Broadwell update?

Hey everyone... Got a quick question for you all... I'm working with this motherboard:

ASUS Prime B85M-D3H (rev. 2.0) running an "FB" BIOS and an Intel B85 chipset

I was just wondering—any chance this board can actually handle those upcoming Broadwell processors? Maybe if I update things?

Cheers 🙂

Unfortunately, no. You'll need a motherboard with a 9-series chipset to support Broadwell processors. Though, honestly, I don't think you'd see a massive jump in performance compared to what you're running right now—is it even worth the upgrade? Btw, which processor are you currently using?

Larry Ortiz5 said:Unfortunately, no. You'll need a motherboard with a 9-series chipset to support Broadwell processors. Though, honestly, I don't think you'd see a massive jump in performance compared to what you're running right now—is it even worth the upgrade? Btw, which processor are you currently using?

Right now I'm running a Core i5-4590.

Look, you’ve got a solid processor there—I really don't see any reason to swap it out just yet. As for performance (assuming you're a gamer), any dip you might notice in games will be practically imperceptible... Honestly, you're better off waiting for the Skylake processors and that new LGA 1151 socket. If you jump to Broadwell right now, you'd basically be buying a new motherboard plus a new CPU just to break even—it feels like throwing money down the drain, doesn't it?

Eric Chavez2 said:Right now I'm running a Core i5-4590.

Not worth the money. The only real perk of moving to Broadwell is the integrated graphics being a bit better than what you get with Haswell. Pure processing power? It's basically a wash.

Look, Intel is going to swap out sockets every two or three generations, but honestly, that i5 will probably still be a workhorse for you. The focus for new Intel processors seems to be more about beefing up integrated graphics and shrinking the manufacturing process; rumors suggest Skylake might only offer a 5% bump in performance. Well, rumors are just rumors, but that’s pretty much how it’s played out over the last three series anyway.

Don't you worry about a thing; Sandy is still performing perfectly fine lately, so I don't think Haswell is going to be heading for the scrap heap quite so soon 🙂