So is it the wrong time to upgrade cpu?

DublinDude

DublinDude

DublinDude

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I'm considering upgrading my Q6600 to an i5 2500k but I am hearing about new cpu's coming out in April.

So is it a bad time, should we wait for them?
Will the current gen prices reduce accordingly?

I presume it is the same with the video cards. Is there a new selection due out shortly that will bring prices down on the current gen?

I also want to upgrade my HD4870 to something that can handle games better.

Any thoughts? :)
 
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There's always something new coming out, I upgraded to a 2600k in feb. even now the new 2011 x79 systems are out costing mega money. There not that much better in most applications we use, it will be great in heavy multithreaded apps. But gaming and media which I use, my CPU is still amazing. I put together a 2500k system a few weeks ago along with a gtx 560ti. I was impressed with its performance
 
The new i5 ivybridge to replace the i5-2500k is said to have a 3.4Ghz Processor quad with 24nm technology and intel HD5000 graphics and is supposed to be less power hungry and run at lower temperatures and is supposed to cost around the same as the current i5-2500k.

Its better, its if you want to wait 4months though
 
Keod2 said:
The new i5 ivybridge to replace the i5-2500k is said to have a 3.4Ghz Processor quad with 24nm technology and intel HD5000 graphics and is supposed to be less power hungry and run at lower temperatures and is supposed to cost around the same as the current i5-2500k.

Its better, its if you want to wait 4months though
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^^This, I have been in the same boat as the OP a few days ago, and i learned about the new ivy bridge i5K coming supposedly in april and costing the same as current CPU's so i thought id wait. A CPU which uses less power and is probably going to be a bit faster than the current i5 you might as well wait and get brand new tech. I think it will be a noticeable upgrade from a 955BE to the ivy bridge :)
 
Ivy will surely be better.

But you really wont be dissapointed with the 2500k now and will last you a good few years, not to mention if you do find it sluggish in a year or so's time then you could slot an Ivy into the same motherboard as they use the same socket.
 
if you are looking at a GPU upgrade look at doing so in about a week or so as new GPUs should be out then by AMD. CPU wise can you wait 4 months?
 
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Surveyor said:
You want to get the i5-2500K if you want to fully overclock.

The i5-2500 can only be tweaked a little.

No Z68 motherboard?

What CPU cooler will you be using? The tall Corsair Vengeance will interfere with the larger ones.
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Yea, I am concerned about a cooler taking up too much room. Any recommendations cooler wise?
 
DublinDude said:
Yea, I am concerned about a cooler taking up too much room. Any recommendations cooler wise?
Click to expand...

You really need to think about the combination of components.

If you get tall RAM you may be limited to the smaller air coolers, or one of the water cooling units from Corsair or Antec, depending on the motherboard layout.

It's usually the first RAM slot which gets blocked so you may be able to use a large air cooler with the RAM in the second and fourth slots.

If you get low profile RAM you can definately go for the larger air coolers which can be just as effective as the water coolers and quiter.

If you get a large air cooler then you need to make sure the case you have/choose is wide enough to accommodate it.

It's a matter of which route you want to head down and then specific components can be recommended from there.
 
Well my case, ATCS 840, is nearly as big as myself so there shouldn't be a problem there. The memory itself is 2*8gb so I could use the 2nd and 4th slot as you suggest.
 
Just having a quick browse through the OcUK site it seems a lot of the usually recommended coolers are out of stock.

Mid range, the Gelid Tranquillo and the Corsair A50.

High end, the Thermalright Silver Arrow and the Noctua NH-D14.

All out of stock so I'm not sure which one to recommend to replace them :(

Did you give any thought to the motherboard?

A Z68 board adds SSD caching, video encoding using the onboard GPU (with specific software) and video output using the onboard GPU (always handy for troubleshooting if nothing else).
 
Surveyor said:
Just having a quick browse through the OcUK site it seems a lot of the usually recommended coolers are out of stock.

Mid range, the Gelid Tranquillo and the Corsair A50.

High end, the Thermalright Silver Arrow and the Noctua NH-D14.

All out of stock so I'm not sure which one to recommend to replace them :(

Did you give any thought to the motherboard?

A Z68 board adds SSD caching, video encoding using the onboard GPU (with specific software) and video output using the onboard GPU (always handy for troubleshooting if nothing else).
Click to expand...

Hmmm,

Well this Asrock motherboard was recommended. Its cheaper but does the trick apparently.

I was also looking at this cooler
 
I'm sure the ASRock will be fine as long as you only ever want to use 1 graphics card.

The Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 is also a good buy. Not the best for CrossFire though due to the speed of the PCI-E slots and I'm not sure about Gen 3 support but them I don't think the ASRock has it either.

I can't say that I know anything about that particular cooler.

OcUK use the Xigmatek Red Scorpion in a few of their systems.

Edit:

FYI If you have a good S775 cooler, and won't need it, it will fit on the ASRock motherboard as it has additional mounting holes for S775 coolers.
 
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Ok, went with:

HIS ATI Radeon HD 6970
Intel Core i5-2500k
Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB)
Xigmatek Red Scorpion CPU Cooler

EDIT: Crap, do I need paste?
 
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DublinDude said:
EDIT: Crap, do I need paste?
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It seems to come with a sachet of thermal paste.

With the exposed heatpipe coolers you're best spreading a thin layer over the CPU rather than using the blob in the middle method.

If you use the blob method it'll just disappear between the heatpipes.
 
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Surveyor said:
It seems to come with a sachet of thermal paste.

With the exposed heatpipe coolers you're best spreading a thin layer over the CPU rather than using the blob in the middle method.

If you use the blob method it'll just disappear between the heatpipes.
Click to expand...

Phew thanks!! Happy New Year all!!

Now the agonising wait for it all..
 
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