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Sandy Bridge to Haswell - worth it?

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  • Sandy Bridge
  • Motherboards
  • Intel i5
  • CPUs
Last response: in CPUs
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October 15, 2014 5:03:35 AM

I have been running a i5-2500k for the last 2 years and it has been a great processor. However recently the motherboard (MSI Z68S-G43) has starting whining and acting odd with disconnecting drives. I was going to replace it with an Asrock Extreme4 Z77 motherboard and still might but I thought, would it be worth while upgrading to haswell (i5-4690k) instead of replacing an old motherboard?. What performance increase would there be if any? Is it worth spending the ~£260 instead of £90 for a new old Z77 motherboard?

More about : sandy bridge haswell worth

October 15, 2014 6:10:02 AM

Honestly, the difference between the i5-2500k and i5-4690k is not very big, and you're not going to notice much of a performance increase, if it all:
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-2500K-vs-Intel-46...

However, if you are going to replace your motherboard anyway, then it makes sense to upgrade. I would let it depend on what you do with your current CPU. If you can sell it and recoup some of the costs of going with a newer CPU then it make sense to do so. If you're just going to throw it away, then imho the price difference is too much.
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October 15, 2014 6:37:05 AM

I have the same mobo paired with an Ivy Bridge 3570k and I plan on riding this for at least another couple years. You won't notice a huge bump in performance upgrading to a haswell. Either buy a P67 or Z68 mobo and drop the i5-2500k in there or do a complete upgrade with a new mobo/cpu.
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October 15, 2014 6:46:29 AM

Depends on how much of your hardware you want to keep/change. Z97 is going to be the last gasp of the true DDR3 motherboards from Intel and it doesn't have SATA Express, but you can get M.2 for speedy SSDs.

(Not sure on Skylake, roadmap lists both DDR3 and DDR4, so perhaps LDDR3 for mobile and DDR4 for desktop)

Of course that is more then a year out, and closer to 2 years out, most likely.
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October 15, 2014 6:53:09 AM

From a gaming stand point, i moved from a 2600k to a 4670k and could not tell the difference. It could have been the move from the 580 to 980 and 1600MHz to 2133Mhz ram at the same time that is overshadowing an improvements that i could have seen with the cpu.

In theory a move from a gen 2 to gen 4 should net you about 20% gain. But like others have said above, if your going to buy a new board might as well buy the latest socket. A 4690k should last you good 3-5 years at least where the 2500k is in the middle of its life and coming to its end.
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October 15, 2014 8:23:04 AM

I say keep your sandy bridge, saving your money. Then when DDR4 becomes practical in desktops then make the jump, but thats just me.
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October 15, 2014 8:33:56 AM

yep keep the sandy bridge its still good
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October 15, 2014 10:02:30 AM

Thanks for advice. Although I wouldn't be selling my i5-2500k, I would give it to my mom, completely over kill for what she uses here computer for but she is currently use on a Core 2 Duo which is very slow and has wanted an upgrade for ages. Since she is using DDR2 RAM , I would have to buy more RAM anyway. I was wondering (instead of starting a new thread), would it be worth while buying 1866MHz RAM (currently using 1333MHz) for gaming? Or sticking to 1333MHz. I currently use my computer for gaming, programming, word processing and potentially getting into 3D modelling (Blender)? Overall, would it be worth while getting an 4690k and 1866MHz RAM for my needs?
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October 15, 2014 10:16:59 AM

No, keep your sandy platform.
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October 15, 2014 12:09:46 PM

Right now 1866 and 1600Mhz Ram are very similar in price. I think it could potentially be worth it. using 1333Mhz Ram I would at least move up to 1600Mhz
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October 15, 2014 12:12:06 PM

OK would you recommend just upgrading the RAM or CPU as well?
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October 15, 2014 12:13:11 PM

As I stated earlier, keep your sandy bridge CPU. You won't notice the jump.

Edit: It would be a help if you posted your whole setup
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October 15, 2014 12:53:44 PM

OK thanks. My complete build is in my signature below
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October 15, 2014 1:09:21 PM

Ok, that was my bad missing that. I would say given your setup, and your current 8GB just replace the motherboard, and the motherboard only.
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October 15, 2014 3:39:35 PM

IamTimTech said:
Ok, that was my bad missing that. I would say given your setup, and your current 8GB just replace the motherboard, and the motherboard only.


If he just replaces his mobo with a new one, the i5 2500k would not work...just keep what you have unless the problem is the hardware, ram speed does not affect gaming performance by very much at all.
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October 16, 2014 11:38:05 AM

LookItsRain said:
IamTimTech said:
Ok, that was my bad missing that. I would say given your setup, and your current 8GB just replace the motherboard, and the motherboard only.


If he just replaces his mobo with a new one, the i5 2500k would not work...just keep what you have unless the problem is the hardware, ram speed does not affect gaming performance by very much at all.


His motherboard is failing. He wants to replace it with another board of the same chipset.....

He is asking if he should make the move to Haswell which would involve replacing his motherboard and the CPU. I recommended he simply replace his existing motherboard and leave it at that.
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October 16, 2014 11:55:19 AM

Since youre only running a 760, you wont really notice the bump when going to haswell. Id just stick with z77 for maybe 2 years then get the latest and greatest
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October 16, 2014 12:19:43 PM

OK thanks for your help everyone. Think from all that I will just replace the motherboard which I have now with a Asrock Extreme4 (think its the best one still available in the UK?) instead of purchasing a new CPU when there isnt much performance gain from spending that much money
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October 16, 2014 12:40:48 PM

I assume Asus boards are available in the UK? I have always been of the opinion that Asus is better than Asrock, but I am sure many would disagree as Asrock has a large following as well.
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October 17, 2014 7:13:42 AM

IamTimTech said:
I assume Asus boards are available in the UK? I have always been of the opinion that Asus is better than Asrock, but I am sure many would disagree as Asrock has a large following as well.


Long ago ASRock was the bargain brand of ASUS. They split off and still make budget parts, but of good quality. They also have their extreme series which is competitive with all the major brands.
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October 17, 2014 7:33:53 AM

My i5 2500k is clocked to 4.6Ghz and its fast as stock clocked 4690k. Not worth upgrading atm.
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