To Upgrade or Not To Upgrade ?

[aflrunner]

A common question, should I upgrade my i7 2600k to an i7 4790k ?

My z68 mobo is failing and trying to get a good new z77 mobo is gonna cost me $200+

I don't feel I should invest anything more in the 2600k and sell it while it still gets a lot of interest.

What should I do ? Sell it or invest in a z77 paying $200+ and stick with the 2600k ?

Its a common question but can be a costly one...

Thanks for any advice !

 

[ThatVietGuy]

A common question, should I upgrade my i7 2600k to an i7 4790k ?

My z68 mobo is failing and trying to get a good new z77 mobo is gonna cost me $200+

I don't feel I should invest anything more in the 2600k and sell it while it still gets a lot of interest.

What should I do ? Sell it or invest in a z77 paying $200+ and stick with the 2600k ?

Its a common question but can be a costly one...

Thanks for any advice !

You should be investing in a Z97 (or Z87) if you want to support a Core i7-4790K.

If you want to upgrade, you should hold out for a bit until Broadwell chips are released and see if they'll be worth it. Whether your mobo holds out is questionable, but an upgrade now might not be wise.

 

[VincentP]

There is no particular need to upgrade your CPU, but if your motherboard is failing and you think you can sell the CPU for a good price then it is a good opportunity for a platform upgrade. You can keep your RAM if you want.

 

[aflrunner]

You should be investing in a Z97 (or Z87) if you want to support a Core i7-4790K.

If you want to upgrade, you should hold out for a bit until Broadwell chips are released and see if they'll be worth it. Whether your mobo holds out is questionable, but an upgrade now might not be wise.

Yea, would cost me about $379 for a 4790k & about $150 for a good Z97 mobo, but I feel the $529 invested should last as long as my 2600k did, if not longer...,

Oh I didn't know new chips were coming, do the Broadwell chips only allow for DDR4 ram tho... ?

There is no particular need to upgrade your CPU, but if your motherboard is failing and you think you can sell the CPU for a good price then it is a good opportunity for a platform upgrade. You can keep your RAM if you want.

My Asrock mobo's sound stopped working in 2013, a PCI slot is partially working.
I can sell the 2600k for about $200.
I've got 8GB worth of 2133Mhz GSkill ram which I 'd definitely keep.

Thanks guys some good thoughts...

 

[VincentP]

You should be investing in a Z97 (or Z87) if you want to support a Core i7-4790K.

If you want to upgrade, you should hold out for a bit until Broadwell chips are released and see if they'll be worth it. Whether your mobo holds out is questionable, but an upgrade now might not be wise.

Yea, would cost me about $379 for a 4970k & about $150 for a good Z97 mobo, but I feel the $529 invested should last as long as my 2600k did, if not longer...,

Oh I didn't know new chips were coming, will wait it out then... 😀

There is no particular need to upgrade your CPU, but if your motherboard is failing and you think you can sell the CPU for a good price then it is a good opportunity for a platform upgrade. You can keep your RAM if you want.

My Asrock mobo's sound stopped working in 2013, a PCI slot is partially working.
I can sell the 2600k for about $200.
I've got 8GB worth of 2133Mhz GSkill ram which I 'd definitely keep.

There are always new models coming.
Compared to your current CPU, the Haswell CPU gives you PCI-E 3.0 support and a performance boost of about 30%.
Broadwell models for socket 1150 are due for release in the first half of this year and you can expect a further performance boost of maybe 10-15% because this is a die shrink of haswell.
Skylake is due end of this year, but I wouldn't expect LGA style CPUs for performance desktops until next year. These will bring support for PCI-E 4.0 and DDR4.

You should still get a number of good years from the Haswell CPU if you upgrade now.
The newer models will of course be better, but you would have to keep your current system going until then.

 

[aflrunner]

There are always new models coming.
Compared to your current CPU, the Haswell CPU gives you PCI-E 3.0 support and a performance boost of about 30%.
Broadwell models for socket 1150 are due for release in the first half of this year and you can expect a further performance boost of maybe 10-15% because this is a die shrink of haswell.
Skylake is due end of this year, but I wouldn't expect LGA style CPUs for performance desktops until next year. These will bring support for PCI-E 4.0 and DDR4.

You should still get a number of good years from the Haswell CPU if you upgrade now.
The newer models will of course be better, but you would have to keep your current system going until then.

Wow, I'm spoilt for advice now, nice to know I can use my Z97 mobo for Broadwell !

I'm quite keen on replacing my ASUS DX sound card for the Realtek ALC1150.

Made my decision, because I can still get $200 for the 2600k, gonna do the upgrade !

Thanks again !