Intel Skylake

[Howie]

Well, Skylake is here and the benchmarks are yet again underwhelming. Looks like I'll be sticking with Sandy Bridge for a while longer!

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/201...ylake-review/7

[Howie]

Prices for the i7 6700k are insane at the moment. You can buy the full, 6 core hyperthreaded 5820k for less money. Intel have bumped up their 'mainstream' cpu prices to the point that they're no longer competitive with their enthusiast level offerings.

Looks like extreme is the way to go from now on.

[Eddie]

I've never got the appeal of the low end CPU/socket setups to be honest. The difference in price between a socket 1150 rig and a socket 2011 rig isn't big enough to make up for the performance gap. At least not in my mind anyway.

I've been hovering over the buy button on a new X99/5930K setup for the past two months, but as yet I haven't been able to convince myself to part with the cash (even with a 12 month 0% finance option).

I think I'll likely still wait until EDGE/Nevada are out to see how the current system deals with it all. But a new monitor (34" ultrawide 3440x1440) and a 980Ti are on the cards at the very least I think.

[PFunk]

I've never got the appeal of the low end CPU/socket setups to be honest

Its called being broke.

[Eddie]

But they're not significantly cheaper, not these days. There's less than a 25% price difference, especially if you're sensible you can get a "high end" CPU/Chipset rig for much less than it first seems. This really becomes beneficial if you already have a system that you can use some components of (case/PSU/sound card/etc).

For me to get the CPU, Motherboard, RAM, and cooler for a X99 rig is less than £1000. That less than the graphics card and monitor will cost. All the big money is in the high end GPUs these days.

It's only just over £100 cheaper for a "Skylake" Z170 setup, which wouldn't perform near as well. It's worth saving for another month or two, or living on baked beans and water for while to get the X99 setup I think.

[Eddie]

Damn you Howie!!!!!! You've done it again!

[Stuka]

Box inbound ?

[Eddie]

I may have ordered a 34" Ultra Wide monitor and a 980Ti.

Resisted the CPU etc until I see how this handles EDGE. I haven't seen a CPU/RAM issue in any other usage yet, so no real rush to upgrade.

[Stuka]

You might still get a good price on the 780ti when you sell it. That card is also still damn good.

[Eddie]

YAAAAAAY!