Which CPU upgrades will be best for me? I have a GA-Z77-DS3H with i5-2500k

Hi there,

Just wondering what CPU would be my best value for upgrading without too much effort. I have an i5-2500k now (about 6000 cpu benchmark score) and was thinking of the i7-3770k (about 9800 score) for a good improvement. I don't know enough about which CPUs are compatible with my setup. I guess I have a LGA1155 socket, right? I see lots of other CPUs, like the 4770k, but don't understand how to know if it will work. Can anyone help shed a bit of light on this? Thanks!

sshanky said:

Hi there,

Just wondering what CPU would be my best value for upgrading without too much effort. I have an i5-2500k now (about 6000 cpu benchmark score) and was thinking of the i7-3770k (about 9800 score) for a good improvement. I don't know enough about which CPUs are compatible with my setup. I guess I have a LGA1155 socket, right? I see lots of other CPUs, like the 4770k, but don't understand how to know if it will work. Can anyone help shed a bit of light on this? Thanks!

Click to expand...

Choose one from the compatibility list for your board :

V1.0 - V1.1

Good Luck

If you are keeping the same motherboard then you do need an LGA1155 interface CPU, so the 3770K would fit the bill. However, unless you are using a particular application that can utilize the hyperthreading of the i7 you will see little real-world increases in processing speed. For example, most games do not use this, or even most normal applications.

I have a Z77 motherboard and an i5 3570K cpu and so far cannot see any real justification to upgrade to the latest Haswell (Z97 + cpu) systems as I might only see 5% increase in real CPU processing speeds. As of now I would spend money on a bigger SSD to use as a boot drive, as that would give a lot more bang for the buck.

Thanks a lot for that reply. That helps. I was thinking of getting the i7-3770k, but I have also heard that the difference may not be too noticeable. However, I don't play that many games -- what I do a lot is photoshop and premiere work, as well as some indesign.

Are you saying that upgrading wouldn't afford me much increase in speed, even though the CPU benchmark goes from about 6000 up to over 10,000? I should also say that I already have an mSATA SSD as my main drive.

I have a friend who works at Intel and I can also get my hands on a 4790k or even 4930k (which I didn't see on the list -- is it possible?), but I know I would have to upgrade my motherboard. Any thoughts on that approach?

Thanks...this is fun to figure out!