Should i upgrade? i7 960 vs 6700k

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sobin

Commendable
Aug 25, 2016
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1,510
Hey,

First time posting here, was encouraged to make this post by a friend. I'm stumped.
I bought my computer back in 2009 (it was a prebuilt, don't hit me).

Current Specs
I7 960 clocked at 3.2 GHz
12 gb DDR3 1066MHZ (max ram my mobo supports and speed)
GTX 1070

I upgraded to the 1070 from a 770 hoping for a massive improvement but there was none. I didn't notice a single difference. Now, i'm looking at upgrading my CPU but i'm not sure if it's worth it

MSI Z170A GAMING M5 LGA 1151 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz LGA 1151 Boxed Processo...
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Universal CPU Cooler
Corsair 16GB 2 x 8GB DDR4-2400 PC4-19200 Desktop M...

I want to see a noticeable difference but i honestly can't decide if this is going to provide me with one. Some stuff says the 960 is old and almost any budget CPU beats it, other things say it can still keep up with a lot of the newer stuff. My current mobo doesn't have usb 3.0, doesn't support the newer sata speeds and has a max ram speed of 1066. The new ram would have more than double that

Basically, is this worth it?
 
Solution
G
Your right that your cpu multiplier is locket. I7 960 just as my cpu is a locket cpu so you can only oc on the BCLK. But that shut not be a problem for getting a god oc from your cpu.

And yes you may also need to change voltage for some settings to get it stable and desent cooling. Voltage and hign tmperature is what kills most hardware when under oc.

Take a look a this guide for oc, i used it my self back in the days to oc my cpu o i know it works. Its for a I7 920 but besides your cpu have more multipliers and a higher stock clock it is the same as my cpu.

http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/rmp_i7_920_overclocking

If it can be a help for you here is my bios settings for my cpu at 4 GHz. But remember no chip oc the same. By that i mean...
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azaran

azaran

Splendid
Feb 17, 2010
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Ran in to the same problem with my i7-920. At a certain point your CPU is going to become the bottle neck. My realization came when an AMD A8 APU with integrated graphics was out performing my i7-920 with a GTX 770.

Offhand, I'd say you're at the point for an upgrade. But it's dependent on the program you're trying to run. I'd go for the upgrade. You're getting faster SATA speeds, faster USB, higher RAM ceiling and faster RAM speeds. Also if your board is still in good condition you can likely sell it and the CPU for a decent price on Ebay, that series has a lot of followers.

As for your configuration, check to see if 3200mhz is a big jump in cost from the 2400mhz. It makes for a decent jump in performance. Also I'd personally swap out the Cooler Master Evo for a Cryorig H7 in that setup.
 
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S

samuele_1

Commendable
Sep 9, 2016
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1,510



But your CPU i7920 is OC or default? i have an i7920 @ 4 ghz with gtx770 and i think not going to become bottle neck
 
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nimbian

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May 4, 2015
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I had a 920 that I replaced a while back with the 6700k. I bought a 980ti and while I did see a significant boost from my 570 there were many games where I didn't feel I was getting what I should be. Depending on the games you are playing my big one was GTA V some are not well optimized and are CPU intensive in games like this (Ark, GTA V, Arma, any ope world games) you would see a drastic improvement by upgrading.

As another note if you have a decent cooler from your 920 you may be able to use that. The one I had was compatible with the 1150 sockets as well as my 1366
 
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MEMOFLEX

MEMOFLEX

Distinguished
May 5, 2012
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Hi Sobin

A lot of people have already chipped in with their opinions but as I am still running an i7 930 then I thought I would add my thoughts. These i7s are old now but they are still relevant today. The key to this seems to be clock speed as at 4ghz I have had no issue with playing any game with a GTX970, GTAV included. What resolution are you gaming at?





What resolution are you gaming at may I ask?
 
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K

kid-smooth

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May 30, 2010
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I too run an i7 930 overclocked to 3.99 ghz (although HWMonitor says 4.0) along with a GTX 970. I play a-lot of WoW and since the new expansion came out, it seems like I've had to lower some of the settings just get a somewhat playable experience (within my own standards). I do realize WoW is more CPU intensive so I don't think it will ever be rock solid. However, I did recently play Far Cry Primal and that was a struggle just to manage over 30 fps and really had to doctor the settings.

Yesterday I did some tweaking around with the GTX 970 and got the memory clock speed to just over 4000mhz and the core clock speed to 1504 and was actually kind of shocked by the results. The only game I've played since the change is WoW and noticed just below OK improvement (didn't really expect much) Although, I'am curious to find out what kind of impact it will have on a "regular" game such as Tomb Raider, Far Cry, etc

The benchmarks were ran at 1920x1080 using the preset settings for Fire Strike. Though, 5870 x 1080 is my native display so I wonder how much of a difference that makes. I might run another test to see. ***Score is at the top left corner***

Stock.png



overclocked.png



 
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S

sobin

Commendable
Aug 25, 2016
3
0
1,510
Hey,

Im still debating this issue. I have the i7 960 with everything at stock (3.2 Ghz), i bought the computer prebuilt back in 2009 and as far as im away i can't OC it at all.

I'm partially thinking its time for an upgrade because i don't have usb 3.0, sata 6gb/s and my ram is capped at 1066 (i think). The board supports a max of 12GB of ram, which may be plenty but who knows. Also, something about pcie lanes being less

Basically the main game i play is archeage, a terribly unoptimized korean port. I had a friend sign into the game with an i5 that's ~2yrs old and while we got the same high fps, his lows were considerably higher and thats what im really looking for.

I only play at 1920x1080 with a 144hz monitor
 
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G

GTRdeamon

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Aug 7, 2015
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Cant oc your cpu. As far as i know most X58 based motherboards can overclock. What motherboard do you have?

Its a shame not to try overclock your cpu and give it a change before skipping it for a new setup. X58 is well known for its overclocking possabilaty. I have an i7 920 clokket at 4 GHz for 24/7 (but it can hit 4.4 GHz stable but my cooling cant handle that) use and performence pretty great with two GTX 970 in sli.

Take a look at my old X58 setup in some benchmarks if you know any of them.

CPU-z benchmark

https://altpic.s3.amazonaws.com/pics/1467911804/cpu-z%20bench%204,4%20GHz.jpg

Cinebench R15

http://peecee.dk/uploads/062016/Multicore_r15.jpg

Heaven benchmark

https://altpic.s3.amazonaws.com/pics/1468513453/Heaven%20bench%20rekord.jpg

Valley benchmark

https://altpic.s3.amazonaws.com/pics/1468514772/Valley%20bench%20rekord.jpg

3Dmark firestrike

http://peecee.dk/uploads/092016/3dmark_firestrike_rekord_1.jpg

And one of the latest DX12 benchmark 3Dmark Time Spy

https://altpic.s3.amazonaws.com/pics/1468789628/3dmark%20Time%20spy.jpg

 
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S

sobin

Commendable
Aug 25, 2016
3
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1,510
Thanks for the tip,

I'm sort of in the process of learning how to overclock. I honestly have no clue what i'm doing.

My CPU multiplier is stuck at 24 and i changed the bclk (i think thats what it was) to 167. Ran a game for like 5 hours and it was noticeably improved, but then it crashed. Everything froze on screen, had to hold power button. I restarted, played for 2 hours and same thing happened.

I then lowered the bclk by 10 and it ran for a few hours but i went to bed and turned off pc. I don't know if i'm supposed to change voltage or anything. If i could figure out why it froze on that first OC setting, and fixed it, i think i could be very happy with it
 
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G

GTRdeamon

Reputable
Aug 7, 2015
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4,520
Your right that your cpu multiplier is locket. I7 960 just as my cpu is a locket cpu so you can only oc on the BCLK. But that shut not be a problem for getting a god oc from your cpu.

And yes you may also need to change voltage for some settings to get it stable and desent cooling. Voltage and hign tmperature is what kills most hardware when under oc.

Take a look a this guide for oc, i used it my self back in the days to oc my cpu o i know it works. Its for a I7 920 but besides your cpu have more multipliers and a higher stock clock it is the same as my cpu.

http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/rmp_i7_920_overclocking

If it can be a help for you here is my bios settings for my cpu at 4 GHz. But remember no chip oc the same. By that i mean your cpu may need more or less voltage for the same oc clocks. This is on a asus motherboard so if your board is from another manufacture, the settings in your bios may differ from mine and may be name other names.

http://peecee.dk/uploads/042016/20160415_190754.jpg
http://peecee.dk/uploads/042016/20160415_190903.jpg

Good luck with your oc.

 
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Solution
T

Thumphead

Commendable
Sep 27, 2016
2
0
1,510
I just upgraded. If I had to do it all over again I'd probably wait. If I was using it for gaming only I'd probably kick myself for shelling out $1200. But I do more than game and I can see some nice improvements in programs that are really CPU intensive. Plus it is nice to have M.2 on the new mobo (although I don't see as big of a difference between my M.2 and the SSD as I'd imagined either).

Pro Tools - https://youtu.be/-mYjGyXlQFs
Blender - https://youtu.be/-mYjGyXlQFs?t=1m22s
Arkham Knight - https://youtu.be/-mYjGyXlQFs?t=3m3s
Tomb Raider - https://youtu.be/-mYjGyXlQFs?t=4m44s
Company of Heroes 2 - https://youtu.be/-mYjGyXlQFs?t=5m29s
GTA V - https://youtu.be/-mYjGyXlQFs?t=6m14s

--- OLD ---
i7 920 3.4 OC
16GB DDR3 Ram
GTX 1070
ASUS P6T SE (wouldn't read up to the 24gb ram is was supposed to - hence the upgrade)
Samsung 840 EVO SSD

--- NEW ---
i7 6700K 4.0 (No OC yet)
32GB DDR4 Ram
GTX 1070
MSI Z170A GAMING M9 ACK
Samsung 850 EVO M.2

 
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G

GTRdeamon

Reputable
Aug 7, 2015
15
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4,520


Dit your I7 920 only ran 3.4 GHz?
Mine running at 4 GHz 24/7 use still kick ass.

If he need more cpu power, he has the option of getting a 6 core I7 or Xeon chip for X58. 6 core Xeon can be found dead cheap on ebay by the way.
 
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T

Thumphead

Commendable
Sep 27, 2016
2
0
1,510


I was able to get it up to about 3.8 at the highest but I could never go higher and keep it stable. Originally I was looking around on ebay and I was going to get a i7 980x. So I bought more ram first and that's when I found out my asus mb had issues recognizing all the installed ram. One bad channel or something. Otherwise I'd have spend the $200 just on the 6-core cpu and stayed at it. Those things are great.
 
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G

GTRdeamon

Reputable
Aug 7, 2015
15
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3.8 GHz is respectable. Where your cpu a DO or CO revision? Mine is a DO revision or that chip revision you want if you want high clocks even on aircooling cause DO dont need as much voltage for the same OC as a CO does it.

Se my benchmark in the post longer up where my CPU runs 4.4 GHz. But for every day use it runs 4 GHz and has done that the last 3 years and 6 month now.

A shame with your motherboard problem about memory cause i think if you had got a 6 core X58 chip for cheap, you would still have had a cheap but kickass system despite X58 age. A friend om mine had a I7 990X cpu that could 5 GHz with water cooling. X58 where and is an amazing platform for its age taken in counter.
 
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