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Difficult Proc Choice (for me)

DeaconFrost

DeaconFrost

[H]F Junkie
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I am ready to build a new tower and get back in to PC gaming after a few years of being out of the loop. I have an unopened, boxed version of the i7-3770K and a Gigabyte GA-Z77-UD3H with 16 GB of DDR3 memory.

The question I have is, should I keep those parts and finish the system, or should I sell them and get something newer, like a Skylake setup? Or, better yet, is it worth the extra month, considering I would need the proc, new motherboard, and new memory? Even with an i7-4970K, I'm looking at a new board and process.

I'm getting mixed results in my researching, but would the current system above be able to run any recent and near future games?
 
Whats your budget? You might be better off sticking with what you have for now, and popping in a nice video card. My old i7 2600k is still doing fine on games; it's more my video card that might need upgrading soon.
 
I was able to recently flip my Z77 setup for ~$430ish within the last few months on Amazon for the current 4790K build i have right now. I was able to get:
$280 for the 3770k
$100 for the Asrock board
$50 for the ram (16GB DDR3 2133 stuff)

You could theoretically cover a very big chunk of a Skylake build. Not so bad from that angle, but the real differentiation is what you ask next:

"Will a 3770K / Z77 build would be able to hang in current and near future games against a Skylake build?"

Yes - and even moreso if you pack on a 1440P capable GPU like the 970 and get your game on at 2K+. Even that extra $100 you spent to make up the cost differential between your Z77 stuff and a new Skylake build which doesn't seem like a whole lot is pretty much wasted. $100 is about $99.99 more than i'd personally be interested in wasting. If you can't get a near full 1:1 coverage on the flip from Z77 to Z170 then it isn't worth it...and you woudn't be able to.

For benchmark reference numbers, here's the 3770K versus the 6700K. Note the resolution on the gaming tests: 720P/1080P. In other words, those numbers are going to be much, much tighter @ 2K and up.

So, my vote would be to get a good GPU, buy the wife a new handbag or something and call it a day.
 
Last edited:
atp1916 said:
So, my vote would be to get a good GPU, buy the wife a new handbag or something and call it a day.
Click to expand...
Spoken like a true married man. My wife is going to benefit from this as well, because she's getting in to digital photography and has been editing her photos on a small laptop. She'll be using a much faster system with a much larger screen, and I'll be adding some kind of Wacom tablet for her to use as well. But, the gift for her never hurts, either.

I see the 970s are about $100 more than the 960s, but if I keep the parts I have right now, I really only need to buy the video card and a new SSD. I have an EVO 840 250 GB in my laptop, so I could go with a 500/512GB EVO 850 in this tower.

Seems like that's the way to go, since the proc isn't going to be an issue.

Thanks for all the advice!
 
+1 for adding an SSD to the mix. :) So nice to have on Windows for sure, speeds up computers like mad!

So, keep the current gear, spend money on Video Card & SSD, and all will be well in your world. :)
 
Upgrades are always better spent in video cards and monitors for gaming. If you have extra cash I'd recommend looking into a monitor upgrade as well.

Hell I finally just upgraded my i7 950 to a 5820k and don't honestly know if it made a significant difference for gaming.
 
What are your thoughts between a GTX 970 and a Radeon R9 390? They look to be about the same price, both are DX12 compatible, and both have 4 or more GB of video memory.
 
390 will be faster overall in most titles, but will draw more power and be sure your PSU is stouter vs if you choose the 970. The 970 rocks, I have one and at 1440 res is a nice compromise between higher performance and price point. I would take a 390 though if it was offered to me :). My 7970 and 280x have been great cards as have most of my other ATI/AMD cards in the past. Nvidia generally has "better" drivers per the peanut gallery, but for the games I play I see no issues with either brand.
 
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