CPU Upgrade Advice

M

mdaniel

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 8, 2004
Messages
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I finally want to upgrade my Q6600 to an i5 or i7. CompUSA is running an in-store only deal for either a 2500k for $150 or a 3770k for $260. I mainly use my PC for gaming, surfing, and occasional video encoding. I know the 250kk will suit my needs, but is the price/value of the $3770k worth choosing that one? I'll probably grab one of the ASRock Z77 boards from newegg with the bundled SSD as well.

I'm one of those who do occasional upgrades, one piece at a time usually, but I'm at the point now where any upgrade requires a whole new platform.

Thanks in advance.
 
Upgrade your video card instead since you use your pc mostly for gaming and only occasionally for video encoding. You will get far higher framerates with a video card upgrade than a cpu upgrade.
 
My current mobo is in need of an upgrade since it is PCIE 1.0, USB 2.0, no RAID (no AHCI for my SSD to enable TRIM in Win7), DDR2, and SATA 3GB. And since the mobo needs to be upgraded, I figured it would be a good time to upgrade the cpu. Once the platform is updated, I will be looking at a new GPU next year.
 
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I have an ip35pro so it's very similar to yours. I found the ahci setting in the bios under intergrated peripherals at 2 places, see if yours are there as well. I also think that trim is more dependent on the os being used, not on the motherboard chipset, so you're fine with windows 7 and a p35 chipset based board. I'm using an intel 330 128gb right now and i have both trim and ahci turned on. I don't see any difference in speed compared to having the sata controller set to ide. there is also nothing wrong with ddr2. i'm not sure you will see more than 5-15% improvement in going to ddr3, and that probably depends on the app being used, so it might not be worth the upgrade just now as long as you have at least 4gb of ddr2 ram. As for usb 2.0, there aren't even alot of usb 3.0 peripherals out there so again, not much advantage upgrading. If you want raid, you can always get an add on card. Lastly, have a look at this review in anandtech.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5458/the-radeon-hd-7970-reprise-pcie-bandwidth-overclocking-and-msaa

They compare pcie 3.0 at various speeds to simulate pcie 1.0, 2.0. and 3.0 to see if it affects gaming with a radeon 7970. Based on the games they ran, it only made a noticeable difference in dirt 3 and shogun. As long as you're over 60fps, you'll be ok. So you're fine with pcie 1.x.

I think you'll do better with just a video card upgrade, esp. since you use your system mostly for gaming. However, if you have tons of cash, who wouldn't want a whole new rig altogether!
 
The IP35P does not have AHCI. I'm running Win7 64, but it requires AHCI for TRIM on my Intel SSD.
 
Any chance you have a Microcenter nearby? If so I'd go with a 3820 & a X79 MB ($50 off for combo deal). The reason why is next year when IB-E comes out you have the option of upgrading, and upgrading to something more than a quad core.
 
Nope, I'm in FL...so it is either Newegg, Amazon, or CompUSA when they run a deal like they currently are on the 2500k ($150) and the 3770k ($260).
 
3770k would be my vote as well. You can also upgrade the SSD to the newer 6GB/S ones :) doubling your current ones speed !
 
Since you do some encoding and many of those programs are HyperThreading aware, I'd suggest the 3770K, as well.
 
Found a coupon for $10 off of $100, so after taxes I'm now looking at $150 for the 2500k or $263 for the 3770k. Is the 3770k worth the extra $113 cost? I've been wrangling with this all week. I do appreciate the thoughts that have been shared.

And I'm planning on upgrading the SSD with either a Samsung 830 or a Sandisk Extreme.
 
Do you use Adobe CS at all? If so, then yes. There are quite a few editing, rendering, and encoding programs that are HT aware, as well.
 
You might be at a point of stalemate between the two. Seems to me that the i5 would be fine for you, however, some of your programs may significantly benefit from an i7...

You'll have to ponder if the added cost for HT is worth the potential performance benefits. Potential being the key word.
 
Get the 2500k with a different z77 board. Dont get an asrock. Also go with the samsung ssd.
 
I agree with the 2500K. No need to spend almost double the price for hyperthreading and a small IPC improvement. Performance in games will be nearly identical between the two, and even for encoding tasks the 2500K will be a huge step up from the Q6600. Put the extra $110 into a SSD and an aftermarket cooler to overclock the 2500K..
 
I vote 2500k and overclock it. Overclocked there's no real world difference in gaming between the two cpus. Definitely more bang for your buck getting an SSD with the 2500k.
 
SSD is what you want for sure. That said, get the 3770k if your going with a z77 board, so you can use all the features. SSD can be done anytime, and I agree with Samsung of course.
 
Relativist said:
SSD is what you want for sure. That said, get the 3770k if your going with a z77 board, so you can use all the features. SSD can be done anytime, and I agree with Samsung of course.
Click to expand...

The only feature you wouldn't get with the 2500K is PCIe 3.0, which is still unneeded and certainly not worth paying extra for (especially $100+).
 
Looks like my decision has been made due to the fact that the 3770k is now OOS at the two stores near me. Thanks for the input!
 
Exactly how often do you encode and how time sensitive is the encoding? Why not consider an i5 3570k and your choice of z77 board? It's about $20~30 more than the price you have on the 2500k at microcenter. I recently nabbed one on the forum here for $170. You get full z77 support and can use the difference between it and the 3770k toward other component upgrades.
 
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