Currently using i7-6700k - what to move to for better single-threaded performance?

ss88

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PC specs:
Dell XPS 8900 mid-tower
Intel Core i7-6700 @ 4.00 GHz
32gb DDR4 RAM
2 x Nvidia NVS 510 cards (running 6 monitors)
Windows 10, 64-bit

This is my trading PC. The most important app I need to run is thinkorswim, a trading platform that is a single-threaded java app. The PC is getting a bit old in the tooth. If I understand the upgrade compatibility options, I can only upgrade the CPU to a Intel Core 7th gen cpu, such as the i7-7700k. For anything beyond 7th gen, it sounds like I'd need a different mobo, at which point I'd rather sell this PC and get another as I don't want to get into swapping out mobos. From 6th gen to 7th gen hardly seems worth it, and Passmark single-thread ratings are 2523 and 2743 for i7-6700k and i7-7700k, respectively. Yawn. Not worth the hassle of swapping CPUs and applying thermal paste.

Don't want to spend for the latest and greatest, and I usually buy tech that is a couple of years old to keep my tech budget low. Given the need for single thread performance, should I be looking 8th/9th/10th gen Intel Core, or something like 5th gen Ryzen?

Any issues with using Ryzen CPU with Nvidia cards (I'm using NVS/Quadro cards, so they aren't high end gaming cards and are designed for workstations and multi-monitor use)? Since I'll be using only the Nvidia cards for monitors (on Intel systems, I disable onboard graphics), if I go Ryzen, I should avoid the 'G' processors? Or can the onboard graphics of the Ryzen 'G' processors be disabled?
 
For a significant single thread performance upgrade you need to go AMD 5XXX or Intel 12th generation. Either way will require a new MB.
 
I don't think the G model would be a problem. Even if I don't own one, GTX 1050Ti video card works with my i5-4570 without me having to disable the onboard video.
I was reading up myself on Coffee Lake, Rocket Lake, Alder Lake today by curiosity. With the 9th generation, it may not be as powerful as Comet Lake etc. and the motherboard availability right now is a bit scarce. Comet Lake in my opinion like the i5-10400 is a pretty good deal. All AMDs right now I've looked at are overpriced and an outrageous rip off. The whole Alder Lake scenario seems rather peculiar to me. I mean DDR5 RAM running hotter, DRM issues in video games, Intel wanting to disable AVX 512, DDR5 RAM availability, the fact you'd pretty much need Win11 which in my humble opinion sounds beta to me (and Win10 won't work well apparently with Alder Lake anyway)... Rocket Lake certainly gives some small advantages over Comet Lake like PCIe4 and AVX 512 but at the expense of more consumption/heat.

Bottom line, the i5-10400 is a more solid, cheaper choice (although an i5-11400 is still acceptable). And by the way, I'd wait until you have your new machine all set up and it's confirmed it's working before even thinking of selling your other one. Also I actually intend to skip Alder Lake and even Raptor Lake if I want a new CPU. I intend to wait until Meteor Lake comes out.
EDIT: I want to add as a disclaimer that I did recently buy an i5-11500 (for gaming) and i5-10400 (for watching movies) which unbelievably had the same issue, the same motherboard for both seems defective. I ordered another new motherboard to figure out what's going on. So I can't give a user-review yet. I meant I won't buy another CPU until Meteor Lake because I already have a Rocket Lake and Comet Lake (even if they're not even used yet).
 
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You can purchase AMD Ryzen 5000 series or Intel 11th generation series on the cheap right now. You can find them on sale quite often with a little bit of looking around. The AMD CPU's do not have any issues running nvidia Quadro cards that I am aware of. I would avoid the 8th and 9th generation CPU's as they will provide similar performance and features as your current system. Also, ensure that the system you purchase has slots for two graphics cards.
 
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PC specs:
Dell XPS 8900 mid-tower
Intel Core i7-6700 @ 4.00 GHz
32gb DDR4 RAM
2 x Nvidia NVS 510 cards (running 6 monitors)
Windows 10, 64-bit

This is my trading PC. The most important app I need to run is thinkorswim, a trading platform that is a single-threaded java app. The PC is getting a bit old in the tooth. If I understand the upgrade compatibility options, I can only upgrade the CPU to a Intel Core 7th gen cpu, such as the i7-7700k. For anything beyond 7th gen, it sounds like I'd need a different mobo, at which point I'd rather sell this PC and get another as I don't want to get into swapping out mobos. From 6th gen to 7th gen hardly seems worth it, and Passmark single-thread ratings are 2523 and 2743 for i7-6700k and i7-7700k, respectively. Yawn. Not worth the hassle of swapping CPUs and applying thermal paste.
You would need a new motherboard for anything outside of the 7x00 series Intel CPU's. That being said, swapping motherboards isn't really all that difficult. However, since you have a Dell that may not even be possible as Dell's often have proprietary cases, power supplies, etc. The power supply is also junk, that much I can basically guarantee. I also wouldn't use Passmark as my sole metric for determining the worthiness of CPU upgrades.
Don't want to spend for the latest and greatest, and I usually buy tech that is a couple of years old to keep my tech budget low. Given the need for single thread performance, should I be looking 8th/9th/10th gen Intel Core, or something like 5th gen Ryzen?

Any issues with using Ryzen CPU with Nvidia cards (I'm using NVS/Quadro cards, so they aren't high end gaming cards and are designed for workstations and multi-monitor use)? Since I'll be using only the Nvidia cards for monitors (on Intel systems, I disable onboard graphics), if I go Ryzen, I should avoid the 'G' processors? Or can the onboard graphics of the Ryzen 'G' processors be disabled?
I'd opt for the 11th generation Intel CPU's or the Ryzen 5000 series in your place. There are no problems running NVIDIA cards on AMD CPU based systems. You also do not need to disable onboard graphics. Typically, inserting a GPU into the system disables onboard graphics automatically. Intel CPU's with iGPU's also have additional benefits for encoding using QuickSync. Disabling this outright disables that feature.
I don't think the G model would be a problem. Even if I don't own one, GTX 1050Ti video card works with my i5-4570 without me having to disable the onboard video.
I was reading up myself on Coffee Lake, Rocket Lake, Alder Lake today by curiosity. With the 9th generation, it may not be as powerful as Comet Lake etc. and the motherboard availability right now is a bit scarce. Comet Lake in my opinion like the i5-10400 is a pretty good deal. All AMDs right now I've looked at are overpriced and an outrageous rip off. The whole Alder Lake scenario seems rather peculiar to me. I mean DDR5 RAM running hotter, DRM issues in video games, Intel wanting to disable AVX 512, DDR5 RAM availability, the fact you'd pretty much need Win11 which in my humble opinion sounds beta to me (and Win10 won't work well apparently with Alder Lake anyway)... Rocket Lake certainly gives some small advantages over Comet Lake like PCIe4 and AVX 512 but at the expense of more consumption/heat.
You can run Windows 10 with Alder Lake. I am. It really depends on your applications as to whether or not this is a problem. You can work around scheduler issues with Process Lasso. Finally, Microsoft already released an update which resolves the DRM issues with most games on Alder Lake based systems. I have a couple of the games on the list of games with an issue, and can confirm they work. (Ghost Recon Breakpoint being one of them.)
Bottom line, the i5-10400 is a more solid, cheaper choice (although an i5-11400 is still acceptable). And by the way, I'd wait until you have your new machine all set up and it's confirmed it's working before even thinking of selling your other one. Also I actually intend to skip Alder Lake and even Raptor Lake if I want a new CPU. I intend to wait until Meteor Lake comes out.
EDIT: I want to add as a disclaimer that I did recently buy an i5-11500 (for gaming) and i5-10400 (for watching movies) which unbelievably had the same issue, the same motherboard for both seems defective. I ordered another new motherboard to figure out what's going on. So I can't give a user-review yet. I meant I won't buy another CPU until Meteor Lake because I already have a Rocket Lake and Comet Lake (even if they're not even used yet).
If single threaded performance is a real concern, I'd go with a processor with higher clocks since I doubt a guy buying Dell hardware is an overclocker. I'd go with the 11700K or the Ryzen 7 5800X if I were the OP.
 
You can purchase AMD Ryzen 5000 series or Intel 11th generation series on the cheap right now. You can find them on sale quite often with a little bit of looking around. The AMD CPU's do not have any issues running nvidia Quadro cards that I am aware of. I would avoid the 8th and 9th generation CPU's as they will provide similar performance and features as your current system. Also, ensure that the system you purchase has slots for two graphics cards.
Yes, the 2 slots thing is becoming an issue with the prebuilts like Dell as they cut ever more corners. My Dell XPS 8900 has 2 x16 slots (1 is wired as x4, which is plenty for my needs), but newer models like 8930 and 8940 have only 1 x16 slot and the x4 slot isn't open-ended, so it cannot physically accept a x16 card. Looking at comparable HP's, it looks like they're the same. So I will probably have to build or buy someone's build (to save money over buying new).

I was initially thinking going up 2 or 3 gens to 8th/9th gen would be a good boost, but looking at performance specs and the responses in this thread, have convinced me otherwise. I guess I'm still living in the past when 2 or 3 generation jump in Intel CPUs yielded large performance gains. Seems not so much anymore.
 
If single threaded performance is a real concern, I'd go with a processor with higher clocks since I doubt a guy buying Dell hardware is an overclocker. I'd go with the 11700K or the Ryzen 7 5800X if I were the OP.
100% correct, no interest in overclocking. My priorities are reliability and single-threaded performance, in that order.
 
100% correct, no interest in overclocking. My priorities are reliability and single-threaded performance, in that order.
If you want reliable, I prefer to use CPU heatsinks that have heatpipes in case a fan fails (which has happened before). I even bought a Gigabyte Windforce OC video card with heatpipes. The only thing is, because it's an overclocked model I used the Gigabyte utility to underclock it to stock speed. The result? The fans don't even have to spin when I play a game which means a more silent computer. I also have a Tripp Lite uninterruptible power supply (UPS) with automatic voltage regulator (AVR) to protect myself from spikes when there's a power outage. (It used to fry my RAM when I didn't use one.) I think the model number was something like 1500XL or something.
 
If you want reliable, I prefer to use CPU heatsinks that have heatpipes in case a fan fails (which has happened before). I even bought a Gigabyte Windforce OC video card with heatpipes. The only thing is, because it's an overclocked model I used the Gigabyte utility to underclock it to stock speed. The result? The fans don't even have to spin when I play a game which means a more silent computer. I also have a Tripp Lite uninterruptible power supply (UPS) with automatic voltage regulator (AVR) to protect myself from spikes when there's a power outage. (It used to fry my RAM when I didn't use one.) I think the model number was something like 1500XL or something.
Heat pipes can fail too. In fact, heat pipes can and will fail if the fan fails on some designs or under certain conditions. They explode when they fail. Everything can fail. I'd agree there is less to go wrong with a heat pipe cooler than an AIO, but there are features in the CPU to prevent damage from overheating in the event of a cooling system failure.
 
You are looking at buying/building a new machine at this point. Your upgrade paths on the Dell will not net you a worthwhile upgrade. Intel 12th gen is your best choice
 
You are looking at buying/building a new machine at this point. Your upgrade paths on the Dell will not net you a worthwhile upgrade. Intel 12th gen is your best choice
I would agree unless they want to keep their Win10 setup as is and just transfer the drive over. Unless that is feesable for a 12th gen to do?
 
Heat pipes can fail too. In fact, heat pipes can and will fail if the fan fails on some designs or under certain conditions. They explode when they fail. Everything can fail. I'd agree there is less to go wrong with a heat pipe cooler than an AIO, but there are features in the CPU to prevent damage from overheating in the event of a cooling system failure.
It's nice to know heatpipes can explode but I've never really overclocked. I run things on stock settings so maybe that's why I've never seen that.
 
Supposedly the new scheduler in 11 is better than the one in 10. Not sure anyone has shown any real significant performance difference yet.
And i guess for single thread priority of the OP it would be even less relevant.
 
Got a 12700k with mobo and 32GB ddr4 3600MHz a few weeks ago. It's a nice upgrade over the i7-4790k I was using. Still using my Windows 10 install.

Here is a shot of CPU-Z with my 12700k vs a 6700k. I am running stock clocks btw.
 

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Why all the need Win11 talk?
I didn't memorize what I read on tomshardware but some tests were rather bad with... OK I just forgot what I read. In any case, I would read up on their Alder Lake review if you're considering it (it also mentions some weird results). In any case, there will be cheaper mobos coming out for Alder Lake and the 12400 etc. Except I already mentioned in my opinion even though I admire people who can take the risk, it still looks like "early adopter" technology to me.
EDIT: I don't want to appear to be a nay-sayer. I just hesitate to recommend something that had some pretty odd reviews in some circumstances. Like I said, you can read the reviews and make up your own mind (on Alder Lake & Win11).
 
For a significant single thread performance upgrade you need to go AMD 5XXX or Intel 12th generation. Either way will require a new MB.
I went from 6700K to 12700KF, the 12th gens win for single core, a 12700k walks away from even a 5950x:in single core.
 

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