Upgrading from Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 - Help Needed!

MrJB · 18 Sep 2014 at 22:21

Hi guys,

haven't posted on here in ages. I am still running a Q6600, and finally have some spare cash to upgrade. I want to stick to Intel, but I am really overwhelmed by the choice available.

Basically trying to figure out if it is worth it to go to the Haswell-E CPUs and if that gives me a long upgrade path on that socket or if they just plan to stick to releasing these 3 CPUs?

This is what I am wanting to carry over from my old rig:

PSU: Be Quiet Dark Power Pro (P8) 900W
GPU: Nvidia Geforce 760 (MSI) 2GB
HDD

So I basically need a CPU(+Cooler), Motherboard, and RAM (plus potentially a SSD for my system drive).

My questions boils down to this: X99 & DDR4 & Haswell-E or something else?

Thanks a lot!

stulid · 18 Sep 2014 at 22:24

I got some Q's

• What do you use your PC for?
• Budget?
• Are all your drives SATA?
• Does your case accept a ATX sized board?

MrJB · 18 Sep 2014 at 22:34

Thanks for your answer stulid

stulid said:
• What do you use your PC for?

Gaming, Programming, Home Entertainment, Very Occasionally some video encoding & otherwise everyday stuff

stulid said:
• Budget?

Looking to spend around 600-700 pounds

stulid said:
• Are all your drives SATA?

Yes

stulid said:
• Does your case accept a ATX sized board?

Yeah currently have a Asus ROG Rampage Formula in an Antec Twelve Hundred, but ideally want a new case to be honest.

stulid · 18 Sep 2014 at 22:42

Ok,

Well I think a Devils canyon i7 and Z97 will be ample.

So thats a 4 core CPU with Hyperthreading (8threads total) and a Z97 chipset board that is rumored to also support Broadwell when they are released.

Here are a few options,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H-BK - Devil's Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£35 Saving** £358.93
1 x Corsair Obsidian 450D High Airflow Mid-Tower Case (CC-9011049-WW) £91.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Avexir Core White Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17200C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U21331104G-2CIW) - White Light £65.99
Total : £606.50 (includes shipping : £8.00).

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£43 Saving** £351.98
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Pro Mid Tower Enthusiast Case with Window £89.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2133HC11ADC01) £65.99
1 x Alpenföhn Brocken ECO CPU Cooler - 120 mm £24.95
Total : £622.50 (includes shipping : £8.00).

As well as the saving you get from OcUK by buying the CPU+board bundle, Gigabyte will also give a further amount of cashback - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18618967

MrJB · 18 Sep 2014 at 22:56

Ok thanks for those suggestions.

Do you have any good link to back up those rumours, just so I can do some background reading (already googled just wondering if you have a source as well)?

I think the big money difference between this and a Haswell-E would be the DDR4 as the CPU is around 30 quid difference?

stulid · 18 Sep 2014 at 22:58

DDR4 is expensive.

Dose this google search link work for you? - https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sour...v=2&ie=UTF-8#safe=off&q=z97 support broadwell

MrJB · 18 Sep 2014 at 23:06

stulid said:
Dose this google search link work for you? - https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sour...v=2&ie=UTF-8#safe=off&q=z97 support broadwell

Haha okay, just thought you might know of a reliable source.

Okay cool, just out of interest, would it be possible to build a similar system on mini-ITX?

In any case I will browse around and see what cases I like, thanks for pointing out the bundle and cashback deal

stulid · 18 Sep 2014 at 23:08

ITX is indeed possible,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £263.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97N-Gaming 5 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £115.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Corsair Carbide Series Air 240 High Airflow PC Case - Black (CC-9011070-WW) £69.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2133HC11ADC01) £65.99
1 x Alpenföhn Brocken ECO CPU Cooler - 120 mm £24.95
Total : £630.46 (includes shipping : £8.00).

A further tip,

• The gaming boards get a 4 year warranty if you register them (3 without)
• The Black edition is 5 years if registered and 3 without.

Randomface74 · 18 Sep 2014 at 23:10

+1 to what stulid recommended

MrJB · 18 Sep 2014 at 23:17

Ok thanks for the advice guys, I think I will read a few more reviews & pick a case I like and then pull the trigger this weekend

MrJB · 19 Sep 2014 at 11:54

Morning stulid, had a bit of a play about, how does this look:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £263.99
1 x Asus Z97I-Plus Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £105.95
1 x Crucial M500 240GB M.2 SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (CT240M500SSD4) £89.99
1 x BitFenix Phenom Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £69.95
1 x Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Gold (HX21C11BGK2/8-OC) £67.99
1 x Alpenföhn Brocken ECO CPU Cooler - 120 mm £24.95
Total : £636.31 (includes shipping : £11.25).

Akagi · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:00

Looks good, aside from the fact that you have chosen an M.2 SSD, and the board doesn't appear to have an M.2 slot. So you would need to be looking at SATA SSD's

stulid · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:01

It works.

But what i specced is cheaper and arguably better.

Acme said:
Looks good, aside from the fact that you have chosen an M.2 SSD, and the board doesn't appear to have an M.2 slot. So you would need to be looking at SATA SSD's

The board has m.2

MrJB · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:04

Acme said:
Looks good, aside from the fact that you have chosen an M.2 SSD, and the board doesn't appear to have an M.2 slot. So you would need to be looking at SATA SSD's

It does indeed have one and takes 2280 m2s. I believe it is located on the back of the motherboard.

stulid said:
It works.

But what i specced is cheaper and arguably better.

The board has m.2

Yeah I agree your spec is slightly cheaper 15-20 pounds, but I quite like the idea of an M2 SSD.

What parts are arguably better, and why?

Akagi · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:07

It does? My mistake!

I am doing very badly on the forums today. I didn't sleep last night

stulid · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:09

j.bucka said:
What parts are arguably better, and why?

The board for a start.

better sound chip, longer warranty.

The case, bitfenix are not famed for airflow, where as the Air240 does.

MrJB · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:16

stulid said:
The board for a start.

better sound chip, longer warranty.

The case, bitfenix are not famed for airflow, where as the Air240 does.

Point take on the sound chip, but not too worried about that.

Last night I thought the Air240 looks hideous, but this morning it actually looks fine, so I will reconsider that.

Btw would you recommend the Corsair Hydros over any Fan Cooler, if I am willing to spend the extra cash?

stulid · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:20

I wouldn't recommend a H100i if using Win8.1 as the Link software has one or two problems working correctly with it "out of the box" there are work arounds though.

I think the H105 fits the case and that has a thick rad compared to the H100i.

Th advantage of a water cooler is you dont have to worry about RAM height, if you look you can get some Teamgroup RAM running at 2666MHz for the same or similar price to the 2133MHz kits above.

MrJB · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:37

Cool, good idea. I must confess I don't know a lot about the different RAM manufacturers and have usually stuck to bigger brands (probably costing me money). Sorry if this is a silly question, but how does Teamgroup stack up?

stulid · 19 Sep 2014 at 12:48

Teamgroup are solid, been around for yonks.