Help upgrading 9 year old CPU

[acinod]

My computer is feeling a bit sluggish these days and I wonder if it could be due to my 9 year old CPU. 

 

Current specs:

• CPU: Intel Core i5 750 (turbo-boosted, I used to OC to 4GHZ but that got a bit unstable so I've left it as is)
• Mobo: Gigabyte P55-UD6
• RAM: 8GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 680MHz (9-9-9-24)
• SSD: 120GB Sandisk Extreme
• HDD: WD Blue 3TB
• GPU: GTX 1060 3GB
• PSU: Seasonic M12D 80+ 850W
• CPU HSF: Noctua NH-U12P SE2
• Monitor: 24" DELL 2408WFP

 

I recently updated my GPU to play Witcher 3 and I'm able to do that at max settings fine. However, I plan to play the new Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Civ 6 expansion so they may be a bit more CPU intensive. I also do some seasonal work in Adobe Lightroom which is CPU intensive.

 

What CPU (and mobo) should I update to?  Can I still make use of my Noctua?

 

Also what about RAM? Can I get away with 8GB DDR3 given how expensive RAM is right now?

[knightslugger]

4 minutes ago, acinod said:

What CPU (and mobo) should I update to?

9th gen intel w/z370 or ryzen 2600 on x470 mb.

3 minutes ago, acinod said:

Noctua NH-U12P SE2

should still work with intel, but you will need something else if you choose AMD.

4 minutes ago, acinod said:

Also what about RAM? Can I get away with 8GB DDR3 given how expensive RAM is right now?

nothing modern will run ddr3.

 

[asand1]

8gb is considered minimum spec anymore.

[acinod]

13 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

nothing modern will run ddr3.

Ah I get it now. So basically if I'll need to upgrade to ddr4 as well if I upgrade my CPU and Mobo.

 

15 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

9th gen intel w/z370 or ryzen 2600 on x470 mb.

Would the Ryzen 2600 be a better choice given I already have a Noctua cooler? (will need to get the mounting kit which is fairly cheap)

Is it easy to overclock these days? I don't think I remember how to anymore given it's been many years since I last tried it out.

 

Also is there anything in the CPU, Mobo or RAM department that I should maybe wait out for first? 

[knightslugger]

16 minutes ago, acinod said:

Ah I get it now. So basically if I'll need to upgrade to ddr4 as well if I upgrade my CPU and Mobo.

yup.

16 minutes ago, acinod said:

Would the Ryzen 2600 be a better choice given I already have a Noctua cooler?

"better" depends on what you NEED it to do. If time = money in your photography work then go Intel for the higher single core clock speeds. I don't know if LR uses mostly single core or all-cores, so intel for the single-core clock speed, AMD if it's all-core.

 

If you can take your time in LR, then i would recommend the AMD route.

20 minutes ago, acinod said:

Is it easy to overclock these days?

fairly. All you really need to KNOW is the voltage limits. If it's Ryzen, 1.35v is the limit for 24/7 OC, and just keep adding multiplyer until you aren't stable. then back off the clock until it is OR find a voltage you like for whatever reason, like 1.1v and push the multi until it isn't stable. then same thing. back off the multi until it's stable and you're done.

 

22 minutes ago, acinod said:

Also is there anything in the CPU, Mobo or RAM department that I should maybe wait out for first? 

I wouldn't. There isn't anything earth shattering on the horizon. Eventually Zen2 will come out, but i don't know when that might be. Again, it wont be earth shattering for the end user. 

[Turtle Rig]

Grab a 8700k and a 150 dollar mobo and 16GB RAM and of course a SSD.  good luck

[GloriousPain]

your options are basically:

 

1. Stay on platform; just get a Xeon X3440 and some more ram (possibly even ecc) for really cheap and see if that helps.

 

2. New platforms basically gonna require everything to be new sadly. I'd probably suggest a Ryzen R5 2600 or R7 2700 and some DDR4 memory with a B350 motherboard off the top of my head. Thankfully they come with great coolers so you're fine in that regard.