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Debating on upgrading from my 2500k

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xellos2099alpha

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
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Ok, long story short, my parent pc, whihc is an old athon x2 250 + phemon II era mobo) ram controller is dying and now i am debating doing a cheap build for them or give them my 2500k cpu+ mobo and get my own upgrade.

I am debating on 6600k or 6700k. It is mostly a gaming pc. I also live near microcenter so i am asking for some suggestion.
 
What's the rest of your system specs, especially the GPU?
 
If you're going to keep the 7870, then you have plenty of CPU.
If you're planning to upgrade the GPU, then you may consider a newer CPU, as well.

Do your parents do anything taxing with their system? If it's merely an internet/email/steaming box, then a budget Celeron or Pentium dual core would be plenty.

I built my kids a budget gaming rig with a G1840, B85 MoBo, 8GB, 240GB SSD, and an old GTX 570 and it works great...even with 3D games including Batman Arkham Asylum/City/Origins and the newer version of NFS:MW.

I'd say upgrade your GPU, keep your CPU, and build them a Celeron or Pentium dual core if they are light to modest users.
 
Pretty sure the memory controller is on die with your parents 250k, I'd just replace the CPU.

How do you know the ram controller is going bad?
 
I got a psu form best buy to test it out and the issue remain. Out of frustration i took out one of the ram and the computer post eveytime but unable to get into window. After some more testing for a few hours i give up, put back in the old psu and the second stick of ram and cross my finger and hope it will boot so i can at least recovery the window 7 key inside. After a few reset it can get into window and I find out WHY it couldn't boot into window when i remove a stick of ram. It was a 64 bit window and it require 2 gig of ram. So i borrow some and when i put 1 stick of 2 gig ddr 2 it work but shortly after the pc suddenly shutdown. I think it is easy to assume something is wrong with the ram/memory controller. I guess it is possible to get a cpu replacement but i am not sure chanign the cpu would solve the issue.

I had plan of upgrading my 7870 XT to 1070 but if i am doing the cpu and mobo upgrade as well i might delay the gpu purchase for a few months. 2500k is still a beast and the only reason why i consider upgrading is because i can transfer my processor+ mobo+ ram to my parents for 250ish and i just need to fork up another 250 and i got skylake. Or i can just buy soem cheap parts from microcenter and do a rebuild for 100 ish and i save up for 1070.
 
Do a cheap build for them and save like fuck for a 1070. :)
 
I through about that as well but not everyday u can get rid of the old cpu/mobo for a decent price with no shipping
 
If you are going 1070 that 2500k would be fine, especially if you are playing fine now, you can build a cheap system for your parents that would cost less than half of what it would cost to upgrade to skylake.
 
I know but i notice my p8p67's usb port been failing a bit as of late. Anyhow, i remember when i install gta v my 2500k was not reeally up to the task for 60fps... was i limited by my 7870 or 2500k? I game on 1080p monitor btw
 
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xellos2099alpha said:
I know but i notice my p8p67's usb port been failing a bit as of late. Anyhow, i remember when i install gta v my 2500k was not reeally up to the task for 60fps... was i limited by my 7870 or 2500k? I game on 1080p monitor btw
Click to expand...

Def the 7870 when it comes to GTA V.

Compare it to a vanilla 980, and you can quickly determine the bottleneck is certainly not the fault of your 2500K.


GPU 2014 Benchmarks - Compare Products on AnandTech
 
What does reseating the cpu have anything to do with the ram slot issue?

Anyhow, if i decide to build my parent a cheap build, should I upgrade my processor to 2600k or 3770k to made my system last longer?
 
EDIT.

I have apparently been misreading the OP entirely. Trimlok went the wrong direction and I think a lot of us just followed along. ;)


I wouldn't upgrade your machine, but if your USB ports are giving you trouble you can pick up this Intel Z77 board (basically the single 16x, no SLI version of what I'm running) for $65 shipped.

What OC, if any, are you running on the 2500K right now? If you haven't, I'd try to push it to at least 4.5, 4.6Ghz assuming you have adequate cooling. That should help a bit with framerates, but as others said it's mostly your GPU that's the problem.

What price range are you looking in, assuming it's a GPU only upgrade? In this case you'd be far better served buying a GTX 1070 or 1080 and keeping your current CPU than paying ~$500-600 on a full Skylake i7 build (CPU/RAM/MB) and spending less on a GPU.
 
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Ah, the z77 board is for my failing usb port? Does this overclock as well as my p8p67? And i assume i might have issue with my window 10 install if i change my mobo. I think there are too much info in this thread lol. My parent's Athlon x2 250 's mobo is having ram issue. My's 2500k is fine but my usb port on my p8p67 is dying.
 
xellos2099alpha said:
Ah, the z77 board is for my failing usb port? Does this overclock as well as my p8p67? And i assume i might have issue with my window 10 install if i change my mobo. I think there are too much info in this thread lol. My parent's Athlon x2 250 's mobo is having ram issue. My's 2500k is fine but my usb port on my p8p67 is dying.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that'll fix the USB issue and get you native USB 3.0 while you're at it. It'll probably OC better. I'm getting 4.6Ghz stable and easy on a 2500K in the dual 16x slot version of that board, but obviously as with all OCs, your mileage may vary. Here is another listing where it's $65 shipped OBO. You can probably get them down a bit. Is the Windows 10 install OEM or retail? If it's retail, no issue. If it's OEM, yeah, it won't activate on different hardware. Easily fixed with a $10-12 Windows 7 key from FS/FT here, though.

As for your parents... were they more or less happy with the machine before it started having issues? Cause an Athlon X2 is ancient, as you know. The cheapest prebuilt i3 / modern AMD system you can find should more than hold them. Dell outlet has these mini desktops (basically a laptop in a tiny case with no screen) for ~$300 with quad cores. Actually... counter-intuitive, but it's cheaper due to current stock to get an Inspiron 15" with the same processor (you can just connect their keyboard/mouse/screen to it) since you can use the 35% off code poc35%INSP15 on them. That gets this machine down to $213 shipped after the code.

...and another edit. HDMI out only on the Inspiron, so you may need an adapter or HDMI to DVI cable to use it with their existing screen. Just a heads up.
 
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My original plan was to transfer the 2500k, p8p67 and the ddr3 ram to my parent for $250 ish and reuse the cx430 and the ssd and then i pay extra $150 to 250 depend if i want to do 6600k or 6700k. I am well aware the performance gain for games would not be much for me. And yeah my parent athlon II 250 is very slow. I do intend to get 1070
 
That's all fine and good, except that your board is clearly on the way out. I wouldn't give them something that's already having problems, so add another $60-70 for a new board and Windows license, realistically. The last thing you want to do is sell them a machine that's going to be problematic.

Also add another $50 or so for a solid HSF, since I imagine your parents will need whatever you're using now.
 
I think there are some unused stock intel i7 fan lying around, also have some window license that can be used. Also, my 2500k is currently oc to 4.4 with Corsair A50 as cooler
 
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xellos2099alpha said:
Also, if i decide to upgrade, would 4790k be better or 6600k?
Click to expand...

Are you doing a lot of video encoding or 3D rendering that will benefit greatly from quad channel RAM and the option of more than 4 physical cores, or planning to run a top end SLI setup where having 32 lanes at PCIe 3.0 may be beneficial? No? Then forget X99 even exists, you want Z170.

That is the short answer.
 
Zero intention of going sli. I guess the advantage oif 4790 is i can reuse my old ddr3 ram but that is a moot point if i am handingover my 2500k to my parents
 
xellos2099alpha said:
Also, if i decide to upgrade, would 4790k be better or 6600k?
Click to expand...

Focus on your GPU upgrade, feel it out for a few weeks or so, and if you feel the CPU needs a boost, get the latest release. If you feel that you can ride out your 2500K for a while, then hold off for Kaby Lake and of this year/early next year.
 
Well here is the tricky part, i think i mention before my parent pc is screwing up so i want to get this done within 1-2 week. If i don't need the upgrade i can just find them cheap part and build them something for 150 ish
 
xellos2099alpha said:
Well here is the tricky part, i think i mention before my parent pc is screwing up so i want to get this done within 1-2 week. If i don't need the upgrade i can just find them cheap part and build them something for 150 ish
Click to expand...

Yes...buy them a Skylake Celeron or Pentium dually, MoBo, and RAM.

Save up for a 1070 to upgrade your 7870, then figure out your CPU upgrade path.

:)
 
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