# i7 3930k is it good in 2017?



## DuxCro (May 29, 2017)

Right now i'm on FX 4300 and i'm trying twitch streaming. That CPU is good enough for most games (since i have it @4,7GHz), but for x264 video encoding, it is absolute garbage. So since i'm on a very limited budget i was thinking on buying a used i7 3930K and used Asus Rampage IV formula MBO. 
What do you think? Good upgrade? Good for twitch? It is 6 cores/12 threads. And unlocked.


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## johnspack (May 29, 2017)

Yes,  it will blow the doors off the fx4300.  If you can get a really good price,  go for it.  However,  the ram will cost a small fortune.  My 32 gigs cost 100s,  and 64 gigs is extremely expensive.
That said,  the quad channel ram is very fast even at 1866mhz speeds.  You will need to oc the cpu to at least 4.5ghz,  so make sure to have a very good cooler for it.  You could also just get
an e5 1650 v1 for 99 bucks,  which is about the same thing as a 3930k,  and unlocked as well.


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## rtwjunkie (May 29, 2017)

IMO 3930k is good way beyond 2017.  Just be aware it is on a dead platform.  If you can get the combo for cheap though, sure, it's a very nice upgrade.


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## Aquinus (May 29, 2017)

I wouldn't invest in skt2011 unless you already were running on it. I'm actually considering getting either a 3960x or a 4960x because it's a good upgrade without replacing my entire machine as I'm already running on the platform and all I would need is the CPU.


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## DuxCro (May 29, 2017)

johnspack said:


> Yes,  it will blow the doors off the fx4300.  If you can get a really good price,  go for it.  However,  the ram will cost a small fortune.  My 32 gigs cost 100s,  and 64 gigs is extremely expensive.
> That said,  the quad channel ram is very fast even at 1866mhz speeds.  You will need to oc the cpu to at least 4.5ghz,  so make sure to have a very good cooler for it.  You could also just get
> an e5 1650 v1 for 99 bucks,  which is about the same thing as a 3930k,  and unlocked as well.


What do you mean i will NEED to overclock it to at least 4.5GHz? Can i use DDR 3 Ram i have now? I have 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600MHz


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## rtwjunkie (May 29, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> What do you mean i will NEED to overclock it to at least 4.5GHz? Can i use DDR 3 Ram i have now? I have 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600MHz


You don't actually need to. Just overclocking to 4 would still see some very nice gains.  You CAN use that small amount of RAM, but I feel it is a waste of the platform then. More RAM, and faster RAM is the order of the day on skkt 2011, to make use of the quad channel, especially if video encoding as you are or photo-editing.


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## NdMk2o1o (May 29, 2017)

rtwjunkie said:


> You don't actually need to. Just overclocking to 4 would still see some very nice gains.  You CAN use that small amount of RAM, but I feel it is a waste of the platform then. More RAM, and faster RAM is the order of the day on sky 2011, to make use of the quad channel, especially if video encoding as you are or photo-editing.


Agreed.

Op if you only have the money for the motherboard and cpu then your 8Gb will be fine, recommend to upgrade to 16gb when you can afford to, you might be better off just grabbing two more of the RAM sticks you already have if you can find some


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## raptori (May 29, 2017)

I still have 3930k it's strong and kicking @4.0GHz might go 4.2-4.3 soon I remember having 4.3GHz profile , yes it's worth it if you get the combo for good price .


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## Estaric (May 29, 2017)

I got my 3930k a few months back and it's wonderful


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## Grings (May 29, 2017)

If you can pick up them parts for a decent price sure, they are good old chips, and the rampage is nice

If you're current board is any good i would also consider keeping hold of it and picking up a 2nd hand 6-8 core FX cheap and use it as a spare computer, they are not that terrible and so damn cheap now


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## warup89 (May 29, 2017)

Just to add to the helpful comments from the other guys, I have a 3930k since its glory days and it's nice seeing how old this chip is and still being very capable. One thing though, getting the Motherboard is going to be the challenge imho, if you are able to find a sub 200$ motherboard then great, for some reason the x79 chip-set motherboards are quiet rare.


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## Toothless (May 29, 2017)

johnspack said:


> Yes,  it will blow the doors off the fx4300.  If you can get a really good price,  go for it.  However,  the ram will cost a small fortune.  My 32 gigs cost 100s,  and 64 gigs is extremely expensive.
> That said,  the quad channel ram is very fast even at 1866mhz speeds.  You will need to oc the cpu to at least 4.5ghz,  so make sure to have a very good cooler for it.  You could also just get
> an e5 1650 v1 for 99 bucks,  which is about the same thing as a 3930k,  and unlocked as well.


OP doesn't need to hit 4.5ghz what are you on? That chip is already fantastic even at stock.


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## ahujet (May 29, 2017)

You will have a hard time finding a good used x79 motherboard for a good price tho.


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## NdMk2o1o (May 29, 2017)

ahujet said:


> You will have a hard time finding a good used x79 motherboard for a good price tho.


I'm assuming since he's being specific with the chip and motherboard model he has spotted a combo


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## Estaric (May 29, 2017)

johnspack said:


> Yes,  it will blow the doors off the fx4300.  If you can get a really good price,  go for it.  However,  the ram will cost a small fortune.  My 32 gigs cost 100s,  and 64 gigs is extremely expensive.
> That said,  the quad channel ram is very fast even at 1866mhz speeds.  You will need to oc the cpu to at least 4.5ghz,  so make sure to have a very good cooler for it.  You could also just get
> an e5 1650 v1 for 99 bucks,  which is about the same thing as a 3930k,  and unlocked as well.


Why does he need to oc? Mine running at stock kicks butt in multi threaded task and single core performance is good as well


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## eidairaman1 (May 29, 2017)

Save up the cash.


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## peche (May 29, 2017)

T bad thing is that some older X79 boards are expensive ass hell, but some of them are expensive cuz are limited edition and also some of them are from manufacturers that arent making board anymore, for example intel, some of their used boards are too expensive for the brand and model, but the same board with the same chipset in other vendor  might be better purchase, fur example X79DSI  from intel and any gigabyte X79 based board, ill choose Gigabyte for sure!


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## Vayra86 (May 29, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> Right now i'm on FX 4300 and i'm trying twitch streaming. That CPU is good enough for most games (since i have it @4,7GHz), but for x264 video encoding, it is absolute garbage. So since i'm on a very limited budget i was thinking on buying a used i7 3930K and used Asus Rampage IV formula MBO.
> What do you think? Good upgrade? Good for twitch? It is 6 cores/12 threads. And unlocked.



Quality board with this CPU will eat your games and streaming alive. At the same time, I would consider a side-by-side with a Ryzen 5 as well and look critically at the price diff between the two combos. If the difference is within 100 EUR/$ definitely go for the more expensive Ryzen build, it'll be a CPU with 4-5 years lower age and parts with full warranty which is definitely worth that money, while offering same performance - but the Ryzen board will also have more SATA 600, M2, USB 3.0 or even USB C etc etc. and most importantly, less dodgy and more mature IO and other features (like video encode/decode). Back in the Ivy Bridge days it was not uncommon to find crappy Marvell controllers and other funny business on boards and Ivy is also not entirely free of issues (Hibernation issue was a notable one but also USB 3.0 is not optimal). None of these will make you regret picking an Ivy, but FWIW

On top of all this, Ivy's aren't the best overclockers either, making the potential performance max extremely close to what Ryzen 5 can pull, I wouldn't be surprised if a Ryzen at 3.9 would be faster than the Ivy at 4.2, or at least remarkably equal.


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## brandonwh64 (May 29, 2017)

The I7-3930 scores higher in a lot of gaming benchmarks than my I7-6700K so yea I would pick one up if you can get it really cheap.


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## warup89 (May 30, 2017)

Btw,

I just came a cross a thread in Anandtech selling a lot of x79 stuff recently.

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/fs-x79-boards-x58-combo-cases-and-a-zune.2490091/


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## DuxCro (May 30, 2017)

I found a combo i7 3930K, Asus Rampage IV formula and some good air cooler ( don't know the exact model. Manufacturer is EKL AG) for $350. The guy said he'll take my FX 4300, asrock 970 Pro 3 Rev 2.0 motherboard and spire Kepler Rev. 2.0 cooler in exchange and drop the price of his 3 components to $200.



Also some instructions and/or links on how to OC this CPU would be welcome.


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## windowsfrozenshut (May 30, 2017)

The price for x79 stuff is starting to fall with all the new platforms being released. It's still a great option, but as a point of reference I've been trying to sell my p9x79/3930k/16gb combo but haven't even got an offer up to $350 yet.


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## Final_Fighter (May 30, 2017)

for around 350 i think a better option would be this

https://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.3482340

and

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...0158237&cm_re=ddr4_amd-_-20-158-237-_-Product

reuse parts of your old build and sell what you dont need anymore to fund the new one.

edit: this is also a much newer platform with the latest bells and whistles. its not that the one you are looking at is bad but it is old and with the setup just suggested you could always update later down the road. the platform is going to see a processor refresh soon and Ryzen+ sometime by the end of next year.

Edit: sense you said that you will be doing streaming and encoding you are right in wanting a 6 core chip but you should also look at 16gbs of ram. 8gbs will get quickly used up.


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## Komshija (May 30, 2017)

It is still a very good and quite powerful CPU. In single thread it will perform similarly to i5 7400, while in multi thread (4+ threads) it's in the same league with i7 7700K (both stock).


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## jaggerwild (May 30, 2017)

Ive had my 3930K kicking around for a while, just picked up a dead P9X79 PRO with a dozen bent pins for cheap $60. So I have a microscope already, I started to use sewing needles to straighten the pins. The first four snapped off the tips of the pins, some times there brittle sometimes they will bend back. Being as mine are brittle and I already had 4 tips missing, I used my soldering heat gun to warm up a bunch of six pins that were bent completely backwards with 4 already missing if these let go the board would probably not work. So I took my time heating them up and bending each one as close to original as possible. BOOM fired right up, 1 of the ram slots to does not see my memory so I switched channels its running perfectly. I do how ever have an issue with the BIOS as the 1 on the board is from 2012 and I can not find a socket 2011 bupdater for the bios on the Asus site.
 Short story is ill be keeping my 2011 combo as my CPU can do 5Ghz(not sure this board will allow it) and getting ride of my current setup.


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## DuxCro (May 30, 2017)

Thanks for your help. I ordered it. I think it is a very good deal considering it comes with a good motherboard and cooler. I wish it had lower TDP (130W), but you can't have it all. I will use my RAM for a while (2 x 4GB DDR3 1600, and when i save some more money i'll buy 2 more sticks of the same RAM.


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## BarbaricSoul (May 30, 2017)

you won't be disappointed



DuxCro said:


> Also some instructions and/or links on how to OC this CPU would be welcome.



https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...ing-thread-for-those-of-us-still-left.225209/


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## FreedomEclipse (May 30, 2017)

Feel free to drop by the X79 thread when you got all your stuff together and running. There are a handful us still rolling deep with the X79 platform in various configs -- I myself are running a 3930k but i dont think my OC is 100% rock stable anymore so i may have to drop down a little.


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## johnspack (May 31, 2017)

Quick voltages for 4.7ghz,  note keep vcsaa and vttcpu at 1.1 exacty,  they don't need more:






At the same time....  x99 will become much cheaper very soon.  If I was building an all new/used system,  I'd go x99,  but in a few months after x299 is released.

Oh,  and why to oc these cpus to 4.5+ghz?  I can game at high ocs,  and then render multiple audio files at 100x speed.  Then render some HD video files at 20x.  Then run 2 virtual machines that boot in seconds.
Why not do more,  faster?


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## DuxCro (May 31, 2017)

Will this platform have problems working with Windows 10? Also, since i have only 2 RAM sticks, in which slots on MBO do i insert them in?


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## ahujet (May 31, 2017)

johnspack said:


> Quick voltages for 4.7ghz,  note keep vcsaa and vttcpu at 1.1 exacty,  they don't need more:


Did you try to use lower pll voltage? Some chips are stable with for example 1.65 volts on pll, with same clocks.


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## rtwjunkie (May 31, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> Will this platform have problems working with Windows 10? Also, since i have only 2 RAM sticks, in which slots on MBO do i insert them in?


No problems on W10 at all.


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## peche (May 31, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> Will this platform have problems working with Windows 10?


you might have to try some drivers, also some W7 & W8 in that board, guess not all vendors will update drivers for W10, mine Z68x board has no drivers for w10.... im using some for W7 without problems!


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## rtwjunkie (May 31, 2017)

peche said:


> you might have to try some drivers, also some W7 & W8 in that board, guess not all vendors will update drivers for W10, mine Z68x board has no drivers for w10.... im using some for W7 without problems!



Interesting they would sideline Z68 like that, since Gigabyte X79 boards do have W10 drivers.


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## peche (May 31, 2017)

rtwjunkie said:


> Interesting they would sideline Z68 like that, since Gigabyte X79 boards do have W10 drivers.


such is life my friend, W10 drivers for old Gen boards are like a wish, W7 and W8 drivers works pretty pretty well since i have been using them on W10 for moar than 3 months so far without problems

Regards,


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## jaggerwild (May 31, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> Will this platform have problems working with Windows 10? Also, since i have only 2 RAM sticks, in which slots on MBO do i insert them in?



 Consult the owners manual, if you dont have 1 you can down load it from the vendors site.


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## ratirt (May 31, 2017)

I got 3770k and it is doing great  Never had problems with win 10 either.


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## DuxCro (Jun 1, 2017)

Should arrive tomorrow. I just don't think i'll be able to do some serious OC on it because it is very power hungry and i have 550W 80+ silver power supply.

Just installed everything. There's a bunch of stuff on this MBO i don't know what it does. . There's a molex connector on the motherboard just right of the rear IO. I didn't connect anything to it. My PSU has molex power cables. But i just connected the 24 pin one and 2x4 power connector that goes near CPU socket. Do i need to connect molex also. And i'd like to know your idle temps on this CPU. In BIOS, it says 40C. Isn't that high for idle?


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## BarbaricSoul (Jun 2, 2017)

The molex connector is a power source for older video cards with molex connections. No idea why they put that on that board. My Rampage IV Black Edition has no such connection. No, you don't connect anything to it.






Idle temps aren't something to really worry about. Put the CPU under full load. If it stays under 80'c, you're good.


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## T-Bob (Jun 2, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> Will this platform have problems working with Windows 10?


No, I have the Black edition of that board and Asus has drivers for all relevant stuff listed on their website.


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## LFaWolf (Jun 2, 2017)

Not entirely true. The connector is for you to supply additional power (in addition to the 24-pin) to graphics cards if you are running power hungry graphics cards in SLI or Crossfire. This rises from when the x58 platform when people were burning out their boards from running multiple power hungry graphics cards. For the RIVBE, it is also there. It is located in the lower left corner, below the very last PCI-e slots.



BarbaricSoul said:


> The molex connector is a power source for older video cards with molex connections. No idea why they put that on that board. My Rampage IV Black Edition has no such connection. No, you don't connect anything to it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## rtwjunkie (Jun 2, 2017)

LFaWolf said:


> Not entirely true. The connector is for you to supply additional power (in addition to the 24-pin) to graphics cards if you are running power hungry graphics cards in SLI or Crossfire. This rises from when the x58 platform when people were burning out their boards from running multiple power hungry graphics cards. For the RIVBE, it is also there. It is located in the lower left corner, below the very last PCI-e slots.


I've actually got a Z77 MB with one of those plugs, and like you said, the manual says to use it if running SLI.


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## BarbaricSoul (Jun 2, 2017)

wonder why that would be an option instead of just using a PSU with the appropriate connections like should be done. I mean seriously, when was the last video card with molex connections manufactured?


edit: Just checked, and my RIV BE infact does have one of those connections also.


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## Norton (Jun 2, 2017)

BarbaricSoul said:


> wonder why that would be an option instead of just using a PSU with the appropriate connections like should be done. I mean seriously, when was the last video card with molex connections manufactured?


That connection provides extra power to the PCIE bus side of the cards (PCIE slot spec is 75w iirc)- the molex is supposed to help prevent excess draw from the bus when running more than one card.


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## BarbaricSoul (Jun 3, 2017)

Norton said:


> That connection provides extra power to the PCIE bus side of the cards (PCIE slot spec is 75w iirc)- the molex is supposed to help prevent excess draw from the bus when running more than one card.



I understand what it's purpose is, my thing is when was the last video card with molex connectors produced. IIRC, the last molex connection card I had was a 8600 GTS, which I had in a AMD XP 1400 based system.


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## Ferrum Master (Jun 3, 2017)

BarbaricSoul said:


> I understand what it's purpose is, my thing is when was the last video card with molex connectors produced. IIRC, the last molex connection card I had was a 8600 GTS, which I had in a AMD XP 1400 based system.



No it is for the board to add more power to the PCIE slot itself. Where did you got those about ideas about molex on video cards? It was ages ago...


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## BarbaricSoul (Jun 3, 2017)

Ferrum Master said:


> Where did you got those about ideas about molex on video cards?










Ferrum Master said:


> It was ages ago...



I realize that, that's why I'm surprised they are there. I understand now that they are for getting power from the PSU for additional cards, instead of being an additional connection for supplying power to the additional cards themselves (which I admit does make better since). Ok help me to understand here, is this molex connector for supplying the motherboard with additional power to handle to extra PCI bandwidth being used and other additional activity caused by the card, or for supplying power to the additional card itself through the PCI slot?


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## radrok (Jun 3, 2017)

The 3930k is a beast of a CPU, I've been using it lately since I resold my 5960x in preparation for the x299 platform incoming.

It hits 4,6-4,8 Ghz on good water cooling and it doesn't bottleneck even my 1080 ti so go figure how good it is!


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## Tomgang (Jun 3, 2017)

Taking the exsperince i have had with my I7 980X now after i upgradet from a I7 920 and the fact that I7 3930K is faster. Not by much but is faster.

I7 3930K will be a great step up over your FX 4300. Just remember if you oc that I7 3930K may need a better CPU cooler than your current if you really overclock it to high clocks. I7 3930K is a 130 TDP cpu stock and that aint gonna get lower then overclocked while AMD FX 4300 has a TDP of 95 watt stock.


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## jboydgolfer (Jun 3, 2017)

radrok said:


> The 3930k is a beast of a CPU


Damn right. i wish i had one


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## DuxCro (Jun 5, 2017)

OK. I've been offline for a few days. This CPU is a beast. Performance is a lot better than i expected. It doesn't even feel games and streaming at the same time. I do have 2 issues now. 

1. I noticed every game now has stutter. CPU load doesn't matter. It's just constant and equally ..hmm...paced stutter. Something that wasn't happening with my crappy FX 4300.

2. Since i changed motherboard and CPU in my PC, Windows 10 isn't activated any more. Idk how to activate it. MS troubleshooter is utterly useless. There's a 0800 phone number...that nobody answers to. And when i click on "ask community", win pops out an error. I don't have a product key since i upgraded for free from Win 7. Doesn't look like an upgrade right now tbh.


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## EarthDog (Jun 5, 2017)

It should auto activate... you saying it fails when you are manually having it activate?

Try the number at different times? Look it up and confirm on google?


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## DuxCro (Jun 5, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> It should auto activate... you saying it fails when you are manually having it activate?
> 
> Try the number at different times? Look it up and confirm on google?


I googled a little and it says it's because i changed motherboard. So it thinks this is a different PC. idk if it can still be activated.


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## EarthDog (Jun 5, 2017)

Call MS...you need someone on the phone to activiate.


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## DuxCro (Jun 5, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> Call MS...you need someone on the phone to activiate.


Nobody is answering. They be like...talk to the hand.


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## Liviu Cojocaru (Jun 5, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> Nobody is answering. They be like...talk to the hand.



Keep trying you'll get a hold of them eventually, there is no other way unfortunately


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## EarthDog (Jun 5, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> Nobody is answering. They be like...talk to the hand.


Like i said, try different times... confirm the number with google(why i mentioned google earlier...)... etc.


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## DuxCro (Jun 5, 2017)

Uf! Did it. Managed to link my MS account with this hardware. It's activated now. Free beer for all from me. Just charge it to Microsoft.


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## Liviu Cojocaru (Jun 5, 2017)

Enjoy your new setup, you've made a good choice


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## Kissamies (Jun 5, 2017)

My HTPC has 2500K @ 4.2GHz and I'm truly happy with it. With better cooling I OC it more, but now it has only stock heatsink, and it gets pretty noisy.

3930K is fine and will be for couple years.


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## BarbaricSoul (Jun 5, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> 1. I noticed every game now has stutter. CPU load doesn't matter. It's just constant and equally ..hmm...paced stutter. Something that wasn't happening with my crappy FX 4300.



a little more info. what games are doing this? what is task manager showing as being the biggest CPU cycle using app? did you install the Intel drivers for your new board (I'm assuming you did not do a clean Windows reinstall from your activation issues)?


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## LiveOrDie (Jun 5, 2017)

radrok said:


> The 3930k is a beast of a CPU, I've been using it lately since I resold my 5960x in preparation to waste my money.
> 
> It hits 4,6-4,8 Ghz on good water cooling and it doesn't bottleneck even my 1080 ti so go figure how good it is!



Let me edit that for you.


The 3930K will last as long as it powers on.


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## remixedcat (Jun 5, 2017)

Hey my 3570k is still pretty good so don't feel bad


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## radrok (Jun 5, 2017)

Live OR Die said:


> Let me edit that for you.
> 
> 
> The 3930K will last as long as it powers on.



Nah man not even close to wasting money, I'm pretty confident that the x299 platform will let us see way higher clocks on high core count CPUs.

Also I sold my x99 platform basically breaking even


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## DuxCro (Jun 5, 2017)

BarbaricSoul said:


> a little more info. what games are doing this? what is task manager showing as being the biggest CPU cycle using app? did you install the Intel drivers for your new board (I'm assuming you did not do a clean Windows reinstall from your activation issues)?


I tried Resident evil 7, DOOM, Ass Effect: Andromeda, Grand Theft Auto V and Dark Souls 3. The biggest CPU cycle using app is the game ofc. i installed intel drivers and no, i didn't reinstall win 10. I probably should, but there's so much stuff i would need to redownload and readjust. It would take days.


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## LiveOrDie (Jun 6, 2017)

radrok said:


> Nah man not even close to wasting money, I'm pretty confident that the x299 platform will let us see way higher clocks on high core count CPUs.
> 
> Also I sold my x99 platform basically breaking even



You should know by now that's not the case the performance come from the updated architecture 30% faster than the last gen counter parts, these chips are coming out with 4.5ghz boost on 2 cores and a base clock of 3.5ghz which pretty much the same and a LN2 overclock of 5.7Ghz, did this guy win the lottery or just get a ok clocking chip, ill hold on to my X99 for now wait and see if its worth the wank.


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## EarthDog (Jun 6, 2017)

Live OR Die said:


> Let me edit that for you.
> 
> 
> The 3930K will last as long as it powers on.


it will last as long as any sandybridge. Sufficient is a good word for it...long in the tooth is another. SB, being ~25%+ slower than skylake can hold high end cards back in some titles... glass ceiling. In titles that jse more than 8 threads, it will have more life over its 8t counterpart.


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## LiveOrDie (Jun 6, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> it will last as long as any sandybridge. Sufficient is a good word for it...long in the tooth is another. SB, being ~25%+ slower than skylake can hold high end cards back in some titles... glass ceiling. In titles that jse more than 8 threads, it will have more life over its 8t counterpart.




People are still running 2600k that run games fine they mite lose frames over new chips but then again if your running a 2600K still you probably still running a GTX680 .


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## EarthDog (Jun 6, 2017)

Live OR Die said:


> People are still running 2600k that run games fine they mite lose frames over new chips but then again if your running a 2600K still you probably still running a GTX680 .


yes..they run fine.. but again, glass ceiling in some titles. We see plenty of people upgrading SB systems.....only the gpu. There is sufficient horsepower, but again, dat glass ceiling tho...

...and those mites... get bug spray!


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## BarbaricSoul (Jun 6, 2017)

How about you people stop arguing over how long you think the 3930k will be relevant and help with the OP's problem-



DuxCro said:


> 1. I noticed every game now has stutter. CPU load doesn't matter. It's just constant and equally ..hmm...paced stutter. Something that wasn't happening with my crappy FX 4300.





DuxCro said:


> I tried Resident evil 7, DOOM, Ass Effect: Andromeda, Grand Theft Auto V and Dark Souls 3. The biggest CPU cycle using app is the game ofc. i installed intel drivers and no, i didn't reinstall win 10. I probably should, but there's so much stuff i would need to redownload and readjust. It would take days.



@DuxCro, personally I'm thinking you may have to do the reformat/reinstall of Windows. While I have switched HHD with Windows installed back and forth between Intel and AMD platforms without issues like your having, I have also heard of people having issues doing that. IIRC, their symptoms were the same as you are experiencing.


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## EarthDog (Jun 6, 2017)

I already did...

Wait..windows activation....

Swap gpu drivers out... reinstall tje game...Reinstall windows... etc... the basics.


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## LiveOrDie (Jun 6, 2017)

BarbaricSoul said:


> How about you people stop arguing over how long you think the 3930k will be relevant and help with the OP's problem-
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I think thats already been covered mate.


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## Kissamies (Jun 6, 2017)

Live OR Die said:


> People are still running 2600k that run games fine they mite lose frames over new chips but then again if your running a 2600K still you probably still running a GTX680 .


Yeah. I'd swap the platform from my HTPC (2500K etc.) to my gaming rig, but connectivity is pretty ancient by this day's standard. Otherwise, there's nothing to complain in the good old 1155 platform.


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## DuxCro (Jun 10, 2017)

What do you think should be a good voltage for 4GHz OC?


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## Aquinus (Jun 10, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> In BIOS, it says 40C. Isn't that high for idle?


No. This is normal for my 3820 on a hot day.

```
coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +42.0°C  (high = +82.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 0:         +33.0°C  (high = +82.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 1:         +42.0°C  (high = +82.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 2:         +40.0°C  (high = +82.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 3:         +42.0°C  (high = +82.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
```


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## eidairaman1 (Jun 10, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> What do you think should be a good voltage for 4GHz OC?



Whatever makes it stable.


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## DuxCro (Jun 11, 2017)

I OC'ed it to 4GHz and it is stable. But it's constantly @4ghz. Looks like power saving isn't working. Also, idk why is this CPU declared as running @3.2GHz by default. When i reset everything to factory defaults in BIOS, it is running @ 3.5GHz. Even when tested with prime 95.


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## radrok (Jun 11, 2017)

You should overclock using offset voltage and keep speedstep enabled


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## Aquinus (Jun 11, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> I OC'ed it to 4GHz and it is stable. But it's constantly @4ghz. Looks like power saving isn't working. Also, idk why is this CPU declared as running @3.2GHz by default. When i reset everything to factory defaults in BIOS, it is running @ 3.5GHz. Even when tested with prime 95.


The base clock on the 3930k is 3.2Ghz, so, at stock you could have some cores running at slow at 3.2Ghz and others running as high as 3.8Ghz.


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## EarthDog (Jun 11, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> I OC'ed it to 4GHz and it is stable. But it's constantly @4ghz. Looks like power saving isn't working. Also, idk why is this CPU declared as running @3.2GHz by default. When i reset everything to factory defaults in BIOS, it is running @ 3.5GHz. Even when tested with prime 95.


some boards default to the all core turbo clock.


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## DuxCro (Jun 11, 2017)

radrok said:


> You should overclock using offset voltage and keep speedstep enabled


OK. I did that. For some reason i can't manually set CPU core ratio and have turbo mode disabled at the same time. If i try disabling turbo mode, my CPU core ratio resets to auto.


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## Aquinus (Jun 11, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> OK. I did that. For some reason i can't manually set CPU core ratio and have turbo mode disabled at the same time. If i try disabling turbo mode, my CPU core ratio resets to auto.


That's because you use turbo to overclock. It must be on for the CPU multiplier to go above that for your base clock (32x in your case with the 3930k.)


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## DuxCro (Jun 16, 2017)

I got 2 more sticks of RAM. But for some reason it doesn't want to run in Quad channel. I tested all slots and all are working properly. But when i install 4 x 4GB of RAM. Motherboard registers only 12GB, and CPU-Z says it's running in triple channel.


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## Aquinus (Jun 16, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> I got 2 more sticks of RAM. But for some reason it doesn't want to run in Quad channel. I tested all slots and all are working properly. But when i install 4 x 4GB of RAM. Motherboard registers only 12GB, and CPU-Z says it's running in triple channel.


Find out which slot isn't being included and see if that stick works in another slot and if one of the DIMMs currently working works where the dud was. If a different DIMM works in the same slot, the DIMM is DOA. If a different DIMM doesn't work, then either the slot is damaged or there is an issue with the contacts between the CPU and the motherboard for just that channel.

I would fiddle with the DIMMs first to see if you can narrow it down to one stick or one slot. If it's a stick, you know what to do (RMA,) if it's the motherboard, I would try reseating the CPU and be extra careful to not over-tighten the CPU cooler.


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## EarthDog (Jun 16, 2017)

Try adding some System Agent voltage and see if it shows up.


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## DuxCro (Jun 16, 2017)

Aquinus said:


> Find out which slot isn't being included and see if that stick works in another slot and if one of the DIMMs currently working works where the dud was. If a different DIMM works in the same slot, the DIMM is DOA. If a different DIMM doesn't work, then either the slot is damaged or there is an issue with the contacts between the CPU and the motherboard for just that channel.
> 
> I would fiddle with the DIMMs first to see if you can narrow it down to one stick or one slot. If it's a stick, you know what to do (RMA,) if it's the motherboard, I would try reseating the CPU and be extra careful to not over-tighten the CPU cooler.


All DIMM's and all slots are working.


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## Aquinus (Jun 17, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> All DIMM's and all slots are working.


So... it's working fine?


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## EarthDog (Jun 17, 2017)

His answer, to me, feels like he tested the sticks and slots. 



Im wondering if he tried adding some SA voltage as i suggested earlier...


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## DuxCro (Jun 17, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> His answer, to me, feels like he tested the sticks and slots.
> 
> 
> 
> Im wondering if he tried adding some SA voltage as i suggested earlier...


All dimms are working in all slots. Just not in quad channel. I had 2 x 4GB RAM in 2 slots right of CPU sockets. It was registered as 8GB dual channel. So i know those 2 slots and dimms are OK. Then i tested 2 slots left of CPU socket. Both slots will register a RAM stick. BUT...not if both sticks are inserted at the same time. I have no idea what System Agent voltage is and does.


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## EarthDog (Jun 17, 2017)

I got that... clearly.

Go into your bios, look for system agent voltage and add .1v. Simple. I cant look nor hit the button for you my man.


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## DuxCro (Jun 17, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> I got that... clearly.
> 
> Go into your bios, look for system agent voltage and add .1v. Simple. I cant look nor hit the button for you my man.


OK. I will report back. Unless i destroy my MBO and/or CPU in the process. 

Works. Quad channel.  One last question..for a while.  Why does CPU-Z report DRAM frequency of 800MHz when it's a 1600MHz RAM? BIOS says frequency is 1600MHz


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## rtwjunkie (Jun 17, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> Works. Quad channel.  One last question..for a while.  Why does CPU-Z report DRAM frequency of 800MHz when it's a 1600MHz RAM? BIOS says frequency is 1600MHz


Good for you!!

As to your question, it will always show that. DDR stands for Dual Data Rate, thus it will operate at twice the frequency.


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## Aquinus (Jun 17, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> Why does CPU-Z report DRAM frequency of 800MHz when it's a 1600MHz RAM? BIOS says frequency is 1600MHz


1600Mhz is misleading. It's running at 800Mhz, 1600MT/s. To elaborate on what @rtwjunkie said, it's the case that the data lines operate at double data rate (DDR,) because the data lines can have valid data on them at every clock edge (both going from high to low and low to high,) as opposed to every clock (both high and low.) The 1600MT/s (mega-transfers per second,) indicates transfer speed as opposed to signaling rate because there really is no clock running at 1600Mhz. This is even more so the case when you consider that control and address lines run as single data rate (SDR,) so it's only data transfer itself that occurs at DDR, not the signaling to drive it.


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## DuxCro (Dec 1, 2017)

Sorry for bumping this old post, but i'we been doing a bit of overcloking of this CPU and something is weird. When i have everything in BIOS on optimized defaults, CPU voltage goes from 0.88V in idle to 1.22V on full load. When i OC'ed it to 4GHz and set offset voltage to + 0.040V, voltage in idle is now 1.34V and under full load 1.3V. Doesn't make any sense. No need mentioning that this raises temperatures considerably. Around 70C under load.


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## Aquinus (Dec 1, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> Sorry for bumping this old post, but i'we been doing a bit of overcloking of this CPU and something is weird. When i have everything in BIOS on optimized defaults, CPU voltage goes from 0.88V in idle to 1.22V on full load. When i OC'ed it to 4GHz and set offset voltage to + 0.040V, voltage in idle is now 1.34V and under full load 1.3V. Doesn't make any sense. No need mentioning that this raises temperatures considerably. Around 70C under load.


So, auto voltage is like a voltage table where different frequency means different voltage. It is not an automatic static voltage. Offsets adjust the voltages described in this table. For example, at stock, the auto voltage at 3.6Ghz might be something like 1.25v but, 4.0 might be 1.30v because auto voltage isn't a static voltage and increases with core clocks and decreases with lower clocks. It's a dynamic voltage based on core clock speed. So for example, if you have an offset of +0.010v, you're essentially increasing the value of every stepped voltage which includes voltages at idle clocks handled by speed step.

If it's staying at full clocks at idle because of performance settings, the voltage will be higher at idle because the CPU isn't under load. The voltage dropping under load is LLC to prevent overshooting the voltage when the CPU goes from full load to no load as well as under-shooting the voltage when going from no-load to full-load.


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## DuxCro (Dec 1, 2017)

Aquinus said:


> So, auto voltage is like a voltage table where different frequency means different voltage. It is not an automatic static voltage. Offsets adjust the voltages described in this table. For example, at stock, the auto voltage at 3.6Ghz might be something like 1.25v but, 4.0 might be 1.30v because auto voltage isn't a static voltage and increases with core clocks and decreases with lower clocks. It's a dynamic voltage based on core clock speed. So for example, if you have an offset of +0.010v, you're essentially increasing the value of every stepped voltage which includes voltages at idle clocks handled by speed step.
> 
> If it's staying at full clocks at idle because of performance settings, the voltage will be higher at idle because the CPU isn't under load. The voltage dropping under load is LLC to prevent overshooting the voltage when the CPU goes from full load to no load as well as under-shooting the voltage when going from no-load to full-load.


Yea it is at constant 4GHz even when not under load. Intel speed step is enabled in BIOS so i thought it would lover the frequency when CPU is in idle. I also tryed setting offset voltage to AUTO, and i get the same results. 1.34 in idle and 1.3V in full load.


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## Aquinus (Dec 1, 2017)

DuxCro said:


> Yea it is at constant 4GHz even when not under load. Intel speed step is enabled in BIOS so i thought it would lover the frequency when CPU is in idle. I also tryed setting offset voltage to AUTO, and i get the same results. 1.34 in idle and 1.3V in full load.


Power settings in Windows are probably set to "High Performance" which will prevent the CPU from going down to idle clocks and that is what will cause the voltage to drop at idle. As for the voltage dropping when it goes under load, I already said that's LLC and 100% normal.


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## DuxCro (Dec 1, 2017)

Aquinus said:


> Power settings in Windows are probably set to "High Performance" which will prevent the CPU from going down to idle clocks and that is what will cause the voltage to drop at idle. As for the voltage dropping when it goes under load, I already said that's LLC and 100% normal.


Heeeeey! That did it. Windows power settings were at high performance. I set it to balanced and now it Lowers the clocks down to 1200MHz and voltage to 0.88V in idle.  Idle temperatures were around 45C before. Now they're around 30C. Thank you.


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## DuxCro (Oct 5, 2018)

So, i OC'ed / tweaked some more in the meantime. Running @4.4Ghz with 1.28 Vcore, Is that good?


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## ahujet (Oct 5, 2018)

DuxCro said:


> So, i OC'ed / tweaked some more in the meantime. Running @4.4Ghz with 1.28 Vcore, Is that good?


Yes. For reference I need 1.45V for 4.7GHz.


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## johnspack (Oct 6, 2018)

All chips are different.  My xeon,  which is basically a 3930k needs 1.33v for 4.7ghz.  His cpu sounds more like mine.
And yes, 4.4 at 1.28 is good.


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