Updating to new system from Yorkfield (Intel Q9550)

[endfire79]

Hi there, I'm new here. Sorry for the double post.

Ok you'll probably laugh, but I'm running a little ancient rig here that I've had since late 2009 (haven't had time to update due to work travel, but am home now with our first baby, so I have a bit of time - key word bit

Intel Q9550 2.83 Ghz ( I have a Coolermaster Heatsink+Fan, but have not attempted an overclock yet)
Asus P5N72T mobo (an nForce 780i board)
8xGB DDR-2 (1066Mhz)

The main things I updated since then were RAM to 8GB from 4GB, my GPU from a GTX 460 to a GTX 750 Ti, and a new SSD for my OS disk. The tech is getting old I admit, no DDR3, no USB 3.0, no UEFI, no AHCI etc, old SATA, and all sorts of good tech improvements over the last few years.

I'm debating if I should update to Haswell (Z97) or something Broadwell based, or wait for Skylake?

 

[Ajay]

If you are not in a rush, you may want to wait till Skylake.
Otherwise, Haswell is a solid performer, especially one of the 'Devil's Canyon' variants.

 

[scannall]

You've waited this long, just hang on for a bit more. Skylake will use DDR4 memory. And a new socket. It's usually better to upgrade at the beginning of a new socket than at the end of an old one.

 

[endfire79]

Thanks, I can probably wait. I felt I made a mistake by hitting the end of the lga775 back then

 

[razel]

If you don't play PC games on it, keep it until it doesn't make any financial sense. My workstation is a Q9500 and I have NO complaints at all. I did up the RAM to 12 GB when 8GB DDR3 was $20.... no SSD. My newer portable workstation is a i5-3k/8GB/SSD. I prefer working on the Q9500, primarily because of the RAM and that it is rebooted monthly on update Tuesday. That gives Windows plenty of time to cache my ways.

 

[schmuckley]

I say get the Devil's Canyon setup.
ddr4 sucks.
may be a couple of years before anything decent is available for cheap.

 

[frozentundra123456]

A new baby and you get a new computer too?? Nice!!!!

Anyway, what is the purpose of the update? I ask because if it is for gaming, the 750TI is not a particularly powerful card, and would probably be a better fit for an i3.

As for waiting for Skylake, that is a viable option, but personally, I would just go ahead and get what you want now, unless you insist on having the top end performance. After all we dont know what improvement skylake will bring or when it will be available. Also if it requires DDR4 (some say it will be able to is DDR3 as well), the ram will be expensive.

For a basic gaming system I would suggest a locked i5 and a gpu like the R9280 or 290.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Somebody clue me in, now that I took notice of the OP's own remark.

Wasn't 780i chipset AHCI compliant? The 680i wasn't. But my EVGA 780i motherboard in my brother's rig upstairs has PCI-E 2.0. Surely the most recent of those nForce chipsets offered AHCI?

Just thought I'd ask. . .

 

[Arachnotronic]

Wait for Skylake.

 

[smut]

Somebody clue me in, now that I took notice of the OP's own remark.

Wasn't 780i chipset AHCI compliant? The 680i wasn't. But my EVGA 780i motherboard in my brother's rig upstairs has PCI-E 2.0. Surely the most recent of those nForce chipsets offered AHCI?

Just thought I'd ask. . .

No they were not. They had NCQ but not full AHCI.

 

[endfire79]

Yeah the nvidia nForce boards and drivers were problematic for AHCI. The AHCI option is not in the bios, all you have is IDE or RAID. There's some web pages that explain how to enable it via RAID, but I tried this and had a miserable time with the driver setup in Windows later on. I wish I had gone with an Intel chipset (these days you don't have a choice anyways

I figured a newer gen mobo would allow me to take more advantage of bus speeds and storage media speed (not to mention a better CPU). I guess I could try getting some USB 3.0 PCI cards or SATA III PCI cards.

Yes I'll be doing some gaming. As of late the heaviest gaming application would be ARMA 3, which I just started out, mixed in with some War Thunder.

I chose the PNY GTX 750 Ti as it seemed a pretty decent package in such a small form (and not very noisy as well) with a nice little price. Maybe in hindsight I should have gone with a 760 instead, but the price and online rebate (and game credits) were pretty good. I do have a Corsair 750 W PSU, so I believe I have enough room for expansion for all other needs.

So yeah I believe I can wait a few months for the next tock in Intels cycle, but then again DDR4 might be expensive. Weighing the options I guess

 

[frozentundra123456]

Yea, 750Ti is a nice card for a small case. Fairly compact and doesnt use much power. The price has come down enough that it is a decent value, although AMD right now offers a bit more performance for the money, but arent as efficient as the 750Ti.

 

[exar333]

Haswell-E is a great choice. The 5820k is a fantastic CPU and gives you 2 more cores for ~ same price vs. 4790k and the 2011-3 MBs are getting closer to parity as well. Plus, DDR4 memory gives you more flexibility the next time you upgrade too...

 

[Denithor]

A Q9550 + SSD setup should be great for average duties. If you're aiming for gaming, the 750 Ti is not really a serious gaming card, that's probably already your limiting factor unless you're gaming at very low resolution.

 

[endfire79]

What card would you suggest? I'm upgrading from a gtx 460

 

[endfire79]

I mean from gtx 460 1gb to gtx 750ti 2gb

 

[therealnickdanger]

What card would you suggest? I'm upgrading from a gtx 460

I mean from gtx 460 1gb to gtx 750ti 2gb

Are you asking for advice to upgrade from a 460? Or from the 750Ti that you just got?

If you wait for Skylake+DDR4, then you'll certainly want a GPU to match. Depending on your budget, you'll want to go with whatever the new AMD (3xx series) or NVIDIA (9xxTi or 10xx) chip is.

DDR4 pricing will come down - that is a certainty. DDR4 production is still new, but it ramping up quickly, bringing its price down. We'll see DDR3 come down a bit more, but probably never back down to 2012/2013 levels. Just like with the switch from DDR2 to DDR3, it just take a little time. Early adopters are the ones getting punished at the moment. DDR4 will be cheaper than DDR3 in 2016 - by most analyst projections - and be approximately the same price as DDR3 by the end of 2015.

I'm planning to upgrade my last Core 2-era (Q6600) machine when I can buy Skylake and DDR-4000 for a reasonable price... so 2016.