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[scogoth]

ahhh crunch time at uni is over, time to play games (with my new Rift) look for PC upgrades

Haswell ? I love attacking brand new CPUs with razor blades, vices and hammers but my 2600K already provides adequate framerates frametimes

Titan ? bit too pricey
780 ? That's somewhat better ... will 3 GB be enough ? Probably but you better not be wrong for that price
770 Lightning SLI ? I'd love to have Lightning cards, but it's a huge investment for a relatively small upgrade with again just 2GB VRAM

GTX 770 4 GB SLI ... €900 for the pair and my old blocks fit (on the Zotac card) ? I don't lose any value on the waterblocks, upgrade to 4GB 7GHz memory and faster cores ... but it is kinda boring as well, and the 256 bit memory bus still is quite a bottleneck ... then again it should run next-gen ports at 1080p right ? right ? I figure I can get around €550 for my 670s, so that would be an OK upgrade if the VRAM makes a difference in the future, if not it would be a big waste of money

guess I should just wait and pray for a 780 Lightning edition

conclusion : the Intel/Nvidia monopolies fucking suck can't remember the last time I saw so much hardware being released in such a small amount of time, with nothing being really interesting unless money is no object

Delidded IB to delidded Haswell? Hmmm we will see but I doubt will be much of an improvement
680 SLI to 770 SLI? Naw my 1.3Ghz clock, 6.5Ghz memory is probably enough
Red ROG board to regular Gold board? Spent too much time blacking it out and who wants to lose features when upgrading a chipset?

Spend more days of my life sleeving cables and making wires to satisfy my unreasonable OCD behaviour about colour and cable placement? HELL YEAH

 

[Stephen_drewz]

Looking at doing an upgrade to my PC in a few weeks and had a few questions regarding Memory and GPU. I will go through the format in the OP anyway though.

Current Specs: CPU: i7 920 2.6ghz. Memory: 12GB Corsair DDR3 2000mhz. Mobo: Asus P6T. GPU: GTX570x2 in SLI. PSU: Corsair 1000w. Case: Fractal Design Define XL.
Budget: Australia. CPU and Mobo - ~$1000(including memory if required). GPU - ~$800
Main Use: 5 - Gaming
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 x2(Dell LED IPS monitors)
List Games that must run well: Current releases at 60fps. An example being Crysis 3 which I could not max on my current system.
Reusable Parts: Case, Power Supply, Hard Drives/SSD's, possibly the Memory. All peripherals etc.
When will you build: 2 weeks time. GPU bought separately at later date if 7 series is the choice.
Overclocking: No.

I am looking at at purchasing an i7 3930k 3.2ghz and a Motherboard to suit. I've never been too phased about choice of board although I do usually try get something middle of the price range. I wouldn't mind seeing what Gigabyte has to offer these days though, I have always liked the look of their boards.

GPU: I was looking at getting the 4gb edition of the GTX680 but I am not too well informed bout the 7 series cards. The best local price I can find for this card is $709inc. Am I better off holding off for a 7 series card? Even if I wait on purchasing the GPU I can just use my SLI570s with the upgraded CPU and Mobo for the mean time. My two locals currently do not have 7 series cards and I have no clue how they compare to the 6 series. pccasegear.com.au has them and they are similar price range, but again I don't know how it all compares.

Memory: I currently run 12gb Corsair(forget the specific model) DDR3 2000mhz. Is there any reason to change from this memory? I notice a lot of builds these days including 16gb ~1600mhz and also a lot even going above that. Do I need more for this current day and age?

Thanks for any help.

 

[iavi]

Guys, I'm thinking about attempting a delid on my 3570k. It's not as horrifying, and easily fuckupable as it sounds, right?

 

[scogoth]

Guys, I'm thinking about attempting a delid on my 3570k. It's not as horrifying, and easily fuckupable as it sounds, right?

Right. Just have patience

EDIT: Also don't use the hammer/vice method, I would be scared to do that.

Also YAY ANOTHER GAFFER! DELID HIGH FIVE

 

[mkenyon]

ahhh crunch time at uni is over, time to play games (with my new Rift) look for PC upgrades

Haswell ? I love attacking brand new CPUs with razor blades, vices and hammers but my 2600K already provides adequate framerates frametimes

Titan ? bit too pricey
780 ? That's somewhat better ... will 3 GB be enough ? Probably but you better not be wrong for that price
770 Lightning SLI ? I'd love to have Lightning cards, but it's a huge investment for a relatively small upgrade with again just 2GB VRAM

GTX 770 4 GB SLI ... €900 for the pair and my old blocks fit (on the Zotac card) ? I don't lose any value on the waterblocks, upgrade to 4GB 7GHz memory and faster cores ... but it is kinda boring as well, and the 256 bit memory bus still is quite a bottleneck ... then again it should run next-gen ports at 1080p right ? right ? I figure I can get around €550 for my 670s, so that would be an OK upgrade if the VRAM makes a difference in the future, if not it would be a big waste of money

guess I should just wait and pray for a 780 Lightning edition

conclusion : the Intel/Nvidia monopolies fucking suck can't remember the last time I saw so much hardware being released in such a small amount of time, with nothing being really interesting unless money is no object

I feel ya.

After reading this though, I want to get a Z87/Haswell setup just for the motherboard.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums...erboards-Overview-Guides-and-Official-Support

Those RoG features are insanely awesome. Plus, 3Ghz memory might be pretty cool. IMC's on Haswell are apparently ridiculously good. The RoG boards have profiles in place for the overclocking RAM favorites too!

 

[theSlacker]

After reading this, I might have to revise my motherboard recommendations.

The RoG line is shipping with some seriously amazing tools.

Just happy to see that that "OC panel" thing isn't a mandatory part of all the RoG packaging, driving up the prices. Course could just go for the z87-pro depending on price. Thanks for the link.

 

[mkenyon]

Right. Just have patience

EDIT: Also don't use the hammer/vice method, I would be scared to do that.

Also YAY ANOTHER GAFFER! DELID HIGH FIVE

I'm making a video of me doing it as soon as I get a vice. That looks way safer than a razor.

 

[iavi]

Right. Just have patience

EDIT: Also don't use the hammer/vice method, I would be scared to do that.

Also YAY ANOTHER GAFFER! DELID HIGH FIVE

I was just looking at the hammer/vice method, lol. That's exactly what I was thinking of when typing that last post out. Would you happen to have a link to a guide with a better method?

 

[nbthedude]

Your Current Specs: So far all I've really managed to nail down is a Sandisk 250 GB SSD that I found for $149. Everything else is kind of up in the air. I'm not sure that 2 GB GDDR5 will be enough for next gen, so I'm hoping that a 4 GB GTX 770 will come out.
Budget: My price range is about $1200 USD including the monitor.
Main Use: 5. Gaming 4. Word and office uses 3. Emulation 2. Light gaming 1. Video and Photo editing.
Monitor Resolution: This is my first ever build, I'm getting the money to build it as a grad present as I'll be taking it with me to college. That said I'll probably go with one of the cheaper monitors listed in the OP. I'm definitely gonna want 1080p resolution though.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: 30 FPS is totally acceptable, but the sweet spot for me is 60 fps at mid-ultra settings. I hate the word "futureproof" but I do want to get a graphics card that will last me through the first 2-3 years of the next console generation. I don't need to play every game at 60 fps ultra settings, but it would be nice not to have to pay for a new card right out of the gate.
When will you build?: I'm going to be ordering the parts and building it around the end of July/the beginning of August so it will be ready for the first week of September.
Will you be overclocking?: Yes-Maybe

I want to thank all of you GAFfers for being so willing to help everyone with their builds, specifically mine. It's daunting, but you feel a special kind of pride when you customize and create something great for yourself and it's cool that I'll get to share in that.

$1200 w/ a $450 graphics card and monitor is a little tough but let's see what we can do. I'm going to assume the SSD is already accounted for. If it's not, strongly consider going with a Radeon 7970 3GB instead of the 770 4GB. It will save you $150 (the cost of the SSD) and get you similar performance (literally, the two cards are pretty dead even in most benchmarks).

If you live near a Microcenter:

i5 3570k + MSI Z77 Motherboard Combo $215
CoolMaster Hyper 212 $25
Geforce 770 4GB $450 (waiting for restock everwhere)
8GB (4x2) Kingston Hyper Blue 1600MHZ RAM $62.99
WD Blue 1TB Harddrive $67
Samsung 24x DVD Drive $21
Antec Modular 550W Power Supply $70
Rosewill Challenger U3 Case w/ USB 3.0 $50

Total: $961

Leaves you with about $240 for a nice monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and maybe a controller, which is totally doable.

This is just a "test" run for what you can build in that price range. I just chose the Rosewill case because it looks decent, has some nice features and fan and is currently on sale. Case is totally an individual preference.

Alternatives you may consider:

-You also might consider a Radeon 7970 3GB in that build. (-$150)

-bumping the processor & motherboard up to a Haswell i5 4670 (add $50)

-bumping the processor & motherboard up to a Ivy i7 3770k (add $60)

 

[scogoth]

I'm making a video of me doing it as soon as I get a vice. That looks way safer than a razor.

Your crazy! Do that for haswell

I was just looking at the hammer/vice method, lol. That's exactly what I was thinking of when typing that last post out. Would you happen to have a link to a guide with a better method?

This is the one I used, simple but gives a good visual of where to cut http://www.overclock.net/t/1309867/short-and-direct-delid-guide-ivy-bridge

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Would it benefit me to de-lid my 3930k? I have little issues with head at 4.4 but I just upped to 4.5 ghz and will be monitoring temps but if it can save me 1-3C then it seems worth it to me.

 

[scogoth]

Would it benefit me to de-lid my 3930k? I have little issues with head at 4.4 but I just upped to 4.5 ghz and will be monitoring temps but if it can save me 1-3C then it seems worth it to me.

NO! The 3930k uses solder to mount the heat spreader to the die. It would break the CPU if you tried to delid. IB and Haswell use cheap thermal paste to mount the heat spreader to the die so replacing it with something better can drastically reduce tempertures (like 30C in my case)

 

[kharma45]

Would it benefit me to de-lid my 3930k? I have little issues with head at 4.4 but I just upped to 4.5 ghz and will be monitoring temps but if it can save me 1-3C then it seems worth it to me.

It's soldered.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Never knew, thanks gents. I'm not worried really but if it was an option then I would consider.

 

[RedSwirl]

Depends. Which powersupply?

Antec.

 

[theSlacker]

NO! The 3930k uses solder to mount the heat spreader to the die. It would break the CPU if you tried to delid. IB and Haswell use cheap thermal paste to mount the heat spreader to the die so replacing it with something better can drastically reduce tempertures (like 30C in my case)

It is always amazing to hear how much the temperatures drop after doing this. Any before and after tests on haswell out yet?

Also what paste is recommended to replace the old stuff with?

 

[M3z_]

Where was this $290 one?

Qnix 2710 model. They were priced lower when they first hit ebay, but now that people are buying them for overclocking the price has gone up a bit to $310/$320. I also have a Shimian, both monitors are gorgeous. I love 1440p.

 

[scogoth]

It is always amazing to hear how much the temperatures drop after doing this. Any before and after tests on haswell out yet?

Also what paste is recommended to replace the old stuff with?

Coolaboratory Liquid Ultra. Its a liquid metal thermal material

http://www.coollaboratory.com/en/products/liquid-ultra/

 

[kennah]

Antec.

You'll be fine.


Reposting: WTB ANY (and I mean any) socket 1155 CPU. let me know what you got.

 

[theSlacker]

Coolaboratory Liquid Ultra. Its a liquid metal thermal material

http://www.coollaboratory.com/en/products/liquid-ultra/

Thanks friend. Guess one benefit to haswell is seeing a lot more people attempting to delid instead of just complaining about intel.

 

[Khmergamer]

This is what I got so far
http://i.imgur.com/9vurZy9.png

Planning to do mostly gaming, some streaming, video/photo editing. No idea what to do since this is my first build. At the moment looking for a cpu cooler and wonder which one is best

 

[Hazaro]

It is always amazing to hear how much the temperatures drop after doing this. Any before and after tests on haswell out yet?

Also what paste is recommended to replace the old stuff with?

See:

Coolaboratory Liquid Ultra. Its a liquid metal thermal material

http://www.coollaboratory.com/en/products/liquid-ultra/

But keep in mind I'd only use this for the BARE CORE -> IHS. It's like liquid solder that hardens and bonds into shit.

Then use regular TIM for IHS -> HS imo.

This is what I got so far
http://i.imgur.com/9vurZy9.png

Planning to do mostly gaming, some streaming, video/photo editing. No idea what to do since this is my first build. At the moment looking for a cpu cooler and wonder which one is best

Fill out OP list

 

[theSlacker]

See:

But keep in mind I'd only use this for the BARE CORE -> IHS. It's like liquid solder that hardens and bonds into shit.

Then use regular TIM for IHS -> HS imo.

Fill out OP list

Ah yeah, thanks for clearing that up. Took me reading it a few times to understand what you meant, but that's just because I didn't even think of using it as the outer thermal paste to the normal heatsink.

Always good to make sure to be absolutely clear on that stuff.

 

[Mr. Hyde]

Your Current Specs: Dead. I use my my girlfriend's laptop and my ipad.
Budget: $900.00
Main Use: Light gaming; writing; video watching and music playing; photography
Monitor Resolution: What resolution will you be playing your games at? 1080P Are you going to upgrade later? Yes. Are you buying a new monitor? I hope to get an ips for photography work.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: the next Dreamfall:1080p video watching; lightroom
Looking to reuse any parts? My 1tb hard drive due to it being one month old.
Will you be overclocking?: No.
When will you build?: In a week or so.

 

[appaws]

Quick question....

will they make any new Z77 Motherboards now...with the new features of the Z87 boards that are coming out...? Or is that pretty much a dead thing. I am guessing no...since probably very few people upgrade MOBOs when they are not buying a new CPU.

I would like to go from my current Z77 Extreme 4 to something like the new ROG boards...but it seems like a waste to go for Haswell since I already have a 3570k

 

[Eraser_Arcade]

Hey Guys I just now notice that my account has been approved, and I wanted to say how wonderful this thread has been in helping me to build my gaming PC in the past few months.

My PC Specs:
Case: Cooler Master Storm Scout 2 Advanced
PSU: CORSAIR AX850
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 extreme 4
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB DDR3 1600 (It’s just one stick of RAM, but it came free with the MB)
CPU: Core i7-3770K
CPU Cooler: Hyper 212 EVO
GPU: Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon 7970 GHz 3GB (Recently ordered it off of Amazon, waiting for it to arrive soon)
OS SSD: 128GB Samsung 840 Pro
PCIe Wireless N Adapter: TL-WDN4800 450Mbps

I do have one question about my RAM. Right now I have just one 8GB stick of RAM. And I’m wondering if I added another 8GB stick of RAM, would I notice any improvement in performance? (Since it would then take advantage of the dual channel support.)

 

[etrain911]

$1200 w/ a $450 graphics card and monitor is a little tough but let's see what we can do. I'm going to assume the SSD is already accounted for. If it's not, strongly consider going with a Radeon 7970 3GB instead of the 770 4GB. It will save you $150 (the cost of the SSD) and get you similar performance (literally, the two cards are pretty dead even in most benchmarks).

If you live near a Microcenter:


Leaves you with about $240 for a nice monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and maybe a controller, which is totally doable.

This is just a "test" run for what you can build in that price range. I just chose the Rosewill case because it looks decent, has some nice features and fan and is currently on sale. Case is totally an individual preference.

Alternatives you may consider:

-You also might consider a Radeon 7970 3GB in that build. (-$150)

-bumping the processor & motherboard up to a Haswell i5 4670 (add $50)

-bumping the processor & motherboard up to a Ivy i7 3770k (add $60)

You sir, are a hero. The SSD is currently on sale for today only, so I have the choice to back out of it within the next 3 hours but I know it is a very helpful addition to any PC. Should 3 GB VRAM be enough for next gen? I don't know enough about GDDR5 to draw conclusions about how much should be sufficient for next gen ports and I know none of you have crystal balls or anything, but I have seen it debated here a little bit recently.

 

[PoweredBySoy]

It's amazing how far BIOS's have come in the past two years. My new Gigabyte BIOS has drag-and-drop boot priority lol. I don't know, maybe I'm just old, but that blows me away.

Lynnfield ---> Haswell = fuck yes

 

[Hazaro]

Hey Guys I just now notice that my account has been approved, and I wanted to say how wonderful this thread has been in helping me to build my gaming PC in the past few months.

My PC Specs:

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 extreme 4

I do have one question about my RAM. Right now I have just one 8GB stick of RAM. And I’m wondering if I added another 8GB stick of RAM, would I notice any improvement in performance? (Since it would then take advantage of the dual channel support.)

I'm not sure. You'd think doubling memory bandwidth would be important, but even dual to triple is very minimal (For most tasks).

One thing to note if you are overclocking is that the Extreme 4 will under report CPU voltage. Just a heads up.

It's amazing how far BIOS's have come in the past two years. My new Gigabyte BIOS has drag-and-drop boot priority lol. I don't know, maybe I'm just old, but that blows me away.

Lynnfield ---> Haswell = fuck yes

Yeah the features on newer motherboards are very nice now.

 

[nbthedude]

You sir, are a hero. The SSD is currently on sale for today only, so I have the choice to back out of it within the next 3 hours but I know it is a very helpful addition to any PC. Should 3 GB VRAM be enough for next gen? I don't know enough about GDDR5 to draw conclusions about how much should be sufficient for next gen ports and I know none of you have crystal balls or anything, but I have seen it debated here a little bit recently.

Personally, I think yes. You can't just look at RAM in a vacuum, you have to look at overall performance. Even before overclocking, the 7970GHZ edition can process 4.3 TFLOPs of data compared to the PS4s graphics card 1.85 TFLOPs. Now, there are obviously a lot of other things to consider before any sort of direct comparison can be made, but a card that is around 2.3 x faster at basic information processing compared to next gen systems which will provide a development baseline is one I feel pretty comfortable with. It is the card I have personally and I am not planning on upgrading anytime soon. Remember you have 3GB of vRAM and 8GB of DDR3. Obviously, vRAM will become more important and more games will utilize it with next gen consoles, but I think this card is as safe a bet as any.

Will it be able to run games at "max" for ever and ever? No, but as long as you are ok gradually dialling down settings a bit at a time over the next few years it will probably serve you well. Plus, you get three awesome games for free and save a significant amount of cash.

Like the Sapphire 7970GHZ edition (third one one from left on this list) for $379 after rebate.

So if you want to work the SSD into that budget w/o making significant compromises to performance, go with the 7970.

 

[nbthedude]

It's amazing how far BIOS's have come in the past two years. My new Gigabyte BIOS has drag-and-drop boot priority lol. I don't know, maybe I'm just old, but that blows me away.

Lynnfield ---> Haswell = fuck yes

The ivy board my buddy just built has an autodetect. He didnt even have to do anything in the BIOS to boot from disk and subsequently from harddrive. It did it automatically.

 

[nbthedude]

Hey Guys I just now notice that my account has been approved, and I wanted to say how wonderful this thread has been in helping me to build my gaming PC in the past few months.

My PC Specs:
Case: Cooler Master Storm Scout 2 Advanced
PSU: CORSAIR AX850
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 extreme 4
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB DDR3 1600 (It’s just one stick of RAM, but it came free with the MB)
CPU: Core i7-3770K
CPU Cooler: Hyper 212 EVO
GPU: Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon 7970 GHz 3GB (Recently ordered it off of Amazon, waiting for it to arrive soon)
OS SSD: 128GB Samsung 840 Pro
PCIe Wireless N Adapter: TL-WDN4800 450Mbps

I do have one question about my RAM. Right now I have just one 8GB stick of RAM. And I’m wondering if I added another 8GB stick of RAM, would I notice any improvement in performance? (Since it would then take advantage of the dual channel support.)

Excellent price/performance choices all around.

But why not go with 2x4GB of RAM instead. The advantages of dual channel may be minimal but if you have four slots, you might as well use it and save some cash. I sincerely doubt you'd want/need more than 16GB of DDR3 before the standard moves on.

 

[Jzero]

Just tried deliding one of my old core 2 duos just to see what it was like. Turns out it's one of the soldered ones

 

[brentech]

One thing to note if you are overclocking is that the Extreme 4 will under report CPU voltage. Just a heads up.

While I get that this is shitty, and it makes it hard for me to recommend my own board, it's important to know that unless you're trying to max your overclock it's not likely to be an issue if you take a moment to set up the OC properly.

I'm set at 4400MHz with offset overclock. During gaming I don't even reach 65C with the 212Evo usually.
Almost always stay at 60C during gaming loads.

Hard to say I'm unhappy with the functionality since I haven't had any compatibility issues like I have in years past with prior systems. Just that late news that bums me out.

 

[tenz0r]

I'm new to the whole Nvidia surround setup, and was hoping anyone here can answer two quick questions for me. I plan on upgrading my PC soon, and the Nvidia surround setup is definitely something I plan on doing with it.

From what I gathered there are certain GPU's that I can run Nvidia surround without having to buy another card for SLI. The new 770's are capable of running nvidia surround on just one single GPU correct?

Also, how important is it to have the same brand/model of the monitor's running Nvidia surround? I know the monitor size should be the same across the board, but what about the brand and models?

 

[kennah]

Excellent price/performance choices all around.

But why not go with 2x4GB of RAM instead. The advantages of dual channel may be minimal but if you have four slots, you might as well use it and save some cash. I sincerely doubt you'd want/need more than 16GB of DDR3 before the standard moves on.

I'm willing to bet it came with his motherboard

 

[RoKKeR]

I'm about to pull the trigger on this 770:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130921

Got $300 in PayPal credit, currently have a 570, want to upgrade before next gen so I don't have to worry about upgrading my PC during the middle of the next gen hype from about 2013-2014. Think it's a go? Any specific model recommendations over this EVGA? Factory OC'd with the ACX cooler for just $20 sounds pretty good to me.

Think I'm going to do it.

 

[nbthedude]

I'm willing to bet it came with his motherboard

Apparently my reading skills are questionable today.

 

[etrain911]

Personally, I think yes. You can't just look at RAM in a vacuum, you have to look at overall performance. Even before overclocking, the 7970GHZ edition can process 4.3 TFLOPs of data compared to the PS4s graphics card 1.85 TFLOPs. Now, there are obviously a lot of other things to consider before any sort of direct comparison can be made, but a card that is around 2.3 x faster at basic information processing compared to next gen systems which will provide a development baseline is one I feel pretty comfortable with. It is the card I have personally and I am not planning on upgrading anytime soon. Remember you have 3GB of vRAM and 8GB of DDR3. Obviously, vRAM will become more important and more games will utilize it with next gen consoles, but I think this card is as safe a bet as any.

Will it be able to run games at "max" for ever and ever? No, but as long as you are ok gradually dialling down settings a bit at a time over the next few years it will probably serve you well. Plus, you get three awesome games for free and save a significant amount of cash.

Like the Sapphire 7970GHZ edition (third one one from left on this list) for $379 after rebate.

So if you want to work the SSD into that budget w/o making significant compromises to performance, go with the 7970.

I might increase my budget enough to afford both the SSD and the GTX 770, but now I feel safe enough in having the 7970 GHZ. It really depends on how many extra graduation gifts I receive from people and if I can secure a summer job! Thanks, man, I really appreciate it.

 

[smokeandmirrors]

2 things, my issue is narrowed down to a motherboard/ram issue I think, but I'm planning on replacing the mobo soon. Two questions

1) Am I fucked with my windows license? It's an OEM license. I'm getting mixed info, apparently I can call MS and fix it that way? I don't want to spend money on another license.

2) Gonna update to a new processor when I get the new mobo. Should I save some money and go with an i3 2/3xxx, seeing as I have an i3 560 now and it does me okay I think, or should I spend the extra for a quad core and get an i5?

 

[kennah]

Because loooooool

 

[Courage]

Is there a good guide out there for deliddling? Might do it for my Haswell chip when I get around building next month.

 

[Eraser_Arcade]

One thing to note if you are overclocking is that the Extreme 4 will under report CPU voltage. Just a heads up.

Yeah I’ve read about that, but I should be fine if I OC the CPU a little bit without touching the voltage, correct? (I’m new to overclocking & I’m not planning on going crazy with it just yet.)

Excellent price/performance choices all around.

But why not go with 2x4GB of RAM instead. The advantages of dual channel may be minimal but if you have four slots, you might as well use it and save some cash. I sincerely doubt you'd want/need more than 16GB of DDR3 before the standard moves on.

Well the 8GB of RAM came free with the Motherboard. So at the time I felt there was no reason to purchase any RAM, which I guess is still true.

 

[joeygreco1985]

Looking some advice on this:

Is a 4770k a big enough upgrade over a 1st gen Core i7 940? I built this PC a few years ago and was thinking about a component upgrade. Did the videocards last year, thinking this year CPU. PC is used strictly for gaming, no editing or streaming.

My current rig:

Core i7 940 oc'ed to 3.6ghz (didn't want to push it more than this to be honest)
EVGA FTW3 Motherboard
12 GB DDR3 RAM Corsair Vengeance
2x GTX 670 SLI
650w Corsair HX650 PSU
2x120 GB SSDs (1 OCZ Vertex 2, 1 OCZ Vertex 3) (Yes people say these suck but I've had no issues)
1TB Caviar Black HDD
NZXT Phantom Case


I'd really like to just swap in the 4770k and a new mobo while keeping the rest. Is it worth the cost?

 

[mhayze]

I'm so fucking over budget lol.

Good choices all around. Don't fret, you'll enjoy this build.

 

[Najaf]

Need some guidance:

I need to upgrade my mobo/cpu (I'm running an i7-930)

Do I go with the new Haswell and appropriate mobo? Or do I hunt for a deal at Microcenter for Ivy? I'd like to come in under 400 for both CPU and Mobo.

I enjoy overclocking and want to be set for the next three years or so.





TLDR: Go with Haswell or go Ivy?

 

[mhayze]

Looking some advice on this:

Is a 4770k a big enough upgrade over a 1st gen Core i7 940? I built this PC a few years ago and was thinking about a component upgrade. Did the videocards last year, thinking this year CPU. PC is used strictly for gaming, no editing or streaming.

My current rig:

Core i7 940 oc'ed to 3.6ghz (didn't want to push it more than this to be honest)
EVGA FTW3 Motherboard
12 GB DDR3 RAM Corsair Vengeance
2x GTX 670 SLI
650w Corsair HX650 PSU
2x120 GB SSDs (1 OCZ Vertex 2, 1 OCZ Vertex 3) (Yes people say these suck but I've had no issues)
1TB Caviar Black HDD
NZXT Phantom Case


I'd really like to just swap in the 4770k and a new mobo while keeping the rest. Is it worth the cost?

X58 is triple channel, so I expect you're going to have some unused RAM or will be forced to run in single channel mode with an odd number of DIMMs. Honestly, there will probably be a small improvement in some benchmarks, I'll be surprised if most games register much of a change. On the other hand, native SATA3 and USB3 support should be nice.

 

[nbthedude]

Need some guidance:

I need to upgrade my mobo/cpu (I'm running an i7-930)

Do I go with the new Haswell and appropriate mobo? Or do I hunt for a deal at Microcenter for Ivy? I'd like to come in under 400 for both CPU and Mobo.

I enjoy overclocking and want to be set for the next three years or so.

TLDR: Go with Haswell or go Ivy?

With the current Microcenter deals, I'd call it a toss. Personally, think I'd go with the Ivy i7 over a Haswell i5 since they are almost literally the same price at Microcenter right now.

 

[bro1]

Looking some advice on this:

Is a 4770k a big enough upgrade over a 1st gen Core i7 940? I built this PC a few years ago and was thinking about a component upgrade. Did the videocards last year, thinking this year CPU. PC is used strictly for gaming, no editing or streaming.

My current rig:

Core i7 940 oc'ed to 3.6ghz (didn't want to push it more than this to be honest)
EVGA FTW3 Motherboard
12 GB DDR3 RAM Corsair Vengeance
2x GTX 670 SLI
650w Corsair HX650 PSU
2x120 GB SSDs (1 OCZ Vertex 2, 1 OCZ Vertex 3) (Yes people say these suck but I've had no issues)
1TB Caviar Black HDD
NZXT Phantom Case


I'd really like to just swap in the 4770k and a new mobo while keeping the rest. Is it worth the cost?

No not at all stay put.

 

[bro1]

Need some guidance:

I need to upgrade my mobo/cpu (I'm running an i7-930)

Do I go with the new Haswell and appropriate mobo? Or do I hunt for a deal at Microcenter for Ivy? I'd like to come in under 400 for both CPU and Mobo.

I enjoy overclocking and want to be set for the next three years or so.





TLDR: Go with Haswell or go Ivy?

Don't upgrade. You are fine for awhile. What is your gpu?