Advice needed: Upgrading my current system...

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Hey guys,

Looking to overhaul my current system. Configuration in my signature.

What do I need this system for?

* Motion picture editing (Premiere, After Effects, etc), often with RAW 4K, 5K, 6K and soon to be 8K footage.

* Photograph editing (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc), RAW, high megapixel stills, exceeding 20MP.

* Gaming. Would like to take advantage of current and next gen titles.

What's my budget?

* Excluding VAT, around the £500 mark, with a little leeway towards £600, but the cheaper I can keep it, the better.

Presently looking at the Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz (Skylake) CPU, along with a kit of Crucial 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 PC4-17000C16 2133MHz Quad Channel RAM. No idea on motherboard or cooler, and I'll sort out the GPU later. Just want to get the basics down first.

What are your thoughts?

I've been running an AMD system for a long time now, so any assistance I can get in regards to going down the Intel route, and for these specific requirements, would be most appreciated.

Cheers!
 
If going for a i7 then X99 with a 5820k seems to be the best route. Skylake is overpriced and the 5820k is cheaper than the 6700k plus you get a pair of extra cores which would be a advantage for your uses I expect.

How about this:-

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte X99-SLI - Intel Core i7 5820K Six Core CPU & Motherboard Bundle ***50 Saving*** £429.98
2 x TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (TPKD416GM2400HC16DC01) £77.99 (£155.98)
Total : £595.56 (includes shipping : £8.00 Ex.VAT).




If you can wait until the end of the month the Avexir 32Gb kits should be back in stock.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Avexir Core White Series 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit (AVD4UZ124001608G-4CIW) - White Light £149.99
Total : £159.59 (includes shipping : £8.00 Ex.VAT).

 
Looking at a few benchmarks, it appears that the Skylake performs better in programs such as Lightroom, Photoshop and Premiere Pro, so maybe something like this...

Asus Z170 Maximus VII Hero - Skylake Core i7 6700K CPU & Motherboard Bundle = £383.32
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-043-AS&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=3069

Or this...

Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 7 - Skylake Core i7 6700K CPU & Motherboard Bundle = £388.32
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-022-GI&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=3069

... would suit me well?

Then maybe this RAM...

Avexir Blitz Original Silver 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C18 3600MHz Quad Channel Memory Kit = £241.66
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-125-AR

Over budget by £24.98 if going with the cheaper Asus bundle, and still haven't chosen a CPU cooler, but what are your thoughts on these choices?
 
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* i5-6500K - £166.66
* Gigabyte Gaming 3 - £104.16
* Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C14 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK32GX4M2A2400C14) - £166.66

^ Skylake is Dual-Channel. Don't use up all of the DIMM slots for no reason.

Those ones have a 2400MHz RAM Speed with CAS 14-16-16-31 Timings. Of course you can choose other ram (and at various different prices) with slightly different speeds / timings. The optimum / best deals for DDR4 RAM changes often.


Total: £437.48

Under budget by: £62.52


The remaining budget could buy additional components for example an SSD:

Samsung 850 EVO Series M.2 250GB SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive (MZ-N5E250BW)

£80.82 = £18.30 over budget.

^^ Which is exactly my own base system now. Except for getting less RAM than you. For which I got 16GB total (2x8GB sticks).
 
Looking at a few benchmarks, it appears that the Skylake performs better in programs such as Lightroom, Photoshop and Premiere Pro, so maybe something like this...

Asus Z170 Maximus VII Hero - Skylake Core i7 6700K CPU & Motherboard Bundle = £383.32
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-043-AS&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=3069

Or this...

Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 7 - Skylake Core i7 6700K CPU & Motherboard Bundle = £388.32
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-022-GI&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=3069

... would suit me well?

Then maybe this RAM...

Avexir Blitz Original Silver 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C18 3600MHz Quad Channel Memory Kit = £241.66
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-125-AR

Over budget by £24.98 if going with the cheaper Asus bundle, and still haven't chosen a CPU cooler, but what are your thoughts on these choices?

I see where you're going with this but I would be far more beneficial to go x99 over z107. While the benchmarks may appear to be better, it's not necessarily the best choice due to the work you're doing. z107 is also over priced in comparison.
 
* Four cores

Skylake i5-6600K, TDP: 75 watts, £200, 16 pci-e lanes

* Six cores

i7-5820K xeon x99, TDP: 140 watts, £300, 28 pci-e lanes, hyperthreading
 
@dreamcat4 -- I currently have a Samsung 850 Pro SSD, so am only looking to upgrade my Mobo, CPU, RAM and Heatsink at the moment.

Alright, so more cores, but less GHz, will be better for video / photo editing and gaming, whereas fewer cores and more GHz would be better for... gaming alone, or... ?

In terms of future proofing for the next 3-5 years, is the vote still for X99?
 
It's probably just the video editing that's going to benefit from X99. Also consider the TDP. Will you need a new cooler for Intel CPU? I suppose AMDs are already quite power-hungry so it's what you're used to. Get the Xeon then and Quad-channel RAM.
 
Okay well *most* coolers come with mounting brackets for both AMD and Intel. However actually come to think of it the Xeon socket is even bigger than Intels regular socket.

You will need to check that you still have correct other (non AMD) brackets that came with the cooler originally. Or if it has other alternative screw hole points on the already-mounted cooler.

It seems AMD's 4 screw holes are the most rectangular / oblong. Intel (nomal ones) are square looking. Xeon ones are also square looking, yet somewhat bigger.

Haha. Best thing to do is find your cooler's model number, look for it's manual on internet. Find other fixings if you still have them.
 
Is Gigabyte generally considered the preferred mobo manufacturer? Couldn't find the specs on the Asus mobo in the bundle I listed...
 
Sorry, I was looking in the "Xeon" category on the Overclockers website, and couldn't find it.

You mean the one in this bundle, right?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-022-AS&groupid=2833&catid=2836&subcat=2861

That is a Haswell-E cpu. There are Xeons on the same socket though, but they are hugely expensive if you want one with a high clockspeed.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-562-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1823
 

Bumping for more opinions.

The main difference between the 5820K and 5930K is the amount of pci-e lanes available.

The 5820K has 28 lanes whereas the 5930K has 40 lanes. If you run a single gpu then you will only be using x16 lanes.

For SLI it would be x16/x8 with the 5820K. On the 5930K it would be x16/x16.

There isn't really much difference (If any) in performance between x16/x8 and x16/x16.
 
I can't really see myself running any more than two GFX cards at a time, mostly due to cost. So here's what I'm thinking now...

Asus X99-S - Intel Core i7 5820K Six Core CPU & Motherboard Bundle = £422.48
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-022-AS

Avexir Blitz Original Silver 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C18 3600MHz Quad Channel Memory Kit - White Light = £241.66
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-125-AR

Total (Excl. VAT) = £664.14

Still haven't decided on a cooler, though. Any recommendations for this CPU? Preferably something that doesn't break the bank. :)
 
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Still haven't decided on a cooler, though. Any recommendations for this CPU? Preferably something that doesn't break the bank. :)

For example; should I be looking at fan-only coolers, or water coolers with fans? And do I want a single fan or twin fans? Not after anything fancy, just something reliable, that keeps the CPU running smoothly.
 
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