changing. and do as janas said and clean it good, today is the day after all. :)
 
Its clean, and new TIM installed on cpu/video card. I do run at 1440p.

I will run a memtest and see how the ram turns out. and see if I have any extra batterys laying around.
 
I typically buy stuff around Black Friday. I also don't always get the newest and best tech as of lately. A friend and I both built PCs at the end of 2015. I went with the previous generation i7 at the time a 4790K. I maxed out the mobo with 32GB of DDR3, A 500GB 850 EVO, a GTX 970 and the rest of the components. My friend wanted the latest. He ended up getting a smaller nvme 250GB SSD, an i5 6600K, 16 GB of DDR4, a not as good GTX 970 and the rest of the parts. He ended up spending somewhere around $1200 or more and I came in at about $900 or less. I spent 30% less and ended up with better stuff in my opinion.

If you look at PassMark scores of each cpu i5-6600k @ 8037 average marks with a tpd of 91 watts i7-4790k @ 11189 average marks with a tpd of 88 watts. As far as the benchmarks go, the i7 is 29% faster.

Does he have DDR4? Yes
Does he have faster memory and more memory bandwidth? Yes
Does his nvme SSD have 2-3 times faster transfer speeds? Absolutely

Is the typical gamer going to notice the difference? Probably not
Does he get better FPS? No
Did he spend more? Yes

Both of us bought all of our parts new.

Also you can find some decent computers or parts on your local Craigslist or take a look on eBay. People builg gaming PCs and then have unexpected expenses come up and have to sell their PC for much less $$. Also take a look at http://www.publicsurplus.com/ You may find a school, college, or city in your area that is getting rid of some desktops really cheap. Then once the prices stop being sky high you could purchase better hardware then if needed.

Good luck!
 
Ran memtest and it came back fine. Going to do some looking around and see what I can find used local. Starting to think it's the board.
 
oMek said:
Ran memtest and it came back fine. Going to do some looking around and see what I can find used local. Starting to think it's the board.
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Sounds like the board. How do the caps look? Are any of them bulged on the top or bottom of the cap, or any of them leaking? I think caps can still be bad even after looking good.
 
oMek said:
I'm still running an older 2600k, intel 520, 7950, 8gb ddr3. Stock settings, NO OC

It has been having lots of issues as of late. Random reboots with no error code, graphics glitches, cold boot issues. I now have the cash and would like to do a total rebuild but am unsure if its even worth it atm. Prices are sky high, CPU bugs etc...

I have tried to fix my issues but they just keep coming back. Have tried different psu, ram, and am now running without a side on case due to heat. I'm sure it can be fixed but how much money is this old system going to eat in the process.

Any advise would be great!!!
Click to expand...

I had something weird happened to the box I just replaced, ended up to be Corsair keyboard drivers, I kid you not.

MSI's cheapie z370 is supposed to be solid according to Youtubers that are way into overclocking.
I've seen guys dump 8600k's ~$200 to get an 8700k recently.
Corsair is good for used ram, their RMA policies are friendly.
2666 is all you need if you don't clock, and all the cool kids are trying to buy 3400+ so I've seen some decent deals on 16gb sets.
Go get a new PSU.
Good luck finding a gpu, maybe rock the 7950 until 2080 is released.
I'd probably buy direct from EVGA.
 
Found a new battery at work will install and then report back if issues keep going on. Will also check caps. I did not think of that before. Thanks everyone!
 
oMek said:
Found a new battery at work will install and then report back if issues keep going on. Will also check caps. I did not think of that before. Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...
youll need to recheck and save your bios when you pop the new one in. and the cap check is a good idea too.
 
oMek said:
I'm still running an older 2600k, intel 520, 7950, 8gb ddr3. Stock settings, NO OC

It has been having lots of issues as of late. Random reboots with no error code, graphics glitches, cold boot issues. I now have the cash and would like to do a total rebuild but am unsure if its even worth it atm. Prices are sky high, CPU bugs etc...

I have tried to fix my issues but they just keep coming back. Have tried different psu, ram, and am now running without a side on case due to heat. I'm sure it can be fixed but how much money is this old system going to eat in the process.

Any advise would be great!!!
Click to expand...


Just find a replacement board, or check caps on the board.
 
Battery did not fix the issue, and caps look good to me.

Sometimes it flat out reboots, other times the screen will show some colorful lines, then fade to black. Only way to correct that is to press the restart button. Could it be the graphics card? I did try another psu but it was an older one sitting in my closet for years... Cant remember if that one has issues or not.
 
If you motherboard has the video ports built in, remove the external graphics completely and use the GPU that's in your i7 for a quick test. Does the motherboard have a screen that lists all the voltages on the board from the power supply? Could you post that info?
 
Well was not the battery, still got reboots.

all the caps on the board are solid state. The PSU swap made no diff. Still rebooted.

It does have video out on the board but I'm running an older Korean (yamakasi) 1440p monitor so it wont display off that.

Thinking its the video card at this point. Could the GPU cause straight reboots with no errors or warnings?
 
yes it can. if it or the psu are having power issues it can cause random reboots without any error. that's exactly what happened to my 280x before it died with a pop one day.
 
To reiterate, I've had 6970 and newer AMD GPUs do that at work.

I'd swap pcie slots if you can bc they can go also, doesn't matter if it's an x8 electrically.

Maybe hit Costco for a cheap basic monitor and try onbd graphics.

Dunno about your area, compatible motherboards on my CL are cheap if it ends up to be the prob.

Gpu's, not so much.

Monitors you can return from most big box stores.

I'd lolz if it was the monitor.
 
oMek said:
Thinking its the video card at this point. Could the GPU cause straight reboots with no errors or warnings?
Click to expand...

I had a GTX 670 that acted like this... just black screen, maybe sound glitches if using HDMI output.. or straight reboot no blue screen.
 
Said screw it and bought all new parts. PC was 5-6 years old anyways time for an update! Thanks all.
 
Mobo or something...it managed to boot at all, that tends to rule out cpu....and Iv'e never really seen ram totally go bad....
 
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