Can't decide.....

[PP Mguire]

I'm trying to figure out my upgrade path, but I'm stuck on something. I know the 2600k rapes right now, but I'm not sure if it is enough to warrant an upgrade. I know my 750 can go higher than 4.3 under water if I had faster RAM. Was wondering what your opinion would be on this. Get a 2600k setup and make it last a few years, or spend ~100 on a faster RAM kit so I can clock my 750 higher to try and last till Ivy comes out. The games I'm looking at doesn't look like I'll need a CPU upgrade so kinda torn.

 

[Slaymate]

While better ram will help with a overclock, I really don't think it's going to make much of a difference.

With that said, I think your present system should still be quite serviceable for another year or two.

 

[PP Mguire]

Wouldn't last a year for me, maybe 6 or 7 months tops. I'm actually over 2 years with this system now and is why I think it might be time for an upgrade. It's either that or buy the gf a completely new system so she can play Supreme Commander with us higher than 250 units a piece.

I think I'll just go with a Sandy upgrade. I really can't see Ivy being that much better. Just realized I posted this in to the wrong forum....tsk tsk.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

A 750 is still a darn decent CPU, 2600k doesn't really offer *that* huge an increase. No offense, but from what you've said on the forums it doesn't sound like you're in a position much to be worrying whether your gf can play Supreme Commander lol. Stick with one rig, keep the 750, buy moar ram if you have to, but wait.

 

[Prophet]

if money is an issue you can always get a 2500K and save 100$

 

[PP Mguire]

A 750 is still a darn decent CPU, 2600k doesn't really offer *that* huge an increase. No offense, but from what you've said on the forums it doesn't sound like you're in a position much to be worrying whether your gf can play Supreme Commander lol. Stick with one rig, keep the 750, buy moar ram if you have to, but wait.

The increase is in raw speed. I'm going multi-GPU again and that is why I'm considering the RAM to clock my current 750 faster, or get a chip I know can do 5ghz while offering HT and a better architecture. There is a 90% chance of me getting my old job back so this is why I'm looking at upgrading. Plus, if I upgrade and give my 750 to the gf my friend will realize finally he wont be getting my hand me downs anymore. He is running on my old 940 stuck at 3.5ghz and this causes us to deal with only 2 Sorian AI with 500 cap limit. I know for sure if he gets it in his head he can't depend on me for PC parts anymore he will upgrade to a 2500k. (Grand scheme, I know, but worth it to a point) To not make it sound so bad, I also don't wanna hear him complain that he can't max Skyrim.

Buy "faster" ram, you mean. I want some 2200 or 2133 for more headroom. I know this chip is capable of 4.4+ so just wondering if I wanna squeeze it out, upgrade, or say F it.

if money is an issue you can always get a 2500K and save 100$

If I had the money to buy a whole new mobo and CPU then I can probably afford the extra 100
Bottom line was, is it worth it to drop 500 on a new setup or try to extend my current rigs life span while getting a cheap upgrade for the lady. Seriously though, I want HT for other reasons. My server is completely taken apart and my drives in my main rig meaning all encoding gets done on my PC, all audio programs are ran on my PC, all streaming is done on my PC, all background tasks done on my PC, plus I'll be able to fold again since I will have a jerb. Only for TF of course.

It's down to you Slay. IIRC you had a 760 with a SLI setup, right? How much gain in the multi-gpu department did you get from going to the 2600k? (From the 920 or 760)

 

[S0ULphIRE]

I've got a 2600k, 2500k, as well as a 920 (and my 980x lol, haters gonna hate). Rocked my SLI'd 480s on all of those.

Going from 920 to 2600k is not that noticeable, at least where gaming is concerned. Both handled playing Crysis, BFBC2, Civ 5, DA, etc very well. I think Civ 5 made my 920 system cry, but IIRC that was only when I had my 285 installed not my 480's.

For encoding, why don't you get something that can take advantage of CUDA? It'll get the job done way faster than any HT cpu could.

Even a high bitrate 1080p rip can def be handled by your current CPU lol, I know I've managed on less. Unless you're some kind of crazy multi-tasking monster haha

Folding would be a big one I guess, but really is it worth spending the money just for that? IMO no.

 

[PP Mguire]

I haven't found a program that truly takes advantage of the GPU to encode with. I have tried Handbrake, Daniusoft, ConvertX, ect and the most I get is 20% GPU and 100% CPU. While this is going on, I can't use my PC so a CPU with HT clocked to **** and back will for sure be faster. Going from 955 at 4ghz to i5 at 4ghz shaved about 45 minutes off my encode time so I can only imagine the benefit going to a 5ghz 2600k would be. The extra clock speed will also help for SLI and benching, as well as the HT will help on SupCom.

The end result forcing my friend to upgrade is worth it itself as well as her having a PC that wont make us wait 45 minutes for troops to go to one end of the map. Gotta understand that over half my day is consumed by being on the PC and monday and tuesday nights are dedicated to Supreme Commander with this friend. I suppose only I can see the whole picture but I await Slays reply since I'm pretty positive he had a 760 before.

If we get all of our bills leveled again (not much really) then I'm gonna say screw it anyways and get the 2600k

 

[Slaymate]

I built a i5 750 SLI system for a friend, not for myself. I really didn't gain much by moving from a 920 to the 2600K gaming wise.