Upgrading AMD to Intel, Skylake or Haswell

AustinsPCguru

Commendable
Mar 22, 2016
16
0
1,510
Hello, So I recently sold off my FX-8350 and have been stuck in "WHAT SHOULD I DO" mode for the past three days.
My current specs are:
GTX 770
Rosewill Green 630W
Nzxt 340
Coolermaster 212
G.Skills 8GB

Since this is all I can really bring over from Intel to AMD, that's pretty much all I really have!
Now my question is if I should make the attempt to go to skylake and buy myself an ASUS Z170 with an i7-6700k with new RAM or go Haswell i7-4690k with a high-quality motherboard. I use my computer for Gaming (Dayz/Arma/BF4/Etc) and since I'll have a more stable PC I might start using it in my studio for production and video editing. What are the drawbacks to each of these paths and if I plan on using my pc for the next 5-7 years which way would be the best way to go?
NOTE my budget is around 700 for the upgrade, If that helps at all...
 
Solution
I'd go something along this route.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($369.95 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($142.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $636.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-23 04:40 EDT-0400

Granted it doesn't include a gpu, the 770 isn't a bad gpu though may need replaced after awhile. You can...
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($70.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card ($299.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 750W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $665.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-23 01:35 EDT-0400



:)
 
I'd go something along this route.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($369.95 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($142.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $636.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-23 04:40 EDT-0400

Granted it doesn't include a gpu, the 770 isn't a bad gpu though may need replaced after awhile. You can use the 212 evo and probably do some mild overclocking though if looking to overclock further a better cooler may be needed. You could always save a few dollars going with 8gb of ram, 16gb is more of a luxury for production/editing or heavier multitasking.

For a solid base system an i7 would be preferable to the 1231 xeon especially when looking for 5-7yrs use. Both are clocked noticeably higher (400-600mhz) out of the box than the xeon 1231v3 and can be overclocked further yet. It will definitely improve video editing/conversion times as well as add a bit more gaming performance. Prices on the skylake 6700k have dropped a bit making it more competitive and the 1151 platform offers a few perks, things like faster m.2 drive support which may be a benefit down the road if you choose to go with an m.2 drive.

If on a tighter budget then the i7 4790k with a z97 motherboard would be my preference. You'd save a few dollars on the cpu and be able to reuse your ddr3 ram. Like any other locked cpu the xeon's can't be overclocked in any meaningful way and a few years down the road when the cpu starts to show its age there's no way to give it a bit of a speed boost to help it age more gracefully.
 
Solution


I'm absolutely torn between skylake and haswell, and yeah the 770 is great but i never really got to use it to its full potential with my previous system....
I was thinking of going with a i7 6700k with a asus z170 with vengeance but that would make my wallet scrunch because of the ram purchase but my only issue with this is the possibility of me having to reinstall windows because its been giving me a "Deactivated" notice ever since I had to get a new motherboard with my previous set up. An i7 4790k will be extremely good as well but im not sure if the boards that go along with it would be able to support a new GPU 2-3 years from now!
 
The i7 6700k is still overpriced by a large margin. I would get the 6 core 5820k for cheaper.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($351.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-SLI ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($133.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $614.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-23 12:42 EDT-0400