Old i5 2300 system, need DX12 card

yowen

Gawd
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As the title says and as you can see in my signature I have an i5 2300 system still (Sandy Bridge I believe). It's 5 years old and I built it mostly with parts bought here at the FS/FT forum. What a great experience by the way! This system has served me well over the last 6 years.

I've just ordered a Samsung 850 Evo SSD for it, I'm thinking some more ram may be in order too, I also want to install a new graphics card, I was thinking perhaps a 1050 would fit the bill? Do you guys think that would bring me up to snuff enough to play some modern games? I certainly would settle for playing at 720P.

Should I go for an even cheaper GPU? I'm really not sure what makes sense given the possible limitations of the rest of my hardware.

I hope I'm not insane to think that this is a viable plan to be able to play Forza 7 or at least Horizon 3.
 
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I would get the 1050ti. It has 4GB vram instead of the 1050's 2GB. You could crank up the visuals a little to take some load off the cpu.
 
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1050Ti unless you can find something cheaper used on here, a 1060 used might be around the same price as a 1050Ti. I get all my stuff used and usually on here!
 
I think a GTX 1050 Ti 4GB is better to get over a GTX 1050 2GB due to the amount of VRAM it offers which will help with playing newer AAA games.

How much RAM do you currently have? I would also recommend upgrading to at least 8GB if you only have 4GB or less.
 
I had a 1050TI for a few weeks as a fill in between cards, I played at 1080P on it, and it was a pleasant experience. I feel that it would pair nicely with the CPU that you are running , just make sure you have 8GB of ram in the system, I notice that PUBG eats up ram.
 
1050Ti unless you can find something cheaper used on here, a 1060 used might be around the same price as a 1050Ti. I get all my stuff used and usually on here!

I can get the GTX 1050 TI for $130 + tax, I haven't seen a used 1060 that low, but I'll keep an eye out!

I think a GTX 1050 Ti 4GB is better to get over a GTX 1050 2GB due to the amount of VRAM it offers which will help with playing newer AAA games.

How much RAM do you currently have? I would also recommend upgrading to at least 8GB if you only have 4GB or less.

Yes, I definitely want to get a 4GB card for that reason. As for ram I currently have 8GB with another 8GB arriving sometime next week, so I'll be at 16GB DDR3.

And OP, if you want to make sure your Core i5 doesn't hold you back in newer games, you can overclock ANY Sandy/Ivy Core i5 by + 400 MHz turbo bin.

All you need is Z68/P67 motherboard and you're golden.

It's a free 15% performance bump, assuming your cooling is up to it?

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/306835-how-to-overclock-a-non-k-cpu/

Hmm, thanks for the tip! I do have a Z68 motherboard, bought it from a member here 5 years ago. I have not attempted overclocking it. I am running the PC inside of an entertainment center, so I'm a little worried about cooling. I do have some fans blowing air out of the center, so it may be okay? What would you say a safe temperature ceiling is?

I had a 1050TI for a few weeks as a fill in between cards, I played at 1080P on it, and it was a pleasant experience. I feel that it would pair nicely with the CPU that you are running , just make sure you have 8GB of ram in the system, I notice that PUBG eats up ram.

Thanks for your thoughts! I do actually want to play PUBG! I'm definitely leaning toward the 1050TI, unless my WTB thread in the FS/FT turns up an interesting alternative.
 
Are you using the stock Intel CPU cooler, or a third-party cooler? Can you give us the model? I'd avoid overclocking with the stock cooler.

You can always try your overclock and back it off if your temps go too high.

I'd aim for under 70-80C. Should be easier to keep cool since Sandy was the last generation where they used solder.
 
Are you using the stock Intel CPU cooler, or a third-party cooler? Can you give us the model? I'd avoid overclocking with the stock cooler.

You can always try your overclock and back it off if your temps go too high.

I'd aim for under 70-80C. Should be easier to keep cool since Sandy was the last generation where they used solder.

I'm roughly 87% sure I have the stock cooler in there. So I imagine I'd probably want to upgrade that if I want to consider overclocking.

I'm amazed of 5 years of hardly gaming that the Sandy Bridges are still keeping up relatively well with current processors, especially the high-end K processors.
 
I'd still be using my 2500k if it hadn't died earlier this year. Luckily I had a Z97 MATE + OC Pentium I picked up at Microcenter for $100 to test the system out. Then I grabbed the last new 4790k they had in clearance, so I'm set for awhile.

Not the Cofffeelake performance upgrade I was looking forward to, but almost twice as fast as my old system at encoding, and I don't have to pay outrageous sums for DDR4.

The stock cooler is fine for Core i5, assuming you don't care about noise when you occasionally stress the machine. But with an overclock it will be pushing things.
 
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I'd still be using my 2500k if it hadn't died earlier this year. Luckily I had a Z97 MATE + OC Pentium I picked up at Microcenter for $100 to test the system out. Then I grabbed the last new 4790k they had in clearance, so I'm set for awhile.

Not the Cofffeelake performance upgrade I was looking forward to, but almost twice as fast as my old system at encoding, and I don't have to pay outrageous sums for DDR4.

The stock cooler is fine for Core i5, assuming you don't care about noise when you occasionally stress the machine. But with an overclock it will be pushing things.

Interestingly PUBG ran better than I had expected, I played a round yesterday at 720P and everything turned down to the minimum. It was UGLY, but it worked. But definitely need that 1050TI, haha.

Had the computer opened up when i installed the SSD and confirmed that it is indeed the stock cooler, it does look pretty spacious in there though, so aftermarket is definitely not out of the question. After I play another game I'll see what temps I reach at stock clocks.
 
since you have a similiar system to mine, I'll share that I spent the money to get the 1060. Between that and the SSD (and windows 10) its almost like a new rig. Definitely worth it.
 
Dont think he will be doing any sort of OC with the standard 2300 correct me if i am wrong since its not a K processor. Also the 1060gb 3gb should be a decent jump i bought one used for 160 here on the forums. i would keep an eye out.
 
Dont think he will be doing any sort of OC with the standard 2300 correct me if i am wrong since its not a K processor. Also the 1060gb 3gb should be a decent jump i bought one used for 160 here on the forums. i would keep an eye out.

Will you stop not helping in this thread?

I already linked to the page describing how this works, but just for your lazy ass I'll post it direct :D

aHR0cDovL21lZGlhLmJlc3RvZm1pY3JvLmNvbS84LzUvMjc1MDQ1L29yaWdpbmFsL2xpbWl0ZWQtb3ZlcmNsb2NrLmpwZw==


They killed this with Haswell. It was a limited-time feature to help people deal with Intel's first SKUs that had the bus-locked from overclock. Only available to chips with Turbo.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-core-i7-2600k-core-i5-2500k,2833-9.html


They completely distracted people by releasing the Pentium unlocked with Haswell and the i3 unlocked with Skylake. Now most people don't care.

For the slower-clocked i5s this gives you a 13% performance improvement on paper, assuming your cooling can keep up.
 
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Will you stop not helping in this thread?

For the slower-clocked i5s this gives you a 13% performance improvement on paper, assuming your cooling can keep up.

I looked around in my bios and have not been able to find the setting that would control this :(
 
They specify a p67 board does it still work the same with the Z ?

if you don’t buy a K-series chip and instead grab a Core i7-2600, Core i5-2500, -2400, or -2300 (along with a P67-based motherboard), you’ll still have access to “limited unlocking.”

So his CPU turbos to 3.1, so does that mean he can take it to 3.5?
 
They specify a p67 board does it still work the same with the Z ?

if you don’t buy a K-series chip and instead grab a Core i7-2600, Core i5-2500, -2400, or -2300 (along with a P67-based motherboard), you’ll still have access to “limited unlocking.”

So his CPU turbos to 3.1, so does that mean he can take it to 3.5?


Yes.
 
I have a 1050 2GB and I can say the 1050/1050 Ti is absolutely amazing, most especially if you have a low-end/OEM PSU with no PEG connector.

That said, if your PSU does support PEG then a card to look for is the GTX 970 4GB. It is roughly 7-10% faster than the 1050 Ti and sometimes you can find one selling for less than the 1050 Ti.
 
I wouldn't get a 1050 or a Ti, they are around the same performance as a GTX 670 but slower than a 680 because of the gutted 128 bit interface. Look for a used GTX 970 or 980. They'll get you the same performance as a 1060 at a much cheaper price.
 
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I'd still be using my 2500k if it hadn't died earlier this year. Luckily I had a Z97 MATE + OC Pentium I picked up at Microcenter for $100 to test the system out. Then I grabbed the last new 4790k they had in clearance, so I'm set for awhile.

Not the Cofffeelake performance upgrade I was looking forward to, but almost twice as fast as my old system at encoding, and I don't have to pay outrageous sums for DDR4.

The stock cooler is fine for Core i5, assuming you don't care about noise when you occasionally stress the machine. But with an overclock it will be pushing things.

Just wanted to thank you for your advice! I ended up getting an aftermarket cooler for my 2300 and was able to overclock it to 3.5Ghz Turbo Boost. Temperatures during my quick stress test last night peaked at 56 Celsius.
 
Just wanted to thank you for your advice! I ended up getting an aftermarket cooler for my 2300 and was able to overclock it to 3.5Ghz Turbo Boost. Temperatures during my quick stress test last night peaked at 56 Celsius.
Please note: when you overclock this way, you overclock the BUS side of the chip, which puts strain on your motherboard and increases the RAM speed and everything's clock speed. Give how old 1155 boards are and how hard they are to get--I don't recommend this. Your gaining a whole 400mhz per core. Is it really worth it?
 
Please note: when you overclock this way, you overclock the BUS side of the chip, which puts strain on your motherboard and increases the RAM speed and everything's clock speed. Give how old 1155 boards are and how hard they are to get--I don't recommend this. Your gaining a whole 400mhz per core. Is it really worth it?

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. If your motherboard happens to break (which is extremely unlikely), it was probably time for an upgrade anyway.
 
They specify a p67 board does it still work the same with the Z ?

if you don’t buy a K-series chip and instead grab a Core i7-2600, Core i5-2500, -2400, or -2300 (along with a P67-based motherboard), you’ll still have access to “limited unlocking.”

So his CPU turbos to 3.1, so does that mean he can take it to 3.5?
Yes, I've done it with plenty of CPUs (2500, 2600, 3700, 3570, 2450P, etc.)
 
Please note: when you overclock this way, you overclock the BUS side of the chip, which puts strain on your motherboard and increases the RAM speed and everything's clock speed. Give how old 1155 boards are and how hard they are to get--I don't recommend this. Your gaining a whole 400mhz per core. Is it really worth it?

In my research of this there have been many many ill informed people that keep assuming that this method of overclocking increases the bus speed, it does NOT. You are another in a long line of people to incorrectly assume the FSB gets modified. It increases the turbo boost maximum multiplier settings. Ram speed stays the same, the FSB remains at 100mhz. It simply allows the turbo boost to go 400mhz beyond stock.

No change in memory speeds, no danger to the pci express lanes. It's all safe. It's just a light overclock to eke a little more performance out of a non-k chip.
 
Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. If your motherboard happens to break (which is extremely unlikely), it was probably time for an upgrade anyway.

Irrelevant, skeeder has misunderstood how this overclock works. The motherboard isn't going to break with this method of overclocking. The FSB remains unchanged at 100mhz, it's the turboboost multiplier that is allowed to go higher.
 
Irrelevant, skeeder has misunderstood how this overclock works. The motherboard isn't going to break with this method of overclocking. The FSB remains unchanged at 100mhz, it's the turboboost multiplier that is allowed to go higher.

Well, if the OP is really getting 3.5Ghz out of his i5 2300, then he must be doing some bclk OCing as the max turbo was only 3.1 Ghz.
 
Well, if the OP is really getting 3.5Ghz out of his i5 2300, then he must be doing some bclk OCing as the max turbo was only 3.1 Ghz.

Haha, I AM OP. And I have done ZERO overclocking of the bclk. If max turbo boost is 3.1ghz and I am able to get a 400mhz overclock on said turbo boost, that would result in 3100+400 = 3500 or 3.5ghz.

With my aftermarket cooler I haven't seen temps higher than the low 50's C.
 
https://ark.intel.com/products/52206/Intel-Core-i5-2300-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_10-GHz

I don't know how you're getting 3.5Ghz. My understanding of the Turbo OC is that instead of boosting 1 core to the max turbo, you can boost all cores to the max turbo. So you're not getting 400mhz on top of the max turbo, you're moving from the stock 2.8Ghz all core speed to 3.1Ghz all core speed.

But then again, I'm not sitting there with a system and that chip right now. I'm only going by what the Intel spec sheet says and my remembrance of Sandy Bridge Turbo OC's ;).
 
https://ark.intel.com/products/52206/Intel-Core-i5-2300-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_10-GHz

I don't know how you're getting 3.5Ghz. My understanding of the Turbo OC is that instead of boosting 1 core to the max turbo, you can boost all cores to the max turbo. So you're not getting 400mhz on top of the max turbo, you're moving from the stock 2.8Ghz all core speed to 3.1Ghz all core speed.

But then again, I'm not sitting there with a system and that chip right now. I'm only going by what the Intel spec sheet says and my remembrance of Sandy Bridge Turbo OC's ;).

What I was able to do + verify with HW monitor. Is increase the max turbo boost by a multiple of 4, so I'm getting that boost on top of the standard boost to 3.1ghz. It'll do 3.5ghz on 1 core, 3.4ghz on 2 cores or 3.3ghz on 3 and 4 cores active.

http://i.imgur.com/lTeiSUZ.jpg
 
Right, you could try reading the rest of the fucking thread before you claim to know what you are talking about. I already posted the fucking promotional image DIRECT FROM INTEL for this feature, and a link to a site reviewing the processors discussing how it works.

aHR0cDovL21lZGlhLmJlc3RvZm1pY3JvLmNvbS84LzUvMjc1MDQ1L29yaWdpbmFsL2xpbWl0ZWQtb3ZlcmNsb2NrLmpwZw==


It' only works for Sandy and Ivy Bridge. BUT IT DOES FUCKING WORK.

With the boost that yields 3.2 GHz all cores, and 3.5 GHz single-core.
 
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It' only works for Sandy and Ivy Bridge. BUT IT DOES FUCKING WORK.

Sure does! Right now in PUBG I am GPU limited, but only ever so slightly! I'm going to try a mild overclock on my 1050TI and see if I can become CPU limited. If I can, I plan to swap my Ivy 3550 in my Dell with the 2300 in my gaming PC and do the same overclock so I can go back to being GPU limited, haha.
 
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