Upgrading my old Titan Triceratop Rig

Jack1986 · 4 Jun 2017 at 21:39

Hi All,

I have an old PC that I have upgraded a little over the years. It is still going and I have been running my Vive on it. I will be getting a new gaming rig after my wedding later this year but I was thinking of upgrading the processor on my old PC in the meantime.

Everything else was pretty easy to upgrade but I am clueless with the processor.

The original setup was the Titan Triceratop from 2011.

System Specification
- Case: Coolermaster Elite 335 Case - Black
- Power Supply: OCZ ZS 650W PSU
- CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz Sandybridge overclocked to 4.40GHz
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. Z68AP-D3 DDR3 Motherboard
- Cooler: Corsair H60 CPU Cooler
- RAM: 4GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6GB/s
- Graphics Card: Choice of the latest DX11 Graphics cards
- Sound: Realtek 7.1 Channel Sound (On-Board)
- Optical Drive: LG DVD+/-RW SATA Drive

Would someone be able to advise a processor to get as an upgrade? I understand thet Overclockers dont supply a suitable option for this any more.

What do I have to look for to make sure the processor will work in my motherboard? Is it just the socket number? (1155 I believe).

Thanks for your help!

Jack

stulid · 4 Jun 2017 at 21:47

All you can do is i7 2600K/2700K/3770K etc.

Basically any Sandybridge and Ivybridge cpu, may need to update the BIOS too.

There are two revisions of the boards,

1.0 - http://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z68AP-D3-rev-10#support-cpu
2.0 - http://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z68AP-D3-rev-20#support-cpu

These CPUs will only be found 2nd hand now.

Also how about more system RAM? 4GB isnt much these days (in fact is it 4Gb or 2x4GB?)

Jack1986 · 4 Jun 2017 at 22:24

Thank you for the swift response!

I have actually already increased the RAM. It came with a 2 x 2gb kit. I have since added a 2 x 8gb kit. I also have a GTX 1060 6gb and I have added a new PSU. All over a long period of time.

The CPU is the only part left to switch out I think.

Does the revision of the board affect which CPU I can get or is that just to make sure I upgrade the BIOS correctly?

Ill start having a look now.

Thanks again!

Jack

Jack1986 · 4 Jun 2017 at 22:59

Me again,

Are any of the desktop CPUs here going to be ok, Including the i7 Extreme?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge#Desktop_platform

Cheers

Jack

stulid · 4 Jun 2017 at 23:04

The board revision looks like they can both take the same cpus, just the BIOS version differs that is needed.

You can only run a socket 1155 cpu, so you cant do i7 extreme 3930K etc.

Only the ones in the links I gave.

wedrum · 4 Jun 2017 at 23:06

If your only gaming at 1080p then your still fine for a while yet

Jack1986 · 4 Jun 2017 at 23:08

Ah I see! Perfect, thank you.

Ill take another look

Cheers

Jack

Jack1986 · 4 Jun 2017 at 23:18

Thanks both.

Its mainly to give my Vive as much help as it can get. Some of the more demanding games dont run perfectly.

Cheers Jack

Danny75 · 5 Jun 2017 at 00:38

If your motherboard has profile save slots, you can save the current one (might be saved already) and try squeezing a bit more out of the CPU.

I would add an SSD as primary/OS/programs/a few games drive. It can carry over to your next build.

Jack1986 · 5 Jun 2017 at 11:42

Thanks for the info Danny,

I forgot to add that I have upgraded my hard drive to SSD for the OS and more demanding games. The old 500gb is now just a secondary drive.

The CPU is still running overclocked and I'm not confident enough in my ability to try and get any more out of it

Cheers

Jack

Jack1986 · 12 Jun 2017 at 15:05

Hi All,

Thank you for your help with this so far. I have successfully fitted my i7 3770k and it is has given me an improvement in performance and benchmarking.

I'm looking for a little more help if possible.

I have overclocked my GPU and I was looking to overclock my CPU in a similar way to my previous i5 2550k. Unfortunately it seems I can only up the multiplier in the BIOS to 39. I was hoping to get this up to somewhere between 40 and 45.

It seems as though this is a limitation with the motherboard and that it is limited to 39 max with this CPU. I have looked for information online and it seems as though a number of people have been hitting the same problem but I thought that as if has been a few years now since all of the posts I was seeing, there may now be an alternative solution.

I am running the latest version of the BIOS (F8) but it still only lets be up the multiplier to 39.

Are there any other ways that I may be able to overclock my CPU if the motherboard is limiting this to 39x? People have been suggesting using a UEFI BIOS but it doesn't look like there is an option with this motherboard (GA-Z68AP-D3 - rev 1.0)

Thanks again!

Jack

Danny75 · 12 Jun 2017 at 15:13

Could you download (if you don't already have it) CPU-Z and take a screenshot of the first tab (CPU tab)?

Jack1986 · 12 Jun 2017 at 16:22

Hi Danny,

Yes I have this on my PC, I will screenshot it and send it over when I'm back from work!

Cheers.

Jack

Danny75 · 12 Jun 2017 at 17:13

Yeah, it's only to confirm it really is a 3770K but I'm guessing you've checked.

That UEFI BIOS you mentioned - I did find posts from a guy who says he managed to install a UEFI BIOS for revision 2.0 on the 1.0 board (which then allows fully unlocked multiplier for all CPUs apparently), but I don't know if anybody else confirmed that. Your board has dual BIOS I think? If so, could be worth a try and maybe not altogether risky. However, can't say for sure. Maybe someone else can help you with this. At the very least, that UEFI BIOS for 2.0 is worth exploring/asking about. He then had a sleep issue, so if you went down that route, and it worked, I'd disable sleep and hibernate immediately after.

Gigabyte are sometimes nice with providing BIOSes upon request if you join/ask in their forums. If one exists or someone can tweak an existing one for you.

Jack1986 · 12 Jun 2017 at 19:14

Thanks again for the info. I will look into trying the rev 2 on my board and let you know how i get on

I have checked the processsor and it is definitely i7 3770.

Cheers!

Danny75 · 12 Jun 2017 at 20:14

Jack1986 said:
I have checked the processsor and it is definitely i7 3770.

Cheers!

3770? Or 3770K?

Jack1986 · 12 Jun 2017 at 20:20

Doh! it is DEFINITELY i7 3770k

Danny75 · 12 Jun 2017 at 20:28

lol ok

Jack1986 · 26 Jun 2017 at 15:29

Hi again,

i don't suppose you have a link to the guy who installed the version 2 UEFI BIOS do you? I have tried installing it but it does not work. I'm wondering what he did differently.

Alternatively, if you know what I might need to do to install this BIOS on the version 1 motherboard that would be greatly appreciated!

Kindest regards

Jack

Danny75 · 27 Jun 2017 at 12:37

Jack1986 said:
Hi again,

i don't suppose you have a link to the guy who installed the version 2 UEFI BIOS do you? I have tried installing it but it does not work. I'm wondering what he did differently.

Alternatively, if you know what I might need to do to install this BIOS on the version 1 motherboard that would be greatly appreciated!

Kindest regards

Jack

It'd take me a long time to find again, Jack. And even if I did, I remember he didn't explain if he modded the BIOS or it just worked for him. Like I said, nobody else confirmed so it may have been BS too, was just worth a try (on dual BIOS boards). Still think Gigabyte themselves are your best bet, either way, to get you that BIOS or let you know it's just not possible.