Is there anything out there yet that beats an overclocked 2500k?

[dark zero]

Wait until Kabylake or Skylake Refresh.... by now, there is no way to overkill the SB who are the minimun.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

The main benefits are M.2 card support, USB 3.1, and more PCIe lanes to keep everything running at PCIe 3.0 speeds. That's probably why they say it's worth the upgrade. Extra features for future usage. It will depend on whether or not you are going to invest in devices that use those features though.

Me personally I'm eying an upgrade to move away from the mATX board I've been on since 2012. It's a great motherboard but it cramps my devices together and I get some higher than average temperatures from my 2nd 970 because it's starved for air. I can piece this system back together for some other usage at that point.

Are those the dual-fan "twin-frozr" type cards, or the reference-design with the barrel fan?

If the case is getting good intake, try removing the PCI slot-covers above each card. It might only be worth a couple C degrees, but you could start there. If the case is pressurized, there should be no down-side to these extra "vents."

 

[cmdrdredd]

Are those the dual-fan "twin-frozr" type cards, or the reference-design with the barrel fan?

If the case is getting good intake, try removing the PCI slot-covers above each card. It might only be worth a couple C degrees, but you could start there. If the case is pressurized, there should be no down-side to these extra "vents."

They are the TFIV cards. If you saw how close together they are you would see why I can't get lower temps. The mATX boards may support sli and crossfire but I don't recommend it. I learned my lesson. Like I said, great board but just doesn't fit my needs anymore.

 

[Insomniator]

Most benchmarks I see show the chips at STOCK speed for gaming benchmarks, and in that case they are still GPU limited most of the time. Now add 1 ghz to the chip like you have and think about the benchmarks then.... even if the Skylake is 25% faster in a few specific games... its still not even close to worth it. Maybe if you have SLI 980 TI's and run 4k, which in that case you have money to burn anyway. If you're gaming on a 670 and considering upgrading just now, the 2500k is not holding you back in anything.

Platform upgrade, give me a break. Is the system going to do anything noticeably better because of the platform? 100 SATA ports, support for a USB version no devices use yet, and $12 a year less electricity. Sweet!

I don't have a problem with Skylake, its more of a testament to how good SB was and how stagnant gaming graphics and performance have been over the years. But you won't even notice a CPU upgrade. Get a 980.

 

[TeknoBug]

An overclocked i5 3570K, i7 3770K and i7 4770K. 😛

 

[Charlie98]

Yeah, I game casually, but don't really beat the crap out of it. I may just go for the GPU upgrade...again.

...then you are like me. When I built my gaming rig I debated a new chipset (Z87 at the time) but I had a leftover Z68 mobo in the junk closet... so I just bought a used 2500K and spent some money on a reasonable GPU (the GTX760 that is now in my business machine.) After a year or so I upgraded to the GTX970 and really haven't found the system wanting... but then again, I don't play the most current and CPU demanding titles, and I'm only running one monitor.

Really it boils down to what works for you... the 2500K is a fantastic chip, but it is old tech and has been eclipsed by newer hardware.

 

[cantholdanymore]

I'm just waiting for Skylake-E (hopefully sometime next year)

 

[StrangerGuy]

To the thread title? Yes

Worth it or not to upgrade from? Not really.