Downgrade i7 to i3?

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CMadki4

Supreme [H]ardness
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Update: For those just joining us, a quick update. I will not be downgrading from i7 to i3. Lots of good input/advice. And also just to emphasize, my CPU and GPU temps are fine, just the PSU is getting a little warm/loud. :) Thanks. As you were :)

Hi all. I got an i7 2600k from a member here during the whole mad dash deal at MC for my latest build. Great chip, absolutely astounding power. However, I have a few questions regarding a potential downgrade.

#1 How does the i7 2600k compare to an i3 2100 as far as power consumption? My power supply is really heating up during gaming and I'm curious if this could remedied by downgrading the CPU.

#2 If I did go through with said downgrade, what kind of gaming performance decrease would I see realistically? I've seen the bench comparisons and realize the i3 and i7 are in difference leagues. But with the i3 games are still playable in 1080, right? (Skyrim, FarCry2, FSX, etc.)

#3 And finally, if not the i3, what would you recommend as a down grade? My main goal is to not stress my power supply so much (PC63J) as it is dumping a lot of heat and making a lot of noise during gaming. Thanks in advance for your input :cool:

EDIT: Looking at this comparison it would appear that such a downgrade will benefit me very little (other than have another $100 in my pocket). Power consumption at idle and load seems to be negligible if not in the i7's favor. But I'd still like your professional opinions.
 
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I would look more into downgrading the GPU. However you could shave a few W off by undervolting and underclocking your current CPU.
 
AMD T-type said:
You sure it's not your video card heating up the system?
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Pretty sure. With the case mod I did air flow is optimal. My temps are comfortably within reason. The heat coming out of the PSU exhaust is magnitudes greater than the heat exhausting off the CPU and GPU. I guess a less power hungry GPU may put less demand on the PSU. But the 6870 isn't exactly power hungry.
 
drescherjm said:
I would look more into downgrading the GPU. However you could shave a few W off by undervolting and underclocking your current CPU.
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Good suggestion. I've contemplated this and polled SZ68R5 users about it, but with no response. So, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure how to properly do this with my motherboard. Any advice and/or good resource?
 
I think you should just test to see how much power consumption there is from the outlet. That way you know for sure the issue is what you think it is.
 
Get a case thats not shaped like a toaster and it won't get toasty hot.
 
Q1DM6 said:
Get a case thats not shaped like a toaster and it won't get toasty hot.
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This post is on track...

Here's an H thread on case Modding that box:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1688119
 
@fullvietFX - Interesting idea. I wouldn't be apposed to something like that.

@Vantec89 - I should do that. Get a meter and see what it's actually drawing.

@Q1DM6 - Air flow in my case is actually excellent in it's modded state. A larger case wouldn't help. Everything but the PSU runs cool under load.
 
or you can search for a better power supply that you can disassemble and fit inside you power supply case.

once I did this with a Dell power supply, my friend didn't want to pay 5x more for a dell power supply, so we got a regular one, disassembled it.. fit inside the old one
 
Others with this power supply are reporting a mix. Loud to not so loud. They are using GPUs ranging from 570s, 580s and 680s. Problem is that unless you have the proper meter, sound level is such a subjective thing.

Anyways, I have considered modifying my PC63J for better air flow. Add some cutouts/mesh to allow the case's top 120mm exhaust fan to also draw air through the PSU. Then maybe the PSU temps won't be so high and that little 40mm fan won't have to work so hard.

Thanks for the input everyone. Keep it coming.
 
undervolt & underclock down to i3 levels, disable hyperthreading and turbo. that would get you very close if not lower (especially at idle) to i3 levels of power consumption. but yeah a different psu would help more unless your PSU is already efficient, and if you don't game a whole lot, moving from a GPU to on-chip Intel HD Graphics would be your biggest power saver... if you go that route, wait for the i3 3225 w/ HD 4000 graphics, it will perform mid range graphical tasks pretty well. (although I'm not too sure about skyrim and some of the other games you mentioned. :( )

A potential other way to save substantially more power is to make sure your computer is set to sleep after a certain amount of time. or just turn it off when not using it. that will add up much quicker than any component swap.
 
Abit667 said:
Why don't you get a video card that doesn't exhaust hot air into the case?
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This also makes a huge difference. When I had my stock cooler my processor would never go above 53C while gaming but my videocard would hit 88C. Now that I have the Arctic Cooler Extreme Plus II which dumps the heat in the case my processor hits 63C now but my videocard won't go above 64C. It's a trade-off I guess. My case has very good ventilation too.
 
We might be getting off track a little here. My GPU and CPU temps are just dandy. Just trying to quiet down my PSU.

Edit: Just to clarify, during gaming the CPU and GPU temps are low and cool. Their fans stay quiet as they never really get that hot. However, the PSU is getting warm and therefore it's 40mm fan is spinning up and getting loud.
 
We might be getting off track a little here.
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I do not think so.
The power supply would be quieter if the hot air from the GPU did not go through the supply causing the supply to have to increase the fan speed.
 
drescherjm said:
I do not think so.
The power supply would be quieter if the hot air from the GPU did not go through the supply causing the supply to have to increase the fan speed.
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I'd agree but with how the case is setup and where the top exhaust fan sits, it's really unlikely any significant amount of GPU exhaust is making it to the PSU's intake.
 
The overall power consumption numbers won't be effected significantly by using a different CPU. And this won't amount to much heat wise. As others have said, experiement with downclocking and undervolting first.

And Ivy Bridge is the only thing that makes sense in your case I think. 77watts vs. 90watts. and better thermals at stock speeds.
 
Is it possible to switch out the fan in that power supply for something better?
 
You could disable the cores and HT, but then why have a 2600K? Sell it and move onto a 3450S as another member suggested. Besides the power savings you get a Ivy chip with naitive PCI-E 3.0 support for most motherboards.
 
cmadki4 said:
Just to clarify, during gaming the CPU and GPU temps are low and cool. Their fans stay quiet as they never really get that hot. However, the PSU is getting warm and therefore it's 40mm fan is spinning up and getting loud.
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If your GPU and CPU temps are low and cool at full load then you aren't at full load

:/
 
That's a pretty strict power budget you got there. I'd get an Ivy Bridge CPU, at stock clocks they use less power and run cooler than Sandy. I agree on getting a device to directly measure the power use, Kill A Watt perhaps?
 
Yeah, the power consumption in games will not be much different between the i3 and i7 because most games only heavily use 2-3 threads, so the loading will be similar. In addition, if you are GPU-limited at the settings you use then the load will be EXACTLY the same.

If you were doing encodes, the load power consumption difference would be night-and-day :D
 
Just mild gaming. No encodes here. I think I'll just hold on to the i7 for now and just manage. It's only noisy when gaming, and even then it's not constant. And it may just seem loud because everything else is so quiet. Thanks all.
 
cmadki4 said:
Just mild gaming. No encodes here. I think I'll just hold on to the i7 for now and just manage. It's only noisy when gaming, and even then it's not constant. And it may just seem loud because everything else is so quiet. Thanks all.
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Maybe it's the new CPU allowing your GPU run at much higher framerates? If you were CPU-limited in games then increased CPU power will result in higher GPU and CPU power consumption.

What was the CPU you had before the 2600k?
 
It's to be expected on a PSU with a 40mm fan for cooling, it's going to be loud, if you want it to be quiet, you will need to mod in a bigger fan that will not have to spin at such a high RPM. With what you have in the system, you should still be under 400 watts full load, however its a crammed little PSU, not much space inside as you can tell by the use of a 40mm fan, but I am sure you could find a way to mod on a 60-80mm fan, which would drop noise a great deal.
 
@defaultluser - I'm coming from the AMD side. A 955BE was the last CPU I had. Not a slouch in gaming terms, but by no means a power house.

@BlueFireIce - Agreed. Nature of the beast, I suppose. Modding is a very likely possibility. Bye bye warranty ;)
 
Cmadki, Remember what I said about the i386 build?

Positive pressure. If you can get the case positively pressured, the PSU fan will ahve to do less work to get the same amount of flow, thus allowing it to spin slower/quieter.

I know your gasketing the fans around the GPU to make them pure intake. Have you tried turning the top fan to intake to get more pressure into the case. It might make your other temps worse, but over all make the computer quieter.
 
@Jorona - Hi again! Yep, I remember. I actually tried the top fan as intake on this build (along with a variety of other configurations). It did improve the CPU temps, but like you just said, made the GPU temps a little worse. I didn't pay any mind to the PSU when I did this, so maybe I need to switch it back and see how it does.

@Jbort1984 - I just might be doing that; modding the PSU.
http://hardforum.com/member.php?u=200841
 
@Jorona - I was able to take moment and turn the top fan around to intake again. Sure enough, my PSU stopped winding up like a jet engine. I'm guessing the top exhaust fan was creating a dead air zone by the PSU intake, starving it of air.

When I turned the top fan around to intake it does like you said; creating positive pressure (at least seemingly so around the PSU intake).

Long story short, the PSU fan is no longer screaming loud while gaming and my CPU/GPU temps have risen only slightly (maybe 5-8*C each). A fair trade off, honestly. I may be able to get those temps back down somehow while still maintain positive pressure.

Positive pressure. I wasn't a believer, now I am. Thank goodness for open mindedness.

Edit: Oh, and I also arranged a deal too good to pass up. My 2600K for an i3 2120 + cash. So far, the smoothest trade transaction in [H] history. Boiler1990 is the man.
 
cmadki4 said:
@Jorona - I was able to take moment and turn the top fan around to intake again. Sure enough, my PSU stopped winding up like a jet engine. I'm guessing the top exhaust fan was creating a dead air zone by the PSU intake, starving it of air.

When I turned the top fan around to intake it does like you said; creating positive pressure (at least seemingly so around the PSU intake).

Long story short, the PSU fan is no longer screaming loud while gaming and my CPU/GPU temps have risen only slightly (maybe 5-8*C each). A fair trade off, honestly. I may be able to get those temps back down somehow while still maintain positive pressure.

Positive pressure. I wasn't a believer, now I am. Thank goodness for open mindedness.

Edit: Oh, and I also arranged a deal too good to pass up. My 2600K for an i3 2120 + cash. So far, the smoothest trade transaction in [H] history. Boiler1990 is the man.
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I thought you weren't going to downgrade from an i7 to an i3?
 
Dan_D said:
I thought you weren't going to downgrade from an i7 to an i3?
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Like I said, too good of a deal to pass up. I'd never overclock that i7 or even make it break a sweat. The i3 2120 fits the bill nicely, and I've got a few extras bills in my wallet ;)
 
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