Swap to 6700k or stick with i7 5960X

[TheCaptain53]

One question will games need more than 4 cores any time soon?

Maybe, maybe not. But it doesn't hurt to have them. 6-cores is good on the enthusiast platform right now, it also gives you some flexibility in the future. 

Also, as a side note, the ACX 2.0 cooler for the Titan X is awesome. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/evga-acx-20plus-cooler-for-geforce-gtx-titan-x-graphics-cards

[PeggersXtreme]

Just overclock the nuts off the 5960x. Not sure if you got a decent chip, but you should be able to at least get 4.4.

Mine does 4.8ghz I wasn't willing to push it any further and maxed temps were in the high 70's around 77. using two 360mm rads

[flipped_bit]

I'd keep the 5960X.  Moar PCI-E lanes and moar physical cores could both come in handy with DX12 and future improvements in high-end GPUs.  The 6700K will have better single-core performance, but if you overclock the 5960X the difference will be slight. 

[PeggersXtreme]

Maybe, maybe not. But it doesn't hurt to have them. 6-cores is good on the enthusiast platform right now, it also gives you some flexibility in the future. 

Also, as a side note, the ACX 2.0 cooler for the Titan X is awesome. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/evga-acx-20plus-cooler-for-geforce-gtx-titan-x-graphics-cardsTh

That is something to consider thanks for sending me the link I was thinking about ditching the titan x for a 980ti but will that prevent coil whine because mine is terrible.

[flipped_bit]

Mine does 4.8ghz I wasn't willing to push it any further and maxed temps were in the high 70's around 77. using two 360mm rads

 

Out of curiosity, what happens when you disable some of the cores?  Are you able to raise the clock, and/or lower the voltage required for a given clock?

[NumLock21]

Keep the 5960X, it's a 8 core powerhouse. getting a 5820K will be a major downgrade and going for the 6700K is just stupid. Using the computer is not just for a single task, it's for whatever you can throw at.

[TheCaptain53]

That is something to consider thanks for sending me the link I was thinking about ditching the titan x for a 980ti but will that prevent coil whine because mine is terrible.

I believe the coil whine is more to do with the power delivery than the fans, so it may not make a difference.

 

Keep the 5960X, it's a 8 core powerhouse. getting a 5820K will be a major downgrade and going for the 6700K is just stupid. Using the computer is not just for a single task, it's for whatever you can throw at.

If he's not using it for a rendering workflow and can get at least a fair chunk of his money back, why keep it? 6 cores are plenty for modern games, even Cities: Skyline prefers a hex-core. 

[Masada02]

Mine does 4.8ghz I wasn't willing to push it any further and maxed temps were in the high 70's around 77. using two 360mm rads

Damn, that's pretty good. What voltage were you at for that speed? I haven't pushed past 4.6 because my h100i just can't handle the heat output. Maybe I'll go to a custom loop at some point then push it farther.

[LokiFire]

[DunePilot]

Keep it. Don't forget about DX12, it'll slowly make more threads a useful thing in gaming. Ball is kind of in the court of the developers. Just OC that sucker to 4.8ish. 

[PeggersXtreme]

Damn, that's pretty good. What voltage were you at for that speed? I haven't pushed past 4.6 because my h100i just can't handle the heat output. Maybe I'll go to a custom loop at some point then push it farther.

My Voltage is at 1.36 so not super low but it's within safe limits I could probably do 5ghz but I haven't tried it my chip doesn't seem to get too hot, the heat just isn't manageable on air.

[Masada02]

My Voltage is at 1.36 so not super low but it's within safe limits I could probably do 5ghz but I haven't tried it my chip doesn't seem to get too hot, the heat just isn't manageable on air.

That's pretty low for 4.8. A lot of people need 1.3 just to get to 4.4.

 

Since you seem to have gotten a damn good 5960x I'd be more inclined to keep that then change to something else.

[PeggersXtreme]

That's pretty low for 4.8. A lot of people need 1.3 just to get to 4.4.

 

Since you seem to have gotten a damn good 5960x I'd be more inclined to keep that then change to something else.

So in terms of gaming what difference would the 6700k have over the 5960x would it be within a couple frames because all the reviewers seem to conflict each other with different frame rates when using the same hardware

[NumLock21]

I believe the coil whine is more to do with the power delivery than the fans, so it may not make a difference.

 

If he's not using it for a rendering workflow and can get at least a fair chunk of his money back, why keep it? 6 cores are plenty for modern games, even Cities: Skyline prefers a hex-core. 

How much do you think he can sell his 5960X for, where he can get a fair chunk of his money back.

[TheCaptain53]

How much do you think he can sell his 5960X for, where he can get a fair chunk of his money back.

eBay, he should be able to get a good £600 back. That's almost double a 5820K.

[PeggersXtreme]

eBay, he should be able to get a good £600 back. That's almost double a 5820K.

6700k is £290 and the 5820k is £303

[Masada02]

So in terms of gaming what difference would the 6700k have over the 5960x would it be within a couple frames because all the reviewers seem to conflict each other with different frame rates when using the same hardware

I think in terms of single threaded performance the 6700k is on average 5-10% better than a haswell chip at similar speeds. So in games where 4 or less cores are used the 6700k and CPU limited the 6700k will be 5-10% better. Unoptimized games like Arma will see the biggest gain from the 6700k, but newer games are tending to be optimized (or at least benefit from) for more cores so the 5960x should be able to hold its edge for quite some time. Especially since you can run yours at 4.8. I imagine your single threaded performance is up there with a 6700k with that overclock.

 

You have to remember that most benchmarks for the 5960x show it at its stock 3/3.5 speed and of course it's going to get crushed in single threaded performance like that. But once it's overclocked it's basically a 4790k with 4 more cores.

[PeggersXtreme]

I think in terms of single threaded performance the 6700k is on average 5-10% better than a haswell chip at similar speeds. So in games where 4 or less cores are used the 6700k and CPU limited the 6700k will be 5-10% better. Unoptimized games like Arma will see the biggest gain from the 6700k, but newer games are tending to be optimized (or at least benefit from) for more cores so the 5960x should be able to hold its edge for quite some time. Especially since you can run yours at 4.8. I imagine your single threaded performance is up there with a 6700k with that overclock.

 

You have to remember that most benchmarks for the 5960x show it at its stock 3/3.5 speed and of course it's going to get crushed in single threaded performance like that. But once it's overclocked it's basically a 4790k with 4 more cores.

Yeah I did see something like that where the 5960x was getting stomped on by the 4790k but they were running them both at stock leaving a big difference in clock speeds.

[flipped_bit]

If you've overclocked the 5960X to 4.8GHz stable at 1.36V, you could probably do well in the aftermarket.  For the same reason though, I'd keep it.  You got a great chip it would seem.

[PeggersXtreme]

If you've overclocked the 5960X to 4.8GHz stable at 1.36V, you could probably do well in the aftermarket.  For the same reason though, I'd keep it.  You got a great chip it would seem.

I'm guessing the x99 platform may benefit from having more pci-e lanes as I use 2-Way SLI and an M.2 SSD which means I can run my gpu's in 16x 16x and m.2 at 4x if I went z107 I would probably end up running my gpu's at 8x 8x and the m.2 at 4x

[Dash Lambda]

If you were planning a new gaming build, then I'd suggest the 6700K or the 5820K.

You already have a 5960X though...

 

Games are getting better at using more cores, that's a damn good overclocking chip, and it's the best consumer CPU you can get.

You have two Titan X's, 64GB of RAM, a storage array that it would wake a small company to fill, and custom water cooling... So it's not like any of your other core components need upgrading.

 

Unless you need the money for something else, I see no reason to intentionally downgrade. Just get a new waterblock.

[jimakos234]

I'm guessing the x99 platform may benefit from having more pci-e lanes as I use 2-Way SLI

keep your 5960x for a little more, get the lowest tier broadwell-e cpu when it is realeased(they said Q1 of 2016, but i would say q2-q3), that wil still crush the 6700k and will still use x99 platform

[PeggersXtreme]

If you were planning a new gaming build, then I'd suggest the 6700K or the 5820K.

You already have a 5960X though...

 

Games are getting better at using more cores, that's a damn good overclocking chip, and it's the best consumer CPU you can get.

You have two Titan X's, 64GB of RAM, a storage array that it would wake a small company to fill, and custom water cooling... So it's not like any of your other core components need upgrading.

 

Unless you need the money for something else, I see no reason to intentionally downgrade. Just get a new waterblock.

I have contacted the company about my CPU block because it's only 6 months and started leaking from the fitting when I look at it there is no visual damage to the thread and I have tried different fittings but liquid still seeps out so hopefully they may offer a replacement I'm not sure how warranty works on something like this though.

[PeggersXtreme]

keep your 5960x for a little more, get the lowest tier broadwell-e cpu when it is realeased(they said Q1 of 2016, but i would say q2-q3), that wil still crush the 6700k and will still use x99 platform

But at that point the 5960x will be worth peanuts but I see what your saying.

[PeggersXtreme]

If you were planning a new gaming build, then I'd suggest the 6700K or the 5820K.

You already have a 5960X though...

 

Games are getting better at using more cores, that's a damn good overclocking chip, and it's the best consumer CPU you can get.

You have two Titan X's, 64GB of RAM, a storage array that it would wake a small company to fill, and custom water cooling... So it's not like any of your other core components need upgrading.

 

Unless you need the money for something else, I see no reason to intentionally downgrade. Just get a new waterblock.

You consider the 6700k a downgrade overall that's pretty much all I was waiting for someone to say in gaming I would consider it an upgrade but that the only positive I can think of moving over to the 6700k.