I am looking for some advice as to a good CPU upgrade for my Optiplex 3020 mini tower, i am looking at upgrading the PSU to a Corsair 450w (with 24 to 8 pin adapter) but not sure which CPU to use for good gaming etc, & i have 2x8g memory modules to install
spec for 3020: Intel® 4th generation Core™ i5 Quad Core (84W for MT), H81 chipset
i5-4690 is top i5 for it, with latest bios update it also supports 4th gen i7, top i7 cpu is i7-4770 or i7-4790 or even i7-4790k even though bios and chipset do not support overclock. i7-4790k base freq is 4.0 GHz. TDP is 88W not much above 84W TDP of i7-4790. both are great 4th gen i7 cpu.
gaming is more dependent on gpu. for minitower you have many good options to install discrete gpu w commensurate psu upgrade. when you decide on cpu I can help you select a gpu that best matches the new cpu.
Thanks for info, i was thinking i7 2600 or the i7 4790, but the 4790 wins well, i was also thinking about buying a Geforce GTX 1650 GPU from a friend & an Antec VP450 PSU, wdo you think these will go well??
Tip: Remember to check for CPU OP already has in case they already have a good or great CPU. Going from quad core to quad core usually has limited improvement. For example, going from an i5-4690 to i7-4790 only has 18% improvement according to game-debate, not noticeable. Another way to put it, 1.18x the performance. When it's almost double, then it's more noticeable. I just use "i5-4690 vs. i7-4790 game-debate" for a search term in Google and click on first option that comes up. You might be doing something similar to check bottleneck. Often, increasing RAM and switching to an SSD can speed up a PC more. And then there's the GPJ...
However, this is not to say that the I7-4790 and the RTX 1650 isn't a great pairing. I think Arty will be happy with his new system. Best of luck!
Another question (if you don't mind) is, i have a standard HDD & have purchased a crucial MX500 SSD, i used Acronis to create a mirror image onto the SSD using Crucial instructions (all ok) now i want to install the SSD to use mainly to boot the pc & keep the HDD for storage.
Is this straight forward to do or am i better to pay a tec wizard to do???
bradthetechnut
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Posted May 1st, 2020 11:00
You're welcome and glad it's working out for you.