Worth upgrading from G3258 @ 4.2, 8GB DDR3-1600, 240GB M500 to SKL?

[VirtualLarry]

Sept. 1 is when the rest of the SKL desktop lineup drops, right?

I suppose then we'll find out if there are any multi-unlocked CPUs below the quad-cores, or if you can OC a locked SKL CPU on a Z170 through BCLK OC. (Would be a real shame if you couldn't.)

Was eyeing a Z170 mobo that takes DDR3. (I started a thread in Motherboards, listing the ones I've found.) There's an Asus and an ASRock Fatal1ty. Both have M.2 3.0 4x slots, that also take SATA. Was fantasizing about a Samsung 256GB XP951 drive. (Don't really care about the NVMe one, and I don't think that you can install Win7 on an NVMe M.2 SSD anyways.)

But then reality sinks in, and I realize, that I'm perfectly happy with my SATA6G SSDs, and especially the prices of them, compared to M.2 drives. (I'm a very budget-minded person.)

I wonder what SKL would bring me, that I don't already have with Haswell?

I don't game so much anymore, and what little I might do, my G3258 and 7950 handle just fine.

Edit: I guess I should answer the "for what" question...
Reading forums
Listening to internet radio
Skype
Downloading Linux ISOs
Burning Linux ISOs to DVD
Doing some DC in the background (mostly only during Winter months)
Gaming (very rarely) @ 1080P, 60Hz LCD

Doing those things, I could probably make my G3258 last 6-10 years, if I had to.

Before I got my G3258 CPUs, I was still using my Q9300 C2Q CPUs @ 3.0Ghz to do DC and game (with HD4850 cards). I still have them, they still work (mostly) fine.

The main reason behind the last big upgrade, was power consumption. Idle power with the Q9300 OCed and HD4850 was around 200W.

With my current G3258 / 7950 rig, it's around 78W, WITH my 24" HDTV LCD monitor included in that number.

I've been using a MeegoPad T02 with Win10 Pro 32-bit on it, just seeing how I can manage most of those things (aside from gaming and DC), on such a small and low-power device. It's somewhat manageable, but too much activity, web browsing, Skype video chats, network file transfers, etc., make the thing thermal-throttle down from 1.33Ghz (slow) to 500Mhz or lower (really, painfully slow).

 

[Pandamonia]

Worth upgrading for what then?

 

[VirtualLarry]

New 5x5 boards to launch with Skylake. (big NUC)

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9556/intel-launches-new-socketed-minipc-motherboards

Say welcome to the future socketted desktop when the dGPU dies.

I was kind of thinking, of eventually going with a "5X5" system. If I bought a 35W "T" quad-core (which would admittedly be a stretch for me), and an M.2 SSD, the hope would be that when the 5X5 mobos and cases get released, I could just move my CPU and SSD (with existing installation) over to the 5X5 rig, and sell / ditch the Z170 board. But maybe that's a stretch. I'd still have to get new SO-DIMM RAM for the 5X5 rig, though. That's partially why I was thinking of going with a DDR3 Z170 board, so I wouldn't have to buy any pricey DDR4 desktop DIMMs.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Just keep your G3258.

 

[dark zero]

2 paths:
- Keep the chip.
- Go to an i5.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Yeah, even a current i5 will pwn whatever dual core offerings Skylake has, and you'd have to swap motherboards. (Wouldn't you? LGA1151 right?)

 

[VirtualLarry]

Just keep your G3258.

Drat. You're killing my buzz, man.

Seriously, though, I guess I don't need anything high-end, unless I want it for DC or gaming. Which, if I switch to the MeegoPad T02 full-time, I wouldn't really need.

Well... unless... I use it for VMs on my unRAID server, once I get it upgraded to 6.x.

 

[lyssword]

nah

 

[TeknoBug]

No just get an i5 or i7 for that existing socket you have.

And I like that 5x5 socketed motherboard, would make a good i3 4130T or i5 4590T sys.

 

[Yuriman]

You might consider upgrading if you want to go smaller form factor, but considering your use-case it doesn't make sense from a performance perspective. Yeah, an i3 or i5 might feel a little faster, but if it's fast enough, who's counting?

I managed to snag a great deal on an 1155 board from eBay, so I avoided having to replace everything else, but there is a definite user-quality improvement when moving from a large tower in a small apartment, to an ITX case I can tuck away.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You might consider upgrading if you want to go smaller form factor, but considering your use-case it doesn't make sense from a performance perspective. Yeah, an i3 or i5 might feel a little faster, but if it's fast enough, who's counting?

I managed to snag a great deal on an 1155 board from eBay, so I avoided having to replace everything else, but there is a definite user-quality improvement when moving from a large tower in a small apartment, to an ITX case I can tuck away.

Well, I have computer desks with cubby-holes for ATX towers. So I'm not saving any overall space by moving to a smaller form-factor, really. In fact, if the 5x5 or NUC or whatever has to now sit on top of the desk, then that will take up more room.

 

[alcoholbob]

Seems like a 5x5 board with no PCIE slot would be better served with a Broadwell 5775C with its monster 128MB L4 cache than a Skylake processor.

 

[Yuriman]

Time for a new desk?

 

[soccerballtux]

i'd recommend upgrade to a g3258 and overclocking, there pretty fast. also very cheap

 

[.vodka]

Keep it, get a SSD if you haven't already. That G3258 will last a lot at this rate... at least for what you say you'll do on the OP. Hell, old C2Ds are still holding their own on that regard.

 

[soccerballtux]

take the buzz and upgarde to a

wait sorry already said that

overclock more. I was stuck at 4.3ghz and made it to 4.6 after thorough testing, which was close enough to 4.7ghz and also close enough to the top end of what the Vishera architecture is capable of, for me to be happy and call it day. Do I run it at 4.6? No. But that doesn't matter, because it's there if I want it.

So yeah, I would overclock to the absolute maximum your CPU can handle. You've got a few extras in your closet right? why not break them out and see if any will take you higher? 4.6, 4.7ghz on a g3258 is going to be very fast for all of your uses. I guarantee that you will notice the improvement over 4.2, I definitely notice 4.6 over 4.3. I envy your low power consumption stats. Even at max speeds the CPU load will be something like 130w-- basically nothing. For me, I hit 500w at 4.6ghz and overclocked GPU

 

[ganons]

I guarantee that you will notice the improvement over 4.2, I definitely notice 4.6 over 4.3. I envy your low power consumption stats. Even at max speeds the CPU load will be something like 130w-- basically nothing. For me, I hit 500w at 4.6ghz and overclocked GPU

Where and how did you notice the 300mhz? I've got a g3258 for some dolphin emulation

 

[soccerballtux]

IE, particularly. General Windows operations.

 

[ArisVer]

No just get an i5 or i7 for that existing socket you have.

That was your future upgrade plans, right?

 

[Flapdrol1337]

or if you can OC a locked SKL CPU on a Z170 through BCLK OC. (Would be a real shame if you couldn't.)

Still not seen this tested anywhere, even though the chips are somewhat available.

 

[Denithor]

Larry is your gaming done on integrated graphics? Because there's zero room for a discrete GPU in those 5x5 pucks.

Your current Pentium is more than enough for everything except the DC. Unless you just really want to push the DC, leave it alone. And for DC, a quad Haswell will work very nearly as well as a whole new SKL setup. With much lower cost...

 

[VirtualLarry]

Still contemplating this. Also considering a comment in another thread about the Skylake 6700 non-K CPU being out, and then thinking, "maybe I don't need to compulsively OC every CPU that I come across". Thinking that moreso, with the few crashes I've had with my G3258 @ 4.2Ghz and 1.300V. Had to lower it to 4.0Ghz and 1.200V, seems a lot cooler and more stable now.

If there are SKL non-K CPUs clocked near 4Ghz, and affordable, I might just go that route, if I go SKL.

 

[escrow4]

Still contemplating this. Also considering a comment in another thread about the Skylake 6700 non-K CPU being out, and then thinking, "maybe I don't need to compulsively OC every CPU that I come across". Thinking that moreso, with the few crashes I've had with my G3258 @ 4.2Ghz and 1.300V. Had to lower it to 4.0Ghz and 1.200V, seems a lot cooler and more stable now.

If there are SKL non-K CPUs clocked near 4Ghz, and affordable, I might just go that route, if I go SKL.

Just buy a Skylake i3. It has some grunt in reserve and hammers along @ 3.8GHz when required:

http://ark.intel.com/products/90731/Intel-Core-i3-6300-Processor-4M-Cache-3_80-GHz

You can match it to a cheaper B150 or H110 board depending on what features you want. The i3 4170 I bought is surprisingly capable. The high clock speed and hyperthreading offset the fact its a coked up dual core.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Just buy a Skylake i3. It has some grunt in reserve and hammers along @ 3.8GHz when required:

http://ark.intel.com/products/90731/Intel-Core-i3-6300-Processor-4M-Cache-3_80-GHz

You can match it to a cheaper B150 or H110 board depending on what features you want. The i3 4170 I bought is surprisingly capable. The high clock speed and hyperthreading offset the fact its a coked up dual core.

Yeah, but it's gooooood coke.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yeah, but it's gooooood coke.

That gives me an idea. Why not CPU tie-ins, with say, soft-drink companies?

Have a "Mt. Dew Kickstart special-edition CPU", with an image of a Kickstart can on the heatspreader. It wouldn't cost much more in production to laser-etch the picture, but it could be co-marketed with the soft-drink companies, to the "Gamer market". (Think G3258 popularity, with much better, "cooler", end-user branding.)

For that matter, why not allow CPUs to be custom-mfg'ed (For a fairly steep additional fee), and have the heatspreader laser-etched with a small custom image file in the corner? M&M's will custom-print a word for you, why not custom-etched CPU heatspreaders? I think it would be cool, to have CPUs with your own small company logo on them, or your picture, or whatever. Think, "nerd valentine's day gift".