Upgrade from 4790K...

[luke.szczepanski]

It's been ~3 years since I've done any major upgrades to my home PC - I mainly use it for Lightroom/Photoshop. A little gaming but nothing hardcore.

Gigabyte likely won't update Z97X bios to address Meltdown/Spectre (which is my concern) - they already skipped it for ME firmware updates as well.

Currently:
CPU: 4790K
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H-BK
Ram: 4x8 GB DDR3 Kingston HyperX

I don't have performance issues - everything is working fine (so far).

I'd keep the GPU (GTX 1060 6GB), hard drives (256 GB SSD + 2x 4TB HDDs), PSU (Evga 650P2).

What do I go with to future proof the system? Coffee Lake? Ryzen? I'm in Canada - can probably sell the CPU/GPU/RAM for ~$550 CAD. Would need to add $300-400 CAD to upgrade (I'm ok moving to 16GB RAM).

Do I pull the trigger (after selling the current setup) or chill and wait?

 

[dudio]

I don't use stuff like Lightroom/Photoshop, but I do believe RAM amount is pretty critical.
Going to DDR4 won't make much noticeable difference, but going down to 16 Gigs from 32 Gigs certainly could.
As for the CPU, it's still quite a performer (and overclockable!) and I'm not sure the gains made by the combined changes are worth it.
Your GPU seems more than adequate for what you do.
.. just my 2 cents..

 

[Zerk2012]

Gigabyte likely won't update Z97X bios to address Meltdown/Spectre (which is my concern) - they already skipped it for ME firmware updates as well.

That has been going on for years and is not a big deal. I have a 4790K and GB Z97 UD3H and have not even considered upgrading.

 

[StupidComputers]

I have a 4790k on an ASUS ROG M7H and they didn't release an update for that either.. it's like intel made too good of a CPU and sales are hurting. Aside from the windows update, I found a BIOS update in ROG forums.. I'm kinda iffy about that (about to contact the maker directly). You can probably look for a non-official update in forums for your MoBo. If you're planning an upgrade anyway, you're kind of covered lol..

The problem with upgrading right now is that RAM prices are far through the roof, and CPU/MOBO pricing isn't great either.

You would probably want to take a serious look Ryzen depending on how intensive your graphical needs are. That's the type of thing Ryzen really shines with. It's really just behind a bit in the heavy gaming department, and that may not be a permanent situation. It's hard to recommend which system without know how much pressure you're putting on your CPU.


**I just noticed your RAM - if you are selling, I'm in Canada too and I might be interested, depending on the model 😉