i7 860/870 good for gaming still?

Jellypickaxe · Dec 23, 2014

Hi, it's that time for me to upgrade my PC, currently I use an i3 540 and a GTX 560 ti. I know my CPU architecture is old, but changing motherboards can deactivate windows and I don't know how to do it properly. So my question is the i7 860 and the i7 870 still good for gaming? Also if it isn't what should I go for considering my ideal budget for CPU and motherboard is around £100?
Also I do video editing and Recording.

Thanks.

matt1-0-1 · Dec 23, 2014

It would make more sense to upgrade your GPU. Something like an r7 270x shouldn't be bottlenecked by your CPU.

Jellypickaxe · Dec 23, 2014

matt1-0-1 :

Going to an R7 from my 560 ti wouldn't really improve performance as much as a new CPU, I don't think. Because my GPU reaches most games requirements where as my CPU does not. So is the i7 860/870 still a decent CPU?

manez · Dec 23, 2014

Overclocked the older i7s still hold their own quite well.

Jellypickaxe · Dec 23, 2014

manez :

At stock there at 3.4ghz and 3.6ghz how much further do you think I should push it. In terms of cooling I'm fine I have a xigmatek dark night and it keeps my i3 at 30c or less idle and 45-70c when gaming and it was overclocked to 4.2ghz.

RobCrezz · Dec 23, 2014

An 860 with an overclock and a good cpu cooler can still run well, but youll need a better GPU also.

Jellypickaxe · Dec 23, 2014

RobCrezz :

The GPU I plan on upgrading in a year or so, after my CPU and more RAM. I plan to go to something like a 760 or a 7950.

manez · Dec 23, 2014

Even at stock speeds they should be fine, but I do recommend you overclock to at least 4 ghz, even higher if you're able.

Jellypickaxe · Dec 23, 2014

manez :

Thanks.

RobCrezz · Dec 23, 2014

If you find one cheap, look at the Xeon X3440 - Its basically the same as the i7 and clocks well. I have a machine which had the i3 540 as a HTPC, it struggled at COD:AW even at 4.1Ghz, I replaced it with the Xeon X3430 (basically an i5 750), overclocked it to around 3.7Ghz and it now runs the game much better. I got this CPU for £28 on ebay.

Rude Russy · Jan 19, 2015

I run an i7-870 overclocked to 3.75ghz with a Radeon 7970 overclocked at a stable 1150mhz with 4 250 gb SSD's. I know I can push this to 4ghz but dont see the need to as of yet.

It blasts through everything I throw at it - runs super fast, plays the latest games at ultra settings.
I can't see why i'd need to upgrade for at least a year if longer? From what I can tell - could prob throw a better GFX card in..

Jellypickaxe · Jan 21, 2015

I managed to find some extra money and got an asus m5a97 evo r2.0 and an FX 8350. And am using a Cooler Master Hyper 212 evo, it's great but thanks for all the help anyway. Eventually going to get a 960 which as the rumours suggest it will be announced soon.

kevinpnoble · May 21, 2017

I recently bought an HP compaq SFF that has an i7 860 in it - which I got a really good price on ($100). My plan was to buy a new case so I can fit good GPU in there but apparently the motherboard it came with is "BTX" which I never heard of before this so I'm having issues finding something compatible.

Would you recommend me getting a small GPU like a GTX 1050ti or something low profile - or are there any motherboards out there that I can use the i7-860 on so I can scrap everything else and just use the CPU?

Tsurusaki · Aug 2, 2017

PCMARK 7
SCORE
3 014 with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti(1x) and Intel Core i7-860 Processor
SHOW RESULT DETAILS
GRAPHICS CARD
Graphics CardNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti VendorMicro-Star International Co ., Ltd.# of cards1SLI / CrossFireOffMemory1.024 MBCore clock607 MHzMemory bus clock3.504 MHzDriver version22.21.13.8205Driver statusFM Approved
PROCESSOR
ProcessorIntel Core i7-860 Processor Reported stock core clock2.794 MHzMaximum turbo core clock3.192 MHzPhysical / logical processors1 / 8# of cores4PackageLGA1156Manufacturing process45 nmTDP95 W
GENERAL
Operating system64-bit Windows 10 (6.3.15063)MotherboardIntel Corporation DH55TCMemory8.192 MBModule 12.048 MB Kingston DDR3 @ 1.330 MHzModule 22.048 MB G.Skill DDR3 @ 1.330 MHzModule 32.048 MB G.Skill DDR3 @ 1.330 MHzModule 42.048 MB G.Skill DDR3 @ 1.330 MHzHard drive model1.000 GB ST1000DM003-9YN162 ATA Device

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i7 860/870 good for gaming still?

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