Guild Wars 2

Behellagh.1468:

He just implied he’s looking for something in the $30-40 range for a video card.

Very well R7 250 (HD7770) – $60

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00H5DJDL2/ref=sr_1_5_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1440623463&sr=8-5&keywords=AMD+R7+250&condition=used

As for the GTX750 being too much…. Buy the GPU 2nd hand and plan on spending about 90` bucks for a used R9 270. Thats really the best you can do IMHO.

If you’re going to swap your motherboard for a 775, just jump to a socket 1150 and get a G3258 or an i5-4440 and be done with it.

that will yeild higher return on performance then ANYTHING you can throw at 771/775. And it will end up costing near the same.

no, i would not even buy that pile of crap.

Buy something like a used M4600 or M6600, and look for one that has a AMD GPU in it.

that will be the best you can do for under 300~

GW2 is bulk, meaning it has no QoS flags associated with it. You can setup QoS for it in your network, but once the packet leaves your firewall QoS Flags are ignored/striped on the internet.

so really QoS does you no good across the internet.

kration.9843:

I’ve been playing GW2 on an Eyefinity 3 monitor setup for a while with no problems. The UI and log-in screen were centred on the middle monitor of the three.

I’ve got an R9 290 which handles the 3 monitor graphic excellently.

However the central log-in and UI now seems to have disappeared. The UI is stretched over the three monitors. The character select screen only shows the characters midrif. I recall having a similar problem ages ago but can’t remember how I solved it.

How do I get the central screen focus again?

In the new drivers for Eyefinity you have to set the ‘default’ monitor for the UI to scale to now. Its in the CCC Eyefinity settings AFTER you build the display group.

Behellagh.1468:

No it’s not.

Intel says it’s Okay to use 1.5 volt memory on the 5775c.

http://ark.intel.com/products/88040/Intel-Core-i7-5775C-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_70-GHz

http://ark.intel.com/products/88195/Intel-Core-i7-6700K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4_20-GHz

Look believe what you want. Point is, it has ALREADY been proven that the 6700K and 6600K both work with 1.5v DIMMs. Also, the @1.5v was JUST added to ark, up till about a week ago it was just listed at DDR3L.

Behellagh.1468:

Asus makes a motherboard that can provide the voltage for standard DDR3 however Intel says the Skylake CPUs can’t take that voltage.

http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/datasheets/desktop-6th-gen-core-family-datasheet-vol-1.pdf

So who do you trust?

I trust the fact that I have a 5775c that runs on Standard DDR3 though its speced to use DDR3L and its the same portion of the DDR3L controller found in skylake.

Volmarg.4310:

Ok. I’m tired… Not having fun with this game at all since I’ve bought this pc. Finally I’m thinking about geting intel.

So please… Tell me which intels and motherboards are worth buying and what are Your performances in :
-La
-MaW
-Tequatl

What were Your performance in start zone in beta.
What are You’r settings.
The price of i5 4690k is not do bad. Got to check performance diference with other games.

I’ve read on my own that oced fx6300 cant reach 50% of i5.

You’ll want a 6 or 8 phased power Z97 or Z87 motherboard with a 4690K. Such as a MSI Z97-G45 or MSI Z87-G45, both of those boards are examples of 8+1 Phased Power to the CPU.

I suggest looking at frys.com if you have a frys electronics near by, or keep an eye on newegg and tigerdirect for combo sales.

For the price point, its going to be hard to beat.

Alternatively you can go with a 6600K and a Z170 motherboard, but then you are looking at DDR4 RAM (some boards come with both DDR3 and DDR4, but 2 slots of each and rather limiting for max ram IMHO).

you get tomes for just logging in every day (up to 16 a month) on top of any tomes you can get from the daily WvW and on top of Tomes you get from PVP tracks.

Getting 80 tomes is too easy IMHO.

Fermi.2409:

Even in multithreaded stuff? Interesting, I didn’t notice that when I checked it out.

Yea, if you look at the benches for a 980BE(3.7ghz) vs a FX6300 that gives you an idea of what a highly binned 965BE does against a FX6300. Considering they are about 4 years part…

I wish I had benchmarks for a 4.2Ghz 965BE, it just smokes a stock FX6300.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/362?vs=699

Totally a step back going to the module design.

Fermi.2409:

An FX-6300 is a step back from a Phenom II X6 1075/1090/1100T (maybe some of the others, I forget where the cutoff is). It’s honestly sort of sad.

Its a step back from a highly binned 965BE. Even that x4 beats a FX6300.

MrFayth.3546:

Took these this morning, for a different thread.

40-60fps in LA with those settings on an i5 4690k @ 4.2ghz with an r7 260x 2gb @ 1180/1680.

Not sure what to expect with a 6300 OCed but my hopes aren’t high.

FX6300 is 50-65% slower then a 4690K at stock settings. Even with the FX6300 being overclocked it cannot catch up to the Intel i5’s. That’s how bad those FX chips really are.

this really says it all – http://techreport.com/review/26735/overclocking-intel-pentium-g3258-anniversary-edition-processor/3

Volmarg.4310:

sirsquishy.8531:

Its time to retire your FX6300. That’s the sad truth.

Not thinking so.

Just happened that I’ve reinstalled system on my laptop and downloaded gw2 again (playing on same client since head start).

So I’ve used to have 30-40 FPS on mixed medium – high settings for example by just killing foes on low lvl charr zone. And now? Everything on low and ~24 FPS.

They are messing up this game.
——-
Another briliant screen made on pc.

My Baytrail-T Z3745 Tablet gets 24FPS in GW2.

There is something seriously wrong with your system here. I have GW2 running at 60FPS+ solid on 5 different Intel systems with no issues, but all of them use AMD GPUs.

When your running the game are your cores spiking at 70%+? and if so, if you feel your PSU does it feel hot/warm to the touch?

Its really the only thing I can think of here, short of you replacing the AMD CPU for an Intel one (even a G3258 at this point lol).

Behellagh.1468:

Yes, but were talking as if they could keep their existing DDR3 RAM if they went to a Skylark based rig which would only be true if they were already using DDR3L, which is doubtful as most systems use standard 1.5v DDR3.

Otherwise if they were going to buy RAM anyways, why mention DDR3 when DDR4 provides improved memory bandwidth? The price difference between DDR3L-1600 and DDR4-2133 is minor.

Thats exactly what im saying.

DDR3L is an extension of the DDR3 spec. So if your CPU supports DDR3L it also supports DDR3 (1.5v/1.65v). (As seen with the 5675C a d 5775C desktop chips and countless laptops running U CPUs)

Also here is a 3rd party reference Stating that Skylake works with 1.5v – http://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/anton-shilov/asusteks-intel-z170-mainboards-will-work-correctly-with-ddr3-1-5v1-65v-modules/

Behellagh.1468:

Low voltage DDR3 support, ie DDR3L. Standard DDR3 found in most desktops is unlikely to be compatible with Skylake.

DDR3L is an extension of the DDR3 spec. If the system supports 1.35v DDR3 it will also support 1.5v DDR3 as well, just at a max of 1600Mhz. This is true with Broadwell as well as ultra low voltage CPUs (U) as well. And its also true with the 6700K and 6600K.

Rampage.7145:

People don´t know kitten on this forums LOL. a 960 will max out this game up to 1440p no problem without braking a sweat. This game graphics are kitten even a 750 will max out this game no problems.
What is holding you back is the CPU. get the new intel i5 6600k with a decent mobo for like 150$ paired along with the GTX 960 it will be a really good upgrade. The drawback of buying the new CPU+MOBO is that you will need to buy some expensive DDR4 memory too, but it is all worth it towards future gaming.
If you mostly PVE maybe the new 960 will be enough of an upgrade just make sure u keep the shadows at medium and reflections disabled (those are CPU intensive settings), u can max out everything else no problems with that card.
Also make sure u disable vsync. Use MSI afterburner to lock your FPS at your monitor refresh rate. Hit me up when u have the card and i will teach you how to do this, it will greatly improve the game smoothness, and will keep your videocard running cool not rendering unecesary frames.

except he can get a MB with DDR3 support and that 6600K as Skylake has both a DDR3 and DDR4 controller.

BUT yea, the 960 is about the best you need to max out this game. Low end cards (750, HD7790, 270x, 760, 660..ect) all can run this game at max settings and yield 60FPS+ easily.

Also 4k wont need much more of a GPU as the game doesnt push 4k textures. hell a 970 can run this game at 4k lol

Torsailr.8456:

You’re taking something Gaile said out of context and further warping it to make it mean something it doesn’t come close to meaning.

The OP of that thread was trying to state HoT is a failed expansion even though it hasn’t been released yet. I’m hoping everyone can see that judging something as failed or not before all the details are fully known, much less played, is premature. Calling such a statement premature is putting it kindly. To say “at best” in that context means you’re being very generous with how you’re describing something when the reality is much lower.

At Best has nothing to do with the Beta or release dates.

Forget the OP on that other thread, has nothing to do with my thread.

yes context does matter sometimes. But she outright called HoT a Beta ‘At best’. That means not even Beta IMHO. Context be kitten ed.

I paid for a product that is not out yet, there is no release date, content is coming out in drips, we have no idea just how far along they are to a finished product. It feels sketchy as if they are ‘just making it as they go along here’.

And that is my entire point.

Now if they release a date or tentative date at PAX then awesome. But so far we have seen/heard NOTHING in regards to release date other then ‘sometime this year’, which does not mean XMAS as push backs can happen.

Taking a thread closure statement from the Anet team here looking for more information about a possible (Estimated) release date.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/feedback-HoT-failed/page/2#post5400312

Gaile Says – I’d just like to add that making an assessment of a game while in beta is, at best, premature.

So since its ‘At best’ just how far into the development of HoT are we? Do you have a list of scheduled deadlines for delivery other then for the Beta Weekend tests? Can we expect a delivered product by Christmas this year or early Next year at this point?

These are things we all want to know.

I pre-ordered on one of my accounts cause Anet made good with the character slot for the basic purchase pack. But I will not be upgrading the other accounts (Pre or otherwise) until some release schedules are made public. It currently feels like we are paying via pre-release for complete Development of a product here, with no ETA on release dates at all.

Feels very sketchy to me, and ‘crowd sourced’.

pandaexpress.1458:

I can tell you packets aren’t being delivered to Arenanet from Level 3. My ISP doesn’t matter, as the ISP traces cleanly to Level 3. At level 3, first node listed in my OP fails with 25% packet loss.

Location doesn’t matter, YOUR location isn’t getting the packets handed off by Level 3.

The error code of Guild Wars 2 doesn’t matter, as it’s a high network packet drop rate issue.

Someone should get on the phone to your data center network department, or if you control the network for your servers, someone should contact level 3.

The traced failure looks like this from my windows command line:

4 13 ms 22 ms 12 ms be-22-ar01.chartford.ct.hartford.comcast.net [68.87.182.197]
5 19 ms 19 ms 17 ms he-1-12-0-0-ar01.needham.ma.boston.comcast.net [162.151.53.145]
6 16 ms 15 ms 17 ms 4.68.71.217
7 * * * Request timed out.
8 * * * Request timed out.
9 67 ms 65 ms 65 ms 4.59.197.34
10 56 ms 55 ms 55 ms 64.25.32-9.ncsoft.com [64.25.32.9]
11 56 ms 54 ms 55 ms 64.25.32-26.ncsoft.com [64.25.32.26]
12 58 ms 56 ms 57 ms 64.25.32-82.ncsoft.com [64.25.32.82]
13 55 ms 55 ms 55 ms 64.25.33-80.ncsoft.com [64.25.33.80]

It’s 17 milliseconds to Boston from Hartford, after which Level 3 gets my packets. Level 3 fails to deliver them to your facility.

I assume your servers are in Texas. Level 3 eventually drops almost all packets and my client is disconnected. Ping gets progressively longer over a few seconds.

This isn’t an Arenanet problem, it’s a Level 3 to your Datacenter problem. There shouldn’t be timeouts in the hand off at the exchange in Boston. Level 3 isn’t working properly. Comcast is my provider, but they are delivering to Level 3 in about 17 milliseconds. It’s not a Comcast problem, a Arenanet problem, it is a Level 3 problem.

All this trace shows is that you are getting a latency spike from Hop 7 on to your destination. You are not getting any Timeouts, its simply that Level3 disabled ICMP replies from Hops 7 and 8. You can change port in your router all you like but Ping is always ICMP (protocol not port type) and if a router does not respond to ICMP you cannot get a respond from it.

Either Anet or your ISP can open a head to head ticket with level3 to End to end test this issue and get it fixed since BOTH of those ISPs are transporting through Level3.

Zimmy.4726:

also i have another motherboard here a Gigabite 1 that actually came with my 6core CPU but i removed the cpu from it and put into my 970.

im having same issue with this everytime i try to OC it just bluescreens

what you should do is retire the AMD CPUs and get with either a G3258 or an i3-4130 as it will run circles around either of those AMD CPUs.

As for the GPU, the 750 and the 750Ti are capable of pushing 80-100 FPS at 1080p on Medium-High settings. Its your CPU that is bottlenecking it.

If you expect more then 24FPS for zerg content you need to buy either an i5 or i7. And even then the best you can aim for is 32FPS. Thats just how this game is coded and works. But for open world areas and lightly congested places (less then 15 players) the Intel Dual cores (G3xxx and the i3) fit perfectly for a budget system.

Win10 is smoother then Win7 when your install goes well and you end up with no issues. I finally worked out all the bugs I was facing with my laptop setup (first machine to be the sac lamb). and well the results are pretty good IMHO.

GPU-Z while the game is running in a window and verify that your GPU is Linked at PCIE x16(or x8 if running CF) and version 2. if its not reseat your GPU in the closest slot to your CPU.

A g3258 will run the game pretty well. Aim for a baseline OC of 4.2Ghz if running stock Cooling on a budget board or a 4.8Ghz OC for aftermarket and a decent Motherboard.

At a 4.4ghz OC and a HD5770 I am seeing a constant 80-120FPS in the open world, 45-55FPS in the cities and after the hidden mini delay, 18-24FPS for zerg content.

WvW fluctuates based on the players on the field and your Character limit/model settings. But Ill say the average is 32 when your around the walls/towers

With a dual core build you want your settings tuned for your ideal play area. Mine is Teq/Jormag/KK/WvW.

So everything is set to High except the following

FXAA – None
Sampling – native
Shadows – Low
Shaders – Medium (HD5770 is not a high end card here)
Post processing – Low
Character Limit – Low
Character Models – Medium
Uncheck everything but LOD limit and vSync(prevents tearing)

Aevis.4632:

thanks for the reply. sucks it cant, the laptop i currently use to play gw2 is breaking down on me. keys not working and such.

What laptop do you use?

Keyboards are general cheap on Ebay (5-25 usually) and they are not that hard to replace.

MrFayth.3546:

In short: No.

It’s not technically a laptop,its a “notebook” which is geared towards low power-use applications

You mean Netbook.

Notebooks ARE laptops….

chkdsk /r is NOT a Fix for I/O errors.

/r simply searches all the sectors on the HDD for if they are bad or not and marks them bad. It also can take a bad sector and mark it good if it passes the tests. Which can get you coming right back into the same issue again.

The best thing to do is grab a utility that can read SMART data (CrystalDiskInfo is perfect for this) and see what the sector reallocation row says, and what the general health report is (Good, OK, Bad). Then go from there.

IE, If the report is BAD then replace the HDD….

Pull down GPU-Z and make sure that your card is running at PCIE x16 version 3 and not 1.1 or linked less then 8×. If so you need to reseat your 980Ti. Also make sure the GPU is in the closest slot to the CPU.

Also I know that the current Nvidia drivers that are shipping with Windows10 are buggy (same with AMD to a point). There is a thread here that explains about it and tells you which drivers to be using, then how to disable auto updates on Win10 for hardware devices.

If the GPU Is correctly Linked I would then give the Driver change a go.

You would be better off buying a used M4600 from ebay (269~) slapping in an i7-2720QM (80~) and a M270x (149~) then buying the laptop you have listed.

While Behellagh is partially right, buying a new laptop and wanting to game on it is going to require a pretty heafty investment (800-1100 MIN), but if you jump back a couple generations you can put one together for about 500~

And for the record, on that M4600 I just talked about..I am getting 60FPS locked (vSync) at 1080p on medium settings.

Tregarde.6031:

The new Mastery system could use some tweaks. It just seems redundant to have to fill an XP bar to merely gain access to a skill, AND earn mastery points to spend to fully activate the skill. It’s an unnecessary level of complexity. ANet should pick one or the other.

This, I cant agree more.

Hirosama Nadasaki.6792:

sirsquishy.8531:

Running SW/Shield + SW/Pistol with a power break build is just OP. If they were to decrease the #5 shield skill by 10seconds it would feel more versatile for other builds but for this stun build, no it would be OP.

If you spec right, you can start with Pistol 5, pop 4 then switch to sw/shield and shied5 and pistol 5 is almost always reset, rinse and repeat and you have a nearly perm stun build with the mix of your daze mantra there, and signet of domination too.

I did not try this in WvW or sPVP as that was not my interest here.

But, I was steam rolling mobs with 4-5 others in the new zone and all i was doing was stunning everything while everyone else plowed through. Seriously no risk other then the AOE ground condi you have to avoid. And I was maintaining 25 stacks of Might through out all of this too (Shield hits like everything in that wave 2 times).

In its current form, the shield for a stun base build its perfectly OP. For other builds (Shatter, Condi..ect) it needs 10 seconds shaved off. Thats how I feel about it honestly.

edit
Maybe make the shield’s skills cooldowns 10 second less, unless you equip the Daze to stun trait then add 10seconds back on to it? Like i said, with the way it is NOW it feels OP/Fine for a stun based build but lacking for anything else.

That’s the thing, you can defintely find an OP build with chrono as it is, but imo it’s much better if they nerf that build and buff something else that would allow multiple builds, I don’t want to get mesmer elite specialization for one build only, I want to make multiple, good builds with shield, wells, and things that were already in the mesmer kit.

I mainly play mesmer as a stun/CC build. IMHO its more fun. Mix in a lil Condi and watch those Burns and Bleeds tick away while you keep your target stunned for a good portion of time.

what I was saying, as is the shields skills are pretty good even with the cool downs for such a build. But I can see where they are lacking if you played Shatter, PU, or really anything else. So that’s why I added the edit.

Drop the cooldowns by 10seconds (AFTER getting the wave back, and have it affect both 4 and 5) and if you spec into Confounding suggestions add the 10seconds back to the shield skills.

Personally I think that would be a fair give/take on it.

What I do not care for is the fact you grind to unlock masteries, then you gotta spend points on them. When they unlock via grinding they should be made available then. Its like a double dip of grinding here.

Running SW/Shield + SW/Pistol with a power break build is just OP. If they were to decrease the #5 shield skill by 10seconds it would feel more versatile for other builds but for this stun build, no it would be OP.

If you spec right, you can start with Pistol 5, pop 4 then switch to sw/shield and shied5 and pistol 5 is almost always reset, rinse and repeat and you have a nearly perm stun build with the mix of your daze mantra there, and signet of domination too.

I did not try this in WvW or sPVP as that was not my interest here.

But, I was steam rolling mobs with 4-5 others in the new zone and all i was doing was stunning everything while everyone else plowed through. Seriously no risk other then the AOE ground condi you have to avoid. And I was maintaining 25 stacks of Might through out all of this too (Shield hits like everything in that wave 2 times).

In its current form, the shield for a stun base build its perfectly OP. For other builds (Shatter, Condi..ect) it needs 10 seconds shaved off. Thats how I feel about it honestly.

edit
Maybe make the shield’s skills cooldowns 10 second less, unless you equip the Daze to stun trait then add 10seconds back on to it? Like i said, with the way it is NOW it feels OP/Fine for a stun based build but lacking for anything else.

Ok yes please!

But that kinda reminds me of the clockwork nights from a distance.

Spec wise;

Laptop
i7-2720QM + M270x + 32GB of ram

Desktop1
i7-4790K@4.6ghz + R9 295X2(CF) + 32GB of ram

Desktop2
i5-4670K@4.2ghz + R9 280x + 8GB of ram

And all these machines perform exactly the same in the new zone. Everything is fine until AFTER the story instance is done and you are at that peak over look place and BOOM, 28-30FPS. Look at the wall behind or off the to the side and 80-200fps (system depending).

There is a huge issue with how the LOD coding is done here.

So just fell through the water like for 18 seconds. I wonder if you guys are having us render what is under the ground right now and thats why the performance is so bad.

The LOD has too high of a default setting and makes EVERY ONE of my machines drop down to sub 30FPS. Talking about system builds that have 60FPS + in every other map in the game….

if i drop the LOD down to LOW then I can get 45-50FPS tops. This needs to be addressed.

Its time to retire your FX6300. That’s the sad truth.

This pretty much says it all

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9483/intel-skylake-review-6700k-6600k-ddr4-ddr3-ipc-6th-generation/10

Behellagh.1468:

The current Skylake CPUs do NOT contain eDRAM+Iris. It’s the Intel HD 530. So no HUGE L4 cache.

You are thinking of the Broadwell Socket 1150 i7-5775C.

The current no, but they are going to release Skylake CPUs with eDRAM + Iris at some point. And I honestly can’t wait until they do.

I want to see a dual core (G or i3) with Iris + eDRAM, cause when that happens that shuts down AMD’s APU’s until they are forced to release their new Zen technology. AMD needs that push.

I just do not see anything more then a 10% jump until Intel changes from Silicon to something else. Going from a 4790K to a 6700K nets 5% at best, and thats really saying something.

Endymion.6509:

On low setting it runs ok lol but i play on my laptop mostly. Will they help with less lag in wvw?

Going from your Athlon to a i5-haswell CPU is going to be 100% faster ATLEAST.

Add in the GPU upgrade from your onboard graphics, and its an entirely different experience….you might cry when you experience it…for real.

Hell even a dual core haswell (G3258) is 100% faster then your Athlon, can be gotten cheaper and still give you a better (NOT BEST) experience.

If you have the cash, I would just buy all the parts you want and assemble it yourself. You will get a much better system for the price going that route.

As for the R9 300 series cards, Only the 270 is the 3rd gen rebrand, all the others are 2nd gen (meaning they all come from the R9 200 series). If you are buying a cheap/medium ranged GPU I would suggest one of 2 things.

1. Buy a GTX960
2. Buy a used R9 290 (same price as a new GTX960 if you look around on amazon/Ebay)

the 290 is a top end card (below the 980 above the 970) and that would be my choice if I was building right now. But If I felt the need to buy new I would buy a GTX960, even though its considerably slower, as it would deliver the needed GPU performance for the price.

After much reading and talking to a few people that I know who have ES’s, we all agree on one thing. There is no good reason to buy a 6700K over a 4790K if the cost makes sense. Meaning 25-30~ in price difference.

Z170 series chipsets do Deliver more PCIE lanes for M.2 and CF/SLI setups, BUT the Z170 Chipset is limited to PCIE 3.0 x4 equivalent Bandwidth to the CPU. So if you are running 8×8×4x configs and pushing it hard, anything above 16x (what the CPU actually delivers) is going to bottleneck you. (Keep an Eye on anandtech.com for SLI/CF benchkmarks with 980Ti and Furyx using the 6700K and you’ll see what I mean here)

There are already m.2 SSD Speed tests (IOMeter and what not) showing this x4 limitation (meaning some of these SSD tests in RAID0 are not exceeding 2GB/s when they should be pushing much more)

the ONLY benefit to going to Skylake right now is quite literally DDR4 and eDRAM+Iris. The new Socket1151 has the same limitations as socket 1150.

And DDR4 in dual channel is not that much faster then DDR3. The main benefit is that you can get higher density DIMMs under DDR4 then you can under DDR3. But if your after Memory you will be on X99 or a server platform rather then a consumer desktop.

This build will blow your current one away.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/sirsquishy/saved/P6P9TW

Start there for specs.

Also consider building your own, dont buy OEM for desktops unless you have to.

Behellagh.1468:

As you pointed out it does future proof it. The only drawback, other than cost, is the whole Z170 chipset and motherboard hasn’t really been tested with the inevitable tweaks and BIOS upgrades that a more mature Z97 motherboard has. You will be on the bleeding edge and everything that means.

I think if you could hold off for a few months that the i7-6700K (or i5-6600K) and the Z170 is the way to go. There will be a few bios patches out and supply of Skylake should bring the price closer to suggested retail. Also DDR4 prices may start to go down as well.

But that’s my opinion.

Intel is going to run 2-3 cycles on the 1151 socket. By the time its upgrade a 6700K Intel will be rolling a new socket. Thats not future proofed. There is no such thing as future proofing Technology. Best you can hope for is a 5-6 year cycle before upgrading.

OmNomNom.2830:

In that same review, if you read the conclusion it does say “Sandy Bridge, Your Time Is Up.”

yes it does, but read my edit.

IMHO there is no good reason to choose A 6700K over a 4790k unless the cost between the 2 systems is with in 25%. And I know its not.

If you buy a 6700K today, when its time to upgrade from that CPU its going to be a new socket

If you buy a 4790k today, when its time to upgrade its going to be a new socket

there is a 5% performance gap between a 4790K and 6700K.

the only exception is if you KNOW you can benefit from DDR4. And if you know that you benefit from the new memory spec you should probably be looking at quad channel on the X99 Platform starting with a 5820K anyway.

Since you are coming from Sandy, going to a 4790K or 6700K is going to give you the same perception in performance increase. If you choose the 4790K you gain the ability to reuse your DDR3. If you goto the 6700K you CAN reuse your DDR3 but youll end up with a mixed DDR4 and DDR3 board with 2 slots per type of memory (meaning 16GB in total for DDR3 and 32GB total for DDR4 right now) and youll probably end up wanting to upgrade the Motherboard anyway.

Also, no such thing as Future proof. You could get a 4790K today and by the time it was time to upgrade that CPU Intel would be on a different socket. So looking at it in an upgrade path is the wrong way.

Look at this, mind you this includes a 4770K and not a 4790k in the lineup and the Skylakes are engineering samples, Binned FOR testing. In reality THIS is the best to hope for from the 6700K.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9483/intel-skylake-review-6700k-6600k-ddr4-ddr3-ipc-6th-generation/9

Edit – This line sums it all up very nicely.

Skylake is not necessarily the most ground breaking architecture over Haswell. It affords a 19% CPU performance gain over the i7-4770K and 5% over the i7-4790K.

You have 2 choices.

1. Buy the 6700K, DDR4, and the Correct Motherboard
2. Buy a 4790K, reuse your DDR3 Modules and buy a new Motherboard(cheaper then Skylake)

IMHO, depending on RAM costs right now (have not looked) its a toss up in performance. the 6700K is only 10% faster then the 4790K at the same clock speed. Its going to cost 350-375 while the 4790K can be found for 329-335.

I am on a 4790K currently and do not have any problems. GW2 gets smoked on this CPU (200FPS+ teamed with a 295×2 in CF) and I am running 4.6ghz with a Prolimatech GNSS (66C while gaming)

But IMHO those are the only 2 logical high performance (Single threaded) options right now. And the bottom line comes down to DDR4 costs.

Lets talk about how Win10 handles activation.

Win10 builds a machine profile paired with your win7/8.1 key used to upgrade the OS to windows10.

If you have plans to do a nuke and pave (fresh install) you first must upgrade your win7 or 8.1 install to Win10, wait for about 30mins for the SID+Key to be cached on the MS Activation servers, then you can do a fresh install.

If doing a fresh install make sure you install your devices/drivers first with your network card unplugged, then your AV solution (I recommend Avast!). To ensure you are not unprotected from infections and such as we wait for the Win10 exploits to be discovered and patched.