Best CPU to replace i7 920? Will 24GB RAM make a difference?

[KatanaDV20]

Hi friends

 

I have a 13 year old PC that is still trucking and is proving to be a decent gaming machine even today. Looking for some advice.

1. I want to upgrade the CPU to something more powerful. Looking for some advice on the best CPUs for this old LGA1366 board.
2. I currently have 12GB RAM but the board can take a max of 24GB, will I see a huge difference adding the extra 12GB?

 

Spec

• i7 920 @ 3.00Ghz
• 12GB DDR3
• GTX1060 6GB
• MSI X58 Platinum mobo
• Win 10 Pro

Thank you.

[freeagent]

Xeon X5690, Xeon W3690, i7 980x, i7 990x

[KatanaDV20]

2 minutes ago, freeagent said:

Xeon X5690, Xeon W3690, i7 980x, i7 990x

Thanks! Will check those out. Are those Xeon chips more powerful than i7 980x, 990x? Looking for a decent increase in gaming performance, specially flight sims like X-Plane 11.

[Dedayog]

You won't see a difference in additional RAM unless you're severely constrained with the 12GB you have now.  If you're constantly hitting the 12GB limit, get more.  If not, don't.

 

[freeagent]

The Xeons are readily available, and are cheap. The X series doesn't really give you any dividers to play with your memory. The W series does.. and is like an i7 in that regard. And the i7s looked like they were holding their price the last time I looked. I have an X5690 ES, great chip, but a little boring when it comes to memory clocking.

[KatanaDV20]

5 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

You won't see a difference in additional RAM unless you're severely constrained with the 12GB you have now.  If you're constantly hitting the 12GB limit, get more.  If not, don't.

 

I play X-Plane 11 a lot and RAM use goes between 70-80% when its running. Was wondering if throwing a bit more in would help but as you said unless I'm hitting limits its not worth it. 

 

5 minutes ago, freeagent said:

The Xeons are readily available, and are cheap. The X series doesn't really give you any dividers to play with your memory. The W series does.. and is like an i7 in that regard. And the i7s looked like they were holding their price the last time I looked. I have an X5690 ES, great chip, but a little boring when it comes to memory clocking.

 

Thanks, will keep that in mind. I just looked on ebay and theres Xeons on there for throwaway prices at like £12 ($17).

[freeagent]

Indeed. And to put that into perspective.. I paid roughly 650USD for my Xeon back in 2010.

[KatanaDV20]

1 minute ago, freeagent said:

Indeed. And to put that into perspective.. I paid roughly 650USD for my Xeon back in 2010.

Wow! Cant imagine..

On another note, I have never replaced a CPU before (this is a prebuilt). I read of all these nightmare stories of "pins being bent" etc, is it easy to do? Im a total n00b at this. Im comfortable getting into the case, ive replaced the gfx card, ram, fixed fans etc. But the CPU has always terrified me lol and its only now that Ive decided its time.

[Dillpickle23422]

5 minutes ago, KatanaDV20 said:

Wow! Cant imagine..

On another note, I have never replaced a CPU before (this is a prebuilt). I read of all these nightmare stories of "pins being bent" etc, is it easy to do? Im a total n00b at this. Im comfortable getting into the case, ive replaced the gfx card, ram, fixed fans etc. But the CPU has always terrified me lol and its only now that Ive decided its time.

It's very easy to do. Don't touch the pins, don't set it down on the pins. Line up the marking with the one on the mobo, and just carefully set it in. Don't apply much pressure, just make sure it's fully in. Not too bad to do

[KatanaDV20]

2 minutes ago, Dillpickle23422 said:

It's very easy to do. Don't touch the pins, don't set it down on the pins. Line up the marking with the one on the mobo, and just carefully set it in. Don't apply much pressure, just make sure it's fully in. Not too bad to do

Ok that makes me feel a little better. Will remember this advice and maybe watch a YT vid. 

[unclewebb]

@KatanaDV20 The 6 core 32nm Westmere processors are fun to overclock. I like the W3670. Look at what you get for $27.50 on eBay.

 

 

If you are new to overclocking, the W3680 is even easier. It has an unlocked multiplier so you only need to change one thing to go faster. Here is a W3680 at default voltage. If you increase the turbo power limits, it can run indefinitely fully loaded at full speed across all 6 cores. Add some voltage and you can increase the multiplier some more to go even faster. Definitely a nice boost over the i7-920.

 

[Dillpickle23422]

55 minutes ago, KatanaDV20 said:

Ok that makes me feel a little better. Will remember this advice and maybe watch a YT vid. 

Good idea. Hope it all goes well! Once you get your first cpu swap in the books, it'll become much easier and you'll be more comfortable doing it in the future.

[KatanaDV20]

5 hours ago, unclewebb said:

@KatanaDV20 The 6 core 32nm Westmere processors are fun to overclock. I like the W3670. Look at what you get for $27.50 on eBay.

 

If you are new to overclocking, the W3680 is even easier. It has an unlocked multiplier so you only need to change one thing to go faster. Here is a W3680 at default voltage. If you increase the turbo power limits, it can run indefinitely fully loaded at full speed across all 6 cores. Add some voltage and you can increase the multiplier some more to go even faster. Definitely a nice boost over the i7-920.

 

 

 Thanks for all that useful info! I've made a list of all these processors and I'm busy checking them out in YT vids and on comparison sites. I am a total n00b at overclocking so this will be a real learning experience!

 

5 hours ago, Dillpickle23422 said:

Good idea. Hope it all goes well! Once you get your first cpu swap in the books, it'll become much easier and you'll be more comfortable doing it in the future.

I saw some vids, alignment with the notch, do not touch the pins etc! Sounds a bit nerve wracking but I reckon I can do it! One thing thats out of my control is that with these used chips on eBay - I have no idea how they've been handled. All the pics of them on the site show them on table tops and not in any sort of protective padded packaging etc. But I guess they do that to show that there is no damage to the pins and such. I noticed that many of the sellers are in HK and China, I hope I wont have to wait too long for them to get here!

[KatanaDV20]

Oops forgot to ask also - once I replace the CPU will I have to reinstall Windows? Or can I just carry on? Id rather not have to go through all that. I do have the latest Win10 .iso ready on a stick (Media Creation tool) just in case!

[unclewebb]

@KatanaDV20 These Intel CPUs do not have pins. The pins are in the motherboard socket. The CPU only has little metallic pads on the bottom. In China they probably shovel these old CPUs up by the bucket load. They are not as delicate as they look. Just line the notches up on the side and drop it into place. If you miss align it, lift it back up and try again. The important part is do not move it back and forth or side to side or you could bend or damage the pins in the CPU socket. Most of the stuff from China is tested for 30 seconds so it should work. 

 

You should not have to reinstall Windows. When you swap CPUs, some versions of Windows might get stuck and only recognize 4 of your 6 cores. If this happens, open msconfig and click on the Boot tab, press the Advanced options... button and then you might need to clear the Number of processors box. After you reboot, Windows will be able to find all 6 cores and 12 threads. 

 

Lots of people here are ready to help you get the most out of your computer.

[KatanaDV20]

14 minutes ago, unclewebb said:

@KatanaDV20 These Intel CPUs do not have pins.

 

Lots of people here are ready to help you get the most out of your computer.

Ohh I see ok! Shows what a n00b I am that I didnt even know that. I thought the pins were on the CPU. Thanks for all the great tips to remember while fitting it. Vertical motion only and align carefully. Also comforting to know they are not as delicate as I thought they were.

 

Thank you, this is a very friendly forum I can tell , the responses have been so great on my first post. Other places I have tried just tell me to get a new PC and to dump this one. I CAN get a new one but personally cant justify the cost as this old thing literally runs all my fav games that I throw at it and runs them well. 

 

There is only 1 game that will need a new and very powerful machine - the new flight sim from Microsoft. That is one title I will want to run full bore at max settings, impossible on my PC. 

[Dillpickle23422]

24 minutes ago, KatanaDV20 said:

Ohh I see ok! Shows what a n00b I am that I didnt even know that. I thought the pins were on the CPU. Thanks for all the great tips to remember while fitting it. Vertical motion only and align carefully. Also comforting to know they are not as delicate as I thought they were.

 

Thank you, this is a very friendly forum I can tell , the responses have been so great on my first post. Other places I have tried just tell me to get a new PC and to dump this one. I CAN get a new one but personally cant justify the cost as this old thing literally runs all my fav games that I throw at it and runs them well. 

 

There is only 1 game that will need a new and very powerful machine - the new flight sim from Microsoft. That is one title I will want to run full bore at max settings, impossible on my PC. 

 Honestly, those other people are idiots (the ones telling you to dump it). Gpu's especially are hard to get for a good price, so old systems are gonna be the most cost effective right now. I, too, am running an old system, and I love it. No sense in spending more when you can still upgrade, the parts are dirt cheap! 

 

To comfort you, I have only bent pins on 1 cpu, which was an old laptop cpu (a turion 2, which I because the mobo was dead, and I wanted to have some fun) You got this! You shouldn't consider yourself a noob, in fact, you are just learning. Heck, everyone here is still learning. No need to be ashamed of not knowing, there's really no stupid question when it comes to technology.

[SFFDesigns]

8 hours ago, KatanaDV20 said:

Looking for a decent increase in gaming performance, specially flight sims like X-Plane 11.

I'd keep your 920 and OC it a ton. Don't crank the voltage to 1.6V or anything, but in my opinion going for an extreme overclock is worth it. X58 Xeons on the used market aren't too expensive. XP 11 is super single thread bound and MSFS is too (slightly better though in my experience, it's different for everyone right now haha). I've moved completely to MSFS for my flight training purposes since I fly exclusively GA aircraft but I do remember X-Plane being CPU-limited with a stock 3700X and an RX 580. Only in one specific scenario, but still somewhat insane.

 

 

[freeagent]

Oh you can kick the shit out of them and they will be fine. You can run 1.6 as long as you can cool it. But usually over 1.4 gets challenging. And if you do clock it, make sure you have a good PSU. I am telling you, they hate mother nature, and they hate polar bears even more. No effs given to bees either.

[KatanaDV20]

Hey guys,

 

So Ive been spending all this time since I last posted researching chips and have narrowed it down to i7 990, W3670 &  X5680/90. Whats causing the brain-melt is that my mobo (MSI X58 Platinum) is not showing the X-series CPUs in its compatibility list. I have however seen the odd comment here and there on Google searches saying that doesn't matter. They will still work.  Is this true?

 

These two sites for example only show that i7 branded chips are compatible:

https://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-MSI/X58_Platinum.html

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/cpu/?compatible_with=8FKcCJ

 

Also does it make a difference that Xeons are "server" CPUs? Thanks for any further advice!

 

On 3/22/2021 at 11:47 PM, Hymenopus_Coronatus said:

I'd keep your 920 and OC it a ton. Don't crank the voltage to 1.6V or anything, but in my opinion going for an extreme overclock is worth it. X58 Xeons on the used market aren't too expensive. XP 11 is super single thread bound and MSFS is too (slightly better though in my experience, it's different for everyone right now haha). I've moved completely to MSFS for my flight training purposes since I fly exclusively GA aircraft but I do remember X-Plane being CPU-limited with a stock 3700X and an RX 580. Only in one specific scenario, but still somewhat insane.

 

 

I would love to do this but I found out that my BIOS is locked. All the voltage options are greyed out! Thanks for that interesting info on XP11 & MSFS btw. Flying GA in that must be insane fun!

 

On 3/23/2021 at 12:12 AM, freeagent said:

Oh you can kick the shit out of them and they will be fine. You can run 1.6 as long as you can cool it. But usually over 1.4 gets challenging. And if you do clock it, make sure you have a good PSU. I am telling you, they hate mother nature, and they hate polar bears even more. No effs given to bees either.

This is good to know, glad they are not as super delicate as I thought they would be!

[Grabhanem]

2 minutes ago, KatanaDV20 said:

Hey guys,

 

So Ive been spending all this time since I last posted researching chips and have narrowed it down to i7 990, W3670 &  X5680/90. Whats causing the brain-melt is that my mobo (MSI X58 Platinum) is not showing the X-series CPUs in its compatibility list. I have however seen the odd comment here and there on Google searches saying that doesn't matter. They will still work.  Is this true?

 

These two sites for example only show that i7 branded chips are compatible:

https://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-MSI/X58_Platinum.html

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/cpu/?compatible_with=8FKcCJ

 

Also does it make a difference that Xeons are "server" CPUs? Thanks for any further advice!

 

I would love to do this but I found out that my BIOS is locked. All the voltage options are greyed out! Thanks for that interesting info on XP11 & MSFS btw. Flying GA in that must be insane fun!

 

This is good to know, glad they are not as super delicate as I thought they would be!

Basically all the 6-core 1366 CPUs are based on the same silicon - performance wise, they're all pretty similar, and have similar overclockability.

 

Your CPU is what's "locked" - most 1366 chips technically are. However, they can be overclocked by increasing base clock, which is much more reliable than on modern platforms since the PCIe controller is off-die. More info here:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-core-i7,2268-4.html

[KatanaDV20]

1 hour ago, Grabhanem said:

Basically all the 6-core 1366 CPUs are based on the same silicon - performance wise, they're all pretty similar, and have similar overclockability.

 

Your CPU is what's "locked" - most 1366 chips technically are. However, they can be overclocked by increasing base clock, which is much more reliable than on modern platforms since the PCIe controller is off-die. More info here:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-core-i7,2268-4.html

Ahh ok, thanks for that info. I have narrowed it down further by eliminating the i7 990. 

 

Oh I see so its the CPU that is "locked" not the BIOS settings as I initially thought. Yes on my i7 920 the only thing I can increase (everything else greyed out) is the bus speed from 133Mhz to 150Mhz, if I go higher (even to 151) the PC screams that the "Previous overclocking was not successful. Reverting to default" 

 

That Toms Hardware link is very handy, nicely presented thanks for that. 

[unclewebb]

2 minutes ago, KatanaDV20 said:

if I go higher

When BCLK overclocking, you have to adjust the memory multiplier so your memory is not running way out of spec. Do not go up by 1 MHz at a time. It will be easier to get 166MHz working than 150 MHz.

[Pasi123]

If the system was bought almost 13 years ago (late 2008) it probably has old BIOS version which doesn't support the 2010-2011 CPUs. So make sure to update the BIOS to the latest one before installing the new CPU

 

And if you need help with overclocking you can ask in this thread: 

 

[KatanaDV20]

5 hours ago, unclewebb said:

When BCLK overclocking, you have to adjust the memory multiplier so your memory is not running way out of spec. Do not go up by 1 MHz at a time. It will be easier to get 166MHz working than 150 MHz.

Ohh I see, I will reboot now and check to see if I can do that in the BIOS

3 hours ago, Pasi123 said:

If the system was bought almost 13 years ago (late 2008) it probably has old BIOS version which doesn't support the 2010-2011 CPUs. So make sure to update the BIOS to the latest one before installing the new CPU

 

And if you need help with overclocking you can ask in this thread: 

I read up on this after I saw your reply and have been introduced now to the scary-sounding BIOS flashing lol. I have made a full image backup of the PC in case I bork things. Now looking for a newer BIOS. Hopefully MSI site has this. Thanks for that important tip and also the link to the OC thread!