What should I upgrade with £500?

Deehjay

Deehjay

Deehjay

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So I'm at a point now where I have no idea what to upgrade in my system. I need help!

My rig is as follows and is primarily used for gaming:

i5-2500 (Locked)
AsRock Z68
R9 280X
bequiet system power 7 600w
8GB Corsair XMS3 1600mhz

I was thinking of upgrading to an i7-4790k, getting a nice air cooler and a Z97 board, but are there other possible alternatives to get my power for the same money? The CPU is 3 years old now and is starting to slow down a bit, especially since it's not unlocked so it has no overclocking behind it. I was thinking I could maybe go Xfire 280X cards but this would require a new motherboard and a power supply I think, since my motherboard doesn't support SLI/Xfire, and I'm sure 600 watts wouldn't be enough to power two of those cards alongside the rest of the system.

Cheers
 
you current i5 is still better than my amd 6 core pal... stick with it for another year or so, your rig is fine for now... save up and get a broadwell next year
 
stulid said:
Even with a locked CPU you can still get it upto 4 speed bins higher than the Turboboost.
Click to expand...

5 speed bins.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i174/timmahtiburon/BETO/limitedoverclock.jpg
4+1 means 4 comes from o/c and 1 comes from turbo. So 3.3 GHz CPU is able do get (+5) 3.8 GHz at this motherboard, and even more with slight BCLK (3-4%) raise.
But it's not important as Op want to make XFire, and mobo doesn't support it (AsRock Z68 Pro 3?). In such case mobo upgrade is a must, so - by the way - CPU change to i7 is highly recommended to get more juice from mGPU.

Altenative is buying used 2600K/3770K from trusted user who didn't overclock it insanely in 24/7 range. Some Z68/Z77 motherboards (new) are available as well, so only PSU (850W with 4xPEGx6) is a matter.
 
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CinderzFTW said:
you current i5 is still better than my amd 6 core pal... stick with it for another year or so, your rig is fine for now... save up and get a broadwell next year
Click to expand...

Do you know when Broadwell will be released?

And how much will they cost?
 
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biuro74 said:
5 speed bins.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i174/timmahtiburon/BETO/limitedoverclock.jpg
4+1 means 4 comes from o/c and 1 comes from turbo. So 3.3 GHz CPU is able do get (+5) 3.8 GHz at this motherboard, and even more with slight BCLK (3-4%) raise.
But it's not important as Op want to make XFire, and mobo doesn't support it (AsRock Z68 Pro 3?). In such case mobo upgrade is a must, so - by the way - CPU change to i7 is highly recommended to get more juice from mGPU.

Altenative is buying used 2600K/3770K from trusted user who didn't overclock it insanely in 24/7 range. Some Z68/Z77 motherboards (new) are available as well, so only PSU (850W with 4xPEGx6) is a matter.
Click to expand...

Its 4 bins.

3.7Ghz to 4.1GHz is 4

3.4Ghz to 3.8GHz is 4

From tomshardware where that pic is from and what I liked to,

If you don’t buy a K-series chip and instead grab a Core i7-2600, Core i5-2500, -2400, or -2300 (along with a P67-based motherboard), you’ll still have access to “limited unlocking.” This basically means you can set clock rates up to four speed bins above the highest Turbo Boost frequency setting available at any given level of processor activity.
Click to expand...
 
broadwell M has been released but thats for laptops and tablets etc... desktop versions are coming spring/summer 2015... looking at around 170£ for an i5 and 260£ish for the i7 respectively

I would wait... save up your money and build a rig that will last you 3 years or more... simple as really
 
Honestly I'm eager to upgrade sooner rather than later. I really wanted to get myself an i7-4790K but I'm not entirely sure.
 
What about other items such as an amazing monitor or nice keyboard+mouse etc.

You haven't mentioned if you have a SSD?
 
stulid said:
What about other items such as an amazing monitor or nice keyboard+mouse etc.

You haven't mentioned if you have a SSD?
Click to expand...

Sorry forgot to mention the SSD. I do infact have one (Samsung 840 EVO) which was recently purchased actually.

I already have a Razer BlackWidow and a Razer Naga, so no need for an upgrade there. A nice monitor would be good, but would it really be worth getting a high end monitor with my current system? ATM I just have two generic Philips 60hz 1080p monitors which were £90 each
 
That Iiyama does look very tempting. Would there be any major difference between the Iiyama and the cheapest AOC aside from the obvious 3 extra inches?
 
Don't think there will be too much difference.

I got the one in the middle and I think the difference between it and the cheaper one is the stand and possibly USB hub but haven't really looked deeply into it.
 
Ok, then I think one of those could be a potential purchase. Is it definitely worth waiting until next year until the new chipset is released? I'm really eager to get an upgrade in now as I said, and if there's not going to be much of a performance increase from the equivalent 4790K, then I might just go for it?

Cheers for the help though
 
Deehjay said:
Honestly I'm eager to upgrade sooner rather than later. I really wanted to get myself an i7-4790K but I'm not entirely sure.
Click to expand...

I've heard from a few owners that these are a gamble, it's lucky dip to get one with decent overclocking/temps.

Go with a 2600k/2700k, they'll give you 4 extra hyper-threads & better overclocking option without changing your mobo etc.
 
How much of a performance difference is there between the 2600k and the 4790k? The problem for me is that I tend to steer well clear of buying anything second hand, and to buy a 2600k new would cost more or less the exact same as a 4790k, so why not just go with the latest chipset and sell up on my i5-2500 and my Z68 board? the 4790k would do me nicely for the next few years or so. If I sold up on my i5-2500, Z68 board and the monitor that I'd be replacing, I'd be able to get the 4790k alongside a decent Z97 board and a decent cooler, with money still left over for one of the 144hz monitors stulid recommended.

I know you say the 26/2700k will do better for overclocking but I'm not all that fussed about overclocking, just as long as I can clock it a bit more than stock to get some extra performance out. I won't be going crazy and trying to achieve anything ambitious; I haven't even overclocked before!
 
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