Is the I7 965 still good for 2016 ?

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Prajiturel

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Sep 15, 2016
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Hey guys,

I was pondering an upgrade to my rig, which currently has a DX58SO2 mobo and I7 965 Extreme CPU. While i will be upgrading to a 1060/1070 GPU, i would like a second opinion whether switching to a 6600k is mandatory for gaming in 2016 (im looking for ultra/high details in games). Im running stock frequencies, no OC whatsoever (3.33 Ghz IIRC), with a custom fan cooler.

In a nutshell: can the I7 965 still handle today's games or is it time for an upgrade ?
 
Solution
iyzik
CPU benchmarks tend to take advantage of hyperthreading and upwards of 4 threads more than most video games do. Hence why a 6600K and 6700K perform very similarly for gaming despite the large gap in the benchmark.
I'd say you'd be fine with a 1060 but with a 1070 I think it will be noticeably limiting the GPU's capabilities.
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iyzik

iyzik

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It's definitely still a very good CPU but if you're going for ultra with a 1060/1070 you will probably see some bottleneck. Especially with no overclock and especially at ultra on a 1070.
 
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Rapajez

Rapajez

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Jul 17, 2014
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I'd imagine 6 generations of Intel CPUs have probably improved on things a bit, but you're biggest loss would be the standards and protocols used in a modern Z170 motherboard, like DDR4, full PCI lanes, USB 3.0 and the newer SSD standards like PCI-Express and M.2. Support for 16/32GB of RAM...etc

The fact that it's still a quad-core means it should get you by in most cases. I'd imagine you'd have to turn down certain settings in the latest games, like Physics, Particle Effects, Smoke Detail--etc...
 
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Prajiturel

Commendable
Sep 15, 2016
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I am doing some research into this (as it's waay cheaper to just get a new GPU and some ram, rather than basically a whole new computer), and CPUbenchmark gives the 965 a 5908 score, while the 6600k has 7769 and the 6700k almost 11000.

I'd also imagine 6 generations of CPUs might have improved things quite alot, but the score between the 965 and 6600k says otherwise. Or am I reading it wrong ?
 
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iyzik

iyzik

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Jun 1, 2012
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CPU benchmarks tend to take advantage of hyperthreading and upwards of 4 threads more than most video games do. Hence why a 6600K and 6700K perform very similarly for gaming despite the large gap in the benchmark.
I'd say you'd be fine with a 1060 but with a 1070 I think it will be noticeably limiting the GPU's capabilities.
 
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Solution
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Prajiturel

Commendable
Sep 15, 2016
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1,510
If that is the case, without going offtopic, since i'm expecting as many opinions as possible:

Could you guys point me in the general direction of some CPU clocking tutorials (the good ones preferably, since i have never OC'd anything). Thank you in advance !
 
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Sochie

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Jun 2, 2017
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I'm also in a similar position my friend built me a fairly good computer back in like 2010
-CPU Intel Core i7 960 bloomsfield / GPU nVidia geforce GTX 970 / MOBO evga X58 sli3 / I am not very familiar with computer especially now having not used it in a few years... trying to game set it back up and games like witcher 3 say need i5 6700 minimum which is cheaper even today than the 1st gen i7-960 which makes not a whole lot of sense to me... I can upgrade the GPU to a geforce 960 for 150-200$ but do I need a new CPU and or motherboard? little confused here...probably need a new monitor too to take advantage yes? i have no idea about fps and what not...
 
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iyzik

iyzik

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Bump much? Lol.
The i7-960 is still good enough for most things, including Witcher 3.
If you wanted to upgrade your CPU, then yes you would need a new motherboard. If you wanted to upgrade your GPU (video card) you would not need to change anything else except potentially power supply but unlikely. Going from a GTX 970 to a GTX 960 would be a downgrade, not sure why you'd want to do that...
As for the monitor, depending on its refresh rate and resolution, it may not need upgrading. Monitor upgrades are a little more opinion based than other things. I'd say if you have 1080p @ 60hz then don't touch it.
 
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