A solid upgrade for the i3-8100 could be the i3-8100M or similar with better RAM and faster CPU support.
A solid upgrade for the i3-8100 could be the i3-8100M or similar with better RAM and faster CPU support.
I'm trying to improve my CPU but don't know which one fits best. Most choices seem costly or very similar to what I have now. (I own a GTX 1650 gigabyte 4GB, Gigabyte H310M S2H, a 500W power supply, 240GB PCIe SSD, 1TB HDD, 8GB DDR4 RAM, and a Spirit of Gamer Deathmatch 6 case.)
It seems your current setup is fairly well-rounded. For better performance, you might want to consider adding more RAM and an SSD.
You aim to assess current options and possibly expand your setup beyond just the CPU. If you go with the CPU path, focus should be on identifying available Coffee Lake models from previous generations at reasonable costs. Avoid seeking overclocking components unless necessary, especially with K CPU. A future upgrade might involve moving to a more versatile platform if needed.
At around $200, the 8700 and 9700 were solid upgrades. It’s unclear if they’re still in stock at that cost, and the motherboard’s VRM raises doubts about maintaining strong boost speeds.
I use a 4.2ghz 1.4v processor on my e5400, powered by the G31M S2C board which seems to have a 3-phase VRM. It works well so far, but I think it could handle 4.3 or 4.4ghz. The board gets hot, especially at higher speeds—my other setup ran 4.5ghz and reached 90°C on a Cinebench test, while my cooler was supposed to manage 115-130W. I added heatsinks to the VRMs and used throttle stops to keep temps down. If you really need stable boost clocks, consider adding more heatsinks or adjusting power limits. It’s not ideal but might work if you monitor temperatures closely.
I'm unsure if this example was intended to demonstrate the capabilities of budget VRM boards. They seem capable, but they won't match the performance of higher-end options. A modest CPU with overclocking won't reach the power and speed of a more advanced setup. I doubt you're increasing its power consumption significantly.
I've observed some minor stuttering while using R6S and Warzone. The PC would pause briefly when opening Warzone, and it tends to overheat, often reaching around 80°C during gameplay. I thought it might be related to RAM, but the usage stats don't show high consumption even when playing. Regarding storage, the SSD only holds a few games; if more space is needed, I might consider getting a smaller one on sale or something similar. Should I upgrade to something like an i5-9400f?