i7 3930k is it good in 2017?

[Dux]

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.

 

[johnspack]

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.

 

[rtwjunkie]

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.

 

[Aquinus]

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.

 

[Dux]

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

 

[rtwjunkie]

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.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

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

 

[raptori]

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 .

 

[Estaric]

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

 

[Grings]

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

 

[warup89]

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.

 

[Toothless]

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.

 

[ahujet]

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

 

[NdMk2o1o]

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

 

[Estaric]

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

 

[eidairaman1]

Save up the cash.

 

[peche]

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!

 

[Vayra86]

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.

 

[brandonwh64]

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.

 

[warup89]

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/

 

[Dux]

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.

 

[windowsfrozenshut]

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.

 

[Final_Fighter]

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.

 

[Komshija]

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).

 

[jaggerwild]

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.