7 replies to this topic

[Lyoto Machida]

I am currently running the old Phenom in the title with a GTX 570 for GPU and Gigabyte GA-870a-UD3. I realize that I'll have to upgrade the mobo in either case when I switch to Intel but would the GTX 570 and existing RAM work with whatever motherboard I need, whether it's a LGA1150 or LGA1151 socket type?

My hope is that the current RAM and GPU can be ported over to the new setup for now, until I can upgrade in the future. Both the 4690k and 6600k are $199 (and $30 cheaper if I pair with a motherboard) at the moment and while I'd been eyeing the 4690k for years, does it make sense to go that route when the 6600k is the same price? Any mobo suggestions?

[Rascally Jack]

Move to the LGA1151 as 16GB trident GSkill RAM is $70+, also you can use your GT570 until you can afford an upgrade. There is no need to stay at DDR3 at this time since you are making such a huge upgrade the future proofing at current technology for the same price as DDR3 technology is goodness all the way around. If you can hang on a few more months at this point save your dollars up and hit the end of year mega sales or if you cannot wait get the newegg sales letters and use pcpartpicker to shop for deals. Remember anytime you find a *deal/sale* always check a few competitors before purchasing. just my plugged penny worth of thought.

[Lyoto Machida]

Rascally Jack, on 22 April 2016 - 12:54 PM, said:

Move to the LGA1151 as 16GB trident GSkill RAM is $70+, also you can use your GT570 until you can afford an upgrade. There is no need to stay at DDR3 at this time since you are making such a huge upgrade the future proofing at current technology for the same price as DDR3 technology is goodness all the way around. If you can hang on a few more months at this point save your dollars up and hit the end of year mega sales or if you cannot wait get the newegg sales letters and use pcpartpicker to shop for deals. Remember anytime you find a *deal/sale* always check a few competitors before purchasing. just my plugged penny worth of thought.

I get the Newegg email blasts and I've never seen them or anyone else lower than Micro Center in-store pickup when it comes to the i5-4690k and I've been watching prices for awhile. I think the i5-4690k went as low as $179 during Black Friday. I'm assuming it's the same way for the i5-6600k.

Just for comparison...the i5-6600k is $249.99 at Newegg, which is $50 more than Micro Center's price at the moment (and you can get $30 off for bundling a mobo, which would pay for my tax).

As far as my memory goes...I'm currently running 8gb of some G.Skill DDR3 RAM. As long as that old DDR3 is transferable over to a LGA1151 mobo, I should be ok with it until a sale on memory later this year.

[Niko9]

1151 unless you are on a budget. The latest tech isn't cheap. If you want cheap, then shave another year or two off your next upgrade cycle.

My gf wanted a budgeted tower, so I built her an i7-4790k centered build(Even when advised different, but money is money). Personally, I dug a little deeper for the i7-6700k and am loving it. A simple H60, up to a h110i GT if you plan to OC much, will keep it nice and cool.

[Catamount]

There's really no meaningful difference, whatsoever, between Haswell and Skylake, certainly not in gaming, but at this point is the price really differing either? Z170 boards are a lot cheaper than they once were.

The board choice for DDR3 compatible Z170 boards seems a little thin, only 4 boards according to PCPartPicker, but they seem like decent boards so surely it works out alright.

[Chimera_]

I'd absolutely recommend getting the I5-6600k over the I5-4690k, since it's...better. LGA 1151 also gives DDR4 support. If you needed to keep your existing DDR3 sticks, there are some LGA 1151 boards that do support that.

If you're on a tight budget and could upgrade within a year or two, an I5-4690k wouldn't be a terrible choice, but a 6600k would give you more options for smaller upgrades in the future.

By the way, when you do eventually upgrade your ram, make sure to get 16 gigs. 8 is old standard and games are (just now) starting to use more than 8 gigs. Also, remember games generally are more GPU-bound than CPU-bound. Getting an expensive CPU doesn't make sense if you can't afford a GPU to pair. A good budget (<$250) card to pair with either CPU would be an R9 380. GTX 960 would work too, but is basically just inferior to the 380 unless you need NVidia-specific features.

[Lyoto Machida]

Appreciate the input so far. Am considering just buying the i5-6600k at the $199 price without the $30 discount for bundling a motherboard with it and taking more time to research a motherboard. The i5-4690k doesn't seem worth it anymore, considering I can get the 6600k for the same price.

Then again, I'll have a brand new CPU just sitting there in a box, taunting me while I run this old gear...

[Golrar]

Main difference between the 6600k and the 4690k is future proofing. The 1150 socket I believe is hitting end of cycle whereas the 1151 is going to be around at least for a little while.

If you are doing this mainly for MWO then the GPU is not as important as the CPU as this game chews IPC. You will notice a marked difference from the AMD to the Intel no matter which way you go.

Looking at the CPU hierarchy list from tomshardware.com, both options would be a good upgrade for you. It all depends on how long you plan to keep the new system. You always want to upgrade at least 2 tiers higher than your current setup. Both the 4690K and the 6600K are in the top tier for CPUs right now (4 tiers higher than your current setup). So essentially upgrading to the Devil's Canyon option (4690K) does make sense since you already have DDR3 ram. That system should last you a couple of years and you are not really sacrificing anything to the 6600K except future upgrades through the mobo.

If I had your setup I would go for the 4690K, reuse the ram, and get a new GPU down the line. Although the 570 is dated, it should still net you decent performance at 1080p with some options set to low, especially shadows and particles. But the money you save on ram and board would mean more money for your eventual GPU upgrade.

Also, don't neglect your PSU. You may need to think about upgrading that when you upgrade your GPU, especially if you go for a higher end Radeon card.

All that being said, if you can hold out until the fall it might be a good idea. AMD is supposed to release Zen in September I think, and if the performance is all it is hyped up to be, it could force the prices of the Intel CPUs lower. But that is just conjecture at this point.