Should I Upgrade MOBO? I have Asus P8Z68 PRO/GEN 3

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Alyus

Alyus

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I do need to upgrade my CPU since it's only a 2120. I plan to get two GTX 980 TI or a single AMD R9 395X2 later this year. My concern is that I will have to buy a better CPU, whatever latest 1155 socket and then I might end up wasting money when Skylake comes out, plus getting a new motherboard (Asus Maximus Hero VII).

I only game so maybe I should just keep my P8Z68 and save a few hundred bucks from buying another MOBO? I have no budget. I just don't spend where I don't have to if there if is no substantial gain in doing so.

I am going to game in 4K so perhaps someone can help me find out what a smart choice is.
 
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festerovic

festerovic

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I was in the same boat a year ago. Had a p67 and 2600k, and went to z97 and 4790k. Not a very big difference in gaming performance, I was even using CF 7950. I also am gaming at 4k as well, even though my gpus don't really have the balls to pull off max IQ at that res. Its still great. Most games appear to be limited entirely by GPU once you are using >2600k.

So if I had to do it again, after benchmarks and actual real life gaming experience, I would have stayed on the p67/2600k and saved it for a later upgrade.

$.02
 
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drtweak

drtweak

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Sep 17, 2012
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Can't really upgrade the motherboard without upgrading the CPU as well. The second Gen (which is what you have) uses the socket 1155. The 3rd and 4th gen uses socket 1150. Won't work.

Also festerovic he has an i3 not an i7 like you have going from second gen to 4th gen. Will be better when you get the GPU as well so that your CPU isn't holding your games back at the higher frame rates.

If he was to go from that i3 to a current i5 or i7 he would probably see a good boot in performance. not huge but good.

So yea if anything you will be better off upgrading your CPU with a used 2600K or something for now, get the video cards, then go back and start saving again for a new motherboard/CPU combo.
 
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Alyus

Alyus

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I would still have to buy a better CPU. What's the best you suggest for 1155 socket? It seems Newegg only sell 1150 now. Oh, okay, the other person just responded with a used 2600K.
 
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Alyus

Alyus

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"So yea if anything you will be better off upgrading your CPU with a used 2600K or something for now, get the video cards, then go back and start saving again for a new motherboard/CPU combo. "

Money is not an issue. It's about spending if and only it will benefit me significantly over my older hardware.
 
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Lumpus

Lumpus

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I'm in the exact same boat - have:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz - Socket 1155 LGA (Sandy Bridge)
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO Z68 PCI-Express

Is 2600k the best available chip for this as well?
$$ is very tight for me right now so if there won't be much CPU performance improvement from upgrading then I should start my upgrades elsewhere, like GPU also.
 
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festerovic

festerovic

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The best socket 1155 chip out is the 3770K. For gaming, consider the 3570k, as the extra hyperthreading "cores" are nearly useless for games.

To both of you guys that want to upgrade - the results were not very good for me going from a 2600k to a 4790k. Pretty minimal impact in games. Maybe around <5 fps. That said, the socket will be the same for the next set of CPUs, so you might as well wait until then to see how those perform.

Spend the money on GPUs. Or beer. Or legal herbal substances.
 
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Alyus

Alyus

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I've changed my mind to upgrade CPU; it's just as expensive as buying a new one. I'm just going to wait for Skylake to be released next year and upgrade to the next Asus ROG Hero VIII I presume and the new Skylake CPU together. Waste of money to spend $700.00 is gaming CPUs. I don't play CPU intensive games so it's not a big deal.

 
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drtweak

drtweak

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Yea just upgrading the CPU would be best right now. Even getting a 2500k would be good. Again performance different is minimal going to a 4th gen i5/i7 right now. Only thing you would really gain honestly is native USB 3.0. Don't think USB was native at the time of the Second Gens or depending on your motherboard PCIe 3.0 but even when you look at benchmarks the performance difference between 2.0 and 3.0 on current gen cards are minimal unless you are doing SLI or something like that. Best to just upgrade a CPU now and get a better machine later on.
 
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Alyus

Alyus

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I'm going to wait for Skylake and then upgrade to Asus ROG Maximus Hero VIII. If used CPUs were a few bucks I might consider it. But used CPUs are just as expensive as the new generation. There is no reason to buy used inferior items that is just as expensive.
 
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