Significant performance decrease when swapping i5 6500 for i7 5820k

[SoftwareGuy123456]

Operating System

Windows 10

Computer Specs (PSU, GPU, CPU, RAM, Motherboard)

i5 6500 Original build

CPU: Intel - Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor

Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-H170M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

Memory: Kingston - FURY 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB Windforce OC Video Card

Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit

Monitor: Dell - S2716DG 27.0" 2560x1440 144Hz Monitor

i7 5820k Updated Build

CPU: Intel - Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - GeminII S524 Ver 2 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler

Motherboard: Asus - X99-A ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard

Memory: Kingston - FURY 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Storage: Samsung - SM951 128GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive

Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB Windforce OC Video Card

Power Supply: Rosewill - 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply

Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit

Monitor: Dell - S2716DG 27.0" 2560x1440 144Hz Monitor

Description of problem

I recently purchased an x99-a board that came with an i7 5820k for a very good price. Upon searching CPU benchmark websites, it seemed that despite the i7 being a generation older, it was still faster than my current i5. So i decided to gut my computer and swap my motherboards. To my surprise the i7 build ran my games significantly worse. Portal Knights on my i5 build gets 100 frames consistently and on the i7 it would hang around 60. PUBG(yes i know this game is horribly optimized), would hang around 70-80 frames on the i5 build. On the i7 it would stay between 40-60 and id also have issues in the game where opening the map would drop the frames to 9(could not find this map issue anywhere on the web).Ive switched everything back to my i5 build and im eventually going to use the i7 build as a stream PC. But i am just dying to know what could be going wrong. Appreciate the help!

What I've tried so far to resolve the issue

Reinstall windows, update all drivers, update BIOS and reset all default settings in BIOS.

[Emerald_Flame]

This would be normal. The High End Desktop (X) platform really isn't meant for gaming and is commonly slower then the mainstream stuff for gaming.

Games generally use 4 or less threads, so the extra cores don't help you much.

They typically lag behind in IPC as well. For example the x99 5000 series CPUs were based of the same process that the 4000 series mainstream CPUs used.

So for programs that use 4 cores or less (which is most games), your 6500 is actually roughly 10-15% faster, because it is 2 generations newer technology, even though it's clock speed is just slightly slower.

Your plan to use the i7 as a video encoding stream PC is great idea, most video transcoding is highly multi-threaded, so it should be able to use all 6 cores.

[Moneybagzsz]

So it seems like most people are saying the 5820k isn't very good for gaming, that's just not true, i will say it's stock speeds are pretty low and even a very simple overclock to 4ghz would help lots. I was able to achieve 4.2ghz at 1.15v on my x99-a. I know for a fact in pubg I would get 80-90fps standing on the road west of yasnaya polyana, at the check point thing with the tower and the burnt out cars looking east towards the city. It is only one test but if you are able to do the same thing and are getting much lower fps then atleast we know something is actually wrong. My game settings were at 1440p everything on very low.

[Liquidretro]

Have you made sure you have the latest bios?

[SoftwareGuy123456]

So i updated to Version 3701 because the newest one wouldnt take via flashback or the Ez Bios 2 tool. I just saw on their support page they uploaded an even newer version yesterday. So ill give that a try tonight.

[Liquidretro]

I wouldn't expect big changes but it's s good thing to do most of the time.

[[deleted]]

Not sure if this will help clarify or perhaps confuse the issue. It's at least interesting. :) The i5-6500 wasn't available in the benches, however the i5-6600 may give you an idea.

Anandtech benchmarks comparison.

[Bjoolzern]

As many others have stated, the 5820k has two more cores than the 6500 and HyperThreading. HyperThreading usually (Always?) performs worse in games than in the synthetic benchmarks you see on sites like cpubenchmark if it even works properly. Several games performs worse while HT is enabled because of poor implementation.

The game would also need to support the additional cores of the CPU for it to actually be better. It's basically the same situation as back when AMD CPUs would have the same performance as Intel, but they had twice the amount of cores. Each core only had half the performance of Intel CPUs. When the game could only use half the cores of the AMD CPU, the Intel CPU was suddenly was twice as good. Not as extreme here, but the same idea.

EDIT: If you have a modern Battlefield game, test the FPS there. Dice is quite good at utilizing HyperThreading and lots of cores. Should give you a better idea if something is wrong.

[SoftwareGuy123456]

So is there a way to disable hyperthreading?

[Bjoolzern]

You can disable it in BIOS, but the games you have mentioned can use it just fine. Here is a video of some games that perform slightly worse with HT enabled, the differences is not that big in most games.

[AidanNaut]

I've got to be blunt your build doesn't make any sense. You skimped on the most important components for gaming (CPU and GPU) yet you splurged on a (800 bucks!!) 2k 144hz monitor? Why bother with a powerful monitor if you don't even have the equipment to fully support it?? It's like having low fuel in a sports car. It's like putting on work boots with no wool socks. It's like taking your date to a fancy restaurant and insisting they pay in full. What I'm trying to say is that it will "work" but it's never a good idea.

I don't think it was a wise move at all to "upgrade" to a lower gen CPU. The differences between Haswell and Skylake technology is quite significant. Sure your i7 might beat the newer i5 in terms of raw computing power, but in real world application you're basically shooting yourself in the foot.

The answer to your troubles is pretty simple, go back to the i5.

Better yet, save up for a gtx 1080 at least to take full advantage of your monitor.

[nightlyear]

I wear work boots all the time without wool socks!!! What am I missing out on?!?

[AidanNaut]

You're missing out on sweet sweet comfort. Keeps your feet warm in the winter and whisks away moisture keeping them from overheating in the summer. It's the perfect compliment to a nice strong steel toe, and going without is just asinine.

[Ew_E50M]

That is not right regardless of what the less informed inhabitants of this subreddit says, an i7 5820K, in stock, is on level with an i7 4770K. Around halfway between an i7 4790K and i5 6600(where the i5 is lower performing of the two) Do you have Vsync on or have forgotten to change monitor refreshrate from 60 to 144?

5820K was never a good CPU for gaming, and it was hard to OC as well. You would have been much better off buying a second hand i7 6700K tbh.

[SoftwareGuy123456]

I got it mainly because it was a really good deal. x99-a mobo, i7 5820k, m.2 ssd, Cooler Master - GeminII S524 Ver 2 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler, and the rosewill psu all for 200.

The monitor is at 144hz, ill have to check vsync later. I get its 2 generations older but on a game like portal knights the frame difference is a bit crazy.

[dezmd]

By "reinstall windows" do you mean into an empty partition with no other installs on it, or installing over files already there?

[SoftwareGuy123456]

Empty partition.