My desktop has a Z97 PC Mate(MS-7850) motherboard, with a Intel(R) Pentium(R) G3258 @ 3.20GHz processor and 8 Gigs of ram. I want to up the computing power beyond two cores. I know the socket is LGA 1150 but what I don't know is the fastest processor the board itself can handle.
I want more than two cores, so considering bang for the buck, what processor would you choose?
I saw both of those links during my research but I'm confused what they're telling me. Can I use any of the processors in the second link or are they dependent on the GPU column?
As an example, I don't understand the difference between these processors from a "bang for the buck" perspective???
HTML Code:Processor Core Name CPU No FSB CPU Speed L2 L3 Stepping Wattage GPU Core i7 Broadwell i7-5775C 100 3.3GHz 1MB 6MB G0 65 IrisProGraphics6200 1150MHz Core i7 Haswell i7-4771 100 3.5GHz 1MB 8MB C0 84 HDGraphics4600 1200MHz Core i7 Haswell Refresh i7-4790T 100 2.7GHz 1MB 8MB C0 45 HDGraphics4600 1200MHz
All of the listed CPUs are compatible.
The GPU listed is the one that is integrated with the CPU.
If you want 4 cores, you choose an I5 or an I7. If memory serves, the desktop I5s all have 4 cores and no hyperthreading. The I7s have 4 cores an hyperthreading (8 logical cores in Windows).
The processors with a "k" suffix have unlocked multipliers, making them easiest to overclock. Their prices will be higher.
Someone may have a "best bang for the buck" opinion, but you may just have to go down the list and compare benchmarks using a web search, while checking prices. May be a bit tedious.
PassMark Software - CPU Benchmark Charts
I'd probably examine the Passmark CPU benchmarks at the above link for any processors that you thought might be on your shorter list of candidates.
PassMark CPU Value Chart - Performance / Price of available CPUs
You might want to look at the above ranking to get some idea of "bang for the buck".
Depending on what you do with a PC, you might want to pay particular attention to "single thread ratings", which are also shown for each processor. Raw CPU speed can be more beneficial than multiple threads, depending on task.
I guess it's going to be hit and miss, based on bobkn said I figured the i7-4765T would be cheaper since it's only 2ghz. But NewEgg has it for $399 verses $335 for a i7-4770K. I'm not looking to break the bank, just add more oomph to the machine since I currently have two cores and no hyper treading.
ps... Now I just realized that changing the processor speed means changing the ram speed since it now has DDR3 1333 so I need to figure out the speed of the new ram needed??? Am I seeing this wrong???
Last edited by Soapm; 01 Apr 2019 at 02:08.
I went with a i7-4790 that I got second hand off ebay and filled the memory to 32 gigs (again, used off ebay) for less that $200.
However, don't see much difference in how the machine runs and have yet to see it use more than 2 gigs of ram.
You may not see a performance increase if you weren't using virtual memory before. (That's where data are swapped in and out of mass storage when more memory is required than your RAM supports. Especially slow when mass storage is a hard drive, with its rotational latency of milliseconds.)
Some software can exploit multicore CPUs, but a lot cannot. I was particularly disappointed that Adobe Photoshop CS6 (their last version that wasn't subscription based, I think) sees little improvement with multiple cores.
Sorry that I neglected to mention that upgrades might not give appreciable performance improvements, depending on what software you use. The only upgrade I'd confidently recommend is using an SSD as the drive with the OS and application software, if you don't already have one. AT the very least it'll improve boot times and launch times for applications.
I recommend replacing your mechanical hard disk with an SSD and your graphics card with a new middle range nVidia or AMD. It doesn't need to be an expensive gamer's card, that's why I said middle range. If you have at least 8GB RAM, adding more will make little difference unless working exclusively with 4K videos. If you do these you should see a vast improvement. If you still need more speed, you could later upgrade your CPU as well, but it is not absolutely necessary. I use a third generation Intel Core-i3 with 8MB RAM and a humble nVidia Geforce GT 620 and have no problerms with HD videos with either AVC (x264) or HEVC (x265). It just takes a little more time, so what.
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