Worth upgrading from i7-930 to 2600k??

I'm still super happy with my i7 930 at 4.5GHz on air. See no reason to upgrade anytime soon yet.
 
I went from a P35 chipset running a Q660 and 8gb of DDR2 to 1155 & i2600k w/16gb of DDR3 .. even that was a questionable upgrade .. sure things run faster and all ..but do I really need all of this?

no , not really .. I had accumulated enough things to trade for my upgrades ...had I had to buy everything outright .. I'd still be running my Q6600 setup.

If your pockets are deep enough ..hey, indulge yourself for some higher benchmarks that nobody else will really cares about :p

staying on top of new tech is a costly venture to say the least. There is always something bigger/badder/faster on the immediate horizon... and there will always be somebody with higher/faster/bigger/badder benchmarks than you.

If you have a weight problem ..probably not a good idea to keep hanging out in the candy bar aisle at the grocery store ...

If you have the upgrade itch .. probably not a good idea to keep hanging out in the benchmark aisle of the internet .. :D

not very [H] advice ... go buy your girfriend/wife/mom (or all 3) something nice instead .. ;)
 
If you have a weight problem ..probably not a good idea to keep hanging out in the candy bar aisle at the grocery store ...

If you have the upgrade itch .. probably not a good idea to keep hanging out in the benchmark aisle of the internet .. :D

Definitely wise words =)

not very [H] advice ... go buy your girfriend/wife/mom (or all 3) something nice instead .. ;)

Took a sec, but worth a laugh.
 
I had a 920 and those numbers are way off. There is no way it was pulling 500watts.

Whoever put that system together had all the power features turned off or clearly didn't know how to overclock a 920 or using a very old c0 stepping!

Will an X58 setup with a 4.2Ghz OC work with the power saving features? If I want to use power saving features what do I enable? I turned all the power saving features off when I overclocked my W3520 (i7 920).

I'm still super happy with my i7 930 at 4.5GHz on air. See no reason to upgrade anytime soon yet.

What voltage are you running for that OC? And what CPU cooler are you using?
 
Will an X58 setup with a 4.2Ghz OC work with the power saving features? If I want to use power saving features what do I enable? I turned all the power saving features off when I overclocked my W3520 (i7 920).



What voltage are you running for that OC? And what CPU cooler are you using?


My i7 930 works with both power saving features. I have speedstep and C1E enabled. Speedstep means my CPU downclocks when idle or partially idle to several different CPU speeds.

C1E means my voltage also lowers when my CPU downclocks. So unless I'm doing strenuous work, my CPU downclocks to ~2.6GHz and downvolts to ~1.08v

I am using 1.375v to reach 4.5GHz which my CPU scales up to when there is a decent load on it.

I am using a Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B with IC Diamond 24 paste and a pair of yate loon D12SH-12 fans in push-pull config.
 
I was pretty happy to get rid of all the heat the 920 I owned dumped out. Hot climate + hot pc parts + U2711 and my girlfriend and her almost exact setup = EXTREME HEAT. Didn't have an AC even -- it was all fan, all the time.

2600K at default or even overclocked doesn't cause me to sweat. I would have held onto it if I knew I would be moving back to a cold climate area though. I loved my P6T6WS board with the "breathing" blue LEDs.
 
My i7 930 works with both power saving features. I have speedstep and C1E enabled. Speedstep means my CPU downclocks when idle or partially idle to several different CPU speeds.

C1E means my voltage also lowers when my CPU downclocks. So unless I'm doing strenuous work, my CPU downclocks to ~2.6GHz and downvolts to ~1.08v

I am using 1.375v to reach 4.5GHz which my CPU scales up to when there is a decent load on it.

I am using a Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B with IC Diamond 24 paste and a pair of yate loon D12SH-12 fans in push-pull config.

What Motherboard do you have?

I have a Gigabyte X58A UD7 and enabled C1E and Speedstep, but the voltage doesn't change in Windows. It still stays at the same voltage I have for my 4.0Ghz overclock, the CPU down clocks to 2400Mhz on idle though. Is there anything else I am supposed to change? Why would the voltage not be lowering along with the CPU frequency?

If the voltage stays the same, but the CPU frequency lowers am I actually saving any power?
 
What Motherboard do you have?

I have a Gigabyte X58A UD7 and enabled C1E and Speedstep, but the voltage doesn't change in Windows. It still stays at the same voltage I have for my 4.0Ghz overclock, the CPU down clocks to 2400Mhz on idle though. Is there anything else I am supposed to change? Why would the voltage not be lowering along with the CPU frequency?

If the voltage stays the same, but the CPU frequency lowers am I actually saving any power?

EVGA X58 3-Way SLi

You are saving some power if the clockspeed is lowering. But not as much as if the voltage goes down as well.

I am seeing my voltage drop reported in CPUZ and AIDA64.

I'm sure C1E is the setting that controls whether or not the the voltages allowed to drop with the downclocking.

My pc idles at 180W from the wall according to a kill-a-watt with that overclocked 930 and a GTX 480. I think that's very good power draw for those components.
 
EVGA X58 3-Way SLi

You are saving some power if the clockspeed is lowering. But not as much as if the voltage goes down as well.

I am seeing my voltage drop reported in CPUZ and AIDA64.

I'm sure C1E is the setting that controls whether or not the the voltages allowed to drop with the downclocking.

My pc idles at 180W from the wall according to a kill-a-watt with that overclocked 930 and a GTX 480. I think that's very good power draw for those components.

I think I have it worked out. It seems to work a bit differently on my Gigabyte board. btw My CPU is an Xeon W3520 (i7 920 equivalent).

I had to set the CPU voltage to the 'Normal' option (instead of the manual 1.20 volts I had for my 4.0Ghz OC) and then use the 'Dynamic Vcore' option to put in +.14375. Doing this the CPU idles at 1.040V and then when under load goes up to 1.21V.

Now what I want to know is what power saving features should I have enabled? I've only got 'CPU Thermal Monitor' and 'CPU EIST Function' enabled. I don't have C1E enabled because the guide I followed didn't have it enabled either. Can anyone tell me which ones I should have enabled for maximum power saving?

Any chance you could check your BIOS and tell me what you have enabled in yours SirMaster?
 
it depends what you do with your computer but for the average person even the gamer the SB or IB chips arent going to make a difference because the multi threading optimization just isnt there. my second rig is an e8400 and it runs everything my i7 will and they both run everything a 2600k will. if i watch my cpu performance none of the cores are maxed out and most stay at idle. id say no upgrade spend your money some where more useful like the on alcohol or something
 
I'm also thinking about upgrading to Ivy Bridge as well. I would upgrade specifically for gaming purposes only, as I don't care about anything else. Am I just better off waiting on Haswell? If I hold off on Ivy Bridge, I could just use that money and get another gtx 680. :)
 
Just have to wait for the official [H] review of IB in order to make the determination.
 
No. They still use that 4 years old CPU in reviews of new hardware like GTX 680. What the heck for? Honestly I didnt even notice from a e8400 @ 4ghz to [email protected] and think I wasted my money then I could have afforded a GTX 680 easier. U seriously just throwing it away IMO.
 
No. They still use that 4 years old CPU in reviews of new hardware like GTX 680. What the heck for? Honestly I didnt even notice from a e8400 @ 4ghz to [email protected] and think I wasted my money then I could have afforded a GTX 680 easier. U seriously just throwing it away IMO.

If you're only doing very mild gaming that may be true, but for many applications C2D --> SB is a noticeable step up imo. Now, the 930 vs it is indeed a closer margin.
 
I wish I saved my old setup to test that but I sold it. I don't game that mild. Everything maxed at 19x12 and play the latest games. I know some ppl have insane resolutions and whatnot so I can't comment there. I'm just saying I noticed no difference on CPU upgrade but noticed a huge difference when I upgraded my GPU from a gtx280 to a highly overclocked 448. I don't do stuff like trans coding dvds or anything all I really need high end cpu for is games. My laptop with a c2d and onboard video does everything else I do great.
 
I wish I saved my old setup to test that but I sold it. I don't game that mild. Everything maxed at 19x12 and play the latest games. I know some ppl have insane resolutions and whatnot so I can't comment there. I'm just saying I noticed no difference on CPU upgrade but noticed a huge difference when I upgraded my GPU from a gtx280 to a highly overclocked 448. I don't do stuff like trans coding dvds or anything all I really need high end cpu for is games. My laptop with a c2d and onboard video does everything else I do great.

SB is super-duper-awesome @ SuperDUperHyperPi ;)
 
Can anyone offer me any more advice for running the power saving features on X58? I want to get it set up correctly.

The rest of the info in is my previous post up the page. Should I have C1E Enabled or Disabled?
 
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I went from a i7 965 ES (yes engineering sample) to a 2600k.
Both ran stock and both are reading about the same temps 30c in the 2600k and 33c in the 965ES.
I did not/ still do not notice a difference at all! Then again I'm not PC [H] like some of you guys.

I honestly got fed up with the marvell controller crashing, and just sold:
i7 965
asrock x56 extreme6
6gb ram
corsair h60
all for $320, yup someone got a fine deal. Guy hasn't emailed me since, and its been over a month now.
 
Looks like there wont be much difference. If you really need an upgrade (just that type of person ;)) then wait for ivy bridge or even haswell. That setup is still pretty rocking, plus all of the additional cost from new waterblocks and stuff will be a pain.
 
i'm in a similar boat. figured it was about time to upgrade cpu/mobo but the numbers don't justify it. decided now was the time to start sinking some $ into parts i often ignore.... new case on the way... new psu that is actually fully modular.... saving the cpu/mobo $ for a true upgrade.
 
What's the problem with your current hardware? I always ask myself/others: Is there a bottleneck or am I just "scratching the itch?"
 
See the thing is, the 920 is still very good and capable. It's not like your game or whatever else you'd be doing would be held back by the CPU.

But most X58 boards are old. Do you care about USB 3? What about SATA 6GB/S? Those are some things to consider.

Consider that SB/IB will do more per cycle than the Nehalem and they should overclock much higher with less heat and power. To me, those things are worth it. An i7 920 @ 4hz vs a 2600k @ 4GHZ are still two different things. If everything is equal, the 2600K will get a 10-15% performance boost (though it might not be noticeable in many games). Add another GHZ on top of that for the 2600k, which no 920 will hit, you've got a lot more CPU horsepower.
 
I'm on an amd 955 @ 3.8 Ghz and I'm waiting for haswell.

The only thing that I see my cpu being a bottleneck is in custum game of sc2 where there is thousand of units on screen or bf3 multiplayer... some time it get into low 40 fps. Still not worth the upgrade Imo.
 
Agreed. Wait for Haswell. It'll be a big speed bump, motherboard bump and use much less power compared to your 930.

Intel usually releases new chips in spring, but there are no guarantees on their schedule.
 
I went from a 950 to a 2700k and couldn't be happier. My X58 board didn't have SATA III so that was another deciding factor. I couldn't be happier. I have since gone with a 3770k just because I was able at no expense to me.
 
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