51-70k Upgrade from i5 2500k or wait?

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dexterz

dexterz

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Planning to upgrade from i5 2500k as I've started facing frequent crashes even using YouTube (atleast once or twice per session of use). Main usage will be gaming (RTS,TBS,4x,MMORPG,MOBA genres). Is now a good time for upgrade or are there any new releases in next couple of months?

  1. What is your budget?
    • 50K to 60K
  2. What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model)
    • CPU - Intel i5 2500k
    • Motherboard - Asrock Z77 Extreme4
    • GPU - GTX1060
    • RAM - Gskill Ripjaws
    • Monitor - Benq 27inch
    • PSU - Corsair RM650
    • Samsung 850Evo for OS and Crucial Mx500 for game drive 4TB Hdd
    • Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120 cooler
  3. Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)
    • Everything except CPU, MOBO, RAM
  4. Which hardware component are you looking to buy (component name). If you have already decided on a configuration then please mention the (component brand and model) as well, this will help us in fine tuning your requirement.
    • CPU -
    • Motherboard - any compatible motherboard
    • RAM
    • CPU cooler if TRUE120 is incompatible/insufficient
  5. Is this going to be your final configuration or you would be adding/upgrading a component in near future. If yes then please mention when and which component
    • Last core upgrade was in 2012, Expect a similar timeline for my next upgrade :D
  6. Where will you buy this hardware? (Online/City/TE Dealer)
    • Chennai
    • Open to online purchase
  7. Would you consider buying a second hand hardware from the TE market
    • No
  8. What is your intended use for this PC/hardware
    • Gaming
    • Browsing
    • Netflix
  9. Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.
    • None
  10. If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?
    • Strategy - Civilization 4, Total war Warhammer 2 and 3(when it releases),
    • League, Diablo 3, WoW, Mostly TBS,RTS,4x games
  11. What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage
    1. FHD
  12. Are you looking to overclock?
    • No
  13. Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?
    • Windows 10 or 11 64 bit
 
I don't think, ANY one will drop price (until festive season like Diwali & then Christmas)... Universal Reason to inflate price chip shortage
 
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Prices are never coming down. Especially for AMD. They didn't even bother with 3rd gen Ryzen when 5000 series launched.
12th gen Alder lake would probably be buggy with it's big.LITTLE CPU architecture and DDR5 RAM support initially. Don't go down that rabbit hole to test new technology and keep updating BIOS for the first 6-12 months to stabilize that platform.

I would suggest buying used 6/8 Core Ryzen (3000 series and above) CPUs here or going with Intel 10th gen CPUs (i5 and above), appropriate motherboard and 16/32GB RAM. You'll be sorted for a few years.
Obviously you gotta keep your GPU for now.
 
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Honestly, I'd not hold my breathe on DDR5 or PCIE5 anytime soon. The new stuff is usually buggy and fairly expensive when it first comes out. If your looking on those lines, you might want to wait till the second or third refresh's till the tech and the prices becomes mainstream and normal.

Personally, I'd just upgrade now and potentially skip the next few generations since your looking at a timeline of 7 - 9 years for the next upgrade. If your sticking to Intel, pick up the best of what you can on the 10th gen and upgrade when you need. If your shifting to AMD, just pick up 3800/3900 or 5800/5900, it would still be good for a few more years.
 
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Anything is an upgrade if you're coming from an i5 2500k, and from the looks of it you do need one. I would just pick what configuration satisfies me at the moment, and cross the bridge of new upgrades when we get there.
 
Every new build is in a limbo due to GPU

pickup anything that you like as of now ,genuine used motherboards and used processor are also available at decent rates .

Amd processor prices have stabilized intel too has good offerings .

Play Lottery named RPTECh -if you win it than sell 1060 at good price
or
if you want to play safe than buy latest AMD mobo with video out ports and 5700G/5600G APU
or
wait for what intel GPU has it

or else go for 5600x or 5800x and noctua cooler and have a peace of mind
 
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thanks for your replies. as some of you posted, newer releases don't seem to be affecting price of the past generations that much. I'm not worried about having the latest tech. I'm ok with going with a generation older if that is more VFM. I lucked out with my current i5/z77 combo last 10years for a 22k investment in 2012. Even now the performance is not an issue, only the stability.

I'm completely out of touch on the good mobo/ram/cooler brands are these days. please suggest some CPU/mobo/ram/cooler options so I have a general idea of what to look for in the local market. I have no particular preference for Intel or AMD. Just expecting the purchase to VFM for whatever amount is spent. Thanks!
 
CPU Mobo Combo: 5800X with AsRock B550 Steel Legend (6+2 phase VRM) - 51.2k
RAM: 2x 8GB HyperX Fury 3600Mhz CL17 - 7.1k
Cooler: Deepcool AS500 (performs 95% as good as Noctua NH D15S at half the price) - 4.6k (before any card discounts)

Total: 64.9k

Slightly above your budget but this should last you at least 5 years, if not more. If you really want to keep it within budget, go for a 5600X with a B550 mobo, should be 43-45k (27k to 29k+14k to 16k), or cut down on the cooler for a cheaper one (altho you will eventually have to get a better cooler anyway so wouldn't recommend that). But imo the 2 extra cores of the 5800X are worth the 5k.


Oh btw you might be able to save on cooler costs if your Thermalright cooler is eligible for the below free AM4 upgrade:

THERMALRIGHT® AMD AM4 CPU Mount Upgrade – Thermalright

thermalright.com thermalright.com

Worth writing to them and seeing if that's the case.
 
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Stronk said:
CPU Mobo Combo: 5800X with AsRock B550 Steel Legend (6+2 phase VRM) - 51.2k
RAM: 2x 8GB HyperX Fury 3600Mhz CL17 - 7.1k
Cooler: Deepcool AS500 (performs 95% as good as Noctua NH D15S at half the price) - 4.6k (before any card discounts)

Total: 64.9k

Slightly above your budget but this should last you at least 5 years, if not more. If you really want to keep it within budget, go for a 5600X with a B550 mobo, should be 43-45k (27k to 29k+14k to 16k), or cut down on the cooler for a cheaper one (altho you will eventually have to get a better cooler anyway so wouldn't recommend that). But imo the 2 extra cores of the 5800X are worth the 5k.


Oh btw you might be able to save on cooler costs if your Thermalright cooler is eligible for the below free AM4 upgrade:

THERMALRIGHT® AMD AM4 CPU Mount Upgrade – Thermalright

thermalright.com thermalright.com

Worth writing to them and seeing if that's the case.
Click to expand...
i wrote to them. 15usd for shipping the mount to india from taiwan and might take a month or more. any intel 10th gen or ryzen 3xxx options worth going for?
 
dexterz said:
i wrote to them. 15usd for shipping the mount to india from taiwan and might take a month or more. any intel 10th gen or ryzen 3xxx options worth going for?
Click to expand...
Well in that case I'd actually suggest going for B450 mobo at around the 10k price mark with a 5800X at 35k. I'm suggesting this since you want to keep your system for as long as possible, and hence should prioritise getting the best CPU in the budget possible. The Ryzen 3000 series, while good, have noticeably inferior IPC and clockspeeds to the 5000 series, and although this won't make much of a difference today, 6 years down the line it definitely will. For reference, see how Ryzen 1700(X) has aged compared to a 2700(X), and the delta between the 3000 and 5000 series will be a bit more than that since the clockspeeds from 3k to 5k has improved more than from 1000 to 2000.

I would suggest a MSI B450 Tomahawk Max or a MSI B450M Mortar Max mobo to pair with a 5800X. They are well suited for a 5800X; they will will be fine for an overclocked 5800X or a stock 5900X.
Here's the Tomahawk MAX II, available for 10.5k:
www.tpstech.in

MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX II AMD AM4 ATX Gaming Motherboard with USB C and M.2 Slot

Buy MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX II AMD AM4 ATX Gaming Motherboard with USB C and M.2 Slot. supports 1st, 2nd and 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen processors. Focused on providing the best user experience. Fan Control allows you to check your primary system characteristic. Buy now on TPS Technologies with best...
www.tpstech.in www.tpstech.in

So 10.5k for the above and 35.8k for the 5800X (might be available cheaper locally, check Richie street if possible) will bring the overall cost to just a few Rupees under 60k
www.tpstech.in

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Desktop Processor 8 Cores up to 4.7GHz 36MB Cache AM4 Socket

Buy AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Desktop Processor - 8 Cores 16 Threads - 4.7 Ghz Boost Clock - 32MB L3 Cache - Amd Zen 3 Based Processor, Unmatched Performance Fastest in the Game (100-100000063WOF). StoreMI, VR Ready Precision Boost more feature packed than ever. Buy now on TPS Technologies with best...
www.tpstech.in www.tpstech.in
 
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enthusiast29 said:
Or you could completely ignore 5000 series and find a good used 3700X/3900X or buy the intel 10th gen CPUs.
Click to expand...
I usually avoid buying used. Any suggestions for the 10th gen?
Stronk said:
Well in that case I'd actually suggest going for B450 mobo at around the 10k price mark with a 5800X at 35k. I'm suggesting this since you want to keep your system for as long as possible, and hence should prioritise getting the best CPU in the budget possible. The Ryzen 3000 series, while good, have noticeably inferior IPC and clockspeeds to the 5000 series, and although this won't make much of a difference today, 6 years down the line it definitely will. For reference, see how Ryzen 1700(X) has aged compared to a 2700(X), and the delta between the 3000 and 5000 series will be a bit more than that since the clockspeeds from 3k to 5k has improved more than from 1000 to 2000.

I would suggest a MSI B450 Tomahawk Max or a MSI B450M Mortar Max mobo to pair with a 5800X. They are well suited for a 5800X; they will will be fine for an overclocked 5800X or a stock 5900X.
Here's the Tomahawk MAX II, available for 10.5k:
www.tpstech.in

MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX II AMD AM4 ATX Gaming Motherboard with USB C and M.2 Slot

Buy MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX II AMD AM4 ATX Gaming Motherboard with USB C and M.2 Slot. supports 1st, 2nd and 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen processors. Focused on providing the best user experience. Fan Control allows you to check your primary system characteristic. Buy now on TPS Technologies with best...
www.tpstech.in www.tpstech.in

So 10.5k for the above and 35.8k for the 5800X (might be available cheaper locally, check Richie street if possible) will bring the overall cost to just a few Rupees under 60k
www.tpstech.in

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Desktop Processor 8 Cores up to 4.7GHz 36MB Cache AM4 Socket

Buy AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Desktop Processor - 8 Cores 16 Threads - 4.7 Ghz Boost Clock - 32MB L3 Cache - Amd Zen 3 Based Processor, Unmatched Performance Fastest in the Game (100-100000063WOF). StoreMI, VR Ready Precision Boost more feature packed than ever. Buy now on TPS Technologies with best...
www.tpstech.in www.tpstech.in
Click to expand...
Thanks stronk. I'll check out the rates at Ritchie
 
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dexterz said:
suggestions for the 10th gen
Click to expand...
Tbh the only option in 10th gen which makes sense is 10700, which is available around 28k. But then you have to factor in extra cooling requirements (due to higher power consumption) and price of a decent mobo, which is around 13-16k for a decent H470 board. I was not able to find any good board under that price which I would be comfortable running the 10700 series on.

So imo makes more sense for the AM4 platform compared to the LGA1200 since overall cost us within 1-2k of each other.
There's also other detriments - no upgrade path at all (apart from the 10900K, but wouldn't recommend running that on budget boards, and it runs super hot), no overclocking support and lower cache - which seems to be an increasingly part of the performance going forward. With AM4, you can still go upto the 5900X confortably on a good B450 board, and even 5950X if you undervolt it. Then there's also the upcoming Zen 3 refresh with 3D cache which is supposed to increase performance by an average of 15% in games as well as productivity. So you have a far better upgrade path with AMD, lower cooling requirements (newer batches of 5800X don't have the "heating" problems of initial batches, check reddit and ltt forum), and higher chance of longevity thanks to higher cache and better IPC, and overclocking potential in case you wish to delve into that.

The 10700K(F) doesn't make sense since at around 35k, the 5800X is a far better buy, and an overclocking capable Z490 mobo with a decent cooling solution will have migh higher overall costs anyway.
And just for reference the Ryzen 5600X itself beats even 10900K in a lot of CPU intensive games (most notably CSGO), and is only 10-15% behind the 10700K despite having 25% fewer cores.
Basically best value CPU right now would be a 5600X at 25k or lower, whereas for long term I'd suggest shelling out the extra money for 5800X if possible.

Otherwise a 3600(X)(T) at 15k is also a good purchase but the used market is bonkers right now.
 
dexterz said:
I lucked out with my current i5/z77 combo last 10years for a 22k investment in 2012. Even now the performance is not an issue, only the stability.
Click to expand...
I am also using a 2500 with h67 mobo and a 1060 graphics card. But mine never crashes and his rock solid. But then again my cabinet is cleaned every 3 months or so and processor which started hitting 80c during gaming but only happened after I upgraded to gtx1060 in 2017 with game graphics setting maxed out.The temp dropped to 52c when I put liquid cooling. So I plan to skip the ddr4 and go directly to ddr5. In the past to i skipped ddr2 and went to dd3.
 
Stronk said:
Tbh the only option in 10th gen which makes sense is 10700, which is available around 28k. But then you have to factor in extra cooling requirements (due to higher power consumption) and price of a decent mobo, which is around 13-16k for a decent H470 board. I was not able to find any good board under that price which I would be comfortable running the 10700 series on.

So imo makes more sense for the AM4 platform compared to the LGA1200 since overall cost us within 1-2k of each other.
There's also other detriments - no upgrade path at all (apart from the 10900K, but wouldn't recommend running that on budget boards, and it runs super hot), no overclocking support and lower cache - which seems to be an increasingly part of the performance going forward. With AM4, you can still go upto the 5900X confortably on a good B450 board, and even 5950X if you undervolt it. Then there's also the upcoming Zen 3 refresh with 3D cache which is supposed to increase performance by an average of 15% in games as well as productivity. So you have a far better upgrade path with AMD, lower cooling requirements (newer batches of 5800X don't have the "heating" problems of initial batches, check reddit and ltt forum), and higher chance of longevity thanks to higher cache and better IPC, and overclocking potential in case you wish to delve into that.

The 10700K(F) doesn't make sense since at around 35k, the 5800X is a far better buy, and an overclocking capable Z490 mobo with a decent cooling solution will have migh higher overall costs anyway.
And just for reference the Ryzen 5600X itself beats even 10900K in a lot of CPU intensive games (most notably CSGO), and is only 10-15% behind the 10700K despite having 25% fewer cores.
Basically best value CPU right now would be a 5600X at 25k or lower, whereas for long term I'd suggest shelling out the extra money for 5800X if possible.

Otherwise a 3600(X)(T) at 15k is also a good purchase but the used market is bonkers right now.
Click to expand...
thank you for the explanation. i'll check out the AM4 offerings and try to go for the 5800x if possible or at least a 5600x. any idea on the deepcool gammaxx cooler?
adder said:
I am also using a 2500 with h67 mobo and a 1060 graphics card. But mine never crashes and his rock solid. But then again my cabinet is cleaned every 3 months or so and processor which started hitting 80c during gaming but only happened after I upgraded to gtx1060 in 2017 with game graphics setting maxed out.The temp dropped to 52c when I put liquid cooling. So I plan to skip the ddr4 and go directly to ddr5. In the past to i skipped ddr2 and went to dd3.
Click to expand...
RMA'd my board in 2014. I have no issues with temps, idles around 38 to 47C and load temps are mid 60's maybe. I think the crash is mostly due to bad memory or memory slots . Had to frequently reseat memory or keep switching the memory slots to get it to boot or at times it wouldnt detect a 4GB stick or fail to POST or BIOS shows 8GB but OS shows only 4GB.. those kind of issues. Next gen of CPU/Mobo/RAM technology is going to be out of my budget anyway so I'll have to either increase my budget or wait for quite a while longer.
 
I upgraded the same system to a Ryzen 3700x in Feb 2020, right before the Pandemic. But I still have the GTX 1060. Hope the GPU prices come down to normal levels in a few months.
 
baccilus said:
I upgraded the same system to a Ryzen 3700x in Feb 2020, right before the Pandemic. But I still have the GTX 1060. Hope the GPU prices come down to normal levels in a few months.
Click to expand...
that's what everyone is hoping for.

are VRM specs important in Non OC conditions?
 
dexterz said:
are VRM specs important in Non OC conditions?
Click to expand...
If you're not oc'ing, and are not planning to use a 12 or 16 core chip, then not really. Just avoid bottom of the barrel, ie, cheapest boards if you can. Otherwise most mid range B450 (~8k) and lower mid range B550 (~11k) should be able to handle a non overclocked 8 core chip with ease, and sometimes overclocked as well (outliers such as AsRock B450 Pro4).
 
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