# Upgrade aging i7 990x??



## Outback Bronze (Sep 12, 2014)

Hi guys,

Just thought id get a few ideas and answers to upgrading my aging i7 990x.

Looking at x99 motherboard and 5930k or 5960x.

The computer is going to be mainly used for gaming.

Money is really no object as I will be claiming it through the business.

Any advice will be taken onboard.

Got a link here with my CPU in it: http://www.anandtech.com/show/8426/...review-core-i7-5960x-i7-5930k-i7-5820k-tested

Cheers.


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 12, 2014)

How many gcs and othere peg cards you putting in?


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## GhostRyder (Sep 12, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> Just thought id get a few ideas and answers to upgrading my aging i7 990x.
> 
> ...


If you want to strictly game I would consider more the 5930k and 5820K over the 5960X because when it comes to games they all want more single threaded performance and its harder to overclock the 8 core versus the 6 core.  If money is no object I would just get the 5930K like I did and do your setup on it with some serious overclocking.

Recent finding I hear put the 5960X as being difficult to keep temp wise under control above 4.4ghz where as the 5930K will keep temps well lower at 4.6ghz and above on top of having a better chance at a higher overclocking range.


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## Aquinus (Sep 12, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> Just thought id get a few ideas and answers to upgrading my aging i7 990x.
> 
> ...



These two sentences lead me to conclude that you don't need our help. Just find the items with the biggest price tag and you'll do fine. If you actually cared about the dollars being spent, I would say 1150 is your better option for a sensible and efficient gaming machine. If you have money to waste, then just get a 5960X, there is no choice there if you're willing to throw money out the window.

I personally hate the "money is no object" attitude. I find it condescending to people who can't actually afford to have nice things through little fault of their own but that's me. If money isn't an object, why do you even have to ask unless your trying to brag about something? I personally don't find it very appropriate. Normally I wouldn't say this, but lack of description of what you actually want puts more emphasis on this little tidbit and it rubs me the wrong way.

I see a goal to waste money, not a goal to build a good computer. I'm just saying.


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 12, 2014)

Aquinus said:


> These two sentences lead me to conclude that you don't need our help. Just find the items with the biggest price tag and you'll do fine. If you actually cared about the dollars being spent, I would say 1150 is your better option for a sensible and efficient gaming machine. If you have money to waste, then just get a 5960X, there is no choice there if you're willing to throw money out the window.
> 
> I personally hate the "money is no object" attitude. I find it condescending to people who can't actually afford to have nice things through little fault of their own but that's me. If money isn't an object, why do you even have to ask unless your trying to brag about something? I personally don't find it very appropriate. Normally I wouldn't say this, but lack of description of what you actually want puts more emphasis on this little tidbit and it rubs the the wrong way.
> 
> I see a goal to waste money, not a goal to build a good computer. I'm just saying.



I appreciate your thoughts mate but if I hadn't of said money is no object Id say you probably wouldn't have said those things.

When it comes to a business it becomes tax deductible in which I probably should have stated instead of "Money is no object".

Nobody ever really wants to "throw money out the window" hence this thread had been made to help me decide to see if its really worth it.

My goal is to build a really good computer of course. I just don't want to waste more money giving it to the tax man. Its better off in my pocket or an investment like a good PC.

I really don't see why you would even ask me about bragging as this is for children. This is actually a serious matter for me.



eidairaman1 said:


> How many gcs and othere peg cards you putting in?



Hi buddy,

Ill be putting my 2x 290s in there.

Cheers.



GhostRyder said:


> If you want to strictly game I would consider more the 5930k and 5820K over the 5960X because when it comes to games they all want more single threaded performance and its harder to overclock the 8 core versus the 6 core.  If money is no object I would just get the 5930K like I did and do your setup on it with some serious overclocking.
> 
> Recent finding I hear put the 5960X as being difficult to keep temp wise under control above 4.4ghz where as the 5930K will keep temps well lower at 4.6ghz and above on top of having a better chance at a higher overclocking range.



Hi mate,

Thanks for your useful reply. I was actually thinking of the 5930k as well.  

I was really only considering the 5960x if games in the future will use more and more cores.  I would say id have this computer for at least 3 years. My i7 990x has been with me for at least that amount of time and has served me well.

Thanks pal.


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## Frick (Sep 12, 2014)

I don't think that CPU is holding you back tbh.


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## Naito (Sep 12, 2014)

If primarily for gaming, perhaps an 1150 CPU like a 4790K and a Z97 WS board would be a good choice. Should support 2x 290 + soundcard without restricting/sharing any of the PCIe bus. An OC should get you a nice speed boost. I'd imagine the IPC of Devil's Canyon be much higher than that ancient Westmere. Having said that, that 990X should still probably last you at least another year or so. Perhaps invest in some liquid cooling instead of 2011-3?

IF 2011 is a must, I'd go the 5930K.


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## RCoon (Sep 12, 2014)

Frick said:


> I don't think that CPU is holding you back tbh.



This.

However if money is no issue, eat your heart out on X99


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## btarunr (Sep 12, 2014)

No, I think you're good. It's a fine 6-core chip.


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## Ferrum Master (Sep 12, 2014)

The only thing he may desire is Sata 3, otherwise... you are good.


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## btarunr (Sep 12, 2014)

You could get a Plextor M6E M.2 SSD, which comes with that PCIe 2.0 x4 adapter. Use that with an NVMe driver during Windows setup.

Plextor M6E has less than $1 per GB pricing.


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## RCoon (Sep 12, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> as this is for children



Only just read this, therefore I change my stance. X99 is a total waste for kids to play games. Unless I'm misunderstanding the "FOR THE CHILDREN!!!" part.


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## Aquinus (Sep 12, 2014)

RCoon said:


> Only just read this, therefore I change my stance. X99 is a total waste for kids to play games. Unless I'm misunderstanding the "FOR THE CHILDREN!!!" part.


Definitely missed that part. Man, I was growing up and my parents got me a skt478 Celeron (I still have it) with a Radeon 9200 and they said to me, "if you want more or something better, you have to pay for it yourself." I'm not going to judge anyone's parenting skills here because that isn't appropriate, but I will say that teaching the value of something to your kids is important and is something that is very quickly becoming a problem in the US of A (at least in my area,) which is why I bring it up. It's like always replacing your kid's cell phone with the newest, best phone every time they break it or ask for a new one. They'll learn that daddy is always willing to buy the good stuff and I would personally rather that my daughter know the value of something over giving her the best gaming computer possible. I would want my child to know that you get one and if you kill it, you need to replace it yourself otherwise you get the bottom of the bin. Computer parts are expensive so they should hold some value to the person who will be using it.

That's enough talk about parenting though, this is not that kind of forum. 

With respect to upgrading, anything you get beyond your 990X is probably going to be a tiny upgrade performance wise. I recommended 1150 and Z97 for two very good reason, it has enough power to do what you want to do with games and more cores won't get you more performance in games (usually,) where higher clocks will. I would suspect that a higher clocked i5/i7 on 1150 would probably out-perform the 990X or 5960X in a lot of games for that reason.

I personally think that for gaming, X99 is like using a Ford F-350 to bring a 42" TV home when you could have done the same thing in a station wagon, mid-size car, or a normal sized pickup assuming all were available to you for a price based on the size. It's simply overkill and it's not getting the job done any faster, consuming more gas/petrol all the while.


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## RCoon (Sep 12, 2014)

I'm reading further and further up this thread to gain some information on what this is for.
You intend to claim a $1000 chip plus MoBo and RAM through a business so that your children/you can play games? If that is correct, that is a misappropriation of funds, and therefore fraud, so this thread should probably technically be locked.

Either that or I'm grossly misunderstanding the information in this thread, and OP probably needs to explain things to me plainly!


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## Aquinus (Sep 12, 2014)

RCoon said:


> I'm reading further and further up this thread to gain some information on what this is for.
> You intend to claim a $1000 chip plus MoBo and RAM through a business so that your children/you can play games? If that is correct, that is a misappropriation of funds, and therefore fraud, so this thread should probably technically be locked.
> 
> Either that or I'm grossly misunderstanding the information in this thread, and OP probably needs to explain things to me plainly!


I guess I was running under the _assumption_ that there was a lawful intent to purchase this tower where it would be serving some purpose for a business. I know people that will do this if something is use for their business but for pleasure as well, where gaming isn't the only thing in mind, but as I said before:


Aquinus said:


> Normally I wouldn't say this, _but lack of description of what you actually want puts more emphasis on this_ (money being no object)* little tidbit and it rubs me the wrong way.
> 
> I see a goal to waste money, not a goal to build a good computer. I'm just saying.


*: Added for context clarification.

I agree that some (a whole lot) of clarification is required here.


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## vega22 (Sep 12, 2014)

Frick said:


> I don't think that CPU is holding you back tbh.



i have been telling a mate the same thing about his 980x too.

6 cores, 12 threads and upto 5.4ghz and he has got the 5820 and x99 sat on his desk waiting for ram come next payday xD

on the upside it means i might have a 980x under my phase for a few days soon. i might be busy on the bot if i do 

@op

imo your deductible is about the best reason to get the full blown  8 core (well unless you need to render shit and can not off load to gpu). otherwise i would also say get the hex as it will clock better too.

mobo wise i would hang fire, let the dust settle and see who has got it right this time. somebody always drops the ball when new tech comes around and it sucks bigtime if you backed the donkey. give it a couple of weeks, check the forums and see which users are crying about which board and avoid them like the plague. or ebola, which ever scares you most xD


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 12, 2014)

Where the hell did you guys go with "this system is for my children"?? I don't even have kids wtf?

I was referring to what Aquinus said about me opening this thread to brag. I simply stated that bragging is for children. No?

*He said*: If money isn't an object, why do you even have to ask unless your trying to brag about something?

*I said*: I really don't see why you would even ask me about bragging as this is for children. This is actually a serious matter for me.



marsey99 said:


> i have been telling a mate the same thing about his 980x too.
> 
> 6 cores, 12 threads and upto 5.4ghz and he has got the 5820 and x99 sat on his desk waiting for ram come next payday xD
> 
> ...



Yeah the deduction is pretty much the only reason I would get the 5960x. The 5930k seems to be the way to go. I agree with you too mate, ill let the dust settle on the motherboards for a while but how long would this roughly take?

Cheers.


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## RCoon (Sep 12, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> Where the hell did you guys go with "this system is for my children"?? I don't even have kids wtf?
> 
> I was referring to what Aquinus said about me opening this thread to brag. I simply stated that bragging is for children. No?
> 
> ...



Well thanks for clarifying, simply a misunderstanding of a sentence on my part  although claiming PC parts on company money for primary gaming purposes is still fraud, unless its primary purpose is for actual work related processing.

EDIT: AH! Unless your business IS gaming!


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 12, 2014)

RCoon said:


> Well thanks for clarifying, simply a misunderstanding of a sentence on my part  although claiming PC parts on company money for primary gaming purposes is still fraud, unless its primary purpose is for actual work related processing.



It will be using it for both. Gaming will be in my spare time which will (unfortunately) probably monopolize the system. I hope this is not too much of a crime.

I do work hard for my money mate and I cant see why I cant claim a new PC for myself that would be setup for both my business and gaming.


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## RCoon (Sep 12, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> It will be using it for both. Gaming will be in my spare time which will (unfortunately) probably monopolize the system. I hope this is not too much of a crime.
> 
> I do work hard for my money mate and I cant see why I cant claim a new PC for myself that would be setup for both my business and gaming.



Seems fair game to me, I probably wouldn't get away with quite such a frivolous processor in my field of claims. Although that is how corruption began to spread within communism  "Everyone is equal, but I work quite hard, so I should get just a little more than everyone else. But that's OK right?"


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 12, 2014)

So may I ask you what would you do in my position?


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## RCoon (Sep 12, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> So may I ask you what would you do in my position?



I really don't know how businesses debate on things over the pond. Do you have to file paperwork or write any kind of report on why you need it and what justifications there are? That's the kind of stuff I have to do. At the end of the day its your claim system, I don't know how it works, so you're more likely to know what is and isn't possible.

I think the choice is yours and yours alone, my opinion shouldn't affect it


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 12, 2014)

RCoon said:


> I really don't know how businesses debate on things over the pond. Do you have to file paperwork or write any kind of report on why you need it and what justifications there are? That's the kind of stuff I have to do. At the end of the day its your claim system, I don't know how it works, so you're more likely to know what is and isn't possible.
> 
> I think the choice is yours and yours alone, my opinion shouldn't affect it



Yeah ok mate cheers.

I'm in a position where I can get myself a new PC and thought id just throw the question out there over my i7 990x. I know its still a decent CPU but its quite a few generations behind now. I'm still debating on what to do.


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## RCoon (Sep 12, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> Yeah ok mate cheers.
> 
> I'm in a position where I can get myself a new PC and thought id just throw the question out there over my i7 990x. I know its still a decent CPU but its quite a few generations behind now. I'm still debating on what to do.



I'd get a new CPU and chipset, if you want SATA 6Gbps and PCI-E 3.0 and all that, that seems very reasonable to me. Even if the machines at work are running fine without a hitch, once general warranty runs out we replace them with newer machines (3-5 years). In your position, I would definitely replace hardware if there are better features that will improve workflow considerably.
The chosen hardware is entirely up to you. Whatever features you really want are the ones you should go for.


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## Aquinus (Sep 12, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> I know its still a decent CPU but its quite a few generations behind now. I'm still debating on what to do.


That's the real question that should have been asked in the first place, without the extra commentary.  I think I would wait out and see what comes out of DDR4. I tend to go by the phrase, "don't buy the first generation of a product." I think waiting to see how DDR4 pans out would be smart. It's not like your missing too much with the 990X, but if you were to upgrade Z97 and Devil Canyon is a pretty solid bet for gaming.

I use my tower for work as well, but I don't think I use it for work more than my own personal uses, so I don't tend to declare my office as a tax write off, although I could because it is a dedicated space for being an office. I could, but I don't think it quite qualifies, at least in my mind. I could be wrong though. My views tend to be rather liberal so I don't mind being more cautious when it comes to taxes.


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 12, 2014)

RCoon said:


> I'd get a new CPU and chipset, if you want SATA 6Gbps and PCI-E 3.0 and all that, that seems very reasonable to me. Even if the machines at work are running fine without a hitch, once general warranty runs out we replace them with newer machines (3-5 years). In your position, I would definitely replace hardware if there are better features that will improve workflow considerably.
> The chosen hardware is entirely up to you. Whatever features you really want are the ones you should go for.



Do I wait for the dust to settle on the x99 motherboards like Marsey99 said tho?


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## RCoon (Sep 12, 2014)

Aquinus said:


> That's the real question that should have been asked in the first place, without the extra commentary.  I think I would wait out and see what comes out of DDR4. I tend to go by the phrase, "don't buy the first generation of a product." I think waiting to see how DDR4 pans out would be smart. It's not like your missing too much with the 990X, but if you were to upgrade Z97 and Devil Canyon is a pretty solid bet for gaming.
> 
> I use my tower for work as well, but I don't think I use it for work more than my own personal uses, so I don't tend to declare my office as a tax write off, although I could because it is a dedicated space for being an office. I could, but I don't think it quite qualifies, at least in my mind. I could be wrong though. My views tend to be rather liberal so I don't mind being more cautious when it comes to taxes.



Yeah the big thing here is DDR4. For all we know it could be completely worthless and a colossal waste of money.



Outback Bronze said:


> Do I wait for the dust to settle on the x99 motherboards like Marsey99 said tho?



Hell yes, I was an early adopter of a lot of hardware a few years ago. Never again I say. Wait a month, wait for motherboards to explode, RAM prices to drop. Processors will never get cheaper though.


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 12, 2014)

Aquinus said:


> That's the real question that should have been asked in the first place, without the extra commentary.  I think I would wait out and see what comes out of DDR4. I tend to go by the phrase, "don't buy the first generation of a product." I think waiting to see how DDR4 pans out would be smart. It's not like your missing too much with the 990X, but if you were to upgrade Z97 and Devil Canyon is a pretty solid bet for gaming.
> 
> I use my tower for work as well, but I don't think I use it for work more than my own personal uses, so I don't tend to declare my office as a tax write off, although I could because it is a dedicated space for being an office. I could, but I don't think it quite qualifies, at least in my mind. I could be wrong though. My views tend to be rather liberal so I don't mind being more cautious when it comes to taxes.



Yeah fair call mate. But am I not better off investing something into my business (as well as personal use) than give my hard earned money to the tax man? Maybe im just being selfish. You have to remember I cannot do this all the time. This is a once a 3 year claim.

I'm just wondering if x99 is the time to claim.


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## Aquinus (Sep 12, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> Yeah fair call mate. But am I not better off investing something into my business (as well as personal use) than give my hard earned money to the tax man? Maybe im just being selfish. You have to remember I cannot do this all the time. This is a once a 3 year claim.
> 
> I'm just wondering if x99 is the time to claim.


I'm not sure that it's giving money to the tax man if you can just write it off the next time you file taxes, even if that's in another 3 years. I'm not sure how it works over there though so it may be consider enough to make a difference. I may look at it differently since I don't pay any form of sales or consumer tax when I buy computer hardware with where I live in the world. There are other taxes, for example property taxes is the real big one where I live. If there is an opportunity and you want to take it then I guess I would say wait as long as you can before buying in. Whether you want a 6c or 8c chip is your business (and up to your business). The 8c won't do you any good for gaming but I also don't know what you're using the tower for with respect to your business.

All in all, if you need to spend it to get a tax write-off soon, then do it at late as possible without cutting it too close. At least that way maybe enough reviews will come out to give you a good idea what is good and what isn't. It isn't what I would do, I would wait longer in your position wrt to hardware, but it's your call. I think it's too early to say what is good and what isn't.


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 12, 2014)

Aquinus said:


> I'm not sure that it's giving money to the tax man if you can just write it off the next time you file taxes, even if that's in another 3 years. I'm not sure how it works over there though so it may be consider enough to make a difference. I may look at it differently since I don't pay any form of sales or consumer tax when I buy computer hardware with where I live in the world. There are other taxes, for example property taxes is the real big one where I live. If there is an opportunity and you want to take it then I guess I would say wait as long as you can before buying in. Whether you want a 6c or 8c chip is your business (and up to your business). The 8c won't do you any good for gaming but I also don't know what you're using the tower for with respect to your business.
> 
> All in all, if you need to spend it to get a tax write-off soon, then do it at late as possible without cutting it too close. At least that way maybe enough reviews will come out to give you a good idea what is good and what isn't. It isn't what I would do, I would wait longer in your position wrt to hardware, but it's your call. I think it's too early to say what is good and what isn't.



Yeah sweet advice mate. I just wish we had of started off on the right foot. Im sorry if I have upset you in any way but really all I was after was advice on my current CPU over the new X99 one. Maybe I should have been a little more discreet but unfortunately for me I have a big mouth.


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## RCoon (Sep 12, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> Yeah fair call mate. But am I not better off investing something into my business (as well as personal use) than give my hard earned money to the tax man? Maybe im just being selfish. You have to remember I cannot do this all the time. This is a once a 3 year claim.
> 
> I'm just wondering if x99 is the time to claim.



Out of curiosity what does your business do anyway?



Outback Bronze said:


> Yeah sweet advice mate. I just wish we had of started off on the right foot. Im sorry if I have upset you in any way but really all I was after was advice on my current CPU over the new X99 one. Maybe I should have been a little more discreet but unfortunately for me I have a big mouth.



Sometimes things get a little chesty around here. Luckily it happened to the few that are pretty reasonable guys. It could have gone in a far different direction


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## Aquinus (Sep 12, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> Yeah sweet advice mate. I just wish we had of started off on the right foot. Im sorry if I have upset you in any way but really all I was after was advice on my current CPU over the new X99 one. Maybe I should have been a little more discreet but unfortunately for me I have a big mouth.


No problem. Words are clumsy at describing what you really want.



RCoon said:


> Out of curiosity what does your business do anyway?
> 
> 
> 
> Sometimes things get a little chesty around here. Luckily it happened to the few that are pretty reasonable guys. It could have gone in a far different direction


This too. What you use the tower for mostly should drive the decision. I could get more cores myself, but as developer, I'm not writing any software (at the moment) that really needs more than 8 threads. So I would let what you do for work drive the CPU/Motherboard/Memory options. I also don't game often much anymore which is why I still have 6870s. My machine reflects what I do with it.

I upgraded because I needed more memory and more I/O. Gaming was an after thought. So I would think about what you really need more of, because you're not lacking in the GPU or CPU department.

In fact I was considering side-grading to a single GPU option that would be at least as power but consumed less power while freeing up some PCI-E slots, but as I said, to each their own. Just don't feel like you need to go overboard because it's tax season.

Edit: I apologize for a million edits.


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 12, 2014)

RCoon said:


> Out of curiosity what does your business do anyway?
> 
> 
> 
> Sometimes things get a little chesty aro





RCoon said:


> Out of curiosity what does your business do anyway?
> 
> 
> 
> Sometimes things get a little chesty around here. Luckily it happened to the few that are pretty reasonable guys. It could have gone in a far different direction



Id really like to tell you what my business does mate but im not sure now is the right time or place. I'm very sorry.

Anyway guys thanks for all your help. It seems ill have to wait a bit before x99 starts to shine. Although im very tempted to buy one soon damn it.

Cheers.


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## RCoon (Sep 12, 2014)

He's a pimp. I called it first.


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 12, 2014)

RCoon said:


> He's a pimp. I called it first.



I'm the* Pimp.*

Your the *Daddy.*


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## Frick (Sep 12, 2014)

Calling a mod to put quotation marks around "business".


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## GhostRyder (Sep 12, 2014)

Heres my advice, unless you want to run a 3+ GPU setup and you want to still stick with SKT 2011v3, then grab the 5820K.  The only problem with that CPU I have seen is that their binning process is not very strong in that people achieve 4.7ghz on them and then nothing above 4.4ghz for others (But I guess any cpu can be like that, just something I have noticed on a few forums).  The 5930K is great for having the best of it for gaming, multimedia, price, and overclocking while the 5960X is more for the people needing the extra cores for power in multimedia tasks. 

I would say the 5820K is the best option if you want to not spend to much because you get the 6 cores, decent overclocking, and enough PCIE's for up to a 3 way setup.  However if you want to go big the 5930K will be a bit more consistent and have the extra PCIE lanes for up to 4 cards.


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 12, 2014)

GhostRyder said:


> Heres my advice, unless you want to run a 3+ GPU setup and you want to still stick with SKT 2011v3, then grab the 5820K.  The only problem with that CPU I have seen is that their binning process from what I have seen is not very strong in that I have seen people achieve 4.7ghz on them and then nothing above 4.4ghz (But I guess any cpu can be like that, just something I have noticed on a few forums).  The 5930K is great for having the best of it for gaming, multimedia, price, and overclocking while the 5960X is more for the people needing the extra cores for power in multimedia tasks.
> 
> I would say the 5820K is the best option if you want to not spend to much because you get the 6 cores, decent overclocking, and enough PCIE's for up to a 3 way setup.  However if you want to go big the 5930K will be a bit more consistent and have the extra PCIE lanes for up to 4 cards.



So how are you finding your system mate? Any problems?

Ive been told to wait for the dust to settle on x99 or do you find this a non issue?

Cheers.


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## GhostRyder (Sep 12, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> So how are you finding your system mate? Any problems?
> 
> Ive been told to wait for the dust to settle on x99 or do you find this a non issue?
> 
> Cheers.


DDR4 is the only reason to wait because of its prices and high CL.  Personally as far as the 5930K goes its been great and a fun overclocker and performed great in games & Adobe.

I would say your chip is just fine still for games, so you might wanna just wait a bit and see what comes if your not eager to jump the gun.  It really just comes down to your needs now and if you really want to go ahead and upgrade or wait because waiting does normally result in better components and better prices after launch.  I was anxious and had been waiting for the platform for months hence why I went ahead and jumped ship.

I do not regret my purchase, I am very happy with my system (Though I wish I had gotten Gskill memory for the price but it was sold out everywhere when I bought).


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 12, 2014)

GhostRyder said:


> DDR4 is the only reason to wait because of its prices and high CL.  Personally as far as the 5930K goes its been great and a fun overclocker and performed great in games.
> 
> I would say your chip is just fine still for games, so you might wanna just wait a bit and see what comes if your not eager to jump the gun.  It really just comes down to your needs now and if you really want to go ahead and upgrade or wait because waiting does normally result in better components and better prices after launch.  I was anxious and had been waiting for the platform for months hence why I went ahead and jumped ship.
> 
> I do not regret my purchase, I am very happy with my system (Though I wish I had gotten Gskill memory for the price but it was sold out everywhere when I bought).



Thanks mate you've been really helpful. It looks like ill have to wait a little while, but id love to jump on board the 5930k like you did very soon!


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## RealNeil (Sep 12, 2014)

I like the sound of two R9-290s, but would get them with really good (high air flow) cooling on them. 

Also, spend the money to get a case with high air flow too. 

X99 is still pretty new, but I'm seeing some good numbers with those systems in reviews. Go for a quality ASUS, ASRock, or Gigabyte motherboard and get one of the higher priced boards. (as it will have better power handling properties included)

You speak of longevity, so I imagine that you don't OC your gear all that much. That's no problem if you buy at least a six core CPU or better. (eight would probably be best considering that we don't know what demands future games may place on our systems) Any "Extreme" rated Intel CPUs will provide the awesome performance you seem to want but they're pricey too.

You're willing to spend to get very good equipment, so don't scrimp on the PSU that you get. This is the basis for a stable running system and is probably going to be the most important part of your new PC. I personally like SeaSonic Branded PSUs the best. Get something that is more than the actual power output that you need, so it can operate below it's 100% capacity. (improving its efficiency)

I assume that you'll be using SSDs for booting the system. Two SSDs in RAID can make a huge difference in performance as a boot drive. It's worth it to do. Without an SSD in your system you don't even have a performance PC. Two in RAID make it a lot better.

Good luck with your build, it's gonna be a wild PC.


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## THE_EGG (Sep 12, 2014)

Tbh I would have though that the 990X would still be a more than capable chip. But the smell of new hardware in the morning is pretty deliciously tempting.

As far as a deduction goes seeing as you are using it for both gaming and work, you could claim it at like 50% or something. I do that for items I buy that I use for work and personal use (e.g. my laptop (the taichi one) I use for work and personal use/study).

I'd say if money is no object then a 5960x without a doubt. But if you are into heavy OCing and programs that are unlikely to use the extra 2 cores or 4 threads than the 5930k would be better I think. From what I've seen at least, the 5930k seems to OC to a higher level than the 5960X which I guess makes sense because of having fewer cores to look after.


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 13, 2014)

THE_EGG said:


> Tbh I would have though that the 990X would still be a more than capable chip. But the smell of new hardware in the morning is pretty deliciously tempting.
> 
> As far as a deduction goes seeing as you are using it for both gaming and work, you could claim it at like 50% or something. I do that for items I buy that I use for work and personal use (e.g. my laptop (the taichi one) I use for work and personal use/study).
> 
> I'd say if money is no object then a 5960x without a doubt. But if you are into heavy OCing and programs that are unlikely to use the extra 2 cores or 4 threads than the 5930k would be better I think. From what I've seen at least, the 5930k seems to OC to a higher level than the 5960X which I guess makes sense because of having fewer cores to look after.



Yeah I suppose when it comes to it, I can claim at least 50% of it.

I'm getting itchy trigger fingers this morning mate and I want to go out and get this x99 system but I have been told to hold off.

Its just that this month I know ill be giving the tax man a decent amount of GST and I can reduce that by claiming a new PC for myself.

You think the 5960x would be the way to go? When looking at overclocking results the difference would only be a 2-300mhz between 5960x and 5930k no?


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## ExtremeGamer (Sep 14, 2014)

The way I understand all this is that you have the tax man on one hand & the desire to build a fine computer on the other hand. If you didn't care at all about the tax guy go build the best rig based on the suggestions in this thread & that includes waiting a little longer. BUT if you are a business man & concerned about the tax aspect do this: Buy the best components you want & go ahead & build your computer before your tax due date this month. You may be able to upgrade some stuff later. So it boils down to this: Do I want to save some tax money & build a rig NOW or do I really want to take a little more time to think about it & maybe have a better computer a little later. Tax man or computer?  If I was a business man & I loved computers I'd wait for a while & totally concentrate on the computer & forget taxes. The Tax man will still come out ahead anyway. They always do.


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## THE_EGG (Sep 14, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> Yeah I suppose when it comes to it, I can claim at least 50% of it.
> 
> I'm getting itchy trigger fingers this morning mate and I want to go out and get this x99 system but I have been told to hold off.
> 
> ...


Yeh that's right from what I've seen at least. But it is a silicon lottery after all. It might be that a really good 5960x could clock at the same level as an average or poor 5930k. So based on this, if I were you I'd go for the 5960X. I'm thinking it will have a long life too like your 990X (or 980X).

Just an fyi, I'd expect some bios bugs if you do go and get X99 right now. I've had a few bugs with this motherboard (X99-Gaming 5). My itchy upgrade fingers are very satisfied with X99 paired with some basic ram and a 5930k, a big difference in many programs for me compared to my 'old' 4770.


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 14, 2014)

Just go for the best you can get. Go nuts


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## BarbaricSoul (Sep 14, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> Its just that this month I know ill be giving the tax man a decent amount of GST and I can reduce that by claiming a new PC for myself.



You didn't mention that before. With that in mind, go ahead, spend the money, get the best set-up you can (take @cadaveca advice on what board to get, l did in getting my R4BE) and get your tax write off.


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## Aquinus (Sep 14, 2014)

I don't think any recommendation we can give will be truly a good one because the OP can't tell us what business he is into so it's not like we can make a well informed decision on what would be optimal for his business, just for gaming. Consider if you all were in a similar position. Would you want to just spend as much as you could, which would work and be costly, or possibly have a machine cost half as much but does just as well for what you need it to do. I personally think that the amount saved would vastly outweigh the tax benefits. X99 is not a cheap platform much like X79 was and I think we all need to remember that.

With that said, I think I've done all I can. This is a "buy what you want" thread since there is really no way to determine what would be ideal because for gaming alone, X99 is a bad idea IMHO and without more knowledge about what the tower will be used for business-wise, I can't recommend skt2011-3 even though everyone here seems to have a hard-on for it.

I guess a question that could be posed without knowing what you do for your business is, what does your current rig do now that isn't good enough to warrant an upgrade? Tax season alone isn't a reason to upgrade imho.


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## BarbaricSoul (Sep 14, 2014)

Aquinus said:


> Tax season alone isn't a reason to upgrade imho.



I disagree. I know personally, if I was about to have to pay say $5000 in taxes, but could take the money and buy a new extreme high-end computer with it, and still be credited with my taxes being paid, I'd do it in a heart beat. And if money was an issue, I'd go and sell the computer two weeks later and get something more appropriate for my uses.


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## Naito (Sep 14, 2014)

Tax helps the government provide public services and infrastructure.... and line union pockets...


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## Norton (Sep 14, 2014)

If you need to do any work with your PC that needs 12 or more threads and you can take advantage of a tax situation then go for it! Early reports from owners of the X99 platform on this forum seem to be positive (see posts on the "Your PC ATM" thread for example) 

  A 990X chip is no dog even today, far from it in fact, it's still a great chip! The issue is with the availability of X58 motherboards. If your board fails you may have a hard time replacing it and if you manage to find a good one, the prices are often higher than that of the latest platforms.

  My $0.02 FWIW

*On a side note- a 990X setup overclocked and running Linux would make an excellent cruncher! [/end sales pitch]


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## ExtremeGamer (Sep 14, 2014)

Good Luck on whatever decision you make!


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 20, 2014)

Ok guys,

I went silly and went to town on a 5960x, Gigabyte X99 Gaming G1 Wi Fi, M.2 480GB Crucial SSD and 16GB of Corsair DDRR4 2800.

System runs great atm. Idling at avg. 27 degrees. Its quite warm here today as well.

Just running @ stock atm until I read more into overclocking this thing. Sooo many voltage options n shit in the bios for overclocking. Its crazy.

Thanks for all your input guys!

Got some stock benchmarks here for anybody interested.


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## Jstn7477 (Sep 20, 2014)

Congrats on the upgrade, I should have a 5820K, Gigabyte X99-UD5 WiFi and G.Skill 4x4GB DDR3-2800 in my hands on Tuesday (my dad needs to replace one of his PCs so I am giving him my 4770K/Z87 board/16GB DDR3 for the board/CPU and I bought the RAM). This will be my first Intel hexacore CPU, and I'm rather jealous of that 5960X.


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 20, 2014)

There ya go bro. You should have atleast 2-4 cpu gens to put in there and plenty of room for ram and gpu upgrades. I honestly dont think youll need to oc it.


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 20, 2014)

eidairaman1 said:


> There ya go bro. You should have atleast 2-4 cpu gens to put in there and plenty of room for ram and gpu upgrades. I honestly dont think youll need to oc it.



Yeah mate things are going pretty good so far. It seems to be a very good platform.

Nah I don't need to overclock it at all. Id say ill just stretch its legs one day when I get bored.

Thanks pal.


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 20, 2014)

Yeah look at my specs. Its not complete but when im done ill be happy with it myself. I told frag maniac to jump to 2011-3. give him your testimony aswell.


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## GhostRyder (Sep 20, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> Ok guys,
> 
> I went silly and went to town on a 5960x, Gigabyte X99 Gaming G1 Wi Fi, M.2 480GB Crucial SSD and 16GB of Corsair DDRR4 2800.
> 
> ...


Very nice, hope you enjoy it!  I know I love my new 5930K and it is staying for a minimum 3+ years.  I actually depending on where things go might even keep it up to 5 and just swap GPU's every other year.


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## Aquinus (Sep 20, 2014)

I'm more interested in how your benchmark scores changed going from the 990X to the 5960X. I want to see how much you actually gained by doing this upgrade because as many mentioned earlier, the 990X is no slouch.


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## Ferrum Master (Sep 20, 2014)

Aquinus said:


> I'm more interested in how your benchmark scores changed going from the 990X to the 5960X. I want to see how much you actually gained by doing this upgrade because as many mentioned earlier, the 990X is no slouch.



Same here.


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 20, 2014)

Aquinus said:


> I'm more interested in how your benchmark scores changed going from the 990X to the 5960X. I want to see how much you actually gained by doing this upgrade because as many mentioned earlier, the 990X is no slouch.



Sure.


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## Aquinus (Sep 20, 2014)

I was thinking more of the same 3DMark version used for comparison. Such as Firestrike from both or 3DMark 11 for both, but not one from each. You're comparing apples and oranges and doesn't really help us at all as the two are scored differently based on different scenes. It's not a good gauge, or really a gauge at all really.

Edit: I see. Nevermind. There were images earlier that are what I want.


Outback Bronze said:


>





Outback Bronze said:


>



I think it's worth noting that none of your frame rates for the graphics portion of the benchmark are different. All of your score increases comes from the Physics and combined physics and graphics frame rates.


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 20, 2014)

Aquinus said:


> I was thinking more of the same 3DMark version used for comparison. Such as Firestrike from both or 3DMark 11 for both, but not one from each. You're comparing apples and oranges and doesn't really help us at all as the two are scored differently based on different scenes. It's not a good gauge, or really a gauge at all really.
> 
> Edit: I see. Nevermind. There were images earlier that are what I want.
> 
> ...



Yeah that's true mate but im completely happy with the system. Graphics scores or not.


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## GhostRyder (Sep 20, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> Yeah that's true mate but im completely happy with the system. Graphics scores or not.


Might I ask how far you have/are planning to overclock?  I would like to see some more people's overclocks with the 5960X since its been one heck of an interesting chip.


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## Aquinus (Sep 20, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> Yeah that's true mate but im completely happy with the system. Graphics scores or not.


The real question is if games perform better. Benchmarks are great if you like staring at numbers. In reality most games aren't strictly graphics but on the other hand most games couldn't utilize a full 12 or 16 threads.


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 20, 2014)

GhostRyder said:


> Might I ask how far you have/are planning to overclock?  I would like to see some more people's overclocks with the 5960X since its been one heck of an interesting chip.



Mate im not sure, ive more been trying to fiddle with the memory speeds. Its being a bit tricky atm.

When I set xmp to 2800 it overclocks the bus automatically to 105 and it cant handle it and crashes.

When I manually set the host clock to 100 while xmp is set to 2800 it will take the memory down to 2666.

Im able to get 2750 with host clock of 125 but not 2800 or 3000mhz on the memory at this point.

Like I said its been a bit tricky. Maybe its the board. Not sure. Still gota play with it a little while just to get used to it and see how it likes to operate.


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## GhostRyder (Sep 20, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> Mate im not sure, ive more been trying to fiddle with the memory speeds. Its being a bit tricky atm.
> 
> When I set xmp to 2800 it overclocks the bus automatically to 105 and it cant handle it and crashes.
> 
> ...


Might wanna also make sure latest bios on that area because I had heard issues on the gigabyte boards with higher memory speeds.  For me I am runing 2666 and it set with no sweat or problems using manual or the XMP profile.


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## Outback Bronze (Sep 20, 2014)

GhostRyder said:


> Might wanna also make sure latest bios on that area because I had heard issues on the gigabyte boards with higher memory speeds.  For me I am run 2666 and it set with no sweat or problems using manual or the XMP profile.



Yeah mate updating the bios was one of the first things I did.


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## GhostRyder (Sep 20, 2014)

Outback Bronze said:


> Yeah mate updating the bios was one of the first things I did.


Did you try force setting all areas including voltage manually?


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## Oxijex (Mar 11, 2016)

Hey old post i know... but i was reading through and still find it amusing that people were recommending the budget i7 system even though it only has 20 pcie lanes so with 2 cards they will only run at 8x which when running 2 cards will generally result in frame skipping etc as the cards are throttled from bottle necks. I am looking at upgrading now as my 990x has hissy fits when i try to crossfire 2x 390x's as its allready running them as 8x pcie 2...

Anyhoo im contemplating going to a 2011 and a 5930K so that i can run my two 390x's .

 I believe that the 290x uses crossfire bridges where as the 390x does not which is why it is best to have them on full x16 lanes.... with 2 of these cards running it still leaves me 8 lanes..


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## R-T-B (Mar 11, 2016)

Slightly offtopic:  A little bit ago, the 990x's were selling for absurd amounts on ebay...  (like $600 as early as last year).  Might be worth looking to see if that's still true, could help give you some money in addition to your business claim. 

EDIT:  Oh wow, this THREAD is from EARLIER than last year!



Oxijex said:


> Hey old post i know... but i was reading through and still find it amusing that people were recommending the budget i7 system even though it only has 20 pcie lanes so with 2 cards they will only run at 8x which when running 2 cards will generally result in frame skipping etc as the cards are throttled from bottle necks. I am looking at upgrading now as my 990x has hissy fits when i try to crossfire 2x 390x's as its allready running them as 8x pcie 2...
> 
> Anyhoo im contemplating going to a 2011 and a 5930K so that i can run my two 390x's .
> 
> I believe that the 290x uses crossfire bridges where as the 390x does not which is why it is best to have them on full x16 lanes.... with 2 of these cards running it still leaves me 8 lanes..



Wow, where to start.

First off, PCIe 3 x8 has no bottleneck.  Like none.  Look at @W1zzard's performance review.  Second, X58 (which you aparently have) should be running at equivalent PCIe 2.0 x16/x16 which is equal to PCIe 3 x8/x8 and ALSO should have no performance penalty.  I am also pretty sure 390X also uses crossfire bridges.  I don't know where this is coming from but it's completely off.

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GTX_980_PCI-Express_Scaling/

EDIT:  Ok, it appears the 390X does not need a bridge.  Still, this is very unlikely to be the cause for any performance issues.


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## GreiverBlade (Mar 11, 2016)

Oxijex said:


> I believe that the 290x uses crossfire bridges where as the 390x does not which is why it is best to have them on full x16 lanes.... with 2 of these cards running it still leaves me 8 lanes..


wrong and wrong ... since hawaii 1st iteration (290/290X) AMD got rid of the CFX bridge and X8/X8 3.0 would not even be a bottleneck for them as of today, where did you read that
"which is why it is best to have them on full x16 lanes" because no reference about it can be found anywhere (and i searched thoroughly )

it's even the opposite from what you say : no bridge = less ... ah whatever, just look at the description of the "DMA Link" from the 290X slide presentation





even my 6600K setup would be fine with a 390X cfx
unless you go trifire then ... 

altho ... nice necro, nonetheless

oh i've found that ... 

"Especially with standards like PCI-E Gen 3.0 there's plenty of bandwidth there, but even at Gen 2.0, it really is not an issue. For the R290 cards setup in Crossfire, PCIE Gen 3.0 is recommended. What if you do not have PCIE 3.0 compatibility ? Well, the bus will revert to Gen 2.0 which will probably not make more then a marginal difference as it is really hard to flood even 
two x8 Gen 2.0 ports."

ok it was true in 2013 but it's also true transposed to today and x8/x8 3.0


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## Oxijex (Mar 11, 2016)

I have no evidence of what pcie3 x8 would be like as it would probably be fine as it is equivilent to pcie 2.0 x16... but on my currentx58  motherboard pcie 2.0 limits pcie 3.0 cards to 8x. Put it this way... I get better fps with 2x6970s in crossfire in battlefield than i do with 2x390xs bottle necked to 8x pcie 2.0 but then with one card that is still bottle necked to 8x because it isnt trying to sync with the other card using those lanes im still bottle necked but not as much.

When they are discussing no losses with the bridge gone keep in mind that they are assuming you would have pcie 3 not pcie 2...

I have run my cards in a mates x99 setup and the cards run perfectly.

Ive got
Gigabyte X58 oc
990x@4.58ghz
12 gig ram
Corsair 1200hx i power sup

And i would keep running it and not upgrade if i could get a new mobo with pcie 3...


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## GreiverBlade (Mar 11, 2016)

Oxijex said:


> I have no evidence of what pcie3 x8 would be like as it would probably be fine as it is equivilent to pcie 2.0 x16... but on my currentx58  motherboard pcie 2.0 limits pcie 3.0 cards to 8x. Put it this way... I get better fps with 2x6970s in crossfire in battlefield than i do with 2x390xs bottle necked to 8x pcie 2.0 but then with one card that is still bottle necked to 8x because it isnt trying to sync with the other card using those lanes im still bottle necked but not as much.
> 
> When they are discussing no losses with the bridge gone keep in mind that they are assuming you would have pcie 3 not pcie 2...
> 
> ...


well i was assuming you would/could go with a Z97/Z107 motherboard who support PCIeX 3.0, as R-T-B wrote you can also expect to get a good amount of money out of it if you sell it right ... people still go insane for 990X and X58 setup, i saw a 990X at 650chfs where i live ... and i talk about the CPU only xD and for that price you could get a good Z107 mobo and a  i7-6700K, and just have to add ~ 150$ for a set of 16gb DDR4 (i.e.: 2800 C14 like mine are 128$ for me ) and recycle the PSU/HDD/case if needed


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## Oxijex (Mar 11, 2016)

My m


GreiverBlade said:


> well i was assuming you would/could go with a Z97/Z107 motherboard who support PCIeX 3.0, as R-T-B wrote you can also expect to get a good amount of money out of it if you sell it right ... people still go insane for 990X and X58 setup, i saw a 990X at 650chfs where i live ... and i talk about the CPU only xD and for that price you could get a good Z107 mobo and a  i7-6700K, and just have to add ~ 150$ for a set of 16gb DDR4 (i.e.: 2800 C14 like mine are 128$ for me ) and recycle the PSU/HDD/case if needed



Thee only thing that is making me hesitate with a z107 is the maximum of 20 pcie lanes... i do believe in a year or two we will be requiring the full bandwidth of pcie 3.0 16x... so then the 20 lanes won't cut it for a 2 card setup. Ive had my 990x for a long time now and its a bit dissapointing that the new cpu isnt going to offer much performance boost. As im not going to get the hex core... it is also the other reason i wouldnt get a z107 as im not going from a six core to a four core... definately get an x99 and probably wait for the broadwell E to come out. Thanks for suggesting selling the 990x... i might keep it for a number cruncher


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## Bo$$ (Mar 12, 2016)

Oxijex said:


> I get better fps with 2x6970s in crossfire in battlefield than i do with 2x390xs bottle necked to 8x pcie 2.0



thats even by definition NOT a bottleneck, you have a driver issue


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## R-T-B (Mar 12, 2016)

Oxijex said:


> i might keep it for a number cruncher



It would be good for that actually.  Nehalem/Westmere is still mean as heck in raw compute, even by modern standards.

And sorry if I came across as rude.  It was late.


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