Debating on upgrading from 2500k

[Xellos2099]

Ok, long story short, my parent pc, which is an old athlon x2 250 + phemon II era mobo) ram controller is dying and now i am debating doing a cheap build for them or give them my 2500k cpu+ mobo and get my own upgrade.

I am debating on 6600k or 6700k. It is mostly a gaming pc. I also live near microcenter so i am asking for some suggestion.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Ok, long story short, my parent pc, which is an old athlon x2 250 + phemon II era mobo) ram controller is dying and now i am debating doing a cheap build for them or give them my 2500k cpu+ mobo and get my own upgrade.

I am debating on 6600k or 6700k. It is mostly a gaming pc. I also live near microcenter so i am asking for some suggestion.

This topic bubbles up all the time. There must be two or three threads behind yours over a period of just a couple months.

It would be most generous to give your parents the SB-K system.

If you plan on either of those CPUs, then you'll overclock. The skinny on the forum suggests that you'd get a 30% improvement in performance between the old and the new without the clock tweaks, or maybe I'm mistaken.

I've been casually looking at the top-end ASUS boards, while eyeing boards by MSI. I think the best of the Maximus boards is over $400. So I'm also looking at the Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1, at a price point close to $200.

If you plan to overclock, you should invest in a good board, but you don't need to spend $400. I can't recommend anything from direct experience, since I'm slowly planning to build a similar system to what you contemplate.

 

[Xellos2099]

Yeah i overclock. My 2500k is on 4.4 the entire time with p8p67 pro. What 1151 board are good for oc without breaking the bank.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Were you overclocking the Phenom II X2 rig that died? Just curious.

If you were, then perhaps I suggest NOT overclocking the next rig that you build for parents? Or keep the overclock really mild?

I don't know that I would overclock a rig for the parents, unless I lived locally and could be there to fix any problems with it within the hour. And since I wouldn't like to be on call like that, I don't think that I would overclock their system at all.

The rig(s) that I built my Mom, I used a modest, low-power CPU (but a "big Core", not an "Atom"), filled it to the brink with RAM, and put in an SSD. Seems to have worked out pretty well. Well, when she doesn't have problems turning the system on, that is.

 

[Sheep221]

Were you overclocking the Phenom II X2 rig that died? Just curious.

If you were, then perhaps I suggest NOT overclocking the next rig that you build for parents? Or keep the overclock really mild?

I don't know that I would overclock a rig for the parents, unless I lived locally and could be there to fix any problems with it within the hour. And since I wouldn't like to be on call like that, I don't think that I would overclock their system at all.

The rig(s) that I built my Mom, I used a modest, low-power CPU (but a "big Core", not an "Atom"), filled it to the brink with RAM, and put in an SSD. Seems to have worked out pretty well. Well, when she doesn't have problems turning the system on, that is.

If he is about to give 2500K to parents I would say he return it to stock and be done with it. I'm sure they won't require computer to run beyond stock speed.

 

[VirtualLarry]

If he is about to give 2500K to parents I would say he return it to stock and be done with it. I'm sure they won't require computer to run beyond stock speed.

I agree! Good idea.

A 2500K is still fairly powerful, even at stock. At least for a non-Gamer. (If his parents play CoD, then I could see an exception, and leaving it OCed. But other than that, no.)

 

[Blue_Max]

If he is about to give 2500K to parents I would say he return it to stock and be done with it. I'm sure they won't require computer to run beyond stock speed.

I agree as well. Heck, if you do upgrade, give your parents the stock Intel cooler and keep the heavy-duty overlocking cooling system for yourself. They'll appreciate quiet stability over a loud overclock they won't notice.

 

[wizzack]

If he is about to give 2500K to parents I would say he return it to stock and be done with it. I'm sure they won't require computer to run beyond stock speed.

That's exactly what I do when upgrading to a new computer. Reset to default and set the appropriate voltage/speed for components (e.g. memory) if it's not done automatically.

I'm in the same boat as you Xellos, but planning to get a 6700K for the hyperthreading (trying some multi-threaded coding). If gaming were the only thing that would potentially push my CPU to its limit, I'd go for the 6600K instead and spend the extra cash on a better mobo (or monitor).

 

[Xellos2099]

I agree 2500k is still a beast and I would not be upgrading if my parent PC just break down

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

If you still play alot of DX11 games then get the 6700K, the HT helps alot

 

[TeknoBug]

Even on my locked H110 motherboard, I'm getting the i7 6700K for its stock 4GHz clock, or the Kaby Lake i7 if it's going to work on that chipset (don't see why not).

 

[Sheep221]

Even on my locked H110 motherboard, I'm getting the i7 6700K for its stock 4GHz clock, or the Kaby Lake i7 if it's going to work on that chipset (don't see why not).

Of course it will work, all stock settings and turbos are supported by all chipsets.

 

[escrow4]

Of course it will work, all stock settings and turbos are supported by all chipsets.

Not always, cheapo mobos may throttle an i7:

http://us.hardware.info/reviews/5949/3/intel-h81-chipset-motherboards-test-8-budget-motherboards-put-to-the-test-new-tests-vrm-temperatures-and-working-pwm

In the conclusion:

"The ASUS H81M-E and Gigabyte H81M-S2V do reach temperatures in the critical zone and we would advise against combining them with a fast Core i5 or i7."

 

[Sheep221]

Not always, cheapo mobos may throttle an i7:

http://us.hardware.info/reviews/594...st-new-tests-vrm-temperatures-and-working-pwm

In the conclusion:

"The ASUS H81M-E and Gigabyte H81M-S2V do reach temperatures in the critical zone and we would advise against combining them with a fast Core i5 or i7."

lol wut didn't know that some mobos can't handle STOCK 84W TDP cpu, seems they are cutting on quality of VRMs compared to H55 and H61 mobos, which were capable of running 95W i5/i7.

 

[Xellos2099]

Actually i got getting soem second opioion on 4790k being a better buy

 

[nerp]

Even on my locked H110 motherboard, I'm getting the i7 6700K for its stock 4GHz clock, or the Kaby Lake i7 if it's going to work on that chipset (don't see why not).

This is what I'd do, too. It's not a bad thing to buy a K and not OC it. Thinking about popping one in my H170 board and cycling my i3 to a new build for my daughter who is coming up on Minecraft age. Also, need a place to put this GTX950 for a GTX 1070 or 1080 later this year.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Wey-ull . . . . There's plenty of time for some more research.

But here's a budget for a Z170 system project:

i7-6700K $350.00
Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1 $ 210.00
G.SKILL RipJaws V 32GB $170.00
Corsair Vengeance C70 $110.00
Corsair H115i $110.00
Assorted PWM fans $ 115.00
Seasonic PSU 650W Gold $110.00
Windows 10 Pro OEM $130.00
ADATA SP550 960GB SSD $200.00
TOTAL: $1,505.00

Frankly, I don't need to pull the string on all of it to start testing and tweaking. I have a spare Noctua NH-U12P cooler and socket-115x kit. As much as I hate 'em now, I have several Sharkoon 140mm 3-pin fans in storage, and some 120x38mm 3-pin Panaflo's. But my spare SSDs of any useful size are already destined for my server project -- or one of them.

I could trim the RipJaws V to 16GB which would be only about $70. But it would make more sense to spring for the 2x16GB kit right away, instead of filling all four slots over a period of time.

As for the graphics card, I can wait, and use the iGPU instead while I get familiar with the board, CPU, UEFI-BIOS, and a range of OC's.

If I take my time, some of these choices might change, and so might the numbers.

[RETURNING after a little game-play:] I still . . . really, really, really like these old Sandy Bridge systems.

 

[wingman04]

I would go for the i5 6600k for gaming, it is well documented some times HT will slow down the FPS a little. Here are some benchmarks for gaming. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1544?vs=1543

 

[maddogmcgee]

I would go for the i5 6600k for gaming, it is well documented some times HT will slow down the FPS a little. Here are some benchmarks for gaming. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1544?vs=1543

Except that in those benchmarks the 6700k is usually beating the 6600k....

 

[wingman04]

Not in gaming with the ASUS GTX 980 Strix 4GB .