CPU/Mobo/RAM - Value/Performance upgrade

B00MSTICK

Hi all,

Lookign at upgrading the heart of my aging rig.

Unsure of whether to go for a Haswell build (i7 2600k/i5 2500k) or a Skylake (maybe i3 6100/i5 6400?)

How would the above compare? I play at 1080p only and have a 780 Ti so I'm thinking the i5 6400 might be overkill?

I'm coming from a Phenom II x4 975 with only 4GB of RAM so I think any of the above would be amissve step up.

Thanks

K.O.Kiki

i5-6500 will outperform an i5-2500k

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-is-it-finally-time-to-upgrade-your-core-i5-2500k

No point going for HaswellSandy Bridge, you'll have a hard time finding all the components at decent prices.

B00MSTICK

Cheers, I'm a bit lost on the nomenclature, been out of the game too long...

So for a 1080p build I'm thinking of the i3 6100 and an ASRock z170 you mentioned in a different build thread. Seems like nice bang/buck.
Is BLCK OC still possible?

Xenoronin

I'd still say go for the i5 6400, it's a little more futureproof and the extra cores are worth it if you can push the budget up by that amount. Pair with a H170, B150, H110 motherboard and you are set. No need for the expensive Z170 if you aren't overclocking. BCLK overclocking is still possible but depends on the motherboard manufacturer. I think all have blocked it at the moment but you can still get the pre-patch bios installs to unlock it. Would need to do some research as I'm talking from memory (i.e. I am probably wrong in some respects).

B00MSTICK

Cool - I may as well go for the 6500 then ~£5 jumps the clockspeed from 2.7 to 3.2gHz so seems a good investment especially if I wont be OCing.

I'll look into the mobos a bit more too, thanks.

Jo Satan

BLCK overclock is still available, there are a couple of options.

I have an i3-6100 paired with an Asrock Z170m Extreme 4 and a gtx 970, this combination gives a decent performance at 1080p.

The bios version which enables Sky OC is still available on the manufacturers download page and can be rolled back with no issue.

The downsides are you lose boost clock as the cpu runs full gas all the time and you lose core temperature readings, but package readings are available. You are stuck with the same BIOS as any updates will remove SKY OC, but as the BIOS is stable this does not seem to matter.

You can however buy a board with an external base clock generator, the Hyper series H170 and B170 boards have this feature, hard to find user info on these but I think these boards do not suffer the downsides listed above.

If I was upgrading I would consider an Intel Xeon E3-1230 v5 with a ASRock Fatal1ty E3V5 Performance Gaming/OC but this would mean buying a new case as I have a micro M-ATX and I like my case...so I will probably go for an i5.

B00MSTICK

Thanks for the input guys.
I went for the Treat yo' self option.
i5 6500, ASRock z170 pro4 and 8 gigs @ 2666mHz.

Decided I have the money so why not. Always been an overclocker at heart so the extra 25 quid for the z170 was easily justified!

Thanks again