Got a free 7700 (non k). Worth it to upgrade from a 3930k running at 4.8 ghz? I would need to buy a motherboard for around 80-100 bucks.

[Redlantern]

I've been looking for a CPU to replace my old 3930k (OCed to 4.8 on liquid for 10 years now) since it's holding back my RTX 3080. I recently found an i7 7700 (non k) for free on a dead computer someone gave to me. The CPU works fine! I was able to test in another tech's motherboard. The motherboard died in the donated machine, so the 16gb RAM and everything else works.

 

My memory is fuzzy from back in the z270 h270 days, so I Googled it and found that h270 is the high end for non-overclockable CPUs. I figured there is no sense in going the z270 route since those used boards sell for more (and my CPU is the non K variant). Could someone really familiar with 7th gen tech recommend me a motherboard? I found an asrock fatality on ebay for like $80. Seemed like the way to go. I am not price sensitive, so if I should grab a STRIX board for like $120 instead I am open to that.

 

If it matters, 90% of my gaming is VR. That's why I have put off upgrading for like 8 months since I got my early 3080. I still get most of the performance out of the card in upscaled VR. It's just annoying when CPU intensive effects come up and my FPS dips. Feels stupid to not have a flawed experience when I literally have a 3080 and 7700 on hand lol. I also have a 1tb wd black 970 SSD that has been sitting for a couple months while my lazy ass waits to get a mobo haha.

 

But all of this hinges on weather you guys think the 7700 would even be an upgrade. Some people on Reddit have told me that my OCed 3930k would be about the same as stock 7700, but with more cores. The data I have seen on channels like Gamers Nexus have shown evidence to the contrary, but everyone seems to think I should just stick with the 3930k instead of move to the 7700. I'm trying to wait until DDR5 comes to completely rebuild my computer. 

 

Believe it or not, the 3080 has been a really good purchase even with the 3930k for VR  because many games do absolutely fine with a weak CPU. Kinda like how many benchmarks show @ 4k, many CPUs perform similar, since the operation is mostly GPU dependent. That being said, I do have the occasional  issue but truly nothing game-breaking. 

 

Sorry for all the info, but I just wanted to include everything so that you guys can give me better insight. 

 

Thanks dudes. 

 

[tkitch]

The 7700 will be faster, probably by a decent margin.

 

Amongst other things:  Faster RAM, since DDR 4, not 3, and better PCI-E interfaces on the boards.  Not to mention 4 generations of IPC Improvement.

 

If you got a free CPU and RAM?  Hell yeah, that's worth the upgrade cost of the board.

[jaslion]

Honestly no. It's not worth it ESPECIALLY since you have such a big oc on the 3930k. At worst their single core performance is identical and you lose 2 cores by going with the 7700.

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, tkitch said:

The 7700 will be faster, probably by a decent margin.

 

Amongst other things:  Faster RAM, since DDR 4, not 3, and better PCI-E interfaces on the boards.  Not to mention 4 generations of IPC Improvement.

 

If you got a free CPU and RAM?  Hell yeah, that's worth the upgrade cost of the board.

Those 4 gen of ipc improvements is like 15% at best. A 3770k vs a 7700k is about a 11ish % difference in all tasks. Now the 3930k is oc'd a lot so yeah that is going to make a pretty big difference and I would not doubt it is better in single core than a 7700

[Redlantern]

Quote

The 7700 will be faster, probably by a decent margin.

 

Amongst other things:  Faster RAM, since DDR 4, not 3, and better PCI-E interfaces on the boards.

 

If you got a free CPU and RAM?  Hell yeah, that's worth the upgrade cost of the board.

 

I thought so. I created a thread on Reddit, and the top comment was some dude telling me that the upgrade would be a net loss in performance... I was just asking about motherboard selection, so that confused me a lot. I had already watched a ton of content that seemed to suggest the upgrade was enough to justify 80-100 bucks. 

 

 

[Redlantern]

5 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Honestly no. It's not worth it ESPECIALLY since you have such a big oc on the 3930k. At worst their single core performance is identical and you lose 2 cores by going with the 7700.

This is surprising to me! Where can I find benchmarks around this? Everything I see suggests to the contrary. It's not just that I wanna spend money, so if I really am not getting anything I wont upgrade. I am just bummed to see my m.2 drive sitting, and a perfectly good CPU going to waste. So you dudes think I should just sell the CPU and wait a while to upgrade? I really do not wanna do a full rebuild until DDR5, since believe it or not I am seeing most of the performance out of the 3080 in VR, which is the only GPU intensive gaming I do. I play a bit of WoW and League, but neither of those demand I update my CPU either. 

[jaslion]

Just now, Redlantern said:

This is surprising to me! Where can I find benchmarks around this? Everything I see suggests to the contrary. It's not just that I wanna spend money, so if I really am not getting anything I wont upgrade. I am just bummed to see my m.2 drive sitting, and a perfectly good CPU going to waste. So you dudes think I should just sell the CPU and wait a while to upgrade? I really do not wanna do a full rebuild until DDR5, since believe it or not I am seeing most of the performance out of the 3080 in VR, which is the only GPU intensive gaming I do. I play a bit of WoW and League, but neither of those demand I update my CPU either. 

It's from looking at ocing results of a 3770k in some benchmarks togheter with results of the 3820, 3930 and 3960x. Which basically comes to if the 3770k is at 4.5 it is a 7700(k)basically.

 

100% on the sell the 7700 and stick with the 3930k.

 

There is also the reason with the new consoles. Just like last time the consoles will push for more threads and this time it is past 8.  Right now 6thread cpu's have already basically been made not suitable for new games with 8 thread being the minimum.