I'm finally going to upgrade my Q6600 (4gb ddr2, amd 4870) build from 6 years ago and am looking for advice on a couple of things.
Rig Purpose: I do a little encoding, gaming at 1080p (144hz), I like to run multiple VMs and use it as a media server.
Parts needed: CPU, MB, RAM, GPU
Country: Canada - although amazon.com has had some decent deals with the exchange.
1. CPU - The 4690k looks like the smart $/performance choice at the moment. I don't upgrade often and was thinking I might splurge on the 4790k. I like to run a few VMs and thought i might see a slight benefit with hyper threading? Would the 4790k give me more time between upgrades?
2.MB - Considering the CPUs above, what are the standard options for around 150 bucks? Should I spend more than that? I’ve typically gone ASUS in the past but im open for suggestions.
3.RAM- In my last build I stressed over this. Nowadays im not too concerned with speed and timings. Just looking for 16GB of decent memory. I’ve picked out the G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600
4.GPU – my 4870 died a couple of years ago so I currently have a 6870 and was wondering how my performance might be without upgrading the GPU at this time.The Idea would be to hold out for a gtx 970 when I have more cash / if I can catch it on a sale.
well this a bit depending on how much vm´s you wanne run at a same time. i would personaly skip on an i5. because it simply doesnt have much threads to run vm´s on. FX8350 will be allot better then any i5 for virtualization, however for gaming doe, intel cpu´s are better for gaming. So its a bit of a mix bag. It depends allot on which games you play, and how much money you have to spend.
If you could afford a 5820K with X99 board and DDR4, then i would go that route. otherwise i would go with a 4790K depending on the games you play.
Also a good cpu to look at, would be a Intel Xeon 1231-V3, this is basicly an i7-4790 without an igpu, and its not overclockable. But still it will perform verywell in games. and it will be a good cpu for virtualization and what not.
But yeah i cannot look into your wallet offcourse! ☺
The xeon is interesting. I'll definitely look into that a bit more. The VMs I use are mostly for research and playing around so while I do use them frequently, I would say that gaming performance is more important to me. 300ish is about all I want to pay for a CPU and DDR 4 rig would be too much money.
I would say that you are best off with the Xeon or i5 4690k. They are probably the best performing Intel cpus for cheap. My friends 6870 still works fine you will probably notice more consistent fps since the cpu will not be limiting at all. Wait until you have enough to get a good gpu. r9 280 / gtx770 or better I think is a good leap in performance.