worth the cooling upgrade?
worth the cooling upgrade?
i own an athlon-ii 760k with a 3.8 ghz clock and a 4.2 ghz turbo. i plan to upgrade my graphics card to a r9-380x. from what i've seen online (i haven't overclocked before), some people have managed to bring their 760k up to around 4.5 ghz. they seem to have succeeded by using a water cooler. would spending about 125 dollars for a 700/900-turbo increase be worthwhile compared to a likely 400 mhz boost with a better fan? would the 300 mhz difference in my setup be too small to justify buying a better fan and some thermal gel? by the way, i have a 550 watt atx power supply.
The money you spent on water cooling will also cover a better i3-6100 processor.
Yes, you'd need a motherboard and RAM to pair with it. $100 would cover those costs.
However, you'd end up with a system that can be upgraded to an i5/57/kaby lake.
I don't think the change will be very obvious. It all comes down to how much you're willing to push the system, because I can slightly boost my i7-4790k with the hyper evo 212 air cooler. If you have extra money, a water cooler would be a great addition in case you ever need to go all the way.
I don't want to limit the new card too much. It's a mid-level piece with a low-end or outdated CPU.
I don't have enough cash right now; I'd prefer an i5 quad, but it would add around 240+ with the board. I was hoping to manage by just overclocking it a bit. If I'm not satisfied with the gaming gains from this card and a 300Mhz boost, I'll save up for a better i5 later. An i7 seems out of reach, though I'd be willing to spend about 300 dollars on a CPU. I've never owned an Intel (or since Pentium 4...).
From a price-to-performance standpoint, investing in a water cooler doesn't really add value. A $30 aftermarket air cooler will maximize the benefits of overclocking on that chip, and most chips perform better with it compared to water cooling, which mainly serves aesthetic purposes. If you're looking at $125 for water cooling, I'd suggest opting for a more powerful CPU or motherboard combo instead, as it would deliver significantly greater performance.
From a price to performance standpoint, spending on a water cooler doesn't really pay off. A $30 aftermarket air cooler will maximize the benefits of overclocking on that chip, and most chips do the same. Water cooling mainly serves an aesthetic purpose—whether closed, open, or custom.
If you're looking at $125 for water cooling, I'd suggest opting for a more powerful CPU/motherboard combo for a higher price, which would deliver significantly better performance.
That's a good observation. I might be able to adjust the cost, but it really feels like a loss. I'll feel more confident knowing my upgrade stays under $300 compared to the 450+ - 100 tops I could sell the old parts for. Plus, I'm running two 100GB SSDs, so the CPU/board combo would leave even less space for a decent mechanical HDD.
Geofelt shared their thoughts on the investment. The $125 spent on water cooling would already cover a high-quality i3-6100 processor. A motherboard and RAM would add to that cost, around $100. This setup would allow upgrading to an i5/57/kaby lake system.
Their opinion was positive about the upgrade path. They noted that the i3-6100 performed better than the FX-6350 on CPUboss, but questioned whether an i3 could truly offer better frame rates compared to a 6-core processor. They wondered if performance differences stem from game requirements or if the i3 is simply superior.
They also considered upgrading to an i3-4170 instead of the i3-6100. Both models cost similarly, but the i3-4170 is newer and has a higher passmark score. It uses the 1150 socket, so no new memory would be needed. While there are older i5/i7 chips with the 1170 socket, they’re more expensive, making the i3-4170 a better choice despite being slightly outdated.
If your DDR3 RAM operates at 1.5 volts, it may function with certain LGA1151 motherboards.
Here is an example link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813132647
DDR3 generally works well on basic motherboards.
For a "K" overclockable processor upgrade, opt for a Z170-based board.
This AsRock model supports sky-OC and can boost the i3-6100. Just be cautious, as Intel may disable this feature.
My observation indicates the i3-6100 passmark is 5507 total and 2104 single thread.
The i3-4170 has a passmark of 5166 total and 2137 single.
You probably won’t see any noticeable change.
Indeed, most games can run with only 2–3 threads. The i3 chips feature 4 threads (2 fast, 2 slower).