Is the i7-2600 still viable?

[Supportsneedlove]

I've found a used PC with 32 GB of ram, an i7-2600 cooled with an F9. I'd be replacing the PSU with a Corsair one that I've already got. I'd take out some of the RAM and add a GPU.

The PSU is an older Corsair CX 400 watt.

What kind of GPU could I slot in there?

I was looking at 960s, as they're the only ones I can find with 400 watts recommended. 

 

Thanks in advance!

[Pasi123]

It's still a decent CPU for gaming. Is it a prebuilt OEM PC?

[NelizMastr]

A 970 would also work fine with a 400W, granted it has the necessary connections, but yeah, a 960 would do.

[voiha]

1 minute ago, Pasi123 said:

It's still a decent CPU for gaming. Is it a prebuilt OEM PC?

You'll be fine with 970, everything higher than that and you will experience bottleneck on 1080p screen.

[Supportsneedlove]

1 minute ago, Pasi123 said:

It's still a decent CPU for gaming. Is it a prebuilt OEM PC?

It's prebuilt but not an OEM. Comes from a pretty good store actually.

 

[IronMidHeaven]

Overclocked they keep up with the 7k series.

[Princess Luna]

15 minutes ago, Supportsneedlove said:

I'd take out some of the RAM

Why?

[Brooksie359]

32 minutes ago, Supportsneedlove said:

I've found a used PC with 32 GB of ram, an i7-2600 cooled with an F9. I'd be replacing the PSU with a Corsair one that I've already got. I'd take out some of the RAM and add a GPU.

The PSU is an older Corsair CX 400 watt.

What kind of GPU could I slot in there?

I was looking at 960s, as they're the only ones I can find with 400 watts recommended. 

 

Thanks in advance!

Why not go for a 1060? The 10 series have lower power consumption and you could get away with a 1060. 

[IronMidHeaven]

23 minutes ago, Supportsneedlove said:

It's prebuilt but not an OEM. Comes from a pretty good store actually.

 

Generally a non K 2600 is a good CPU still, you can throw anything up to perhaps a GTX 1070 on to it before the CPU is a problem game wise.

 

For anything else it is a monster of a CPU, every day web browsing ETC.

 

 

[KarathKasun]

At stock speeds a 1060 or 970 would make the most sense.

[Supportsneedlove]

3 hours ago, Princess Cadence said:

Why?

It's for a friend, he's on quite a low budget so I'd sell some of the RAM to cover the rest of the components

3 hours ago, Brooksie359 said:

Why not go for a 1060? The 10 series have lower power consumption and you could get away with a 1060. 

Where i live a used 1060 3 GB is still around 50 per cent more expensive than a 970.

 Although he might have to up his budget a little in order for there to be room for an SSD, Better case, 970 (instead of a 960/770), and such. 

he spent 6 times his budget for this on a MacBook Pro 2016, so I think he'll make it. 

 

[Brooksie359]

17 minutes ago, Supportsneedlove said:

It's for a friend, he's on quite a low budget so I'd sell some of the RAM to cover the rest of the components

Where i live a used 1060 3 GB is still around 50 per cent more expensive than a 970.

 Although he might have to up his budget a little in order for there to be room for an SSD, Better case, 970 (instead of a 960/770), and such. 

he spent 6 times his budget for this on a MacBook Pro 2016, so I think he'll make it. 

 

The 970 has quite a bit more power consumption compared to a 1060. It has more than even a 1070 so it's going to be cutting it closer. 

[grss1982]

9 hours ago, Supportsneedlove said:

I've found a used PC with 32 GB of ram, an i7-2600 cooled with an F9. I'd be replacing the PSU with a Corsair one that I've already got. I'd take out some of the RAM and add a GPU.

The PSU is an older Corsair CX 400 watt.

What kind of GPU could I slot in there?

I was looking at 960s, as they're the only ones I can find with 400 watts recommended. 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Hardware Canucks recently did a review about going from a 2600k to an 8th gen i7 using a 1080ti.  Maybe that could give you some ideas?

 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=i7-2600+%2b1080ti&&view=detail&mid=042A6458B871BC7DAB5A042A6458B871BC7DAB5A&&FORM=VRDGAR

[Yoinkerman]

I mean yes but I wouldn't really pay more than $100 for a system with one.  Maybe $150 max tops

[orangecat]

I have a 3570K @ 4.4 paired with a single GTX 970 and my CPU is often the bottleneck but only when I'm playing games that don't really tax my GPU much and I play at 1080p. Overall though it's enough for 970 class of hardware. I wouldn't go much higher end tho as you will definitely run into CPU bottleneck all the time. Should be fine for 1440p gaming tho also.

[Supportsneedlove]

17 hours ago, Yoinkerman said:

I mean yes but I wouldn't really pay more than $100 for a system with one.  Maybe $150 max tops

This one is around 300

[KarathKasun]

2 hours ago, Supportsneedlove said:

This one is around 300

The memory is valued at ~$150 used, the CPU is valued at ~$80, motherboard is ~$50.

 

Just add a decent PSU and something in the GTX 1060 ballpark (GTX 970/980, R9 390/X, RX 570/580) for a GPU, and you will have a competent gaming rig.

Even a GTX 1050 Ti or RX 560 (16cu/1024 shader + 4gb vram version) with the current PSU would be capable of playing pretty much anything at 1080p with medium to high settings.

[Supportsneedlove]

1 hour ago, KarathKasun said:

The memory is valued at ~$150 used, the CPU is valued at ~$80, motherboard is ~$50.

 

Just add a decent PSU and something in the GTX 1060 ballpark (GTX 970/980, R9 390/X, RX 570/580) for a GPU, and you will have a competent gaming rig.

Even a GTX 1050 Ti or RX 560 (16cu/1024 shader + 4gb vram version) with the current PSU would be capable of playing pretty much anything at 1080p with medium to high settings.

Got it down to 200  

[Supportsneedlove]

Thanks to everyone for their input!

You've been a real help, thank you.

This community is damn awesome.