Should I upgrade?

[Subadaga]

Hi guys, I'm wondering if it's worth upgrading from an i5 4690K (No OC) to an i7 6700K, and from a GTX 980Ti (no OC) to a GTX 1080.

I'm only planning on playing in 1080p, and I only use my RIG for games and videogame design.

If you do think I should upgrade, what motherboard and DDR4 memory do you suggest and why?

Thanks in advance.

[Chandler]

Well, I wouldn't say the upgrade is worth the cost, but here's a decent motherboard https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014YN67E6 Yes, it's expensive, but it supports DDR4, ECC and all that jazz, and the reason why this Mobo is more expensive than others is because it has an Intel LAN (Which is FAR superior to Qualcomm Killer ones) and it's got a pretty decent sound processor built in, so if you don't want to buy a dedicated AMP and Dac and all that audiophile stuff, the built in sound components in this Mobo will do just fine. That and MSi is just a reliable brand, and it's got alot of options for expansions.

As for DDR4 memory, any non generic brand will do https://www.amazon.com/2133MHz-Non-E...er+X+ddr4+16gb NOTE: THIS IS NOT ECC RAM

But in my opinion, I don't think it's worth upgrading anything in your system, Although if you don't already have an SSD, I'd suggest buying one, Samsung makes some pretty kick ass EVO drives
Upgrading to an i7 MIGHT get stuff done faster, but in rare circumstances, and a 980TI is still top of the line :) So I'd just buy an SSD (Or treat yourself to a nice 1440p IPS monitor)

Hope this helps, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask me about them

[KaosC57]

Well, I wouldn't say the upgrade is worth the cost, but here's a decent motherboard https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014YN67E6 Yes, it's expensive, but it supports DDR4, ECC and all that jazz, and the reason why this Mobo is more expensive than others is because it has an Intel LAN (Which is FAR superior to Qualcomm Killer ones) and it's got a pretty decent sound processor built in, so if you don't want to buy a dedicated AMP and Dac and all that audiophile stuff, the built in sound components in this Mobo will do just fine. That and MSi is just a reliable brand, and it's got alot of options for expansions.

As for DDR4 memory, any non generic brand will do https://www.amazon.com/2133MHz-Non-E...er+X+ddr4+16gb NOTE: THIS IS NOT ECC RAM

But in my opinion, I don't think it's worth upgrading anything in your system, Although if you don't already have an SSD, I'd suggest buying one, Samsung makes some pretty kick ass EVO drives
Upgrading to an i7 MIGHT get stuff done faster, but in rare circumstances, and a 980TI is still top of the line :) So I'd just buy an SSD (Or treat yourself to a nice 1440p IPS monitor)

Hope this helps, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask me about them

Dude. No. Just... No...

OP, here's what you should do. Give us a Budget, and we can give you a build with any parts you need. Are you planning on re-using your case? Do you need a new copy of Windows? Do you want to Overclock?

[Chandler]

Chances are if he's wanting to buy an I7, he has a decently high budget, and transferring windows to another drive is easy, and he is probably using the same case, he asked for suggestions, not a complete rebuild, please don't be an ass :)

[Subadaga]

I'm only planning on only changing my CPU/PSU, storage is fine, I currently have a 480Gb SSD and 4TB of HDD.

Case is currently a Corsair 760T, so there's plenty of space for any kind of upgrade, nevertheless I'm planning on changing my CPU cooler, I was thinking on a Corsair H80i v2 (currently have a Cooler Master D92).
PSU is OK as well, it's a Corsair MR650 (But the cables are crap though)

I'm planning to spend around $1,600 USD.

[ZED]

If you want to upgrade to the latest i7 then you will need to get a new motherboard and RAM as well. However, for 1080p gaming it's not worth spending that money on i7 6700k to begin with. There is only 7% difference in performance between i7 6700k and i5 6600k. Also, GTX 980 Ti is still fine for 1080p gaming. Moreover, if you still want to make an upgrade then this is the wrong time to do it because it's only a month or two away till we see i7 7700k the Kaby Lake CPU. According to the latest news and specs, Kaby Lake i7 7700k will be 12% faster than Skylake i7 6700k. There are some website already that allow to pre-order i7 7700k and according to that info then price for the new i7 7700k could be the same as for current i7 6700k.

So, I'd say, if you really want to upgrade then wait till Kaby Lake and Z200 series mobos are released and then do the upgrade. Other than that, you are still fine for 1080p gaming at this point.

[KaosC57]

I'm only planning on only changing my CPU/PSU, storage is fine, I currently have a 480Gb SSD and 4TB of HDD.

Case is currently a Corsair 760T, so there's plenty of space for any kind of upgrade, nevertheless I'm planning on changing my CPU cooler, I was thinking on a Corsair H80i v2 (currently have a Cooler Master D92).
PSU is OK as well, it's a Corsair MR650 (But the cables are crap though)

I'm planning to spend around $1,600 USD.

1,600 USD? For Pure gaming? Heh, you're gonna get a beast of an upgrade.

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/list/gCj89W) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/list/gCj89W/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/product/tdmx...bx80662i76700k) | $324.99 @ SuperBiiz
**CPU Cooler** | [Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/product/V2Jw...u-cooler-h100i) | $139.89 @ OutletPC
**Motherboard** | [MSI Z170A SLI PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/product/yLPz...d-z170asliplus) | $137.84 @ OutletPC
**Memory** | [Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/product/xWZ2...memory-997199f) | $61.99 @ Newegg
**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB FTW Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/product/bNcM...card-08gp46286) | $679.99 @ B&H
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **$1344.70**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2016-09-20 19:18 EDT-0400 |

That's what I'd buy. BUT.

What Zed said is partially true. The i7-6700k IS overkill for 1080p gaming. The 980Ti is also perfectly fine for 1080p.

But, with the left-over money, you could roll into a 3x1080 Surround setup with a GTX 1080. That would look beautiful, and you could do it with Triple Asus VG248QE's to get 144hz 3x Surround 1080p. That would be buttery smooth.

If you stuck with an i5-6600k and said screw getting a Kabylake and new monitors, you could go all the way to a Titan X(Pascal) within your budget.

Kabylake isn't even going to be a huge upgrade over Skylake, so personally, i'd just go with the i5-6600k and a 1080. And upgrade to 3x Asus VG248QE's for Surround 1080p buttery smoothness.