Spec me an upgrade

adolf hamster · 24 Sep 2015 at 19:57

Hi guys, i'm thinking i might take the plunge and upgrade, the old 8150 is now poorly matched to the rest of my setup and is showing it's age.

So, i'm looking to switch sides, and i'm currently debating between skylake and haswell e.

What i want;
16gb of ddr4 memory, nice n fast (dual channel for skylake, can be quad for haswell if theres a benefit to that)
An asus motherboard (as a reference if i was buying skylake it'd be the maximus hero, not top end but pretty good)

Apart from that cpu i'm not sure which would be better, i'm thinking haswell is the smart option even if it is pricier, also if anyone could let me know if my current alpenfohn k2 will be a straight fit (ie i dont need to get a new cooler) it'd be very helpful.

Budget is dependant, ideally i want the maximum price/performance ratio as opposed to pure cost, but its just cpu mobo and ram i'm changing so i cant see it being too bad.

mickyflinn · 24 Sep 2015 at 20:17

What case do you have ?

adolf hamster · 24 Sep 2015 at 20:26

540 air, so plenty of room although an eatx might be a bit of a squeeze.

Running an ax860psu which isnt breaking a sweat on 4.3 bulldozer/290x combo so i dont think haswell e will worry it.

Also do the haswell e boards come with m.2? I'm currently debating between that or a 1tb ssd and switching my current ssd to the laptop (which sorely needs it)

mickyflinn · 24 Sep 2015 at 20:51

I7 or I5 ? yes haswell and haswell e boards have m2 slot.

adolf hamster · 24 Sep 2015 at 21:02

mickyflinn said:
I7 or I5 ? yes haswell and haswell e boards have m2 slot.

It'd be i7 for going down the skylake route, hence my indecision as it's hella expensive compared to the 5820k.

This is basically a 'futureproofing' (as far as that ever applies in this hobby) as well as bringing the cpu setup in line with the rest of the rig.

lee32uk · 24 Sep 2015 at 21:09

You can buy either platform for the same sort of price ATM. The retail cpu's are a few quid more if you want the extra warranty.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel i7-5820K 3.30GHz (Haswell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3 Processor - OEM (CM8064801548435) £299.99
1 x MSI X99A SLI Plus Intel X99 (Socket 2011) DDR4 ATX Motherboard £179.99
1 x Kingston Fury Black 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C15 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit - Black (HX424C15FBK4/16) £99.95
Total : £589.52 (includes shipping : £8.00 Ex.VAT).

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - OEM £319.99
1 x Asus Maximus VIII Hero Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard £169.99
1 x Kingston Fury Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-21300C15 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (HX426C15FBK2/16) £89.99
Total : £589.57 (includes shipping : £8.00 Ex.VAT).

I always forget about the bundles. You can get the Asus board in a bundle deal.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus Z170 Maximus VII Hero - Skylake Core i7 6700K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **30 Saving** £469.98
Total : £479.58 (includes shipping : £8.00 Ex.VAT).

You can also get a Gigabyte bundle for X99

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte X99-SLI - Intel Core i7 5820K Six Core CPU & Motherboard Bundle ***50 Saving*** £441.98
Total : £451.58 (includes shipping : £8.00 Ex.VAT).

adolf hamster · 24 Sep 2015 at 21:17

This is where my dilema lies, changing out the msi board you've got down for an asus one brings haswell up to circa 700 which yes is more, but is it enough performance boost to justify the move?

lee32uk · 24 Sep 2015 at 22:00

adolf hamster said:
This is where my dilema lies, changing out the msi board you've got down for an asus one brings haswell up to circa 700 which yes is more, but is it enough performance boost to justify the move?

Either platform would be a big improvement from an AMD FX cpu.

Skylake might have the slight edge for gaming due to the higher stock clock speed, but X99 would be stronger for other things that are cpu intensive.

If you like the Asus board then go with Skylake. There is only about £18 or so difference in price.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte X99-SLI - Intel Core i7 5820K Six Core CPU & Motherboard Bundle ***50 Saving*** £441.98
1 x Kingston Fury Black 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C15 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit - Black (HX424C15FBK4/16) £99.95
Total : £551.53 (includes shipping : £8.00 Ex.VAT).

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus Z170 Maximus VII Hero - Skylake Core i7 6700K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **30 Saving** £469.98
1 x Kingston Fury Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-21300C15 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (HX426C15FBK2/16) £89.99
Total : £569.57 (includes shipping : £8.00 Ex.VAT).

Your current cooler should be fine. The Alpenfohn is a big beast though so if it overhangs the 1st pci-e slot then you might have to put a bit of insulation tape on the fan clips nearest the graphics card to stop it shorting out. I remember this being a slight issue in the past, but there is no way of knowing until you install it.