Yet another 2600k upgrade question (weak mainboard)

D

dopefishz

n00b
Joined
Nov 30, 2011
Messages
60
Hello,

I'm debating the need to upgrade my rig or not. The 2600k is still a very capable chip, but i made a mistake when i bough it (first build) and bought a pretty bad mainboard. So now i'm stuck at 3.4 GHz (no overclocking capabilities) and DDR 1333 ram (overclocked at CAS 6 though).

I don't have any upgrade path with this board. I could buy a used mainboard with better OC capabilities (still pricey for hardware this old), and new faster ram, or just go ahead and build a new 6700k computer (although cash is a little short these days)

Current video card is a 290x. I'm running 1080p. Getting low min FPS is Fallout 4 and XCOM 2 at the moment.

What do you think ?
Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Hold out for a couple months and build Kaby Lake. No sense in buying into Skylake now. While you may not get a big jump, Id say wait if you can. I am running my 2600k @ stock speed now and I play games just fine with my GTX780 @ 1080p. I dont think that your CPU is the issue. While I know I get a boost from overclocking (or a newer chip), its not like the 2600k is worthless @ stock speeds by any means.
 
I think the RAM is my biggest issue, since i saw some improvements when switching from CAS9 ram to CAS6 in Fallout 4 min FPS.

What makes you think Kaby lake will be a big leap in performance ?

Thanks again.
 
If you do go for an upgrade, try to get a m.2 PCI-E SSD like a Samsung 950 Pro. It's the biggest reason to upgrade, in my mind. (bearing in mind that I upgraded from a i5-2500K to a i7-6700K). But, if what you really want is gaming FPS, get a GTX 1070 or 1080.

I don't think Kaby Lake will be a very big leap in performance.
 
Kaby Lake wont be a big jump over Sky Lake and no one is expecting it to be but being so close, why not hold out for it (if you read my post above, I even stated you may not get a big jump over skylake)? There is no firm date yet but rumor is this fall (right around the corner).

But, if you have the itch now, go for it with a 6700k. If it was me, I would upgrade my video card now, then upgrade the rest when KL comes.
 
When i disable Hyperthreading, i'm getting 100% CPU utilization on all 4 cores during my Withcer 3 gameplay,

Shoudn't that tell me that i'm bottlenecked by my CPU ?

Thanks.
 
dopefishz said:
When i disable Hyperthreading, i'm getting 100% CPU utilization on all 4 cores during my Withcer 3 gameplay,

Shoudn't that tell me that i'm bottlenecked by my CPU ?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
It's not that cut and dry my friend.

For $100, you can find a Z77 board in the For Sale section of this forum. I recommend that to see what that chip can do, then sell your old board. 1155 hardware is kinda hard to find because most of it is still working and there isn't a huge rush to upgrade.
 
doz said:
Kaby Lake wont be a big jump over Sky Lake and no one is expecting it to be but being so close, why not hold out for it (if you read my post above, I even stated you may not get a big jump over skylake)? There is no firm date yet but rumor is this fall (right around the corner).

But, if you have the itch now, go for it with a 6700k. If it was me, I would upgrade my video card now, then upgrade the rest when KL comes.
Click to expand...

Do keep in mind the trend we've seen with enthusiast level hardware recently. Even Skylake was low availability and above MSRP for a long time and the GTX 1080's are now. Its quite possible Kaby Lake may be in short supply and priced accordingly.
 
dopefishz said:
When i disable Hyperthreading, i'm getting 100% CPU utilization on all 4 cores during my Withcer 3 gameplay,

Shoudn't that tell me that i'm bottlenecked by my CPU ?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

There is more to it than that. What is utilization with HT on? How is game performance between the 2 scenarios? What is your GPU utilization like?

The idea to get a Z77 board isn't a bad one. You'll be on a newer platform and should get a decent OC out of your existing chip.
 
skeeder said:
It's not that cut and dry my friend.

For $100, you can find a Z77 board in the For Sale section of this forum. I recommend that to see what that chip can do, then sell your old board. 1155 hardware is kinda hard to find because most of it is still working and there isn't a huge rush to upgrade.
Click to expand...


Dropping down to a p67 would be even cheaper, if he is fine with the lack of SATA 3 and USB 3. P76 boards go for as low as $50.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top