CPU upgrade

[FinMon]

I´m thinking of upgrading my CPU (I now have a i5 2500k oc´d to 4.3gHz) and my GPU is Radeon R9 NANO (with 16gb of DDR3 RAM, etc). What would be the best way to upgrade? Would trying to find a better processor for the LGA1155 be a good option (though they might be hard to find), or getting a AMD Rysen 2600X (for example) be a better option in terms of money spent vs performance and will the R9 NANO be a bottleneck here? If I go the the Rysen way, I would have to buy a new mobo, RAM and a CPU cooler, which would be much more costly. If I were to go with just upgrading the CPU (what would you recommend by the way) for my existing system, the only thing I´d have to buy is the CPU. I game @ 1080p so no need for 4K capable hardware (at least not yet). I can run pretty much every game with mostly highest settings with pretty good frame rates with my current rig, but I think upgrading the CPU would give me more stable and higher frame rates. So what would you guys/gals suggest, get a better Intel LGA1155 CPU and which one would be the one to get? Or getting a whole new mobo, RAM and CPU and cooler for a lot more money (this option would be more future proof which is also why I´m torn on this issue).

 

Oh and if I were to go the new mobo, CPU, RAM option, the mobo should have a standard, old PCI slot for my ASUS Xonar Essence ST soundcard, so that limits the mobo options even more.

 

Thanks in advance!

[LukeSavenije]

well, there isn't that much to get anymore at 2nd gen. maybe a 4770(k) or 4790(k) if you want to be on the ddr3 side of things. but otherwise ryzen will be your best bet

[NelizMastr]

LGA1155 isn't viable anymore, and I'd argue 1150 is in the same boat these days. If you have it, use it, but don't invest in it anymore as there's no real performance boost to be had by swaping an i5 for an i7. If you want to upgrade, you'll want to step up to a 6-core processor without going backwards to something like X58. 

 

R5 2600, midrange B450 motherboard and 16GB DDR4-3000 will set you back around $400.

[Cereal5]

An i7-3770K should fit in the same board that you have now. That would be the best, easiest upgrade. I would imagine you can find one for $100-150. In comparison, an R5 2600, MoBo, and 16GB of RAM is about $350. It will last you longer since the board is supposed to be supported into 2020, but don’t rule out the 3770K just for that reason. It’s still a very capable processor for what it is.

[FinMon]

Thanks for the answers, they cleared a lot of things up for me (also that it´s called Ryzen;). Which processor would you recommend to be paired with my R9 Nano? Would a Ryzen 5 1600X suffice or would a Ryzen 5 2600x be a better investment? Also how do you feel about those pci-e-to-pci adapters, as I really would like to keep my Xonar Essence ST. Would they work properly and how would the mounting work as the models I´ve seen push the pci slot outwards, hence making the mounting troublesome if not impossible.

[FinMon]

11 minutes ago, Cereal5 said:

An i7-3770K should fit in the same board that you have now. That would be the best, easiest upgrade. I would imagine you can find one for $100-150. In comparison, an R5 2600, MoBo, and 16GB of RAM is about $350. It will last you longer since the board is supposed to be supported into 2020, but don’t rule out the 3770K just for that reason. It’s still a very capable processor for what it is.

Thanks Cereal5, I´ll keep an eye out for an i7-3770K.

[LukeSavenije]

19 minutes ago, FinMon said:

Thanks for the answers, they cleared a lot of things up for me (also that it´s called Ryzen;). Which processor would you recommend to be paired with my R9 Nano? Would a Ryzen 5 1600X suffice or would a Ryzen 5 2600x be a better investment? Also how do you feel about those pci-e-to-pci adapters, as I really would like to keep my Xonar Essence ST. Would they work properly and how would the mounting work as the models I´ve seen push the pci slot outwards, hence making the mounting troublesome if not impossible.

not a big fan of the x series. more money for just a higher turbo. The difference between the 1600 and 2600 is mostly a bit of performence, but which one depends on the price difference. take a look at the 1700 too. but why do you want to keep it? as far as I know there aren't that much (if any) motherboards that still have pci on them. what about a good on-board audio controller?

[FinMon]

4 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

not a big fan of the x series. more money for just a higher turbo. The difference between the 1600 and 2600 is mostly a bit of performence, but which one depends on the price difference. take a look at the 1700 too. but why do you want to keep it? as far as I know there aren't that much (if any) motherboards that still have pci on them. what about a good on-board audio controller?

As a bit of an audiophile, I don't think on-board audio controllers would come even close to what I´m looking for. Also the Xonar Essence ST has replaceable op-amps, which I like to play around with and also has a very good headphone amp and other specs, which are really important to me since I only use headphones with my computer.

 

[LukeSavenije]

2 minutes ago, FinMon said:

As a bit of an audiophile, I don't think on-board audio controllers would come even close to what I´m looking for. Also the Xonar Essence ST has replaceable op-amps, which I like to play around with and also has a very good headphone amp and other specs, which are really important to me since I only use headphones with my computer.

 

well, a lot have changed these days. I really don't know how you would connect it to the mobo then.

[FinMon]

Found at least one B350 mobo which has PCI ports still: https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/PRIME-B350-PLUS/specifications/

Along with this would, say a Ryzen 5 2600 be a good upgrade to my current rig? Is the non-X Rysen series easily overclockable? This would be my first all AMD build, which is the reason for all these questions.

[Brent744]

Ryzen 5 2600 is a great option and is the cpu which I currently use. I was able to overclock to 4.2 GHz, but in order to keep temperatures lower I keep it at 4.0 GHz all the time. Personally, I've always been more of an Intel fan however, their cpu prices have not budged so in my opinion Ryzen is the real winner here with their incredible performance at an affordable price.