Thoughts on upgrading the CPU

[celi]

Hi,

 

TL;DR (I would prefer if you'd read below for context tho): does 2133mhz work on an i5 8600? then that i5 + new mobo OR i7 7700 for the same cash?

So ~ 2 years I built a gaming budget pc with the following key components:
PSU SF-550F14MT 550W 80+ Silver
RAM HyperX Fury Black 8GB 2133MHz Dual Channel
Motherboard MSI B150M Mortar
GPU RX480 4GB NITRO
CPU i3-6100

(The idea was to also have some room for improvements)

 

As much as this build suffice my needs, I am thinking on upgrading my CPU.

 

My ideal budget would be no more than 325 euros. I Initially wanted to spend 215E at best but:

 

My first thought was to go with an i5 7600 (232E), but I don't foresee another upgrade in the near future and also cannot ignore how much an i5 8600 (224E) has to offer for the same price. From what I've seen, it's quite on par with an i7 7700 (318E) in the current games; correct me if I'm wrong.

 

So if I were to pay more - for the i7 7700 let's say, everything would fit my build and everything's alright. But isn't that too much (to spend) for this build?
What about the i5 8600? I could get for the SAME price as an i7 7700, both the i5 8600 and a B360M Mortar to fit it -313E- (the mobo is a fast search, common with what I have, not necessarily the cheapest choice out there) and could have the same approach in having some room for further improvements, right?

 

But my concern is the RAM. Can I run my 2133 with i5 8600? (the mobo will support it, but according to the intel's specs, the i expects 2666). If that's possible, what I am loosing by running it so? (by doing so will I be running into problems/bugs/errors, or maybe a small performance hit?)

Obviously the RAM is not in discussion to be upgraded now, otherwise the move was in clear favor of the new mobo. So either I stick with what I have for now and buy a faster new one in the future if I go with the i5 8600 + mobo, or just add another stick (again, sometime in the future), next to a 7th gen cpu. 

So, to put it in one sentence: Will 2133mhz RAM work on a i5 8600? If so, i5 8600 + new mobo OR i7 7700 for the same price?

 

I assume more games will get better having more cores in the future than the games that now use the extra threads of the i7's hyperthreading. If I may be wrong, feel free to correct me.

 

Thanks for reading through this.

If you have other recommendation, it is much appreciated.

[thedude4bides]

As far as I am aware, RAM can run below supported spec but not necessarily above.

 

If you kept you mobo and upgraded the CPU maybe you could go a step down from i7 7700 and throw the difference in price towards a GTX 1060 and another stick of RAM.  That might end up costing more but would be a bigger improvement than just throwing a 7700 in there or going 8600+mobo.

[uReqt]

@celi When doing this provide a budget so people understand how much your willing to spend.

[celi]

@thedude4bides, I don't intend changing my GPU for now. In the current build, the CPU is the bottleneck, especially in CPU demanding games. And I was thinking on going step by step: if i'd change the GPU now, the CPU would be even more of a bottleneck, so I'd go for a CPU first and see where it takes me in the near future. I added my budget also, thanks!

@uReqt, you're right. I was thinking of mentioning this in the first place but had a lot of text already; updated my post, thanks!

[uReqt]

@celi Upgrade to dual ram by adding one more stick of 8gb 2133mhz as well as an i5. The i5 depends on how much you have left. If you can get a i7 second hand then that's good but make sure you have enough for the Ram.

[Jurrunio]

Yes, all 8th gen CPUs will happily take 2133MHz DDR4 and run it like that.

 

Of course get the 8th gen i5, it's faster than 7700 more often than not. Maybe not 8600 though, get the cheapest CPU among the 8400, 8500 and 8600.

 

Not suggesting Ryzen, your slow RAM makes Ryzen slower than Coffee Lake.

[celi]

17 minutes ago, uReqt said:

@celi Upgrade to dual ram by adding one more stick of 8gb 2133mhz as well as an i5. The i5 depends on how much you have left. If you can get a i7 second hand then that's good but make sure you have enough for the Ram.

you're referring to the 8th gen i5, right?

 

I will upgrade my RAM in the near future as 16 would be ideal, but for this round I will stick to my 8 gig, RAM is so overpriced now and I'll wait for a sale maybe?

 

16 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

Yes, all 8th gen CPUs will happily take 2133MHz DDR4 and run it like that.

 

Of course get the 8th gen i5, it's faster than 7700 more often than not. Maybe not 8600 though, get the cheapest CPU among the 8400, 8500 and 8600.

 

Not suggesting Ryzen, your slow RAM makes Ryzen slower than Coffee Lake.

 

In my country the prices are:

8400 - 183E

8500 - 202E

8600 - 224E

 

I'm curious which one is the best value/money, will check for some benchmarks. Was referring to the 8600 because of the comparison with the 7700 price (including a new mobo).

[Jurrunio]

5 minutes ago, celi said:

In my country the prices are:

8400 - 183E

8500 - 202E

8600 - 224E

 

I'm curious which one is the best value/money, will check for some benchmarks. Was referring to the 8600 because of the comparison with the 7700 price.

8400 is the best deal. There is only a 100MHz jump between 8400 to 8500 and 8500 to 8600, completely negligible.

[thedude4bides]

26 minutes ago, celi said:

@thedude4bides, I don't intend changing my GPU for now. In the current build, the CPU is the bottleneck, especially in CPU demanding games. And I was thinking on going step by step: if i'd change the GPU now, the CPU would be even more of a bottleneck, so I'd go for a CPU first and see where it takes me in the near future. I added my budget also, thanks!

@uReqt, you're right. I was thinking of mentioning this in the first place but had a lot of text already; updated my post, thanks!

Maybe I wasn't clear enough but I did suggest a CPU upgrade with the gtx 1060... one a step down from the 7700 that will fit your current mobo.  But now that I see your budget I don't think what I suggested would work for you.  Good luck buddy.

[celi]

3 minutes ago, thedude4bides said:

Maybe I wasn't clear enough but I did suggest a CPU upgrade with the gtx 1060... one a step down from the 7700 that will fit your current mobo.  But now that I see your budget I don't think what I suggested would work for you.  Good luck buddy.

Yeah, I phrased like you did so too, but I did understand what were you suggesting tho; just that it was a bit of confusion for both of us because initially I didn't mention the budget. Thanks for your opinion!

[celi]

23 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

8400 is the best deal. There is only a 100MHz jump between 8400 to 8500 and 8500 to 8600, completely negligible.

Judging by the turbo speed: 100 between the first two, and 300 between first and last, to be more specific. But I get your point, especially that I can put the money difference in more RAM for example.

 

So for e.g. considering 16gb ram, I shouldn't also increase the speed on the new build? 2133 would work just fine as long as I have enough available (like @uReqt mentioned)? That would be ideal as I only need to buy one more stick

[Jurrunio]

9 minutes ago, celi said:

Judging by the turbo speed: 100 between the first two, and 300 between first and last, to be more specific. But I get your point, especially that I can put the money difference in more RAM for example.

 

So for e.g. considering 16gb ram, I shouldn't also increase the speed on the new build? 2133 would work just fine as long as I have enough available (like @uReqt mentioned)? That would be ideal as I only need to buy one more stick

Try overclock your current sticks first, say 2400MHz while leaving the timings to auto. That cost you nothing in money.

[celi]

31 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

Try overclock your current sticks first, say 2400MHz while leaving the timings to auto. That cost you nothing in money.

True. Thanks a lot for your input!