Haswell or Sky lake upgrade?

[shadowtdk]

So my current build has the AMD FX-4350 and a single stick of 8gb ram.
I'm on a budget and I want to upgrade. Would it be worth getting skylake, where I would have to buy a new cpu, cooler, mobo, and ram, or should I get a haswell with a cpu, cooler and mobo and just use my current ram until I could afford some better ram?
I want to get something that won't bottleneck my AMD R9 390.
I want to mainly game on my computer, and maybe a slight bit of video editing and programming. So what would my best option be if I wanted to spend £300-£350, with a maximum budget of £400?

 

[mcnumpty23]

ddr4 ram isnt expensive especially if only getting 8gb

personally i went skylake as the m2 support was far better--i see m2 drives replacing the 2.5 ssds more and more as m2 prices drop

 

[unreal9400]

Go with Haswell.

 

[mcnumpty23]

what reason haswell?

and 8gb of 2400mhz ddr4 can be had for £30 so its cheap

 

[unreal9400]

Haswell since its cheaper and he has an FX 4350.
That would be a noticeable upgrade for him.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

This is a Haswell solution that will do what you want, although I'd get a second, identical memory stick, for a bit more speed.

The CPU is a decent i7 equivalent with four cores and hyperthreading and is decently fast. I use one in this system. It lacks an iGPU, but you have a discrete GPU. The motherboard is a good inexpensive model that should do what you want

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£214.62 @ More Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£73.92 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £288.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-06 14:11 GMT+0000

This Skylake option can use your existing memory.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£172.79 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock H170 Pro4/D3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£76.32 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £249.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-06 14:06 GMT+0000

and this system

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£253.28 @ Dabs)
Motherboard: ASRock H170 Pro4/D3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£73.92 @ More Computers)
Total: £327.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-06 14:07 GMT+0000

Is similar to but a bit faster than the Haswell I suggested,

All of the above systems come with an adequate stock cooler.

 

[shadowtdk]

ddr4 ram isnt expensive especially if only getting 8gb

personally i went skylake as the m2 support was far better--i see m2 drives replacing the 2.5 ssds more and more as m2 prices drop

It's not really the ram that I'm worried about, it's more of the CPU and how long it will last me, and how it will perform relative to price/performance to the other option.

 

[mcnumpty23]

ddr4 ram isnt expensive especially if only getting 8gb

personally i went skylake as the m2 support was far better--i see m2 drives replacing the 2.5 ssds more and more as m2 prices drop

It's not really the ram that I'm worried about, it's more of the CPU and how long it will last me, and how it will perform relative to price/performance to the other option.

fair enough though think donkeyoatie just covered about all the options any way

 

[shadowtdk]

This is a Haswell solution that will do what you want, although I'd get a second, identical memory stick, for a bit more speed.

The CPU is a decent i7 equivalent with four cores and hyperthreading and is decently fast. I use one in this system. It lacks an iGPU, but you have a discrete GPU. The motherboard is a good inexpensive model that should do what you want

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£214.62 @ More Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£73.92 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £288.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-06 14:11 GMT+0000

This Skylake option can use your existing memory.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£172.79 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock H170 Pro4/D3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£76.32 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £249.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-06 14:06 GMT+0000

and this system

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£253.28 @ Dabs)
Motherboard: ASRock H170 Pro4/D3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£73.92 @ More Computers)
Total: £327.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-06 14:07 GMT+0000

Is similar to but a bit faster than the Haswell I suggested,

All of the above systems come with an adequate stock cooler.

Thanks for the reply, but I think that id I were to go for skylake, I would probably upgrade my RAM also.
I was thinking about going for Haswell because I could keep my current ram and get a better processor, such as an I7, however as that skylake one comes with a cooler, that does seem a viable option.
I7 skylake build: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/pzXWkL
I5 skylake build: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/VPqVpg
If I went for the i5 option, it would cost me quite a lot less, however I wouldn't get as good performance so I feel that it would be worth spending the extra £60 on it.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The i5 is good. The video editing will be helped by the i7, only you know how important that is, or might become. If you are upgrading to DDR4, I would sell the necessary body parts to get DDR 2400 memory at least. I'm assuming the board in the i5 build is for overclocking later or non-K BCLK overclocking now. Otherwise a cheaper board and more/better memory could be selected.

 

[shadowtdk]

The i5 is good. The video editing will be helped by the i7, only you know how important that is, or might become. If you are upgrading to DDR4, I would sell the necessary body parts to get DDR 2400 memory at least. I'm assuming the board in the i5 build is for overclocking later or non-K BCLK overclocking now. Otherwise a cheaper board and more/better memory could be selected.

So I could go for the I7 skylake, get a cheaper mobo and get better ram?
In the future I may plan to crossfire my 390, so I need to make sure that I can do this
Would something like this be better? http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/GD6L8d
As for a haswell build, would something like this be fairly good: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/97M44D
I just want to get the best performance for the money that I am spending, and for it to last as long as possible.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

If you go with an i7/Xeon (Haswell OR Skylake) it will last as long as you want it too. Sandy Bridge i7s are still relevant many years old. However, your GPU has a much shorter half-life and will not last 'long' at all. Many people use five year old CPUs, most gamers want to replace a three year old GPU.

Yes, the DDR4 2400Mhz would be better.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£269.98 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C12P SE14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£38.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£115.46 @ Dabs)
Total: £424.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-06 15:49 GMT+0000

This for Haswell, and you need a CPU cooler if you plan to overclock, and there's not point getting this kit if you plan to leave it at stock. You could use a 'lighter' motherboard, but I would not. The Gaming 5 is the best price/performance in it range.

 

[shadowtdk]

If you go with an i7/Xeon (Haswell OR Skylake) it will last as long as you want it too. Sandy Bridge i7s are still relevant many years old. However, your GPU has a much shorter half-life and will not last 'long' at all. Many people use five year old CPUs, most gamers want to replace a three year old GPU.

Yes, the DDR4 2400Mhz would be better.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£269.98 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C12P SE14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£38.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£115.46 @ Dabs)
Total: £424.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-06 15:49 GMT+0000

This for Haswell, and you need a CPU cooler if you plan to overclock, and there's not point getting this kit if you plan to leave it at stock. You could use a 'lighter' motherboard, but I would not. The Gaming 5 is the best price/performance in it range.

So would I be better off going for the unlocked Haswell i7, or the locked Skylake i7?
I could get a better motherboard if I went for the Haswell as I wouldn't need to buy DDR4 ram, however if I went with Skylake, I would want to upgrade to DDR4 rather than stick using DDR3

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Compared to what you have, anything will be a big improvement. If you go with a locked Skylake, but a half-decent Z170 motherboard, you can still overclock some by changing BCLK.