Should I Upgrade?

[TravisTea]

Hey guys! I've been toying with the idea of upgrading my main components, since they are starting to show their age. I currently use the X58 platform. MSI X58 Pro-E motherboard, Intel Xeon W3520, and 6gbs of Corsair XM3 DDR3 1333. I'm looking at getting an i5 4690k, Gigabyte Z97 board, and 8gbs of DDR3 1600. My question is, will I see much improvement for the money I'll be spending to do this? I mainly do gaming, some video and audio encoding (not very much), and HD video playback. I'll also be investing in a GTX 970 soon and am concerned if my current cpu would hold back the performance of the card. Thanks!

[i_build_nanosuits]

Get the motherboard and CPU but re-use your RAM 1333mhz is fine for gaming it will not even cost you 1 FPS...the CPU and motherboard upgrade if worth it for gaming...especially if you are to go with a 970 and you don't want her to be chocked by the CPu.

Also 6GB is enough for any games under windows 8 with standard applications running (geforce experience, afterburner, ventrilo etc...)

For other tasks you've mentionned other than gaming the core i5-4690K will give you about the same performance as your hyperthreaded xeons maybe a little but better but for gaming it will be much faster being a new more powerfull architecture at higher clock speed...also you should get a good air cooler to overclock it.

[TravisTea]

Thanks for the reply! I have a friend interested in my current stuff when I do decide to upgrade so he'll most likely be getting the ram. I figured 8gbs is plenty for now. Just mainly concerned about the cpu. Sounds like it's definitely worth the money to upgrade. I've been holding out for quite a while because the stuff I have now has been doing fine. I like the idea of having USB 3.0 and Sata 3 as well, along with other newer technologies that have been implemented since the 1366 series.

[i_build_nanosuits]

Thanks for the reply! I have a friend interested in my current stuff when I do decide to upgrade so he'll most likely be getting the ram. I figured 8gbs is plenty for now. Just mainly concerned about the cpu. Sounds like it's definitely worth the money to upgrade. I've been holding out for quite a while because the stuff I have now has been doing fine. I like the idea of having USB 3.0 and Sata 3 as well, along with other newer technologies that have been implemented since the 1366 series.

pciexpress 3.0 for your new GPU...the 4690K is also a good overclocker...you should get much better performance overall.

[TravisTea]

Badass. Thanks for your help! Have any recommendations for ssds while I'm at it?

[i_build_nanosuits]

Badass. Thanks for your help! Have any recommendations for ssds while I'm at it?

yes Samsung are awesome for the price look for something like this, 240GB is the sweet spot GB/$ wise:

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw

Install this as boot drive/programs and maybe your favorite games (BF4?) and you'll be golden.

[Totally-A-Hero]

Sounds like a good upgrade, and make sure you get a SSD its worth every penny!

[Totally-A-Hero]

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/220771-us-newegg-ssd-sale/#entry3026286

 

OP These SSD's are on sale, id pick up the 250gb one!

[i_build_nanosuits]

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/220771-us-newegg-ssd-sale/#entry3026286

 

OP These SSD's are on sale, id pick up the 250gb one!

yes the crucial at 99$ is a good offering, you'd save 30$ OP.

i would feel more confident with the samsung but i heard good things about crucial as well.

[Skiiwee29]

Would be a good investment. As others have said, re-use your RAM to save you some money or use that extra money and get a beefier card... Like the EVGA GTX 980 http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp42980kr More bang for the buck than upgrading RAM. 

[Skiiwee29]

http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShocker.aspx?cm_sp=ShellShocker-_-14-130-943-_-09232014_3 Right now for 370 on Newegg.. save 200 bucks.. only good for another 40 minutes...

[TravisTea]

I appreciate all of the responses! I'll certainly keep in mind just keeping my current ram. Would it be better to use 2 sticks in dual channel or all three in, I believe its called flex mode?

[Skiiwee29]

Best is just 2 in Dual Channel. Z97 chipset I believe only supports dual channel so having a 3rd stick will not net you any performance increase. 

[i_build_nanosuits]

Best is just 2 in Dual Channel. Z97 chipset I believe only supports dual channel so having a 3rd stick will not net you any performance increase.

no but it will allow him to use 6gb instead of 4gb which can be a problem in some games...i would try the 3 sticks or even better would be aquiring a 4th stick of 2gb...making it 8GB.

6GB is fine for gaming under windows 8, 4Gb is not.

[Skiiwee29]

no but it will allow him to use 6gb instead of 4gb which can be a problem in some games...i would try the 3 sticks or even better would be aquiring a 4th stick of 2gb...making it 8GB.

6GB is fine for gaming under windows 8, 4Gb is not.

 

I wasnt saying it wouldnt work, rather that it wouldnt be "optimal"

[i_build_nanosuits]

I wasnt saying it wouldnt work, rather that it wouldnt be "optimal"

Running memory in dual-channel mode only ever so slightly increase the performance that it won't even be noticeable with games.

But you are correct it wouldn't be ''optimal''.

A 2GB stick of cheap 1333mhz DDR3 should be very easy and cheap to find.