Mobo replacement and other bits

[Allen]

As some of you may know, I blew my PC up recently. So, rather than my shiny new CPU and RAM sit there like expensive paperweights, I need to get a new mobo. Plus I might as well pick up a few other needed items at the same time.

Mobo wise, I need an LGA1155 compatible board to hold my i5-2500K. As I have a discrete GPU and want to overclock I'm guessing a good P67 will do?

Next, I need a better than standard HSF, preferably one that doesn't sound like a jumbo jet passing through my living room, but with enough cooling to take my i5-2500k to as high as it goes.

Lastly, a new case. My current one is too small and doesn't provide enough cooling. I want a black case large enough for my MSI GTX 560 Ti TWIN FROZR II with 120mm or larger fan mounts and a reasonable amount of HDD bays (I seem to collect these things like no other).

So, with this in mind, I have found the following to be suitable:

Mobo - MSI P67A-GD53 - Solid performance and cooling whilst being relatively inexpensive
HSF - Umm, last I knew, Arctic Cooling were king of the hill, no idea now though...
Case - Antec Dark Fleet DF-10 - Looks nice to me, big enough for my needs and large fan mounts

Are these good choices so far? Can you advise of any other options (especially the HSF)?

I will also wanna pick up an SSD at some point, going for pure speed there as an OS drive, but may have to wait a month. What's good these days or should I wait until I have the money then ask again?

Cheers.

[shaithis]

Case, as usual, is personal. All the new Antecs have nice cooling and cable management...so as long as you like the look of it (both internal and external), your golden.

HSF....to take your i5 "as high as it goes" would probably require super-cooling......I guess you need a cooler budget to work within....when giving build advice I normally state "After market coolers are from £25 (Freezer 13 PRO) to around £85 (H100)"....so there is quite a bit of wiggle-room in there!!

At over £90 for that mobo, I would look at Z68....

[Allen]

Sorry, should've added "as high as it goes on air".

Any ideas what mobo, haven't looked at any of the Z68's.

[Pob255]

I'd be careful on the motherboard if you're looking to overclock, a lot of the cheaper ones have fairly weak VRM's which are fine for running at stock steeings but running a high overclock 24/7 is going to greatly increase the load of the VRM's.
Personally I'd not be willing to risk many of the cheaper boards long term.

You're looking at £140ish for a z68 motherboard with decent VRM's not sure about the p67

cooler the Corsair A70 looks like a good option.

[Millennium]

I think your mobo is a good choice. I have a P67, only cause I got it free, but MSI P67A-GD53 comes highly recommended. Do check if the VRMs are ok and cooled though.

Case, HSF, I can't help you with i'm afraid, totally out of the loop on those.

[Pob255]

Antec has just brought out a new chassis, two case made on it atm
The Gamer 1100 http://www.ebuyer.com/312926-antec-1...761345-15950-0
and the P280 http://www.ebuyer.com/312927-antec-p...761345-82000-4

I don't think they've quite recaptured the looks of the P180 with the P280 but it's better than the P193
the Gamer 1100 looks more like the 300 which I really like, personally I find the DarkFleet series totally fugly, they are using the older 600,900 & 1200 but with a bezel that doesn't match the side panels and by removing the bezel from the top as well they lose both the bigboy fan and the design no longer flows across the case, making the front bezel look like something tacked on.

[Allen]

Case wise I think I'm gonna go for the Fractal Design Define XL Black Pearl, nice looking case, spacious for good airflow and everyone says that they are good quality cases.

Mobo, like the look of the MSI Z68's but having difficulty telling the difference between all the different models.

HSF - I have had good experience with Arctic Cooling in recent years, so am tempted by the Freezer XTREME Rev. 2, but the Corsair A70 does look nice too.

[danroyle]

Case wise I think I'm gonna go for the Fractal Design Define XL Black Pearl, nice looking case, spacious for good airflow and everyone says that they are good quality cases.

Mobo, like the look of the MSI Z68's but having difficulty telling the difference between all the different models.

HSF - I have had good experience with Arctic Cooling in recent years, so am tempted by the Freezer XTREME Rev. 2, but the Corsair A70 does look nice too.

the MSi boards start become good quality and feature packed from the gd55 up that one will cost you £123 @ scan or the GD65 £144

not huge difference between the two other than extra sate ports and such
http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-...1155-intel-z68

if you dont need the gpu onboard the cpu then something like http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...e-20-(x16)-atx

is a good p67 board has decent enough VRMs on it for overclocking just you need a seperate GPU

[Pob255]

note sure about the Freezer XTREME Rev. 2, the original while looking good in theory wasn't a very good cooler.
The ACf13p http://www.scan.co.uk/products/arcti...m2-am2plus-am3 is supposed to be good (note not the non-pro version which isn't, it's a minor upgrade from the ACf7p)

There's the new Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coole...5-1156-1366-am this is a new version of the 212+, using plastic fan bracket instead of wire clips, heat pipes are closer together to remove the gaps on the base and a new fan.
http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6741

But with two fans the A70 is good value for money http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsa...-1366-amd-am2-

On the msi boards, the G series are the cheap ones with weak vrm's not designed for overclocking
You'd want to look at the GD55 at least http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-z...dr3-up-to-32gb
the more expensive ones have higher grade components and extra minor features.

EDIT: One issue with thhe asus 1155 boards is that the vrm heatsinks are a bit close to the socket, you'll need to double check cooler clearance.

The gigabyte UD4 is worth a look too, http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigab...a-on-board-atx that was the one I was considering.

[Allen]

Is there any reason you suggest the B3 mobo's instead of the G3 ones? Might as well go for future proofing for an extra couple of quid, right?

Therefore, the MSI Z68A-GD55 (G3) looks like it could be a good choice, and not too expensive.

How noisy is the A70? The PC is in the living room of my new flat, hence why I'm getting a large case to allow decent cooling without silly fan noise.

[Pob255]

Not the quietest if I remember correctly, but not that loud ether.
Fans can always be changed later or hook them up to the fan controller

[bibio]

Hi, been looking for info about this on here:-

http://msicashback.co.uk/terms.html

Thought it might be in Scan section etc etc ?
Still not sure what mobo to get, well other things as well



Cheers BOB

[Allen]

Damn, that's a nice offer, and for one of the boards I was looking at... but it runs out on the 21st and pay day is the 24th!

[Pob255]

Allen I don't know if you got my PM or not, but Scan's got the Antec Khuler H20 620 on today only for £33, grab it if your quick

[Allen]

Allen I don't know if you got my PM or not, but Scan's got the Antec Khuler H20 620 on today only for £33, grab it if your quick

Yeah, I did, and it is tempting but will leave me pretty short.

I also read some reviews and it doesn't appear to cool a lot better than air coolers, is that right?

[Pob255]

Yes but it's no better than higher end air coolers, but at £33 it's a bargain and you'll be reducing the number of fans in the case.

Heck I'd get it myself but I cannot really justify it when I don't really need it because my Hyper212+ with two apache fans does a great job.