Upgrade new motherboard with same socket or buy entirely new system

bryjoered

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Jul 26, 2012
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I have an i7 2600k with a motherboard that cant overclock it. I have bought a Corsair H115i to overclock it, but need a new LGA 1155 socket mobo.
I have found a few on Ebay, maybe could secure one for about $120. Therefore, to get this new mobo, the total cost of replacing motherboard and overclocking my 2600k is about $240.
Alternative would be just get entirely new mobo plus modern equivalent 7700k or ryzen 1700 or a total of about $600 bucks.
I have a GTX 1080, and a 1440p 144hertz monitor. I play WoW which is def CPU bottlenecked with my I7 at 3.4 ghz. I also play other games like the new Tomb Raider, BF1 and Deus Ex.

What do you think?
 
Solution


It's time. Your PC is lacking. You want to add some horsepower. It's a choice between...


It's really up to you do you want to spend 600$ on a new cpu + mobo + ram or do you just get a motherboard from ebay and hope for the best.
 
If I was under a budget constraint I would go with a replacement 1155 mobo. If I wasn't so constrained; I would sell the 2600K system and put the money towards a new build. Also keep in mind that ebay can definitely be luck of the draw for computer hardware; though they are really good about getting your money back if you get hardware that doesn't work; just can be a PITA sometimes going through the process.

You *should* be able to get $100-$150 for a used i7 2600K on ebay.
 

bryjoered

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I am thinking about ordering a (i'm assuming refurbished) Asus p8v77-v-lx, for 112. I have read it was a good motherboard for the LGA 1155 socket. The 2600k and ram might net me around $130 on Ebay before Ebay's Cut. Given that information, what do you think is the better option? I am not necessarily budget constrained, but $600+ dollars is hardly trivial at the same time.
 


It's time. Your PC is lacking. You want to add some horsepower. It's a choice between $240 for the opportunity to overclock with varying returns or about $600 for a considerable return and everything is new. Just make sure you buy a Z270 board. You then sell the old motherboard, RAM and CPU to belay the cost of the upgrades and you might have invested a total of $400?. Warranty windows are open again.
 
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bryjoered

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Yeah, I don't know how much it is lacking, but it needs an upgrade for sure for peak performance and not to bottleneck my 1080. If you can get you i7 2600k to around 4.5 ghz it competes well with even modern chips. It's a tough decision to be sure.
 


The total is around $240. The 2600K with the new hardware runs at 4.5GHz.

The final price for the new hardware is about $400. The 7700K is already at 4.5GHz with room to spare. The RAM will also be faster. You can head over to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_IY7cf-znE to see the performance difference. The 7700K wins in my book.

I am currently considering a $2000 investment. Sure, it's easy to tell someone your opinion but much harder when it's your cash on the line. I am not one to spend money. I prefer to invest it. If it were not worth it and you would simply be spending an extra $200 I wouldn't suggest it. I'm going to be buying the HTC vive and upgrading my PC. I've been looking at reviews, asking questions here and at other forums. And I will continue to do my research until I am certain I'm not wasting money. I really do feel that your most valuable long-term move is to Kaby Lake or Ryzen.

Please let us know what you decide so we can see this question come full circle.
 


You pulled the trigger :eek2:. That is a beautiful thing. Yeah, it's always an indescribable moment when I am pressing the power button on a custom rig for the first time.

Will be waiting for the final chapter in this saga. Hardware list and what type of FPS changes there were.

Thank you for the update :D.
 

bryjoered

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Jul 26, 2012
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I got it all up and running, looks to be about a 20fps gain in some situations, maybe a bit more? The corsair H115i was such a pain to install and it works well, but I can't get the software to work so far. I have tried many things.

 


Nice boost :D. Only thing I can recommend is getting Corsair on the horn or follow a youtube video.