Switching from an i5 6400 to an i7 6700 caused significant issues
Switching from an i5 6400 to an i7 6700 caused significant issues
Hello everyone, this is my first time here, so I’ll try to explain everything clearly. My computer uses an i5 6400 and comes with an MSI GTX 1060 graphics card that’s 3GB. I recently purchased a used i7 6700. When I first installed the new processor, my PC would restart unexpectedly even when idle—just sitting on the desk with only background processes running. After switching back to the i5, I noticed the GPU fans didn’t activate properly, so I installed MSI Afterburner to keep them spinning continuously and reduce noise. This resolved the random restarts.
Despite that fix, I decided to try the i7 again. My main gaming session is Destiny 2 occasionally. With the original configuration, I was consistently stuck at around 60 frames per second, regardless of MEDIUM settings. When I switched back to the i5, it improved to about 45fps, though still not ideal.
Last night, after switching back to the i7, I played Twitch on another monitor. The audio quality dropped significantly—becoming very distorted and sounding like 8-bit static. I turned off Twitch and focused solely on the game, but even then, at the same settings, I got around 45fps with the graphics set to LOW. The Task Manager showed the GPU was using about 16% of its capacity, while the i7 was consuming roughly 40-50%.
I’m wondering if this is related to the CPU performance or if my PSU isn’t powerful enough. I don’t have access to a larger power supply unit, so I can’t test that. I’m not playing games much anymore on the PC, but I still enjoy using it for a few hours at a time. The i7 was a reasonable choice for building a PC for my son during the holidays, and I thought upgrading would be worthwhile.
Could anyone help figure out what might be causing this issue? It could be as simple as a failing CPU or possibly needing a more powerful PSU. Thanks in advance for your advice!
XMP wasn’t activated for the RAM. I own four 4GB modules at 2133Mhz. Thought since my RAM was 2133 and that’s the only speed my motherboard supports, it didn’t need to be enabled because it hadn’t been before I upgraded to the i7. I turned it on and started playing Destiny 2 to check. No audio issues. No 45fps on low, could switch back to medium at 60fps locked, and might be able to go higher now. I’ll keep monitoring performance but so far it was a much better experience than yesterday.