Upgrade to 7960x in 2022?
Upgrade to 7960x in 2022?
Hello, I purchased a 7820x in 2017 with the intention of upgrading to an i9 later. Due to budget constraints, I haven’t made the upgrade yet. After seeing Linus’s video on eBay about CPUs, I’m thinking about buying a 7960x for around 300 USD. I also bought a 64 GB RAM kit in early 2021 and am unsure if it’s worth spending extra money. I’m considering getting a 7950X plus a high-end cooler and another 64 GB DDR5 RAM, or swapping the CPU to a 16-core model instead. Since I’m not focused on gaming performance, I’m mainly interested in faster rendering for my FX work. Would it be worth taking the risk and purchasing from eBay? Thanks in advance.
It will improve performance but I doubt the price would justify it. Perhaps around 200 would be more reasonable. A 12700k should outperform the 7960x even with fewer cores because of significantly higher IPC. You can purchase a board that supports DDR4 for 12th Gen, eliminating the need for a separate RAM package.
I’d wait to see customer feedback on the 7950X before making a decision. If you decide to go with the eBay CPU, I’ve experienced solid results from this seller before. They’ve shipped me several times, and the packaging was excellent—CPUs wrapped in soft foam, placed in plastic cases, then neatly sealed. Shipping from China to Alaska was fast too.
On a budget note, a 12700 model would perform well without breaking the bank. If you’re under $500 for CPU and motherboard, it’s doable—especially if you’re willing to bring your own cooling solution. Since you already use DDR4, adding RAM is straightforward.
Check out PCPartPicker for a full list: CPU, cooler, and board options. Prices include shipping and taxes where available.
Yep, never had issues buying CPUs from a reputable seller. Always use PayPal and ensure the listing says the chips are fully functional, then you're pretty well covered as a buyer. If you just want a drop-in upgrade then it should do nicely, if you are down for a platform shift then Alder Lake with a DDR4 board (assuming you're running 4x16GB DIMMs, not an 8x8 kit as mainstream boards only have 4 DIMM slots) would be the next most economical option. For new Ryzen, you'd want to wait and be sure it both performs well for your workload (I have no doubt it will), and doesn't have teething issues on launch.
Hi, thanks for your message. The CPU price you mentioned is about $418 USD, and the ASUS PRIME B660M-A with similar specs is around $180 USD. I haven’t checked the cooling yet, but I expect it to be faster than the 7960x. Appreciate your support!
Hi, thanks for your feedback. The Ebay listing you mentioned seems to be a bit unclear about the seller experience. I’m new to eBay and have a 4x16 kit with a 3200MHz clock speed. I’m thinking about switching platforms but wondering if the 12700 performance is sufficient compared to the 7960X-to-shift platform.
Newish account (2 years old), only 62 feedback (93% positive though), but the 3 negatives for similar CPUs don't look great: https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profi...g:NEGATIVE Here is a listing from a similar age account, similar price, also chinese: https://www.ebay.com/itm/384248955210 Much more feedback, 99% positive, the 2 negatives don't throw any flags. Claims to have sold 10 7960Xs already. There's always risk buying from international sellers, but most of them aren't out to screw you. So long as you confirm the chip is working, are aware of any import fees there may be, and use paypal, you'll be covered money-wise, at most you may be out some time if they are fraudulent. You can usually just message the seller and ask for details if you're worried, most respond in a reasonable amount of time.
Which application you're running affects how much performance gain you'll see from using the 12700. Do you have a specific tool in mind?
Hello, I'm working with Houdini for simulations and typically use Arnold, RenderMan, or Mantra for rendering.