I think it is time to go with a nicer/faster PC

[carnageX]

Last time I tried switching on a Windows 7 machine it did not let me use the same key for 64bit.

I've done it before.

Straight from the M$ forums as well: Is a Windows 7 license key valid for both 32-bit and 64-bit? - Microsoft Community

Been that way since Vista.

Interesting. how do I get a 64 Bit disc?

Try this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1800781/windows-iso-file.html

or

http://www.redmondpie.com/download-windows-8-iso-x86-x64-file-directly-from-microsoft/

 

[PP Mguire]

Was trying to switch a laptop from x86 HP to x64 HP and it kept saying invalid key. No big to me and even better for the OP

 

[King$nake]

It'll cost almost 200 bucks more for the i7 and not exactly worth it unless you are using programs that utilize HT. Yes i7's and i5's are still the top dogs.

hmm, well besides gaming I still heavily use programs like Photoshop, Premiere Pro, FTP clients, etc.

Honestly my thinking is I spent a bit more on nicer parts back in '07 when I built my PC (in sig) and it has done me well over the years, so part of me is thinking I should just buy some parts individually, one every few weeks and really build a nice PC, even if it takes a few months to complete.

Also, definitely want to go the SSD route with a massive slave HDD, I just dont know very much hard drives - I hear that SSD helps with startup times, etc.

So maybe I should revise my budget to say $1k - $1500 for the PC itself.

BTW - I have a 4k monitor already but it doesnt work with my current setup

 

[PP Mguire]

Well I told you it wouldn't

The only differentiating factor between i5 and i7 is HT. If you really want to future proof for whatever, you'll need X99. I'm not saying that a 4670k or 4770k isn't going to be enough in 5 years, but the difference in price just isn't really worth 4 virtual threads. Especially when you can have a 5820k which is a 6 core with HT for about the same price as a 4770k or 4790k. The only bad part being, X99 boards are more expensive and DDR4 is new and more expensive. If you buy parts the longer you wait the more prices will come down for DDR4. Buy the RAM last and you'll get the cheapest price on it. For the price though, 2 extra physical cores and HT IS a differentiating factor compared to the i5 when dealing with something like Premier. The hard work on Photoshop is done via CUDA these days, so grab yourself a nice Nvidia card and you're golden there. FTP clients, meh.

SSDs do more than help startup times, they are literally better than HDDs in every way besides cost. Since you're set on that I won't elaborate any further.

So really it's up to you what you decide you want to do. If you want to utilize the 4K monitor I suggest getting a video card first as you can use that in your current rig.

 

[King$nake]

Well I told you it wouldn't

The only differentiating factor between i5 and i7 is HT. If you really want to future proof for whatever, you'll need X99. I'm not saying that a 4670k or 4770k isn't going to be enough in 5 years, but the difference in price just isn't really worth 4 virtual threads. Especially when you can have a 5820k which is a 6 core with HT for about the same price as a 4770k or 4790k. The only bad part being, X99 boards are more expensive and DDR4 is new and more expensive. If you buy parts the longer you wait the more prices will come down for DDR4. Buy the RAM last and you'll get the cheapest price on it. For the price though, 2 extra physical cores and HT IS a differentiating factor compared to the i5 when dealing with something like Premier. The hard work on Photoshop is done via CUDA these days, so grab yourself a nice Nvidia card and you're golden there. FTP clients, meh.

SSDs do more than help startup times, they are literally better than HDDs in every way besides cost. Since you're set on that I won't elaborate any further.

So really it's up to you what you decide you want to do. If you want to utilize the 4K monitor I suggest getting a video card first as you can use that in your current rig.

Thank you very much for the informative reply. So, I think I am just going to start with picking a suitable 'future proof' MoBo and build my PC around that. Regardless if I go the i5 route or i7 route, I want a MoBo that can handle both (from my research it looks like I just need a Mobo with the LGA 1150 connector). I do want something that will take me well into the future though. My 'ol Asus P5B Deluxe still works but is a dinosaur at this point. With that said, would you recommend this Mobo? I dont much about it but I know that it is a top seller on NewEgg and it's LGA1150:

ASUS Z97M-PLUS LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

I really do want a top of the line MoBo for under the $200 mark if possible. Then my next purchase will be the case, then PSU, etc.

Edit: Or this one? (I am fond of eVGA):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188159

 

[PP Mguire]

The thing with that is, there is no "futureproof" to something like that. The chips for that board and socket are already out and it's basically what you have is what you get. It's hard to really emphasize something like future proof when it comes to processors. I'll try to explain.

Basically, parallel processing is becoming more and more the future as time goes on. The GPU can calculate and process things way faster than a CPU so more and more work is being coded for GPU processing. Stuff like effects in Premier, advanced calculations in Photoshop, and even gaming APIs are coming around to "bare metal" to reduce overall overhead on the CPU. In short, doing more on the GPU, less on the CPU. As time goes on you'll find this to be more accurate for practically everything. BUT things that do require a lot of CPU horsepower are typically multithreaded based. That's why I said a more "futureproof" CPU would be something like the 5820k because it does have 6 cores and you have the possibility to go with the 8 core 5960x or a 10 or more core Xeon if you really needed that kind of whomp whomp going on in your machine. That being said, for all basic tasks something like an i5 4670k will last a good 5 years or more due to the above stated facts. I have a 3960x and even though it's a 2nd gen I plan to hold onto this CPU for as long as possible. Simply because, there isn't anything that I can't do with this CPU. Not just because of it having 6 cores, but simply because there aren't any games that require single threaded performance past that of Sandy Bridge (I check frequently). So with all that being said, you have to gamble whether or not you think you'll really need more CPU power later or not. That start being the motherboard obviously.

A top of the line under 200 board for Z97 would be here.
ASRock Z97 Extreme6 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

If you wanted to go X99, the Extreme4 is still packed with a ton of features and is only 240.
ASRock X99 Extreme4 LGA 2011-v3 Intel X99 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

Edit: Just wanted to clarify, I'm not trying to push you to the more expensive platform for what essentially is not needed. Just giving you options and judgement based on how things are going catering to your usage.

 

[King$nake]

Thank You. Is ASRock a reputable brand? Are they affiliated with Asus?

 

[PP Mguire]

Yes, and no.

 

[Dauntae]

ASRock "used to be" affiliated with Asus but they parted ways and now compete against Asus and make some pretty option filled boards now. I'm a Asus guy myself but do like the ASRock boards.

Dauntae

 

[PP Mguire]

ASRock was a spin off from Asus to compete in the OEM market. 4 years ago it became part of Pegatron as it's own company to sell to the mainstream and enthusiast market.

The better part of Asustek was gobbled up by Pegatron which is why ASRock is so good. Asus has pretty much been consumed by consumerism and their enthusiast options are pretty much filled with BS marketing gimmicks to separate themselves from the crowd. Something like RoG boards don't offer much in terms of sheer quality over others but instead are priced ridiculously high because they have other gadgets some people might not even use. Much like MSI resorting to "gaming" marketing terms and resorting to the Killer NIC as a selling point. Much of the same, I wish ASRock didn't buy out the Fatal1ty name because I hate seeing them integrate that stupid NIC on their boards but their X99 Killer's aren't that bad. In terms of real features to price point ASRock really blows Asus out of the water (look at the Extreme11 boards). Lately Asus has had quality issues as well, and I guess since X99 they want to resort to petty patent battles to bring in more cash. <-- Just a few reasons why I don't prefer Asus and why I always recommend ASRock first.