Time to Upgrade need some input

Drei

Drei

Drei

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Joined
8 May 2008
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157
Location
Essex
My current machine is a 2008 Intel Dual Core E8400 OCed at 3.6Ghz Air Cooled (Idle around 44c going to about 60c when pushed), 8GB Ram, 2xSDDs and normal 2xHDs, Nvidia 660, Power Supply is a whooping 1100W:))) I know this is where most of my electric bill goes.

The plan is to replace just the MOBO, RAM and CPU, keep everything else. Maybe a future Nvidia GPU upgrade.

My current list is as follows and I would like to make a decision pretty quick as prices seem to be going up rather than down plus some of the bundles are only available this week. Since my last build lasted quite some time and yes I do play games (running Mid to High level graphics settings at 1920x1080). I would like another machine that can last me at least 5 years:)

Thise are my options, please let me know your opinions so I can make my final decision:
  1. 4790K with 16GB 2x8
  2. 4820K with 16GB 4x4 pretty much same price as the one above but its DDR4 running quad chan.
  3. Same as above but fork out an extra £140 and go for 32GB 4x8 DDR4
  4. 5820K with 16GB 4x4 as #2 but different CPU +£60 as OCUK is running a bundle


P.S. I have left out a few parts but for MOBO I would go with the Z97 Asus H97-PRO GAMER OR MSI Z97 Gaming 3 for the LGA1150 AND the MSI X99S SLI Plus as it is cheapest LGA2011 I can find:)
For cooling I am looking at the Corsair Hydro Series H105, for some reason it has better cooling temps than the H110. I would go for the H110iGT but it seems to be hard to get hold of it.
 
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Hi,

What PSU is it?

What SSDs are they?

What case do you have?

Are you using an aftermarket cooler that fits socket 1156/55 or 1150? (all three are the same).
 
PSU is a CoolMaster UCP 1100W has all the cables I need just plug in or remove.
SSDs are ADATA. 1 SSD has my OS the other is for games that need heavy loading and everything else is kept on by WD 1TB, I have another WD 750GB for storing crap, games images, patches, drivers, cheats&tutorials, trainers, mods etc.
PC Case is a Thermaltake Armor, full tower currently it has 8 fans + 4 more around the MOBO and RAM cooler so about 16 Fans in total with the CPU Zalman Flower.
http://support.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1433&ID=1404

As I mentioned the H105 cooler should handle whatever CPU I go for, both 1150 and 2011 sockets.
My main query here is the CPU+MOBO+RAM combo... the prices are similar except for the 32GB DDR4... which goes up by quite a bit. I am looking at performance for gaming only and longevity. I doubt I will change the 4 options mentioned in initial post so it's just which ones to go for and I would like to place my order today:)


The current CPU E8400+MOBO+RAM+spare Nvidia 470 will go into my work PC and my work pc currently AMD 64 X2 6K+MOBO+4GB RAM will go into another PC which I might use for downloading and what not.
 
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1) Z97+4790K is a great choice but you do only need 8GB of RAM for gaming, 16Gb would be a luxury (and thats if you have a suitable 64bit OS for it).

2) 4820K is DDR3 as it uses the socket2011 X79 platform.

3) You do not need 32Gb of RAM

4) 5820K+16Gb DDR4+X99 as a bundle is sweet.


So that boils down to two options

X99 bundle (pick a CPU) - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-011-MS

Z97 bundle (add as much RAM as you want) - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-012-GI&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=2858 - this board has a 5yr warrnty and a free upgrade within 3 yrs as seen here. but that still means new cpu+ram to then go with this new but free board.
 
stulid said:
1) Z97+4790K is a great choice but you do only need 8GB of RAM for gaming, 16Gb would be a luxury (and thats if you have a suitable 64bit OS for it).
Click to expand...

I know we've been saying that 8GB is all that's required for gaming for some time now, but I've had a few recent games which are using close to 8GB. I think 16gb is going to be the new sweet spot.
 
Indeed, I have been using 8GB since 2008 so I will be looking at minimum 16GB but I will want to use the MOBO properly, if it is dual channel I won't be sticking 4 RAM Sticks, I did that and couldn't use the RAM at full speed.

So it does boil down to going 4790K or 5820K... what would you select Mr Stulid and Co? Difference is money so the 5820K bundle is £121.36 more expensive than the 4790K. I think my question now is if the 5820K with DDR4 is worth the extra cash.
 
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I decided to go with the 5820K the MOBO+RAM price was just too good and since the MOBO has 8 RAM slots I can always buy another set of 16GB same RAM later on.

I was thinking future investment, since my last upgrade was back in 2008 and at that time I went with the Dual Core because it was the best and could be OCed stable on air, however Quads became the norm soon after. Don't wanna make the same mistake.

All I need now is to know how to OC the 5820K to a 4.2 with the MOBO I have.
Also should I upgrade MOBO firmware when I get it? I never bothered with my existing one, last time I did a Firmware upgrade I screwed up my MOBO back in 2010. I won't try and fix something that's not broken, more trouble than worth.
 
I dont know what enhanced turbo is.

EIST is the speedstep function so lowers the multi+vcore at idle.

Turboboost is just that, the cpu has a base clock and the turboboost increases this depending on how many cores are under load.
 
So do you have these features on for your OC system or leave them off and run it at FIXED speed no rest:)
 
There are two ways of overclocking

1) fixed speed, constant vcore+Mhz

2) Increase the Turbo ratios, use offset Vcore and so you keep the speedstep+turboboost function.

Which one you want is down to which you prefer, want to save a dolphin and the ozone layer or not?
 
I think I Might go with option 2, I will keep an eye on my CPU Temp, on FIXED it seems to stay around 40... rather it was 28.

Cheers for all your help mate.
 
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