To 2600K or not to 2600K : That is the question

[Jumpem]

What's your CPU upgrade path on this platform once you bought one of those two CPUs: That is the question.

Come on, one CPU, one mobo? Another CPU, another mobo? What is that? I'm running my fourth CPU on my mobo (AM2+). Two of them were top of the line when I bought them and I still have a long way to go to the top of the line CPU on my mobo. What's next, CPU integrated in the mobo?

I've never been concerned with upgrade paths. I've always upgraded to a new CPU and new chipset/motherboard.

 

[busmaster11]

What's your CPU upgrade path on this platform once you bought one of those two CPUs: That is the question.

Come on, one CPU, one mobo? Another CPU, another mobo? What is that? I'm running my fourth CPU on my mobo (AM2+). Two of them were top of the line when I bought them and I still have a long way to go to the top of the line CPU on my mobo. What's next, CPU integrated in the mobo?

This typifies a philosophy which is very alien to many people. Your motherboard limits you on many fronts from using current technology, be it Sata3, USB3, faster DDR3, etc... Even if it doesn't, early implementations are usually buggy, slow, and not 100& compatible.

If you're on your fourth cpu since AM2+ came out (late 2007) you've upgraded four times in three years or under. This is a rate most people find unreasonable unless you're a student with lots of time and not worrying about running up huge cc debts.

Why not just do a clean build every couple years and stay current on everything, and keeping your old build together for a hand-me-down... though I'm guessing many of your friends and relatives already have hand-me-downs from you.

 

[Chaoticlusts]

If the rumors popping around that the 2600K will come with the very nice heatsink while the 2500k comes with a fairly standard one then I think that makes the 2600K quite worth it if you have the budget for it and don't already own a good heatsink that you could use on it (if you already have one from a previous build obviously this is worthless)...but considering where I am (Aus) most decent heatsinks set you back 50-100...if the intel one is comparable to the lower end of those add in hyperthreading extra cache and possibly better OC potential cause of higher binning (I'm guessing there obviously) I think that actually justifies the extra hundred for it....if those rumors (review sites seem to have varying opinions on the matter) aren't true and they come with the same one I think unless you really have the money to blow your probably better off putting the hundred elsewhere...the 2500K OC'd will be so damn fast that I doubt there will be enough noticable difference between the two in actual use to justify a 50% price increase

 

[DNorth]

Im going all out 2600k + 580

But its been a good year for me, so I figured why not

 

[mosox]

This typifies a philosophy which is very alien to many people. Your motherboard limits you on many fronts from using current technology, be it Sata3, USB3, faster DDR3, etc... Even if it doesn't, early implementations are usually buggy, slow, and not 100& compatible.

If you're on your fourth cpu since AM2+ came out (late 2007) you've upgraded four times in three years or under. This is a rate most people find unreasonable unless you're a student with lots of time and not worrying about running up huge cc debts.

Why not just do a clean build every couple years and stay current on everything, and keeping your old build together for a hand-me-down... though I'm guessing many of your friends and relatives already have hand-me-downs from you.

Your philosophy is very alien around here (E Europe) To spend $400 for just a new mobo and CPU? Maybe if we rob a bank or something. And in here with VAT and stuff it's not $400 it's $500+. I've build entire rigs for cheaper. Nope, we do it this way. Cheap futureproof mobo ($70-80) and cheap CPU. When we get our hands on some more $$$, sell old CPU and get a new one. And so on. I, for one, don't sell them, I have a trickle down economy amongst my family/friends.

AMD is very popular for it's cheap triple cores and quads - who cares about the synthetic benchmarks like "3DSMAX, Cinebench and whatnot? or about features like USB3.0/SATA3. My DDR2 mobo hasn't seen the last of it's CPUs yet, probably it will be a 6 core.

Anyway, for gaming (we don't skimp on the GPU) the result is a rig almost as fast in gaming as a Sandy Bridge with the same video card - for a smaller price and the possibility of cheap CPU upgrades without changing the platform.

The expansion of the PC market happens mostly in the developing countries (mainly Asia) so AMD might be toast in the first world but has a great future in many other places as long as they keep producing cheap dual cores and quads and offer socket stability (Intel renounced that, the 1156 lasted for 1 year and a half).

LE Also Intel simply doesn't want to cut the prices for the old models, take a look at the 775 socket quads.

 

[Castiel]

Dead set on the 2500k unless the 2600s price is low

 

[Anomaly1964]

im going all out 2600k + 580

but its been a good year for me, so i figured why not :d

sweet!

 

[nyfirefly11]

Well, I decided to take the plunge, and got a 2600K, Asus P8P67 Deluxe mobo, and 8GB of G.Skill Ram. It's probably not an enormous leap, but I'm loving it. Seems like it's using less power, which means less heat, and is maybe more stable. But this is all subjective.

 

[tweakboy]

For benching the 2600K makes perfect sense. For just gaming the 2500K is a steal. I can't decide...

For a system like this your RAM GB is low.

get another 4GB , so youll never have that bottleneck. gl

 

[pugh]

The other side of the coin though is get the cheaper 2500k, and then swap it for a 22nm 6-core cpu in 12 months time. They should support the same motherboard.

great point

 

[pugh]

I've never resold any computer equipment. It always ends up finding a new home with a family member or less well off neighbor.

You and me both. Most if not all of pc's become part of my network for other's in my home.