So I had a mid-range build from Summer of 2015 that was an i7 5820k, evga x99 micro 2, 16gb of corsair vengeance 2133mhz, an evga 980 SC, Asus PG248Q monitor, a 512GB Samsung SM951, Hitachi 4tb HDD, a corsair h100i cooler and an Antec P50 case.
So when the new GTX 1080s came out, I wanted to get one. I wound up finding 2 Asus STRIX on craigslist for $1600 cash. But then they wouldn't fit in my case. I really like the little case, so I sold the STRIX, checked the measurements on EVGA cards, saw that the STRIX was a giant, and set about getting ahold of some EVGA 1080s. I wound up with 2 1080 FTWs. Buuuut they still wouldn't fit in the case and allow me to put the side on due to the width and the power connectors. For expediency's sake (I live in Hawaii) I bought a new case on craigslist, a corsair 100r. It couldn't accommodate the h100i cooler, so I sold the 100r (and the P50.) So I ordered a corsair 400r. Got it all put together and everything worked. However the top video card would hit 94 degrees celcius and throttle down the clock during fur-mark stress tests. I also had to put a folded up piece of paper towel between the two cards to keep the fan on the top card from rubbing on the bottom card and stopping. At some point here I figured I should give these video cards something to do, so I upgraded my Asus PG248Q to the PG348Q 34" model.
So at this juncture, I decided I'd get a larger motherboard and ordered the EVGA X99 FTW K. After some initial build problems involving the weird numbering of the DIMM slots, I got it up and running with a fresh Windows 10 Anniversary install. And neither card exceeds 84C during stress testing. However, the second card is only running at 8x PCIe due to the 5820k being a 28 lane processor. My understanding is that 1 card is at 16x, one is at 8x, and the m2 SSD uses the other 4 lanes.
So my question is, would it be worth the trouble of taking off the heatsink to install a 6850k? Would the extra PCIe lanes actually help performance? Is the newer generation process noticeably faster? I do plan on upgrading the M2 drive to the new 1TB SM961 once it's available, so if I'm going to have to open the case again, I'd prefer to do both upgrades at once.
As far as usage, I play games for maybe 3-4 hours a week, and the computer is used exclusively for gaming, no work or video editing. Lately I've been playing BroForce, Bioshock Infinite, & Grim Dawn.
So when the new GTX 1080s came out, I wanted to get one. I wound up finding 2 Asus STRIX on craigslist for $1600 cash. But then they wouldn't fit in my case. I really like the little case, so I sold the STRIX, checked the measurements on EVGA cards, saw that the STRIX was a giant, and set about getting ahold of some EVGA 1080s. I wound up with 2 1080 FTWs. Buuuut they still wouldn't fit in the case and allow me to put the side on due to the width and the power connectors. For expediency's sake (I live in Hawaii) I bought a new case on craigslist, a corsair 100r. It couldn't accommodate the h100i cooler, so I sold the 100r (and the P50.) So I ordered a corsair 400r. Got it all put together and everything worked. However the top video card would hit 94 degrees celcius and throttle down the clock during fur-mark stress tests. I also had to put a folded up piece of paper towel between the two cards to keep the fan on the top card from rubbing on the bottom card and stopping. At some point here I figured I should give these video cards something to do, so I upgraded my Asus PG248Q to the PG348Q 34" model.
So at this juncture, I decided I'd get a larger motherboard and ordered the EVGA X99 FTW K. After some initial build problems involving the weird numbering of the DIMM slots, I got it up and running with a fresh Windows 10 Anniversary install. And neither card exceeds 84C during stress testing. However, the second card is only running at 8x PCIe due to the 5820k being a 28 lane processor. My understanding is that 1 card is at 16x, one is at 8x, and the m2 SSD uses the other 4 lanes.
So my question is, would it be worth the trouble of taking off the heatsink to install a 6850k? Would the extra PCIe lanes actually help performance? Is the newer generation process noticeably faster? I do plan on upgrading the M2 drive to the new 1TB SM961 once it's available, so if I'm going to have to open the case again, I'd prefer to do both upgrades at once.
As far as usage, I play games for maybe 3-4 hours a week, and the computer is used exclusively for gaming, no work or video editing. Lately I've been playing BroForce, Bioshock Infinite, & Grim Dawn.