how do slightly older cpus compare to their modern equivalent?

[djsoggy1234]

I'm wondering how the older i7/i5s(2600k, 2500k and 3930k etc) perform compared to the newer 4th gen, 6th gen and 5th gen i5/i7s (6700k,4790k,5820k,6600k and 4690k).

 

EDIT: And how do they compare value for money wise

[Joegeddon]

My guess is a lot better than GPUs do. ie 500, 600 series vs 700, 900 series.

[Guest]

My guess is a lot better than GPUs do. ie 500, 600 series vs 700, 900 series.

That depends on what you're doing. People tend to assume gaming in which case the CPU is almost a non-issue compared to the GPU. If you're talking productivity and multithreaded apps that's a different story.

[Joegeddon]

That depends on what you're doing. People tend to assume gaming in which case the CPU is almost a non-issue compared to the GPU. If you're talking productivity and multithreaded apps that's a different story.

Depends on what you do.

[LAwLz]

Pretty well actually.

 

The difference between for example the 2500K and the 6600K is about 30% in CPU bound workloads such as video encoding (all cores are maxed out 100% of the time). But part of that 30% comes from the higher base clock of the 6600K.

For gaming it makes pretty much no difference.

[harrynowl]

they're within 25%. although the i7s look a lot slower because the new ones come in at 4ghz and not 3.4

[djsoggy1234]

Pretty well actually.

 

The difference between for example the 2500K and the 6600K is about 30% in CPU bound workloads such as video encoding (all cores are maxed out 100% of the time). But part of that 30% comes from the higher base clock of the 6600K.

For gaming it makes pretty much no difference.

so, say if you oc'd the two to 4ghz would there be little to no difference in performance in heavily cpu based workloads?

[flipped_bit]

IPC gains have been minimal over the past few generations, and clock speeds stagnant.  Newer chips do offer architectural improvements, though, such as new instruction sets.  Software that capitalizes on these instruction sets can see huge performance gains.  Also, Intel has been making consistent gains in power efficiency, so that would help your power bill out.

 

Beyond the CPUs though, also consider the platform as a whole.  A modern CPU will get you lots of goodies like M.2, PCI Gen 3, native USB 3.1, and Sata Express.  For most people none of those really matter right now, but in a few years who knows.

[flipped_bit]

so, say if you oc'd the two to 4ghz would there be little to no difference in performance in heavily cpu based workloads?

 

A 2500K remains a very capable chip, which is why they still go for a lot in the used market.  You do make a couple sacrifices by going with that older platform though (see my post above).

[LAwLz]

so, say if you oc'd the two to 4ghz would there be little to no difference in performance in heavily cpu based workloads?

There will be a difference, but it might be like 20% or something along those lines.

So there is a decent performance increase, as well as the extra goodies @flipped_bit mentioned, but other than that there won't be much of a difference. Whether or not it is worth to get a second hand chip depends entirely on how highly you value the ~20% extra performance, the other improvements and what price you can get the Sandy Bridge chip at.