Switching to Intel processor, wondering if this build will work with existing components.

[jasonsansburn]

Hello friends! So I just got a whopping federal return and put most of it in my savings (heeeyyy I'm maturing), but reserved $500 to spend, and decided it's time to trash my sorry excuse for a processor. My current build:

Rosewill VIPER Z ATX case
ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 mb
Nvidia GTX 1070 Founders Edition
AMD FX-6300
Western Digital Blue 1TB
Corsair CX750M

I believe my CPU is bottle-necking the frack out of the 1070, if I'm wrong about that then color me delusional, but I also do a lot of music work in DAWs mostly recording and mixing, which demands a ton from the CPU. I'm wondering if I'll have a large, fair, or small performance improvement in the modified build (see below).

So to run an intel processor I would need to switch out the motherboard, most likely need new RAM (mine is DDR3) and the processor. So this is how it came out.

MSI B150 Gaming M3 LGA 1151 Intel mb
Intel Core i5-6600k 6M Skylake
Patriot Viper 4 16GB(2x 8GB) DDR4
Rosewill VIPER Z ATX case
Nvidia GTX 1070 Founders Edition
Western Digital Blue 1TB
Corsair CX750M

Just want to know if this will be worth it. Saw benchmarks comparing FX-6300 to the i5-6600k and the i5 destroyed it. After motherboard and RAM I ONLY HAVE ENOUGH FOR i5-6600k, so let me know your thoughts. Total is $469.95

Also, I've never switched motherboards on a working PC before. I can't imagine there is any way around doing a clean install?

 

[Corwin65]

Clean install will be your best bet.

The new CPU will be much better in both gaming and music production.

You were right to do the upgrade, your system was not balanced and should be good now.

 

[SkyNetRising]

If you're getting B150 motherboard, then choose i5-6600. K version is for OC, but this motherboard doesn't support it.
Also K version doesn't have CPU cooler included, but non-K version does.

 

[Corwin65]

If you're getting B150 motherboard, then choose i5-6600. K version is for OC, but this motherboard doesn't support it.
Also K version doesn't have CPU cooler included, but non-K version does.

Long day at work, can't believe I missed that.

 

[boosted1g]

Yes your 6300 is bottlenecking that 1070 hard. 6300 is slower in single core performance then a 4th gen i3.

Thats a solid i5 build, will be much faster.

As stated you need to do full reinstall of windows /programs

 

[coozie7]

Yep, I'd also opt for the non 'K' CPU, both 'K' and non 'K' parts have the same turbo boost speed of 3.9GHz although the 'K' runs a little faster off the boost ( 3.5 vs 3.3GHz), but TBH the little extra isn't much to sing about and the non 'K' part also comes with a cooler and is a little cheaper.

You can try the swap without a full reinstall but be aware you may have issues: Windows may not activate on the new system-even with a clean install-and you may have stability issues if you just install the new motherboard/sound/LAN drivers 'over the top' of those already there.
The Windows issue will depend very much on which release and version you have, some OEM or builder versions will transfer over, others will not.

A full reinstall IS the preferable way to go, but it'[s time consuming, not just the install of Windows and support software but the often lengthy period of updates that will follow.
If you do decide on a full reinstall, a large USB drive can be a good friend for backup purposes, and don't neglect the DVD drive, many of us have drives that can write as well as read and a few recordable discs can hold a massive amount of data!

You may be able to save a little more hard earned cash by moving to slower memory, most 'B' and 'H' motherboards only support DDR4 2133, faster memory will work, but at the lower speed.

 

[jasonsansburn]

If you're getting B150 motherboard, then choose i5-6600. K version is for OC, but this motherboard doesn't support it.
Also K version doesn't have CPU cooler included, but non-K version does.

Yeah I'm gonna hug you now

 

[valeman2012]

Instead of getting 6th you can get the 7th Gen CPU (Intel i5 7600 and B250 Motherboard with it)
The Intel i5 7600 will save you money (cause it comes with Stock Cooler) You should go for more recent CPU.
Do NOT go for K Versions if no plans OC a CPU.