Help a rookie?

Forkinator

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Its been a while since I have built a pc. I currently have an old I7 920 and a EVGA x58 SLI.

I want to upgrade my CPU and motherboard but haven't been in the "game" for a while so to speak so I want help from you enthusiasts. I have all my hardware overclocked as much as possible but my cpu is the bottleneck on my system currently.

every 5 years or so I will upgrade my mobo with cpu and get the best of the best. My question is, since cyber Monday is tomorrow, should I buy the best mobo and cpu or wait for intels next cpu?

Money is sorta not the issue. Lets just say I dont want to buy any Intel Extreme CPUs. but the CPUs that are right below the Extreme models. I also want the best motherboard out there and don't want to have any issues with overclocking.


Really hope you guys can give me some solid advice on whether to wait for next years lineup from intel or jump on the deals tomorow and get a new mobo/cpu.
 
Solution
The Haswell-E platform was launched later last year, whereas Skylake was launched a few months ago. It's strange the way Intel does things, but these days, they keep their mainstream chipset(in this case Z170) a generation newer than their enthusiast platform (X99). They did the same thing w/ X79. Basically, if you have both 59xx and 67xx CPUs at the same clockspeed, the 67xx series is going to be about 5% faster if using a max of 4-cores.

Futureproof is the big question. If your really only going to be gaming in for foreseeable future(a few years), you're likely better off with Skylake 6700k. However, to make a point here, with Windows 10 and DX12 gaming going forward, the OS is going to be capable (in future games) to support...
There's two "paths" you can take w/ this info. Intel's newest chipset/CPUs just launched recently, with the i7 6700k being the top 4-Core CPU on their mainstream Z170 chipset. If you want their "enthusiast" X99 platform, you get into 6 and 8-Core CPUs. Both platforms have their advantages. How many GPUs do you plan to use. What do you use your PC for primarily?
 

Forkinator

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Thank you so much for the reply. Currently I have 1 GTX 980 Classified and I plan to get another possibly or just wait for the next big thing. I want to keep SLI a possibility.

I will be using the system to play games at the highest possible graphics settings. I will also overclock each component in the system so I want the system to be highly overclockable since right now all the main components I have are OC'd.


EDIT: Do I want a socket 2011 motherboard or a socket 1151? Keep in mind I want the most out of my hardware and price is not going to be the biggest factor, but I want to stay away from the extreme series intel CPUs as they seem a little overpriced.
 
No problem, just trying to help. SLI would work fine w/ either platform. It would just be *slightly* slower on Z170 chipset due the available PCI-E lanes for multiple GPUs. If you not going to be using more than 2 GPUs and not using software that can utilize more than 4-cores for the foreseeable future, I'd be looking at the Z170 platform. These would be the "Skylake" series CPUs. Also, be aware with either platform, you would need new RAM as they both use DDR4 instead of DDR3.

EDIT: Either platform would be a nice upgrade over your current setup. What kind of money were you looking to spend on CPU, motherboard, and RAM? The cheapest CPU for X99 for example is close to $400.
 

Forkinator

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Thanks. See, I didn't know I would need new ram. I thought that the current ram I had would be compatable with any new motherboard but apparently not. Good to know.

There is going to be a skylake refresh soon correct? Do you know which quarter of 2016 that will be? Is it even worth the wait for the new lineup if I am going to be getting top of the line components now?

Is Skylake the lesser of the 2?(Haswell-E, Skylake) when talking about performance gains? I am probably going to want the most future proof setup possible. If there is going to be a new socket coming out soon within 2 months, I will probably wait.


Edit: I want to spend no more than 1000 on all the ram, cpu, and motherboard. .
 
Skylake refresh "Kaby Lake" is late next year to my knowledge, but only Intel knows for sure. It would be the same socket as Skylake. It's also said to launch with a slightly updated platform. Either way, it's only going to be a small upgrade to Skylake. The next major upgrade wouldn't be until sometime 2017.

There is no new sockets coming out for Intel until 2017 to my knowledge. Skylake is technically newer CPU architecture, but at the same clockspeed, it's only going to be about 5% faster(assuming using same amount of CPU cores). What Skylake's main benefit over Haswell-E are newer chipset/platform improvements and PCI-E lanes for new storage. However, even these are minimal depending on parts you're using. Overall, both platforms are pretty similar. It's better explained if reading articles for both chipsets. You could go w/ either platform for $1000 budget(depending on CPU choice). However, if possible and your not using one already, I'd recommend an SSD for OS drive as well.

Regarding "futureproof", this is never ending in the PC world :)
 

Forkinator

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Okay so now that we got that out of the way. I really like to shop New Egg. Could you link me to a mid range cpu, top range, motherboard and mid range ram? Don't worry about looking for combo deals, I will look at those later.
 

Forkinator

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I am going to go with X99. I would like to note that I do like EVGA Motherboards but don't know how they perform these days since the one i have is very old but still works great. I dont know if the ASRock motherboards are the go to motherboards these days. You know what you are doing so I will let you do the picking.


Edit: Now that I think about it, I dont mind getting a mid line CPU and overclocking it to save more money but I do want to stay with the x99 motherboard so I know that will limit my CPU choices to socket 2011. for instance, Intel Core i7-5820K Haswell-E 6-Core 3.3 GHz seems to me to be a good choice.
 
OK, that narrows things down. You're only choice to be on budget for CPU is the i7-5820k(same CPU I'm using). Any brand loyalty for motherboards? I've been an ASUS user for about 11 yrs now and always recommend them, though I recently built a Skylake HTPC using a Gigabyte board due to price. They are also highly recommended. Any specific features on motherboard needed?

EDIT: I can't comment on EVGA boards, though I've read they've gotten better. Also, ASRock seems pretty popular for the price.
 

Forkinator

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Honestly I just want high speed throughput to be the top feature. I will be gaming mainly on this system so I dont really have a preference for brands or features. But could you remind me of some features that could be useful to me?

and yes I definitely want to get a Intel Core i7-5820K Haswell-E 6-Core 3.3 GHz. The only difference between that and the higher models is the speed of the cpu, correct? Can I overclock it nicely?
 
There are other differences between 5820K and higher. Extreme model has 8-cores, and it along with 5930k have 40 PCI-E 3.0 lanes vs 28 for 5820k. Again, using at most 2 GPUs, this really isn't a problem. For OCing, I have mine at 4.4Ghz. However, OCing this platform is MUCH different than i7 920 platform(still have an X58 system running).

For motherboard features, X99 has tons of SATA 6G ports. They also have SATA Express(likely to never be used). Most will have support for newer M.2 SSDs. Onboard audio has gotten much better, Onboard Bluetooth, 802.11 AC Wifi. Also, X99 uses Quad-Channel memory vs Triple Channel on X58.
 

Forkinator

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Okay so I just want good OCing capability for the motherboard. I wont run more than 3 SSD and probably will not use wifi. But I do want some good onboard sound and want hi speed PCi-E.


I like to tweak and tune as much as I can to get the most out of the setup. I think before I gave off the vibe that I did not care about money, and I really want to save money on this deal while getting a really good future proof setup. Thanks again.
 

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I noticed that the it 59xx series has been out for a while. Is there nothing newer? IS that the best series out now for gaming?


Can you give me a few reasons why the 59x series is better than the 67x series?

check out this comparison

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-5930K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-6700K/2578vs3502

I do understand that the 5930k has 6 cores vs the 4 cores on the 6700k and that its a different socket. But Since I am still a rookie I dont know much else about it. is it better for me to get the 6700k? I want a good future proof setup.

Doing a little more reading, It seems to me that the 6700k would be a better choice for gaming. looking at the stats on the page i linked, it seems that multi core performance is better on the 5930k but single core is better on the 6700k. Where does that leave me?
 
Glad to help. Ok, here's a link to your PSU compatibility. Your fine :) http://www.corsair.com/en-us/blog/2013/may/haswell-compatibility-with-corsair-power-supplies I'm using almost the same model myself (Corsair AX1200i). I'm using an Asus X99 Deluxe board myself, plenty of features, and OC tweaking capabilities, and quality components in construction. A cheaper version of this would be the X99 PRO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132517&cm_re=x99_motherboard-_-13-132-517-_-Product. This cuts back a few of the features at a lower price point. The Rampage V Extreme is of course the flagship, but it costs about $500. Any kind of budget specific for motherboard? Also, don't go purely based on the "egg" ratings on Newegg. I think some of these reviews can be misleading, or not even the fault of the product, but sometimes the user.
 

Forkinator

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Thanks for the reply. Before we go any further, read my last 2 posts and tell me what you honestly think. I wont be doing any video editing or server/workstation stuff. Really just for gaming is a 6 core going to give better results vs a 4 core? I guess I need to look at some benchmarks but want to get your opinion of it. Where are the 6 core Skylake processors? Why is there no market for new 14nm 6 core cpus?


Ugh, now I am wondering if I should wait for the broadwell-E...
 
The Haswell-E platform was launched later last year, whereas Skylake was launched a few months ago. It's strange the way Intel does things, but these days, they keep their mainstream chipset(in this case Z170) a generation newer than their enthusiast platform (X99). They did the same thing w/ X79. Basically, if you have both 59xx and 67xx CPUs at the same clockspeed, the 67xx series is going to be about 5% faster if using a max of 4-cores.

Futureproof is the big question. If your really only going to be gaming in for foreseeable future(a few years), you're likely better off with Skylake 6700k. However, to make a point here, with Windows 10 and DX12 gaming going forward, the OS is going to be capable (in future games) to support many more cores as most games still use 2, though some use 4 or more. This will be up to the developers of course, and likely still a couple years until this is commonplace.

For further detail, Intel is said to be launching "Broadwell-E" CPUs that will work in the X99 sockets in 1H of 2016. Until then, only the 59xx is available. Kabylake CPU will be avaiable as a drop-in upgrade to Socket 1151 to Skylake in 2016 as well.

After this long-winded post, here's a summary. Both X99 and Z170 have similar features regarding storage technology, capabilities. X99 is better if you need more than 4-cores, use 3 or 4 GPUs, or need Quad-Channel memory bandwidth. Z170 is more "futureproof" regarding chipset( bit more than X99), but will only be 4-cores max, can't use more than 2 GPUs, and Dual-Channel memory only. Intel keeps these platforms seperate by limiting cores to 4 on Skylake, there won't be anymore than 4.

EDIT: To add to confusion, Intel is releasing a Skylake-E platform in 2017, this is where the 6 or more cores 14nm CPU's will be. Also, Broadwell-E CPUs will have 6, 8, and 10-Core models that will be compatible w/ X99 until Skylake-E.
 
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Forkinator

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Yeah as of now I don't know anymore what to do. If Skylake is not going to be the enthusiast platform then maybe i should get the haswell-e. I am looking at the single core benchmarks since thats where the most performance is really at for gaming. I just want real world performance.