Upgrading PC - Need Opinions (DDR3 or DDR4 route)

Hardware Build a PC
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So it's a long story, but basically my computer is crapping out and I want to basically start over, with the exception of a few parts I know are good (GPU, SSD, HDD).

Long part:
I've been having weird issues for about a few months now. Started when my computer, out of nowhere, started to lag A LOT for about the first three minutes after booting up. So I switched out my aging 640GB WD Black with a new 256GB Toshiba SSD. Boot times improved, but lag was still there.

Next, peripherals randomly shutting off then having to unplug them and plug them back in. Tried multiple items, multiple ports, it was all random.

And finally, the straw that broke my computer's back. Somehow, during a Windows update, a vital system file was deleted and now my PC is basically useless. I can boot to the desktop, but nothing beyond that.

Now, the Windows issue could be easily fixed by restoring. I keep backups of everything, my storage drive should be fine as far as I know, and I'm currently reinstalling Windows 8.1. But due to the previous issues before this point, and receiving a much larger tax return than I was expecting, I just want to wipe everything with a cloth like Hillary and forget about the old hardware. It's time to upgrade.



The rest:

What am I using it for?
- Heavy gaming: Skyrim ultra with mods, WoW ultra (raids and PvP can really drop the frames), etc.
- Occassional light video editing.
- GIMP
- Coding
- Schoolwork

Current build (* = keeping):
- i7-950
- Gigabyte something UD3
- 650W Corsair 80Plus Gold (don't remember exact model and too lazy to look)
- *GTX 970 SSC
- *256GB Toshiba SSD (boot)
- *1TB WD Blue (storage)
- A decent, but loud and bulky, Corsair case

New hardware:
- i7 6700k
- Asus Maximus VIII Hero
- rest is undecided



My main worry:
- Is DDR4 worth it? I've read a lot of places that it either isn't, or that it can be depending on the setup. Most people say the price to performance ratio isn't worth it, but looking around at mobo and RAM prices it doesn't seem like it's necessarily a bad deal, especially since in the future when DDR4 prices go down all I would have to upgrade is RAM instead of my whole system (because I'm basically doing that now).

Or do you guys think it would be more beneficial to go with like a 4970k and DDR3 and be able to get more bang for the buck?

The nice thing is, since I already have a good GPU, that's a large chunk of money I don't need to worry about spending.

My main concern right now I guess is future-proofing, and I feel like going the DDR4 route would be better for that (if I go DDR3 now, I'm going to want to go with DDR4 when it starts becoming more mainstream anyways), but looking at current price to performance I can see why most people are against upgrading to DDR4. Also, CAS latency on any reasonably-priced DDR4 RAM is atrocious (around 15/16, where equally priced and speed DDR3 is usually 9/10).

Now, I have a max budget of $1,000. If the difference between DDR4 and DDR3 is only going to cost $200, I'll go with DDR4, but any more than that and I'll probably go with DDR3.



Edit: Now that I think about it, I don't think I really need the k models or too crazy of a motherboard, because I don't plan on doing any over-clocking. But I think the 6700k has a higher clock speed than the normal 6700, so maybe the k would still be better. I dunno.

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That board only supports DDR4 so not much choice there.
But yeah just go with DDR4, there is realy no reason to look back at EOL DDR3 ram,
which costs just as much as DDR4.

But the same counts for the platform in general.
I would say just go with Skylake, not realy much reason to go with an EOL Haswell platform anymore imo.

1 Like
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Awesome, thank you very much.

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There is not realy that much of a price diffrence between the 4790K and the 6700K.
But Z97 boards are harder to get, and getting more expensive aswell because of EOL status.
Next to that if your motherboard ever fails in the upcomming 2 years, you will most likely gonne have a hard time finding a replacement haswell Z97 board for a reasonable price.

And there for my recommendation goes to Skylake all the way.

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Ya that's pretty much what I was thinking. The stuff that would be DDR4 compatible (mobos and CPU) aren't much more expensive. The RAM itself really isn't too much more either.

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Nope DDR3 and DDR4 are pretty much the same price atm.
Even the higher speed DDR4 kits like 3000mhz corsair vengeance lpx DDR4 costs roughly the same.
There are Of course a very few Skylake motherboards that do support DDR3, but its realy not worth the hassle.
Just go with DDR4.

THe Asus Maximus VIII Hero is a decent motherboard,
Good choice there.

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I might be changing that. It only has a 3 egg rating on Newegg. Need to read the reviews still. I'd really like to go with something that has a black/red theme (but doesn't necessarily need to be the Maximus Hero) because I'm going with some mostly black g-skill ram with red highlights, and a Fractal Design Define R5 Blackout.

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Msi Z170 Gaming M7 or Gigabyte GA-Z170X Gaming 6 or 7, are also good boards you might take a look at.

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Alright, thanks for the recommendations :)