New build from Phenom II 940BE to an Intel base

[Aethis]

So a while back ago I posted in regards to part picking and putting together an i7 based machine on the 1150 socket type. However, **** went down and the funding that I was planning on to use towards it had to be spent on house work and other things. Now after the holidays and somewhat recovering from that, the Skylakes and 1151 have come about.

I'm still on this Phenom II x4 940BE AM2+ based machine with a bottlenecked to hell MSI 970 nVidia based GPU and 4x2048 of DDR2 modules at 800MHz.

I don't stress OC much, only just a bit that would be fine on air based cooling as I am still somewhat wary of water based solutions. Paranoia if you will, pump failure, leaking, etcetra. (Granted air cooling has fan failure, but usually there won't be much in terms of damage in that regard as the HS still works semi well enough on idle/desktop to keep it from going too hot and if one were to wake up and find it you could address it.)

...though I am starting to get off topic here.

SO! Would it be a better idea to completely redo a selection build based on the new 1151s, or stick to the 1150s, as from what I have been looking at. The 4790K outperforms the 6700K/6600K baseline(s), and the only viable reason I would see to go that way is after the 'tock' is done and seeing if any improvements come from that aside from the DDR4 memory speeds... Though I guess the more PCIe lanes would be a nice thing... Even though I tend to just stick with single-card GPU setups. (Though I do dual-monitor at min. Main monitor for gaming and video playback, second for browsing, monitoring things, chat programs, etcetra.)

I'm heavy into gaming and emulation as a core, and that's why the IPC performance of that 4790k still looks very promising.

I was looking at;

4790k i7 Build
MoBo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130770
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117369
CPU HS - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231606
OS SSD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147372

6600k i5 Build
MoBo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128880
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117561 (The i7 variant seems too much for me in this socket, though would still be nice.)
CPU HS - Same as 1150 selected above.
RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231884
OS SSD - Same as 1150 selected above.

Was just going to move the GTX 970 into it after, along with the TX650W 80+Gold Corsair I have... though would probably be a good idea to replace the PSU at some point a swell. It's over five years of age itself, and has been mostly ran 24/7. Something modular, maybe.. be nice not to have wires just... there.

Any thoughts/suggestions welcome, especially if pricing can be cheaper on either direction.

 

[trents]

The 4790k won't give much advantage in gaming since the main difference between the i7 and the i5 desktops is that the I7 has HT. But those four extra HT pseudo cores won't be used anyway by games. What kind of "emulation" are you doing?

 

[Aethis]

Well the i7 I listed was for the 1150 socket, the i5 the 1151. Mainly because of that price on the i7 for the 1151... Unless you were bringing the basis of what you said in general to any socket iteration of them.

As for emulation, mostly consoles from Atari to current last generation such as PS2/GCN/Wii/DC. Interested in the PS3 and WiiU ones that have shown up as well. I also use VMs and other OS emulations like Android and the like.

Edit:
I should also probably mention I tend to sometimes run servers for various people of various things, too. Though that's not very often. I also dabble in encoding and editing videos/audio/graphics, but again that's not a daily basis thing. Though the faster it'd encode, the nicer.

 

[caddi daddi]

it looks like you buy and hold, and not upgrade to often so I would look at a skylake build at this point as it looks like ddr4 ram is here to stay.
I don't find much software that makes use of the hyper threading so I don't think that should come in to play as you decide on your build.
I am staying with my 4790K rig and will wait for another generation or two before I upgrade as the cost is too high for another %5-%10 increase at best in some cases.

 

[trents]

I agree with caddi daddi. Good psycho analysis, CD.

 

[caddi daddi]

takes one to know one!!!!!
either I'm right or he needs to update his sig.

 

[trents]

takes one to know one!!!!!
either I'm right or he needs to update his sig.

I think he is a she.

 

[Aethis]

it looks like you buy and hold, and not upgrade to often so I would look at a skylake build at this point as it looks like ddr4 ram is here to stay.
I don't find much software that makes use of the hyper threading so I don't think that should come in to play as you decide on your build.
I am staying with my 4790K rig and will wait for another generation or two before I upgrade as the cost is too high for another %5-%10 increase at best in some cases.

Yes, I tend to buy and make it go for years. The Socket A listed as secondary was previous main and that I made go for about nine years before the AM2+ build. The other Socket A listed was from parts a friend gave me due to them moving on to... I think it was the 939 socket? Possibly it was the 754... It's been a while.

takes one to know one!!!!!
either I'm right or he needs to update his sig.

The signature is still more or less proper, only that the secondary is no longer set up and just setting off to the side as a critical fall-back if this one were to ever end up in a state of disrepair. Granted it wouldn't be able to do much in terms of what I would want to do, but it would still give access to internet and in turn access to obtaining parts if needed.

In any case, I suppose going 1151 with an i5 of its type, K variant, would possibly be the better idea. Even if its IPC seems to be lower than the 1150 socket associative, it's still a vast improvement over this current build. The downside would be if Intel decided to completely change socket types or something on its "tock" of the Skylakes.

Any thoughts on the hardware listed above, also? Suggestions, recommendations, comparisons, etcetra...

 

[trents]

I think your reasoning is sound.

I would add, though that future proofing is really not a reasonable goal. Technology takes too many twists and turns and moves too fast. I don't have to have the very latest thing but I try for being not more than one or two steps behind. That usually ensures being able to run the latest operating system and software and with good efficiency in doing so.

 

[Aethis]

I think your reasoning is sound.

I would add, though that future proofing is really not a reasonable goal. Technology takes too many twists and turns and moves too fast. I don't have to have the very latest thing but I try for being not more than one or two steps behind. That usually ensures being able to run the latest operating system and software and with good efficiency in doing so.

I'm not really too much on the whole term of "future proofing" so much as "elongated lifespan of use." Hell, before the Socket A, I was using a Pentium 233MHz based machine, prior to that an old 80386DX based CPU at a whopping... 33MHz I think it was? I stretch things out until I absolutely have to jump onto a new base platform after OCing as safely as I think the chip and board would be able to go on air and in the current environment.

Also I was looking in to some comparisons and a bit of info after the last reply. Little bit more wary on that i5 of the 1151 one now, as it seems a little under par even when OCed to be about equal to its i7 6700 sibling... though granted the games being used where ones actually able to make use of the HT offered by the i7. If the i7 on Newegg weren't so much more expensive, and more on par with the price of the 1150 i7 I'd be more inclined towards it just for the HT access for things that could/can make use of it.

I also seemed to read it wrong on how the Tick-Tock thing works for Intel. This is the "tock" phase, apparently. (Changing of socket type, according to what I could find. I haven't followed Intel for a long time since I went AMD years ago, but since AMD kind of fell way behind after all the debacle from Intel it's kind of left them back there... Semi-half tempted to see what they pull out in 2016 with what they said, but am not expecting much. Especially after what I saw with the bulldozer stuff.)

 

[trents]

Intel changes socket architecture more frequently than AMD does and that is an advantage in going with AMD. But they have fallen so far behind in performance that although I was strictly an AMD guy for years I switched over to Intel about two years ago. AMD does a lot of talking but seldom delivers, at least for some years now, and their product release delays are awful.

 

[Aethis]

Intel changes socket architecture more frequently than AMD does and that is an advantage in going with AMD. But they have fallen so far behind in performance that although I was strictly an AMD guy for years I switched over to Intel about two years ago. AMD does a lot of talking but seldom delivers, at least for some years now, and their product release delays are awful.

Yes, I went AMD with the Socket As and that was apparently the 'golden era' for AMD CPUs, price, performance, and OC'ability. Then I sat on the Socket A and the main reason why I even built a new was I was starting to run into things requiring SSE2 and such on the CPU and I was WELP. The AM2+ Phenom II 940BE has been nice, but it just didn't feel as nice as when I had jumped from that P233 to the SocketA ...1.6GHz Thunderbird I think it was? (I later replaced with a Mobile 2600+ I OC'ed a bit.)

AMD was pushing cores and not much for single-thread performance. Granted, Intel had a play in all that as well with how they were dealing with stores and companies, in regards to them selling AMD based products and the like. Nonetheless, as it currently stands. Intel's got the best single-thread IPC performance out there now, among other things.

The only thing I really dislike to be honest, other than Intel's practices, is the weird reversal of pins on board and contacts on the CPU itself and the mounting system. I've loved the mount used on AM2+ boards, and I think it was incorporated since AM1s? I would have to look it up.

Edit:
Wow, go me for taking too long to compare and information gather. Now both the i5 and i7 K editions for the 1151 are sold out on Newegg. Why did I procrastinate. Not sur eif I want to look elsewhere for the CPU as I wanted to get it all from Newegg in one big purchase...

 

[caddi daddi]

nothng wrong with microcenter of even frys.

- - - Updated - - -

ok, so even amazon.

 

[trents]

Dude, you're obsessing over this decision. You're splitting hairs and watching holiday sale prices go bye bye.

Most people agree with you, I think, that the AMD CPU with pins is a better arrangement than LGA but it's a really minor issue. With the Intel LGA arrangement you have to be real careful to protect the socket fingers from damage. They are much harder to realign than AMD CPU pins if they get bent.

 

[Aethis]

Yes, much more fragile...
Probably one last thing to question about since I haven't looked in years. Anything better than AS5 as a thermal compound I should look into getting?

 

[caddi daddi]

as5 is fine, that's what i use most of the time.
almost all are fine, just pick a tube.

 

[trents]

There's a "hair's" difference between most i them. I use Arctic Cooling MX2 because it's pretty good and inexpensive.

 

[Aethis]

There's a "hair's" difference between most i them. I use Arctic Cooling MX2 because it's pretty good and inexpensive.

Reading about it, the MX2 seems to expedite the oxidization process on copper, which the EVO has exposed copper direct touch tubes on its base.. that seems like a bad idea, overall. Guess I'll just stick with my tube of AS5 I still have.

 

[trents]

Reading about it, the MX2 seems to expedite the oxidization process on copper, which the EVO has exposed copper direct touch tubes on its base.. that seems like a bad idea, overall. Guess I'll just stick with my tube of AS5 I still have.

You worry about many things. Never heard that before. I've used MX2 on a lot of exposed copper heatsinks and never had a problem. How long would it take to oxidize them? A millennium? The one think I don't like about AS5 is that it has a curing time before its maximally effective. Not so with MX2 and most other popular TIMs.

 

[Aethis]

Yea, the curing time is annoying but oh well. I don't really know about the time acceleration in the oxidation process for the MX2, and yes. I tend to really overthink and analyze things a lot. In any case, I placed an order an hour or so ago when Newegg restocked... Though I kind of opted for the 6700K instead of the 6600K... probably a slap on my hand moment but I wanted that HT just for in case in the future. As I noticed some things are starting to make use of it, like fallout 4 and the like. (As well as things like video rendering and such. So I figured I'd might as well.)

Now the fun time of sitting and waiting and hoping everything works without a problem once all together. That feeling of hitting the power button and hoping everything clicks and posts, heh.