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2500 to 2600. worth it?

1K views 46 replies 20 participants last post by  chessmyantidrug 
#1 ·
Hey guys,

I have a rig supported by i5-2500k runs rx 480 8gb. One of my friends just upgraded his system and gave me his old company; i7-2600k. So, I have mainly been playing games on my rig. Does it woth it to change i5-2500k to i7-2600k? Some ppl says that i5 is better for gaming performance, just stick with i5. Others, as u guess, says "i7 is allways superior to i5, dont think just do it"

So, whats ur opinion? Does it worth to upgrade to a I-7 for gaming?
My 2500k is running @4.5 ghz. And ofc I gonna o.c. I7 if I replace it.
 
#2 ·
Only if your games are designed to take advantage of HyperThreading. If they're not, then it wouldn't be worth the labor. If you have HyperThreading enabled and your games aren't designed to take advantage of it, then you could get microstuttering and then you'd end up disabling HT anyway and you'd be back down to a 2500K (practically speaking).
 
#3 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by TwoCables View Post

Only if your games are designed to take advantage of HyperThreading. If they're not, then it wouldn't be worth the labor. If you have HyperThreading enabled and your games aren't designed to take advantage of it, then you could get microstuttering and then you'd end up disabling HT anyway and you'd be back down to a 2500K (practically speaking).
How can I determine what if a game profits from Hyper Threating?
 
#5 ·
The only way I could accept that the i7 wasnt superior to the i5 is if somehow you couldn't achieve the same overclock. Like TwoCables said, worst case scenario you disable HT and then you still have 2mb more l3 cache than the i5-2500k. I do remember hearing about games had issues with hyperthreading causing stuttering but generally I chalk that up to poor thread management / core parking issues that are unlikely to occur on a modern OS.
 
#6 ·
Not at all, find a cheap 3770K, a move from 2500 to 2600 is a side grade at best. Unless your doing very heavy threaded video rendering or something similar don't waste your money on anything sandy bridge based get an ivy bridge based processor at the bare minimum
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by philhalo66 View Post

Not at all, find a cheap 3770K, a move from 2500 to 2600 is a side grade at best. Unless your doing very heavy threaded video rendering or something similar don't waste your money on anything sandy bridge based get an ivy bridge based processor at the bare minimum
It's free! His friend already gave him the CPU. He just wants to know if it's worth the labor of installing it.
 
#8 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by TwoCables View Post

It's free! His friend already gave him the CPU. He just wants to know if it's worth the labor of installing it.
if it's free go for it but dont expect to see much of a difference in performance in most games.
 
#9 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by philhalo66 View Post

if it's free go for it but dont expect to see much of a difference in performance in most games.
Then, it concludes in "does not worth to change"..

Let me change the question then, whatz the my best bet about upgrading the CPU on Z-77 chipset. Whatz the best gaming price / performance CPU on that platform?
 
#11 ·
For those that are saying a free 2600k is not worth the time to install it over a 2500k please just stop. That is the most absurd thing I've heard here in a VERY long time. More and more games are using the extra threads where I'd even prefer a 2600k over even a modern i5. A 4ghz+ 4c8t Sandy bridge cpu is no slouch.

Not only that, the system as a whole will benefit from the four extra threads. There are also plenty of applications that will take advantage of it too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by philhalo66 View Post

if it's free go for it but dont expect to see much of a difference in performance in most games.
But the games that do take advantage of it will see a big difference. Completely worth it.
 
#12 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoloCamo View Post

For those that are saying a free 2600k is not worth the time to install it over a 2500k please just stop. That is the most absurd thing I've heard here in a VERY long time. More and more games are using the extra threads where I'd even prefer a 2600k over even a modern i5. A 4ghz+ 4c8t Sandy bridge cpu is no slouch.

Not only that, the system as a whole will benefit from the four extra threads. There are also plenty of applications that will take advantage of it too.
But the games that do take advantage of it will see a big difference. Completely worth it.
So, this changes things a lot. As I said before, some ppl says "IF you are working on 3d rendering, modeling, or such like that yea, I7 can make a significiant difference in performance but when it comes to games, dont expect much. Difference in performance could not be more than +%5 of an I-5 2500 k (4.5 ghz) gives."

Do you know which known popular and incoming new-gen games benefit from HT on I7? Or how can I find this info?
 
#13 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4vc1 View Post

So, this changes things a lot. As I said before, some ppl says "IF you are working on 3d rendering, modeling, or such like that yea, I7 can make a significiant difference in performance but when it comes to games, dont expect much. Difference in performance could not be more than +%5 of an I-5 2500 k (4.5 ghz) gives."

Do you know which known popular and incoming new-gen games benefit from HT on I7? Or how can I find this info?
Ya no, in newer games it could very well be the difference between playable and unplayable. If you have the i7 USE IT. Pretty much every major AAA title over the last 3-4 years has yielded benefits from the extra threads

Also, are these the -k models we are talking about, or are they locked?

Just re-read the OP... yea just OC it to 4.5 like your i5 and forget about it, absolute no brainer... heck you could go much further than 4.5 probably if you have the cooling for it.

Oh, and also you could probably sell that i5 for around $100
 
#14 ·
Free 2600k, use it.
Do not pay attention to anyone that tells you it is not worth upgrading or not to waste time.
Only time you waste is removing old and installing new.

Have not seen one game that I played or friends played with CPU that had HT result in zero issues.
 
#15 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4vc1 View Post

Do you know which known popular and incoming new-gen games benefit from HT on I7? Or how can I find this info?
Crysis 3, BF3, BF4, BF1 (64 player maps), GTA V, Gears of War 4, etc. Those are off the top of my head and already out. Upcoming games are even more likely to take further advantage of it. Keep in mind the consoles are 8 core cpu's which are considerably slower. Developers have to program for more threads if they want any sort of decent performance out of them. This translates into more titles taking advantage of it on the PC end as well.

For example:

http://www.techspot.com/review/1263-gears-of-war-4-benchmarks/page4.html

THe Skylake 6600k (three generations newer than your 2500k/2600k) is getting anaverage of 145fps and minimum of 70fps.

Meanwhile, an Ivy Bridge 3770k (which is only a hair faster than your 2600k) is gettingan average of 163fos and a minimum of 118fps.

The minimums are where the i7's shine in comparison and give you a much smoothergaming experience on these titles.
 
#16 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoloCamo View Post

Crysis 3, BF3, BF4, BF1 (64 player maps), GTA V, Gears of War 4, etc. Those are off the top of my head and already out. Upcoming games are even more likely to take further advantage of it. Keep in mind the consoles are 8 core cpu's which are considerably slower. Developers have to program for more threads if they want any sort of decent performance out of them. This translates into more titles taking advantage of it on the PC end as well.

For example:

http://www.techspot.com/review/1263-gears-of-war-4-benchmarks/page4.html

THe Skylake 6600k (three generations newer than your 2500k/2600k) is getting anaverage of 145fps and minimum of 70fps.

Meanwhile, an Ivy Bridge 3770k (which is only a hair faster than your 2600k) is gettingan average of 163fos and a minimum of 118fps.

The minimums are where the i7's shine in comparison and give you a much smoothergaming experience on these titles.
Crysis 3 does NOT use HT, the i5 3470 is 4 fps below the 3770K. BF3 doesnt either, every test i seen for BF3 shows 2500K's within 3% of 2600K's. the other games you listed will see massive performance improvements though.
 
#17 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by philhalo66 View Post

Crysis 3 does NOT use HT, the i5 3470 is 4 fps below the 3770K. BF3 doesnt either, every test i seen for BF3 shows 2500K's within 3% of 2600K's. the other games you listed will see massive performance improvements though.
Yes it does. Even at 4.8ghz the i5 is still MUCH slower than the stock speed i7. 30fps difference is certainly not due to the extra 2mb of cache. Extra 40fps when both are at the same clock. This was heavily discussed on release due to the fact that the FX-8350's did really well in the title compared to other titles.

https://youtu.be/XylVCItVhS4?t=6m44s

Also, it depends on the level/map. "Welcome to the Jungle" is extremely cpu heavy. This has been known since 2013... The BF franchises single player is the least of it, it's the 64 player maps where the extra threads make a difference. BF1 is the only one where in single player it matters, too.
 
#18 ·
I agree with what has been suggested over the last few posts. You're getting 4 free threads. I'd take them if you plan to use your system for a while (think 2 years). If you're planning to build a new rig, you could ebay the i7.
 
#19 ·
If I had both CPU, I'd definitely swap out for the 2600K...how long that take? Like, 15 minutes? You don't even have to fully remove the H60, just the block part...
 
#22 ·
If you already got the cpu for free, install that bugger and sell the i5 to make a bit of cash. This should also prolong the life of the current computer so you wont have to upgrade as quickly when you do get a game that can take full advantage of the hyper threading.
 
#23 ·
to me, just putting it in to see if it OC better, as mentioned, would be worth the time.
smile.gif
 
#24 ·
I am using 2500k now and happy with it. If someone offered me free 2600k I would take it with no hesitation, at least to try it out. Install it, test it, keep it, sell it, or give it away. Hell, mail it to me...
 
#25 ·
My point I was trying to make is even if you don't need it now, the time could come sooner rather than later if you find a new game you like, decide to try it and realize your 2500k is choking on it and want to upgrade, the free upgrade to 2600k now will mostly alleviate that immediate need to upgrade to a newer more expensive platform. Why spend money on an upgrade if you don't have to, heck if I were you I would swap to the 2600k, sell the i5 and buy an ssd or something with the money. Or slap the 2500k back into your buddies system if it is functional and have a backup rig. the possibilities are abundant when you get another pc for free.
 
#26 ·
The alternative is to offload the free 2600k toward a 3770k and INSTALL that.
 
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