H2O, Upgrade, or wait.

[MRCL]

Hey y'all yaay MRCL's back yaay who the hell is that guy

I've recently developed an interest in the hardware scene again, hence me hanging around here more frequently. I also took up overclocking again. To some degree anyways. That i7 860 is running stable at almost 3.6GHz now with temps in the mid 60s. I don't see much gain tough with my current cooling situation.

Now, I could watercool again. I have experience in that. I'm just not sure if its worth it with this hardware. My setup is from 2010, with only the GPU updated around 2011 or 2012 and some more RAM thrown in recently.

I hear Haswell is all the rage now, and it seems to oc pretty good. So I have my doubts about going liquid with my current setup. I still have some parts lying around, mainly fittings and rads wich saves me a couple hundreds but still I'm not sure if its worth it.

Other possibility is to update to Haswell standards, but that requires new CPU, new mobo... and potentially a new GPU since that thing is pretty much outdated by now. Didn't see any 5x series carried by the etailers here anymore.
So upgrading also costs much, and I'd be restricted to aircooling (for a while). Would that make more sense? Would I be able to squeeze a significant performance gain out of Haswell?

Or should I just shut my first world problem mouth, be happy with my current stuff and await the next generation chips?

Water setup would set me back at least 400 bucks if I do CPU and GPU (and a new case).
New shiny stuff 600 at least, 900 with a new GPU (say, a 770).

For now my current setup holds up but I begin to notice weaknesses in demanding games. So yeah...

Option A: Watercool my current setup, overclock and survive for a bit -> cheaper
Option B: Upgrade CPU, mobo and possibly GPU, long term investment -> more expensive
Option C: Do nothing, overclock as well as possible and wait for the new hardware iterations.

Opinions? I'm kinda torn but drawn to option C due to lack of any input besides my own research, so I'd like to hear your side. I'm open for an option D if somebody comes up with one. As for budget, well I don't like four figure numbers, but I've recently been relieved of a significant financial burden (girlfriend) so there's that.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Well I have a 860 system myself, and comparing it to my 2600k system, it's not as fast and it is noticeable. Also, the 860 has no where near the OC potential as the past 3 generations (sandy bridge, ivy bridge, and haswell). Out of those generations, sandy bridge was the best OC'er, which is why a SB system is still just as capable as IB or haswell. IMHO, anyone with a SB system or newer need not upgrade to haswell, especially if you OC. Now with the 860, you would definitely see a performance increase by upgrading to any of the three generations I mentioned, mostly because any of those generations K series CPUs are easily capable of OC'ing to 4.2ghz or more. You would need your 860 around the 5ghz mark to match that performance. So with that said, I suggest go ahead and doing option B. While the 860 is still considered adequate, going WC will not allow you to even come close to matching the computing power of any of the last 3 i7 generations and seeing your crunching tag, I assume that matter to you. Personally, I would not invest any more money in the 860 system.

 

[MRCL]

Well I have a 860 system myself, and comparing it to my 2600k system, it's not as fast and it is noticeable. Also, the 860 has no where near the OC potential as the past 3 generations (sandy bridge, ivy bridge, and haswell). Out of those generations, sandy bridge was the best OC'er, which is why a SB system is still just as capable as IB or haswell. IMHO, anyone with a SB system or newer need not upgrade to haswell, especially if you OC. Now with the 860, you would definitely see a performance increase by upgrading to any of the three generations I mentioned, mostly because any of those generations K series CPUs are easily capable of OC'ing to 4.2ghz or more. You would need your 860 around the 5ghz mark to match that performance. So with that said, I suggest go ahead and doing option B. While the 860 is still considered adequate, going WC will not allow you to even come close to matching the computing power of any of the last 3 i7 generations and seeing your crunching tag, I assume that matter to you. Personally, I would not invest any more money in the 860 system.

I see, thanks. The 2600K you speak of is Ivy Bridge, did I get that right? Sandybridge is a little hard to track down interestingly enough, Ivy Bridge seems like a good option, too. Is it also overclock-friendly? I assume so, seeing your 4.5GHz clocks on air.
That 2600K chip and a decent motherboard would set me back in the region of 500 bucks minimum. Which is okay, I can live with that.

Now, about the GPU. Will the 580 be a significant bottleneck? In other words, would it be a wise choice to upgrade to, say, a 770? Looking through the TPU GPU performance charts, a 770 would be a decent upgrade alright, but is it necessary.
Because that would bump up the price to a smooth 900 bucks, taken the cheapest 770. Which is less okay than 500, obviously.

But thanks for your insight, water is definitely off the table, then.

 

[rougal]

i7 2600k is sandy bridge... I don't think it's on sale anymore, I could be wrong. If I were u.. I would just wait until GPU prices go down a little before making any purchases, if u can bear it.. besides the 580 is still good if u play at 1680x1080.

My 2 cents

 

[MRCL]

i7 2600k is sandy bridge... I don't think it's on sale anymore, I could be wrong. If I were u.. I would just wait until GPU prices go down a little before making any purchases, if u can bear it.. besides the 580 is still good if u play at 1680x1080.

My 2 cents

Bah, confusing, this. So, 2600K is 2nd gen i7 and, for example, the 3770K is 3rd gen and still 1155. Right? Right? Interestingly enough, the 3770K is cheaper than the 2600K, whyever that is.
I play at 1900x1200, preferrably with all shinyness-bars to the far right. Well I can still upgrade the GPU at a later point if need be.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Yeah, the 2600k and 2500k, are Sandy Bridge and socket 1155. The 3770k and 3570k is Ivy Bridge and socket 1155, and the 4670k and 4770k are Haswell and uses socket 1150. IB is about 10% faster than SB and Haswell is about 20% faster than SB. But SB generally runs at lower temps, allowing for higher OC's to make up the 20% performance difference between Haswell and SB. The 2500k and 2600k are no longer produced, and have been out of production for some time now, that is why it's more expensive. If you want to go with SB, your probably going to have to buy a used CPU.

 

[MRCL]

Yeah, the 2600k and 2500k, are Sandy Bridge and socket 1155. The 3770k and 3570k is Ivy Bridge and socket 1155, and the 4670k and 4770k are Haswell and uses socket 1150. IB is about 10% faster than SB and Haswell is about 20% faster than SB. But SB generally runs at lower temps, allowing for higher OC's to make up the 20% performance difference between Haswell and SB. The 2500k and 2600k are no longer produced, and have been out of production for some time now, that is why it's more expensive. If you want to go with SB, your probably going to have to buy a used CPU.

Used is not gonna happen. Firstly because I don't like that in my CPUs, and secondly none available lol.

Sounds to me that Ivy is the way to go, then.