Help with overclocking a i5 2500K

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Monza

261 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 204832 19-Oct-2016 12:00

As my CPU is nearly 5 years old I was looking into upgrading it to Skylake but was surprised at the lack of performance increase (http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-6600K-vs-Intel-Core-i5-2500K) I would gain from this.

Starting to think I am better off overclocking my i5 2500 instead. I did actually have a quick try at this a few months ago but with no success and gave up. Thought I would try again...

My motherboard is GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3, I have no idea how overclocking friendly this is as wasn't considering this when I bought it. Also my RAM is Kingston HyperX Blu KHX1333C9D3B1K2/8G, 2x4GB.

My reason for wanting a CPU performance boost is that I have an Oculus Rift and although I have a 1070GTX GPU it appears the CPU is holding it back. Also running a lot of emulators lately like Dolphin and again the CPU is struggling.

Can I get a noticeable performance boost while keeping my system stable? Do I need to upgrade from the stock CPU cooler?

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976 posts

Ultimate Geek

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# 1653462 19-Oct-2016 12:20

2 people support this post

Yes you need to replace the stock CPU cooler.

Something like a Cooler Master EVO212 or EVO X (cheapest about 55 bux), or one of the big noctua's or a corsair waterblock kit would be a good start. Dont use a stock cooler.

Get some Temp monitoring software. Prime 95 or intel burn test.

In the BIOS you need to increase the multiplier. Yours will probably be set to 33 since i think the chip is 3.3 Ghz Stock. You increase this slowly so I would probably put it up to 40 or something (4Ghz) then boot into windows, run prime 95 or intel burn test for 60 minutes, and make sure the temperature doesn't go too high. (above 72 degrees). If its fine, and if you want to overclock more, increase the multiplier a bit more.. but be sure to run the test because its basically a stability test.

And FWIW having a new CPU will help. I know a guy who bought a GTX1070 and ran it with a first gen i7, got 105 FPS on Uengine Heaven at 1080p. I got a new skylake i5 and i get 155FPS with my GTX1070.

The 2500K is still not a bad chip in my opinion.

reven

3443 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

# 1653473 19-Oct-2016 12:29

One person supports this post

still using my 2500K system every day, longest running system I've ever had. keep wondering when I'll need to upgrade it, but yeah, on stock settings not overclocked with 8GB ram, SSD, it performs very very well still. system is about 5 years old...

I should overclock it just for the fun of it...

Monza

261 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1653513 19-Oct-2016 13:08

reven:

still using my 2500K system every day, longest running system I've ever had. keep wondering when I'll need to upgrade it, but yeah, on stock settings not overclocked with 8GB ram, SSD, it performs very very well still. system is about 5 years old...

I should overclock it just for the fun of it...

yeah, just checked my receipt and it cost $305 nearly 5 years ago and still performing well. It is only recently with emulation etc that it has started to become a bottleneck for nearly everything else it still performs very well.

Monza

261 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1653515 19-Oct-2016 13:12

darylblake:

Yes you need to replace the stock CPU cooler.

Something like a Cooler Master EVO212 or EVO X (cheapest about 55 bux), or one of the big noctua's or a corsair waterblock kit would be a good start. Dont use a stock cooler.

Get some Temp monitoring software. Prime 95 or intel burn test.

In the BIOS you need to increase the multiplier. Yours will probably be set to 33 since i think the chip is 3.3 Ghz Stock. You increase this slowly so I would probably put it up to 40 or something (4Ghz) then boot into windows, run prime 95 or intel burn test for 60 minutes, and make sure the temperature doesn't go too high. (above 72 degrees). If its fine, and if you want to overclock more, increase the multiplier a bit more.. but be sure to run the test because its basically a stability test.

And FWIW having a new CPU will help. I know a guy who bought a GTX1070 and ran it with a first gen i7, got 105 FPS on Uengine Heaven at 1080p. I got a new skylake i5 and i get 155FPS with my GTX1070.

The 2500K is still not a bad chip in my opinion.

Thanks, will start looking at upgrading the cooler and then come back for BIOS settings advice but you've already given some good starting points.

maoriboy

619 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1653520 19-Oct-2016 13:24

Check this thread on Overclockers. Looks like the same mobo and cpu combo

OC 2500k

Monza

261 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1653522 19-Oct-2016 13:28

maoriboy:

Check this thread on Overclockers. Looks like the same mobo and cpu combo

OC 2500k

Think I found that same thread a few months back when I had a go at overclocking it but it doesn't really have any useful help....

cynnicallemon

370 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1653531 19-Oct-2016 13:43

One person supports this post

reven:

still using my 2500K system every day, longest running system I've ever had. keep wondering when I'll need to upgrade it, but yeah, on stock settings not overclocked with 8GB ram, SSD, it performs very very well still. system is about 5 years old...

I should overclock it just for the fun of it...

Yeah got a 2700K about 4.5 years back, runs Debian Linux and is still as fast as when I purchased it. Just hope the motherboard lasts as I have no intention of upgrading anytime soon

Monza

261 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1653536 19-Oct-2016 13:52

darylblake:

Yes you need to replace the stock CPU cooler.

Something like a Cooler Master EVO212 or EVO X (cheapest about 55 bux), or one of the big noctua's or a corsair waterblock kit would be a good start. Dont use a stock cooler.

Is this the one?

https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/cooler-master-hyper-212-x-cpu-cooler/21639033

Lias

3872 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

# 1654563 19-Oct-2016 16:39

2500k's were amazing.. I'm still not sure I did the right thing selling mine.

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Coil

6615 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

# 1654568 19-Oct-2016 16:57

Lias:

2500k's were amazing.. I'm still not sure I did the right thing selling mine.

Agreed, I used to have one at 4.5GHz on a Gigabyte motherboard, Cant remember for the life of myself what one it was,I remember it was black and didnt have the on board graphics options.

The key thing was the chipset couldn't be the "H" on or what ever it was (Had onboard GPU) as they didnt have overclocking features.

My motherboard was one click over clock, It automatically set voltages and the multiplier. Thermal throttle as well.

Nothing a H100I couldn't solve.

darylblake

976 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

# 1654577 19-Oct-2016 17:19

Monza:

darylblake:

Yes you need to replace the stock CPU cooler.

Something like a Cooler Master EVO212 or EVO X (cheapest about 55 bux), or one of the big noctua's or a corsair waterblock kit would be a good start. Dont use a stock cooler.

Is this the one?

https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/cooler-master-hyper-212-x-cpu-cooler/21639033

Yep, I got one on my skylake i5-6500, and have overclocked it from 3.2 Ghz to 4.48 Ghz. Has been stable for 4 months now, no issues. I cant justify buying an i7-6700k because well, im a gamer and that chip I got is fine for games. If i were video editing or doing something more intense then yeh I would go i7.

EDIT: if you end up selling a sandy bridge i5 or i7 chip I may be interested.

Jase2985

8873 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

# 1654707 19-Oct-2016 20:39

im running one of these on my i5 2500k. not over clocked though

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/FANCLM2212/COOLER-MASTER-Seidon-120V-Plus-Watercooling-kit

sultanoswing

740 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1654840 19-Oct-2016 23:59

cynnicallemon:

Yeah got a 2700K about 4.5 years back, runs Debian Linux and is still as fast as when I purchased it. Just hope the motherboard lasts as I have no intention of upgrading anytime soon

Whew! I hadn't heard of CPUs slowing down over time, so this is a relief to read! :p

cynnicallemon

370 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1654869 20-Oct-2016 07:29

sultanoswing:

cynnicallemon:

Yeah got a 2700K about 4.5 years back, runs Debian Linux and is still as fast as when I purchased it. Just hope the motherboard lasts as I have no intention of upgrading anytime soon

Whew! I hadn't heard of CPUs slowing down over time, so this is a relief to read! :p

Well some get so fatigued they take up smoking...

sultanoswing

740 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1654878 20-Oct-2016 08:12

The 2500 and 2700 are great chips. I'm slightly annoyed I bought the year before - my i5-750 (Lynnfield) is just that little bit lacking compared. Although even so, there's no compelling reason to upgrade yet either.

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