Intel i7-3770K released in 2020 offers strong performance for its time.
Intel i7-3770K released in 2020 offers strong performance for its time.
I used an i5 3470 with an R7 370 graphics card. It handled most applications, though graphics were limited. Games like Kingdom Come Deliverance worked fine (though some might argue otherwise). I stayed happy without upgrading because my motherboard failed and there were few options with the 1155 socket. Eventually I got a compatible one, swapped the old components, and started building a new setup. Once I have a decent power supply, case, and extra hard drive, I plan to assemble this as a backup PC, keeping the R7 370 for now.
Uncertain about whether you've already used the delidded and applied liquid metal, but it's likely the optimal method for reducing temperatures. Achieving 5GHz at 3770k appears feasible with a 1.5V setup.
The typical guideline for voltage is around 1.3 V. You mentioned keeping it under that and reaching 4.5 GHz at 1.270 V, which aligns with stable performance. Your setup with a GTX 780 at 1920x1080, 60Hz seems well-balanced, even with less-than-ideal settings like dual rank triple-dimming at 1600 MHz.
You could reach 5.1, though 5.0 versus 5.1 isn't too different. The temperature and voltage variations are quite significant.