Looking to upgrade - Need advice from you awesome peeps! :)

[Shazma0527]

I currently have a ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 running a Core i5-2500K.

I have around $700 and want to upgrade my mobo/mem/processor and reuse the rest of my current pc.

I do run an Oculus Rift CV1 on it and it's flawless, even though the Oculus Home says it's not supposed to work. I'm just ready for an upgrade but want the best bang for the buck - if that's not possible, say so as that is also a good answer

Hoping to hear back from you geniuses here at Tom's Hardware! I always appreciate your input on computer issues!

Sincerely!!

 

[timeconsumer]

There's a lot of directions to take this.

Do you only want to game? Do you do any editing? Do you want to overclock? How big of a heatsink can your case fit?

Here's a decent one-size fits all config. The 6600K is fine for gaming and this gives you the stuff to OC. If you need HT then you can substitute a 6700K.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($69.90 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($150.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $517.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-05 13:55 EDT-0400

 

[Shazma0527]

Excellent suggestion Timeconsumer - Yes, primarily gaming, but I do graphics design as a job. Currently the system I have works great so just about any upgrade I get would be fine. Why not go the i7? What do you think of this combo deal? I'm hoping for the biggest bang for the $700 dollars. (I also have a GTX 970 as my vid card, so far nothing I play falls below 50-60fps across 3 monitors.)

1x Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core 4.0 GHz LGA 1151 91W BX80662I76700K Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 530 (Model:BX80662I76700K)
$339.99

1x GIGABYTE G1 Gaming GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 (rev. 1.0) LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (Model:GA-Z170X-Gaming 7) $189.99

1x G.SKILL TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3400 (PC4 27200) Intel Z170 Platform Desktop Memory Model F4-3400C16D-16GTZ (Model:F4-3400C16D-16GTZ) $114.99

Combo Price: $579.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2543214

 

[timeconsumer]

Why not the i7? Because for 90% of people it isn't necessary. 4 cores is more than enough. But I understand if someone wants to spend the extra if they do a lot of heavily threaded workloads.

Your combo deal isn't too bad if you want to do the i7. However if you do want to OC (and there's no reason to get a Mobo like the Gaming 7 if you don't) you'll need a nice cooler. If you stuck in the same Dark Rock 3 pro I linked above it would come out to around $650. The Gigabyte board has slightly better features like the audio chip and the dual lan chips, but wouldn't be noticeable under average circumstances. Same deal with the 3400 ram vs 3000 ram.

 

[Shazma0527]

Awesome!! Thank you very much for your input!!