Is this a balanced upgrade?

[jorge22f]

I'm thinking about upgrading my gaming PC and I was wondering if anyone knew if there is are better options out there for an upgrade that is worth while for a little over $300. The upgrade I'm thinking about is going to cost me $330.

This is what I currently have in my gaming PC:

i7 950
MSI X58 Pro-E
CORSAIR XMS3 12GB (6 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
XFX R9 390X
CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-650TX 650W

I also have an SSD which is not being fully used since my motherboard only supports up to SATA II. I'm thinking about upgrading my CPU, motherboard and RAM.

Here is what I have come up with after doing a little bit of research. I mainly picked this CPU because it was recommended by this site as being a good one for the price and it is considerably better than the one I have now.

Intel Core i5-6500
MSI H110M Pro-VD
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 2400

The only things I've upgraded in years are my video card and my case so I'm not sure how great of a upgrade this is. This is why I'm looking for some input from people.

 

[digitaldoc]

The i5-6500 is about 30% faster than the i7-950, although the older i7 is actually faster still on some multithreaded workloads. It will also help to get more RAM into your system.

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-950-vs-Intel-Core-i5-6500/617vs3513

You should consider going to an i7-4790 as that will offer more performance (+59%) for a better value. Microcenter has them for $249 if you are near one, as that is only in store.

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-950-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4790K/617vs2384

 

[jorge22f]

The i5-6500 is about 30% faster than the i7-950, although the older i7 is actually faster still on some multithreaded workloads. It will also help to get more RAM into your system.

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-950-vs-Intel-Core-i5-6500/617vs3513

You should consider going to an i7-4790 as that will offer more performance (+59%) for a better value. Microcenter has them for $249 if you are near one, as that is only in store.

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-950-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4790K/617vs2384

I don't think we have a Microcenter here in Utah, That's too bad that they don't ship. Since those are $300 on other sites I just checked that would take up almost my entire budget. Thank you for the response. If I could get it somewhere else for that price I could just get the CPU and a motherboard and then wait to upgrade my RAM.

 

[digitaldoc]

This all depends on the workload you are doing. For purely gaming, there won't be much difference between an i7 and i5 as few games can take advantage of the additional hyperthreaded cores. However, if you do video rendering, or other CPU intensive workloads, realize you are giving up the i7 you have to get a faster i5, which if anything may be slightly slower (and hardly an upgrade at any rate).

 

[jorge22f]

The only intensive task I use this PC for is gaming. So if the additional threads wont make a noticeable difference I'll stick with the i5. Thanks for the info.

 

[digitaldoc]

You're welcome. So the Skylake i5 is a good choice for your needs.