Upgrading PC: Intel or AMD?

[Grim Prototype]

I am currently looking into upgrading my PC. I use it mostly for gaming, streaming and video editing. I realized as of recently that it is not nearly as powerful as I would like it to be. My current interest is in upgrading my CPU.

My current specs are:
AMD FX-6100
ASUS M5A78L-M LX3
GIGABYTE Geforce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB
8GB RAM
650 W Power Supply
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

I am well aware that if I were to go Intel i would have to by a new motherboard as well and in the price differences. Basically I want my system to be able to play most (if not all) games at their highest settings. (I play at 1920x1080) For example, playing a new game such as GTA V at high settings while still maintaining a decent frame rate. I have been looking into either the FX-8350 or going all out with the Intel i7 4790k. That might just be overkill. I am also ware that I must change my graphics card as it is not nearly as powerful as it should be.

If I forgot any information just let me know.

Thanks,
Matthew

 

[TechyInAZ]

The best is the i7 4790K. So i'd go with that if you have the money. Then go with a good mobo like the MSI or Gigabyte Gaming Z97 mobos.

how much can you spend on GPU?

 

[Moonstick2]

For gaming in ultra @1080p an i7 is totally unnecessary. You can get an i5, new motherboard and GTX970 (assuming you want to stay with nVidia) and you'll be more than happy. Which i5 and motherboard you get is largely determined by budget and whether you want to overclock (you've already got the cooler for it).

 

[Grim Prototype]

The best is the i7 4790K. So i'd go with that if you have the money. Then go with a good mobo like the MSI or Gigabyte Gaming Z97 mobos.

how much can you spend on GPU?

On graphics I would like to spend no more than $500. This is in CAD. I was planning on eventually going SLI and staying with Nvidia. My initial plan was to start off with one GTX 970 and eventually get a second one. And I am aware that the 4790k is the best, but is it overkill just for gaming? As for the mobo, I was planning on getting the Gaming Z97.

 

[Grim Prototype]

For gaming in ultra @1080p an i7 is totally unnecessary. You can get an i5, new motherboard and GTX970 (assuming you want to stay with nVidia) and you'll be more than happy. Which i5 and motherboard you get is largely determined by budget and whether you want to overclock (you've already got the cooler for it).

Well apparently to overclock more than a certain percent you would have to get water cooling. Since mine is only air I was trying to get a CPU capable of everything without having to overclock. Unless you think that a lesser CPU but overclocked is better? If I went for i5 i was thinking of the i5 4690k, since the 4690 is locked.

 

[wbj707]

Get the 4790k. It's on sale on amazon for $309 right.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KPRWAX8/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00KPRWAX8&linkCode=as2&tag=besgamgea-20&linkId=BUX5GKRDWRZYVXDE

 

[Gamingspecialist]

Intel for performence. AMD for price.

 

[Grim Prototype]

Get the 4790k. It's on sale on amazon for $309 right.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KPRWAX8/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00KPRWAX8&linkCode=as2&tag=besgamgea-20&linkId=BUX5GKRDWRZYVXDE

Yeah, what sucks about that is that the price is in USD, by the time I exchange it to CAD and add the shipping it comes out to the same thing. And $50 of import fees. Thanks though.

 

[DubbleClick]

No reason to get a "gaming" motherboard. Yields nothing over a ud3h/ud5h but are more expensive.

 

[synphul]

If you did a lot of video editing the 4790k would perform better but cost is quite a bit higher as well. If you only do some video editing a 4690k is plenty capable. No need for water cooling to overclock a 4690k, it'll run out of vcore headroom before it hits thermal barriers requiring water cooling. The 212 evo will work for moderate overclocks in the 4.2 to 4.4 range most likely, depending of course on the particular chip and ambient room temps. Nothing to say you couldn't go further if temps are still within reason.

I agree with dubbleclick, no real advantage to 'gaming' motherboards. Most are called 'gaming' because they have a qualcomm killer network adapter which is supposed to be optimized for gaming though any real world advantages over a standard intel nic are dubious. Many prefer the stability of intel lan (myself included). Only reason I don't usually rec the ud5h is because of price. It's not the most cost effective board though prices are a bit better now than they were. Showing $165-170 usd (around 205 cad) right now, was on sale with rebates when I got mine and at $130usd was a steal. Nothing fancy sounding about it though it has 6 true digital power phases vs the 4 digital or hybrid power phases found on more budget boards and had a dual lan option. Not the most features of all mobo's but more flush in features than many 'gaming' boards.

Not sure which gaming board you were referring to, if it was gigabyte they make several. A gaming 5, gaming 7 etc. It may or may not matter but the gaming 5 from gigabyte is the only one I avoided because it's a bit narrow compared to other atx boards. It doesn't use the standard 9 mounting screws and is a bit less 'solid' when mounted especially around the upper right where the ram slots are. If you go with a gb gaming 5 I'd suggest installing the ram with the mobo flat and then installing it to prevent stressing the unsupported portion of the board pushing the ram in. Why they did that I have no idea, that's the only model they did that with.

 

[Grim Prototype]

No reason to get a "gaming" motherboard. Yields nothing over a ud3h/ud5h but are more expensive.

Thanks for the advice, I'll look more into motherboards and compare the specs.

 

[DubbleClick]

The z97x-ud5h does actually have 8 true vrm phases. For $130 that's an absolute steal, compared to asus boards it's feature wise well priced in the $200 range. $165 is a great price, if one doesn't care too much about the design.

But then again, very few people do actually have use for boards priced over $120. The average person simply doesn't need 12 sata3 ports and 8 usb3 slots, double lan, 3 way crossfire and onboard buttons or voltage measurement points with error checking.

 

[Grim Prototype]

If you did a lot of video editing the 4790k would perform better but cost is quite a bit higher as well. If you only do some video editing a 4690k is plenty capable. No need for water cooling to overclock a 4690k, it'll run out of vcore headroom before it hits thermal barriers requiring water cooling. The 212 evo will work for moderate overclocks in the 4.2 to 4.4 range most likely, depending of course on the particular chip and ambient room temps. Nothing to say you couldn't go further if temps are still within reason.

I agree with dubbleclick, no real advantage to 'gaming' motherboards. Most are called 'gaming' because they have a qualcomm killer network adapter which is supposed to be optimized for gaming though any real world advantages over a standard intel nic are dubious. Many prefer the stability of intel lan (myself included). Only reason I don't usually rec the ud5h is because of price. It's not the most cost effective board though prices are a bit better now than they were. Showing $165-170 usd (around 205 cad) right now, was on sale with rebates when I got mine and at $130usd was a steal. Nothing fancy sounding about it though it has 6 true digital power phases vs the 4 digital or hybrid power phases found on more budget boards and had a dual lan option. Not the most features of all mobo's but more flush in features than many 'gaming' boards.

Not sure which gaming board you were referring to, if it was gigabyte they make several. A gaming 5, gaming 7 etc. It may or may not matter but the gaming 5 from gigabyte is the only one I avoided because it's a bit narrow compared to other atx boards. It doesn't use the standard 9 mounting screws and is a bit less 'solid' when mounted especially around the upper right where the ram slots are. If you go with a gb gaming 5 I'd suggest installing the ram with the mobo flat and then installing it to prevent stressing the unsupported portion of the board pushing the ram in. Why they did that I have no idea, that's the only model they did that with.

Yeah, I was thinking that the 4690k was plenty given that I edit videos but not at an excessive rate. I'll have to see what I can do with overclocking my current CPU just as a means to test the waters. I'll look into it and give it a shot because I've only recently received the cooler and the stock heat sink was too ineffective to handle anymore heat.

I'll have to see what this whole ud5h thing is because I've never really heard much about it in the past. I usually find that PC components that label themselves as "GAMING" are usually just boasting some unnecessary feature that you can buy if you have some extra cash to throw in. Instead of the Gaming Z97 or Z97-A, whatever it was called, I'll look into the basic Z97 for now and others that are in the same range.

I'll check out the differences between the gaming 5 and gaming 7 to see their ratings and reviews. I'm sure other people would have complained about the narrow gaming 5 as well. I have a mid case right now, would I need a full for when I do the upgrades? Thanks for all the help.

 

[Grim Prototype]

The z97x-ud5h does actually have 8 true vrm phases. For $130 that's an absolute steal, compared to asus boards it's feature wise well priced in the $200 range. $165 is a great price, if one doesn't care too much about the design.

But then again, very few people do actually have use for boards priced over $120. The average person simply doesn't need 12 sata3 ports and 8 usb3 slots, double lan, 3 way crossfire and onboard buttons or voltage measurement points with error checking.

Yeah, honestly I don't need the whole deal with the excessive amount of slots and ports. I really don't care about the design that much. If it fits in my case and works, then its all fine by me.

 

[DubbleClick]

Yeah, same for me. I can't even use half the connections my z97x-sli allows, so choosing any more expensive one would have been a waste (I wanted SLI compatibility just in case). The only thing that I noticed as a change is it not allowing me to get the cpu stable at 5.0ghz. But then again, the ud5h-bk required 1.55v to do that, which is way beyond any safe limits and impossible to cool without using LN2. Until 4.9ghz (at 1.4v vcore) they both do exactly the same.

 

[Grim Prototype]

Yeah, same for me. I can't even use half the connections my z97x-sli allows, so choosing any more expensive one would have been a waste (I wanted SLI compatibility just in case). The only thing that I noticed as a change is it not allowing me to get the cpu stable at 5.0ghz. But then again, the ud5h-bk required 1.55v to do that, which is way beyond any safe limits and impossible to cool without using LN2. Until 4.9ghz (at 1.4v vcore) they both do exactly the same.

Yeah, I'm not planning on going too crazy with over clocking. I just need a decent mobo to go along with my CPU. At this point I just have to choose between the i5 4690k and the i7 4790k in terms of my CPU. As for the mobo, my main requirement is that it has to support SLI. I would just buy a mobo with a single slot but I would just eventually end up buying an SLI compatible one. Is this the full name of your mobo: GA-Z97X-UD5H-BK ?

 

[LookItsRain]

If your gaming primary, i5, if you do rendering, cad work or stream, i7.

 

[synphul]

I thought the ud5h was advertised as 12 power phases (according to hardwarecanucks, legitreviews, hardocp etc) but used 6 true digital vrm with doublers. If it had 8 digital vrm's it would double to 16 or be listed as 8.

Here's an updated list of various z97 motherboards from sin's hardware, it uses an ir3598 doubler to get 12 power phases (6 true digital). The original sin's list had it listed as 12 phase (6 digital w/doubler), the updated is showing 16 phase but in a 6+2 configuration which to my knowledge means 6 phases for the cpu + 2 for the memory controller.
http://sinhardware.com/images/vrmlist.png

Maybe it's listed as 16 adding all the power phases together? Not sure why everywhere lists it as 12 phases unless they're only counting the 6 cpu power phases with doublers.

 

[Grim Prototype]

If your gaming primary, i5, if you do rendering, cad work or stream, i7.

I render and stream. Funny that you mention that, because I plan on doing some CAD work in the future. Looks like the i7 is slowly becoming the preference.

 

[synphul]

As for the gb z97x gaming 5, I wouldn't say it's a dealbreaker or anything on the size difference, but some people did note it in the user reviews on newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128709

Also if you look at the dimensions, it says 'atx' but lists the size as 12" x 8.9". Standard atx is usually 12" x 9.6" and if you look at the closeups of the photos of the gaming 5 at the mounting holes you'll see what I was talking about. Most atx boards have 3 screws across the top, the middle and the bottom. The z97x gaming 5 has only 2 screws at the top, one on the upper left near the io plate and one at the first dimm slot - no screw at the far top right leaving the mobo 'hanging over' unsupported. There are 3 in the center and again only 2 along the bottom. The upper right is the only area that concerns me since the 24pin power connector attaches right there and when you go to push on it the only supported part of the board is under the 24pin connector without support above it. Inserting ram sticks and the 24 pin power, applying pressure to that area of the board 'could' be a problem which is why I suggest people just be careful with it.

http://prntscr.com/7358np

 

[Grim Prototype]

I thought the ud5h was advertised as 12 power phases (according to hardwarecanucks, legitreviews, hardocp etc) but used 6 true digital vrm with doublers. If it had 8 digital vrm's it would double to 16 or be listed as 8.

Here's an updated list of various z97 motherboards from sin's hardware, it uses an ir3598 doubler to get 12 power phases (6 true digital). The original sin's list had it listed as 12 phase (6 digital w/doubler), the updated is showing 16 phase but in a 6+2 configuration which to my knowledge means 6 phases for the cpu + 2 for the memory controller.
http://sinhardware.com/images/vrmlist.png

Maybe it's listed as 16 adding all the power phases together? Not sure why everywhere lists it as 12 phases unless they're only counting the 6 cpu power phases with doublers.

I've never really looked into the phases and what not, but after a 10 minute video, that's a heck of a lot of information to take in. With the MOSFETS and chokes. I was trying to verify what you mentioned about the 6+2 and what the 2 represented but I couldn't find much solid information.

As for the 16 phases, I think that's what they were doing. Only counting the 6 true phases and the doublers and disregarding the +2 double.

 

[Grim Prototype]

As for the gb z97x gaming 5, I wouldn't say it's a dealbreaker or anything on the size difference, but some people did note it in the user reviews on newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128709

Also if you look at the dimensions, it says 'atx' but lists the size as 12" x 8.9". Standard atx is usually 12" x 9.6" and if you look at the closeups of the photos of the gaming 5 at the mounting holes you'll see what I was talking about. Most atx boards have 3 screws across the top, the middle and the bottom. The z97x gaming 5 has only 2 screws at the top, one on the upper left near the io plate and one at the first dimm slot - no screw at the far top right leaving the mobo 'hanging over' unsupported. There are 3 in the center and again only 2 along the bottom. The upper right is the only area that concerns me since the 24pin power connector attaches right there and when you go to push on it the only supported part of the board is under the 24pin connector without support above it. Inserting ram sticks and the 24 pin power, applying pressure to that area of the board 'could' be a problem which is why I suggest people just be careful with it.

http://prntscr.com/7358np

That is actually really weird that they would just leave the corner of the board floating like that. I would like to say that there must be a reason but for all we know it may just be an intention within their designs. It's not that I don;t trust that I can be gentle enough with plugging things into the board without breaking them, but I would feel more comfortable with an optimally supported board. Meaning that the third missing screw on the board is a concern.

 

[Grim Prototype]

I thought the ud5h was advertised as 12 power phases (according to hardwarecanucks, legitreviews, hardocp etc) but used 6 true digital vrm with doublers. If it had 8 digital vrm's it would double to 16 or be listed as 8.

Here's an updated list of various z97 motherboards from sin's hardware, it uses an ir3598 doubler to get 12 power phases (6 true digital). The original sin's list had it listed as 12 phase (6 digital w/doubler), the updated is showing 16 phase but in a 6+2 configuration which to my knowledge means 6 phases for the cpu + 2 for the memory controller.
http://sinhardware.com/images/vrmlist.png

Maybe it's listed as 16 adding all the power phases together? Not sure why everywhere lists it as 12 phases unless they're only counting the 6 cpu power phases with doublers.

Just figured something out. The +2 is set on a different rail from the main true phases in order to put power towards the QPI/VTT, as well as the System Agent. It is not possible to set 8 on the main rail, therefore there are the 6 main phases as well as the + set for the QPI/VTT and System Agent.

 

[DubbleClick]

Yeah, same for me. I can't even use half the connections my z97x-sli allows, so choosing any more expensive one would have been a waste (I wanted SLI compatibility just in case). The only thing that I noticed as a change is it not allowing me to get the cpu stable at 5.0ghz. But then again, the ud5h-bk required 1.55v to do that, which is way beyond any safe limits and impossible to cool without using LN2. Until 4.9ghz (at 1.4v vcore) they both do exactly the same.

Yeah, I'm not planning on going too crazy with over clocking. I just need a decent mobo to go along with my CPU. At this point I just have to choose between the i5 4690k and the i7 4790k in terms of my CPU. As for the mobo, my main requirement is that it has to support SLI. I would just buy a mobo with a single slot but I would just eventually end up buying an SLI compatible one. Is this the full name of your mobo: GA-Z97X-UD5H-BK ?

My own one is a z97x-sli, picked it up for $100 locally. A friend however bought the ud5h-bk (was stuck on the black design) and I have done some testing and benchmarking with my own i7 on it. The only difference I was able to tell was the mentioned 5.0ghz vs 4.9ghz of which both are beyond any reasonable voltage or temperature anyway though.

 

[DubbleClick]

I thought the ud5h was advertised as 12 power phases (according to hardwarecanucks, legitreviews, hardocp etc) but used 6 true digital vrm with doublers. If it had 8 digital vrm's it would double to 16 or be listed as 8.

Here's an updated list of various z97 motherboards from sin's hardware, it uses an ir3598 doubler to get 12 power phases (6 true digital). The original sin's list had it listed as 12 phase (6 digital w/doubler), the updated is showing 16 phase but in a 6+2 configuration which to my knowledge means 6 phases for the cpu + 2 for the memory controller.
http://sinhardware.com/images/vrmlist.png

Maybe it's listed as 16 adding all the power phases together? Not sure why everywhere lists it as 12 phases unless they're only counting the 6 cpu power phases with doublers.

Well gigabyte themselves don't make any statement about vrm design on z97 boards. Unless you're set on achieving highest possible clockrates at competitions, it doesn't really have influence anyway due to the fivr, except that you might need 0.01v less voltage for a certain overclock.

Not sure about the 6+2, but 2 phases for the memory controller doesn't really make sense since the ivr of the cpu takes care of that. I wouldn't really trust anything of the info listed on reviews or such anyway, though. They often list what's advertised and not what's really in, which often happens to differ a lot.

Edit: Yeah, +2 being for the bus makes sense.