Helpful person is struggling with a recent upgrade. Trying to boost an Intel i5 8600K and GTX1070.
Helpful person is struggling with a recent upgrade. Trying to boost an Intel i5 8600K and GTX1070.
Hello! I recently acquired a PC from a friend who hasn’t used it much anymore. It’s an Intel i5 8600K with a clock speed of 3.60GHz, paired with a GTX 1070 and Corsair Vengeance LPX Black RAM sticks at 2133MHz. The system runs on a PRIME Z370-P motherboard. It uses the standard cooling solution for the GPU but a water cooler for the CPU. I expected this setup to be a major upgrade compared to my older machine, which was an i7 860 at 2.80GHz—haha! But surprisingly, it feels slower than my previous one. I previously benchmarked my old PC and found it to be quite reliable, but this new one seems a bit sluggish. I made a complete factory reset and installed all drivers, double-checked the BIOS, and everything seemed normal. Still, I decided to try some games to test it out. According to CPUiDs’ benchmarks, the new machine performed about 120% better in stress tests, though real-world performance didn’t match expectations. My old GPU still felt more responsive, so I’m not sure if upgrading is necessary. I think I need to boost the CPU and RAM a bit more, but I’m not entirely sure how or where to adjust them. I’ve only experimented with basic BIOS settings like Turbo mode, but it actually made things worse sometimes. I’m hoping to get this PC overclocked eventually, since my previous one was so impressive. It’s the CPU and RAM that seem to need a little improvement. I’m not sure how much power the DDR4 RAM can handle, but I think it should be around 3200-3600MHz with about 1.3V. The GPU temperature was around 65-70°C during testing. I tried different graphics settings and even used NVIDIA’s tools, but it still felt underpowered compared to what it could do. I’m a bit frustrated because I know my old machine handled everything well, but this one is struggling. I’m not sure what steps to take next—could you help me figure out the best way to improve it? Thanks a lot! Peace!
It seems your memory could be running at standard levels. Have you attempted enabling XMP settings?
I own two setups—one with an i7 860 and another with an i5 9600K. From what I’ve noticed, the 9600K performs significantly better. It outperforms the i7 860 in every area—roughly three times the overall multicore speed in Cinebench and much quicker for gaming and daily tasks. The i5 8600K shares the same processor but has marginally slower base speeds and TIM due to its solder attachment. Your expectations should align with this. Regarding storage, it’s likely a fresh Windows install running on an SSD.
I only tried turning it on, but it still felt slow. I stopped it because it was lagging, though I’m not sure what I did wrong. XMP isn’t something I understand much—lol. But they seem to run best around 3200 to 3600 MHz with a similar CPU. I’m curious if changing the frequency and voltage matters or if it’s more about timing settings. That part is a bit unfamiliar to me, so I didn’t want to experiment until I learned more.
It's a brand new Windows 10 setup on a 500GB SSD with an i7 processor. I'm using a 128GB SSD for the system drive and have 16GB of RAM in my old machine. I haven't really tested how they compare, but the previous version had only 16GB of RAM. It seems like the i5 should run much better than the older model, so something must be off... My main concern is the RAM, though I might be mistaken.
XMP offers preset timing settings; clicking it should automatically adjust voltages and speeds. RAM slots are typically labeled on the motherboard. It also stands for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP), a useful utility to monitor PC performance via Hwinfo64—download it, share screenshots, and you’ll get clearer insights into what might need adjustment.
Hey there! Thanks for your reply. Since my last update, I've dug deeper and picked up a bit more info. I also experimented with a slight performance boost so I understand what XMP settings are all about. My RAM went from 2666MHz to 2747MHz, and the CPU is now at 4.7GHz (X46). Under heavy load it can get warm—around 80-83°C. I’m considering a thermal paste swap since it’s likely been around 5-7 years. The RAM slots are 2 and 4, so I’m thinking about swapping it out. My RAM is in slots 2 and 4.
I’m thinking a RAM upgrade could really expand my capacity—especially if I want to run many tabs at once. The system supports up to 3200MHz RAM, but the i5-8600K only handles 2666MHz. I believe it’s possible to push it to 3200MHz via BIOS, so maybe buying two 16GB 3200MHz modules (Cl16) would be a good move. It’d be affordable and simple to install.
You have some great suggestions too! I also found the original seller info online, which helps clarify specs. I’ve got HP Monitor installed and Speccy for easy monitoring. I’ll attach a photo of my setup so you can see it better—slots 2 and 4 are visible.
I used a mouse without borders and found Chrome Remote Control to manage the other PC. It works well, especially since I don’t have a physical keyboard. I recently played "Once Human" and got smooth 50-120 FPS at max settings. The graphics improved a lot after tweaking NVIDIA Control.
I also tried "Avowed" and it ran perfectly at full settings. The visuals look great too. I’ll share more details when I get home, so we can keep improving my setup as affordably as possible for now!
You have NVMe slots ready to go, likely the next step to improve performance if you install the right OS. Hwmonitor isn’t ideal—it often misinterprets data and lacks the depth of HWinfo64. For reliable diagnostics and temperature checks, HWinfo remains the top choice in this area.
I noticed you didn't share your details beforehand, so I'll wait until you're back home. I'll remove the hwmonitor app and focus on RAM and NVMe options right away. I'm planning to target at least 32GB of 3200MHz RAM and 250-500GB NVMe M2 storage. I'm hoping to find something affordable through a Swedish PC forum for RAM and M2 drives, and if needed, I'll look for donations or sales. I'm keeping an eye out for hwinfo later. Cheers!
This platform provides a comprehensive catalog of various parts, showing what's accessible for purchase in your region from several sellers, along with the lowest prices each vendor offers. For instance, you can see the five most affordable RAM options currently available to buyers in Sweden using specific filters.