Worthy upgrade from 2600k yet?

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Kinda got the itch to upgrade cpu platform. Looking back I found I bought my used 2600k combo November of 2011. That is a long time for a guy that use to upgrade every 6 months. I'm wondering if there is a worthy upgrade as of yet or should I stick with the trusty 2600k. I use my pc for gaming with a single 280x, encoding video, and also run a virtual machine too on my main pc. Thanks in advance.

 

[Headfoot]

Short answer: no

Long Answer: if you do things that require/benefit from more than 4 cores, then Ivy-E will be a worthwile upgrade. The problem is that LGA 2011 is an ageing platform so you'd be buying into less-than-state-of-the-art tech on the chipset side of the world

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Short answer: no

Long Answer: if you do things that require/benefit from more than 4 cores, then Ivy-E will be a worthwile upgrade. The problem is that LGA 2011 is an ageing platform so you'd be buying into less-than-state-of-the-art tech on the chipset side of the world

I agree to that point in principle. Nevertheless, I'm choosing to build an IB-E system this year. I don't even really need six cores -- let alone eight.

I usually take Maximum PC Magazine with a grain of salt. Their reviews seem a bit rigged, only for their selection of what items to include in comparison reviews. But their December 2013 issue had a nice spot on the IB-E

We've also seen here that some Haswell cores, overclocked to maybe 4.4, have some slight benchmark edges to either Sandy or Ivy.

Don't know what to say about the 2600K. I love my SB-K system (@4.7 Ghz). It matches the I7-4770K (@4.4) in some benchmarks.

If the money could better be spent elsewhere (car repairs, medical bills, food, clothing . . . ), your 2600K should still serve. If you have an itch you can't scratch -- as I do -- well . . . Best leave you to that decision on your own.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I built the rig in my sig in September of 2011 and came to the conclusion late last year that it should be good for an additional 2-3 years with some component upgrades. I upgraded my video card to an MSI Lightning GTX 780 which, with an overclock, is faster than a Titan. I've also added some new SSDs to the mix.

Prior to this cycle, I upgraded platforms roughly every 3 years (platform = new motherboard, new socket). To be honest, it was tough for me to justify going from my 4.0 Ghz E8400 to this new platform but like you, I just had the itch to upgrade.

I'm probably more interested in my server platforms now and just built a dual Xeon, 12 core (24 thread) monster last year and I'm always tweaking it and adding new VMs to my home network. Probably going to replace my older server with something low power this year.

 

[Pheesh]

You probably want to wait for sky lake unless you want 6 or 8 unlocked cores. HSW-E comes out this year and will have an 8 core and 6 core models paired with DDR4. DDR4 is probably going to be quite expensive though on launch...so it won't be a cheap platform.

 

[adairusmc]

I just went from a 2600k to a 4930k, and it is a decent upgrade considering I am running SLI 780Ti GPU's.

It is definitely more tricky to get a high overclock on, still doing some testing but so far I have gotten it up to 4.4 stable, it is running prim95 at home right now trying for 4.5 stable.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I just went from a 2600k to a 4930k, and it is a decent upgrade considering I am running SLI 780Ti GPU's.

It is definitely more tricky to get a high overclock on, still doing some testing but so far I have gotten it up to 4.4 stable, it is running prim95 at home right now trying for 4.5 stable.

Heh . . . continuing from the "mobo" thread, that's good to hear. Of course, you have "H2O."

Most "mainstreamers" I know seem to concur: the technology has well outstripped their needs or desires. They're all using 4 or 5-year-old technology. They also became "mobile obsessives."

Me -- I'm still a bit conflicted between living on a budget, all my digital needs fulfilled with the SB-K, and eager to build another system. But I've already picked my parts for the most part -- including the i7-4930K . . . All I need to do is punch in the particulars and "Proceed to Checkout."

On the budget end, I tell myself, being retired, I should be able to pursue one special interest, even if it's not entirely rational . . .

 

[jacktesterson]

Nope

 

[jacktesterson]

Heh . . . continuing from the "mobo" thread, that's good to hear. Of course, you have "H2O."

Most "mainstreamers" I know seem to concur: the technology has well outstripped their needs or desires. They're all using 4 or 5-year-old technology. They also became "mobile obsessives."

Me -- I'm still a bit conflicted between living on a budget, all my digital needs fulfilled with the SB-K, and eager to build another system. But I've already picked my parts for the most part -- including the i7-4930K . . . All I need to do is punch in the particulars and "Proceed to Checkout."

On the budget end, I tell myself, being retired, I should be able to pursue one special interest, even if it's not entirely rational . . .

I'd replace that GTX 570 and call it a day.

 

[JumBie]

I'd replace that GTX 570 and call it a day.

^^ Toss it out the door!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'd replace that GTX 570 and call it a day.

Gee, whiz! My profile must be "too high!" Of course, it's in my sig, so -- maybe not so much.

Anyway, it ain' over 'til the fat lady sings -- which means: when I click on "Proceed to Checkout."

On the tech end, we're pretty future proof. On the upgrade end, three users and four other computers, all using 2007 technology in boards, CPUs, RAM. I do a round-robin with my hand-me-down stuff, so . . . It's not like I'll give up Chinese Carry-out, beg change for gasoline, or drop my cable-tv subscription. . .

But it ain' over 'til the fat lady sings . . .

 

[BonzaiDuck]

^^ Toss it out the door!

With two responses like this -- and I'm not the OP -- what do you know about the 570 GTX that I don't know, except that I've been troubleshooting a problem that may have related to the NVidia driver?

 

[tweakboy]

The 2600k is powerful enough for games.

 

[tareqjj]

I don't think so. overclocking would diminish any performance advantage for thew newer chips.

 

[nwo]

OC the 2600k if you haven't done so. Should be able to get it up to 4.5GHz without too much trouble, as long as you have some decent cooling for it. If not, invest $30-50 into a legit HSF. It should last you at least another couple of years. Investing into an aftermarket HSF and OCing is a much better and more inexpensive option then upgrading to Haswell.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

OC the 2600k if you haven't done so. Should be able to get it up to 4.5GHz without too much trouble, as long as you have some decent cooling for it. If not, invest $30-50 into a legit HSF. It should last you at least another couple of years. Investing into an aftermarket HSF and OCing is a much better and more inexpensive option then upgrading to Haswell.

I agree in principle and practice. But "in practice," I'm still going to build an IB_E this year. Women don't need diamonds the size of walnuts, but they want them. Men don't need a Lamborghini to drive to the liquor store, but they'd want one. I want a project I can toy with for a year or more before it becomes "operational," and my household eventually needs to upgrade some LGA-775 systems -- e-ven-tu-al-ly.

I'm still sure I'll get several years out of the 2600K SB-K.

Now there's also the matter of a new processor's augmented instruction set, better performance even within conventional GHz limits. But that's a secondary matter to me, or I'd either wait for Haswell-E or go rave on the Z87-Haswell bandwagon.

This could be the last system I ever build. Maybe my health will decline and I'll punch out soon. Or maybe our pastime in this forum will dwindle as everyone wears microprocessors on their headbands, funny eyeglasses and earphones, and computing simply becomes an exercise of waving your hands in the air as if you were gaming on an X-Box.

 

[OCGuy]

Yes.

In the enthusiast world, Sandy Bridge is ancient. In the practical world, you have a great chip.

 

[guskline]

Are you using an SSD? If not, that's a viable upgrade.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Yeah, I'd look at other things to upgrade--SSD, video card, etc. I'm on a i7 920 and itching to upgrade but I might wait til DDR4 goes mainstream at least.

 

[jacktesterson]

Yes.

In the enthusiast world, Sandy Bridge is ancient. In the practical world, you have a great chip.

Common sense though.

He's running a single GPU. That 2600k Is good to go.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Common sense though.

He's running a single GPU. That 2600k Is good to go.

Ab-so-tively, Pos-i-lutely!! Common sense tells me "Stand pat, mah son!"

I should just go ahead and dump my ISRT configuration and replace it with a Sammy 840 Pro (sitting here in retail box). Or as some have said -- "Dump that GTX 570" and "Kick it out the door!"

All in good time. All will be revealed.

Of course, I understand common sense, and I understand the itch I can't scratch -- the desire for another toy. Once the new toy is operational (next year), I may put the 2600K under chilled water. Who knows? God knows!

I? I only guess . . . timate . . . .

 

[tweakboy]

Get a SSD and your world will change forever. gl

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Kinda got the itch to upgrade cpu platform. Looking back I found I bought my used 2600k combo November of 2011. That is a long time for a guy that use to upgrade every 6 months. I'm wondering if there is a worthy upgrade as of yet or should I stick with the trusty 2600k. I use my pc for gaming with a single 280x, encoding video, and also run a virtual machine too on my main pc. Thanks in advance.

Depends on what you do with your VM's. VT-d might be of benefit to you and I don't think your 2600k has it.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Looking at the trend, we will be still asking the question for Haswell, it's successor and it's successor's successor.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Looking at the trend, we will be still asking the question for Haswell, it's successor and it's successor's successor.

The Monkey-Man has a point though:

http://software.intel.com/en-us/art...ms-for-efficient-virtualization-of-io-devices

It would all depend on whether the OP needs or prefers Vt-d. It would even depend on what hypervisor software or version he's using. Or whether the hardware gains much facilitate what he's doing with his VMM.

I'm going to spend about $1,000 in a few months just to build a machine I don't really "need," but only inclined to want. And over the course of the following year, I can see spending up to $1,000 more in conjunction with "that one" and "this one [2600K]." All because I have an itch to tinker.

In practical terms, it would just depend on how much that feature means to a person -- whether it really matters, whether it's just "marginal."

I look at these forums and I see that I'm part of a larger community that keeps jumping ship from one speedboat to the next -- as you say -- and it's not all for practical reasons. It's more about a balance between practical reasons and obsessive fascination, greased by money you're inclined to spend or save . . .