New CPU/Motherboard/RAM recommendations please :)

Afternoon all,

I'm looking for a new CPU/Motherboard/RAM combination, so any help would be very much appreciated!


Requirements
- Worthwhile upgrade over a Q6600 running at 3.1ghz
- Bang for buck (I don't mind overclocking - it'll be running under a Corsair H80 Watercooler)
- Intel would be my preference, though I've no idea of the AMD offerings currently
- I'll be sticking with my HD4850 for the minute, though I realise that will be the bottleneck (I'll be upgrading later!)
- No need for integrated graphics (AFAIK there are Xeon variants of the i5s that lack the integrated graphics? are they better value?)
- 8gb of RAM should be enough, I would have thought?

Budget hasn't been set, but this is unexpected (read I screwed up!), so I'm focusing on bang for buck, but at the same time don't want to shoot myself in the foot and it be a minimal upgrade...

What are you doing with your PC and what sort of budget are you looking at??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dave87

Afternoon all,

I'm looking for a new CPU/Motherboard/RAM combination, so any help would be very much appreciated!


Requirements
- Worthwhile upgrade over a Q6600 running at 3.1ghz
- Bang for buck (I don't mind overclocking - it'll be running under a Corsair H80 Watercooler)
- Intel would be my preference, though I've no idea of the AMD offerings currently
- I'll be sticking with my HD4850 for the minute, though I realise that will be the bottleneck (I'll be upgrading later!)
- No need for integrated graphics (AFAIK there are Xeon variants of the i5s that lack the integrated graphics? are they better value?)
- 8gb of RAM should be enough, I would have thought?

Budget hasn't been set, but this is unexpected (read I screwed up!), so I'm focusing on bang for buck, but at the same time don't want to shoot myself in the foot and it be a minimal upgrade...

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What will the PC be used for, games?

Mixture of things - gaming through to work (hefty documents etc). I run 2x1920x1080 screens, tend to have a fair chunk of stuff open at a time (I'm hoping this'll be where a decent amount of RAM and the SSD I've already got will help).

I must admit I've yet to find anything that the Q6600 can't do, but unfortunately I need to replace the motherboard it is in - and I don't see the point in buying another s775 board as it is now relatively old tech.

We need to clarify how much gaming will be done and what kind of games you intend to run!

One of my mates uses a Phenom II X4 1045T which costs under £100,and they use dual monitors,multi-task,run VMs and some of their research stuff too.They also do game sometimes too. A Phenom II X4 965 can be had for around £75 and will be fine for these purposes too.

If you do intend to use a higher end graphics card,I would say look a Core i5.

You can get a SB Core i5 for around £130:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/c...623i52310.html

The Xeon E3 1230 and 1230 V2 are the CPUs you are thinking about. They also quite decent value for money IMHO,but unless you are running loads of multi-threaded applications,the Core i5 is a better and cheaper choice IMHO.

Also,if you intend to overclock you need to get a K series CPU which cost more,and also need more expensive motherboards too.

Ok, so i5-2500k or i5-3570k are the two unlocked ones?

What's the benefits/disadvantages of each of the different Intel chipset options?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dave87

Ok, so i5-2500k or i5-3570k are the two unlocked ones?

What's the benefits/disadvantages of each of the different Intel chipset options?

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The P67,Z68 and Z77 are the overclocking capable ones. The Z77 is the latest one.

The others cannot be used for overclocking.

I missed your earlier question about gaming - I must admit I've been playing more games on the xBox than I have on the PC, but I'm thinking I might get back into the PC gaming side of things - so predominantly first person shooters I would think - BF3 and the like :)

Any thoughts on this board?

http://www.ebuyer.com/363230-asus-p8...io-atx-p8z77-v


Anything better from other manufacturers for about the same price? (or cheaper, but I think that may be asking too much! ;))


Edit to add, think that+ i5-3570k + 8gb DDR3-1600 (or should I grab two sets and make it 16gb?)

You could probably be fine with a cheaper motherboard. How far do you intend to overclock and are you going to use multiple graphics cards??

For overclocking,a cheaper Core i5 2500K will probably overclock better with added voltage and require a cheaper cooler than the Core i5 3570K. The main issue is that IB runs hot when overclocked with added voltage. If you intend to do a milder overclock using stock voltage or a slight bump in voltage,the Core i5 3570K will be a better choice. You also do get improved Quick Sync and all IB CPUs do have PCI-E 3.0,although the latter won't be that important for a while IMHO.

The primary issue is the location of the SATA ports (the reason I need to change the board now) and this seems to have them in the right location. What alternative would you suggest?

I assume you need 8 right angle SATA connectors??

This motherboard looks like it will do the job:

http://www.ebuyer.com/351597-gigabyt...edium=products

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/pro...px?pid=4144#ov

Here is a review:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/gigaby...rboard-review/

Not so much needing the right angled connectors, but more their placement on the board. Currently the motherboard I have has them in such a position that they are blocked by the PSU:

http://www.davidalee.co.uk/dump/hexus/IMAG0032a.jpg


So I need a board with the SATA ports higher up, or non-right angled. Unfortunately this requirement rules out the Gigabyte board :(

The SATA ports in the MSI motherboard appear to be positioned around the third expansion slot:

http://www.ebuyer.com/345350-msi-lga...board-z77a-g45

http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/Z77A-G45.html

This motherboard has vertical SATA ports:

http://www.dabs.com/products/asrock-...m_content=Q200

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z77%20Pro4/

Sadly the MSI's USB3 header would face similar issues - and I've read questionable things about the Lucid Virtu chipset?

The USB cables should be much more flexible than SATA cables. You can always choose not to install the software for Lucid Virtu.

Sadly there wouldn't be room for the connector, it is that tight :(

Have you considered using an mATX motherboard??

http://www.ebuyer.com/363735-asus-p8...edium=products

http://uk.asus.com/websites/Global/p...wk097Q_500.jpg

There are ones for around £90 which should do the job if you are doing a milder overclock.

Well the final choice was an i5-3570k, ASUS P8Z77-V and 8gb of Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1600. Ordered from Ebuyer at around 9pm, with me just after 9am the next morning (thurs-friday) I've stuck it all together, and it is up and running nicely. Will grab some photos showing the build, but the position of the SATA ports was almost perfect (I can access one of the bottom two with a right angled lead, but the rest are readily accessible) so it resolved the issue I had :)


First thought is it runs a lot cooler than the Q6600 based system it replaces....this is definitely a good thing :)

New build:

Hasn't changed much from the outside:

http://www.davidalee.co.uk/projects/newpc/P1010235.JPG

The important bits have, however:

http://www.davidalee.co.uk/projects/newpc/P1010226.JPG

http://www.davidalee.co.uk/projects/newpc/P1010227.JPG

...and the new lead I had to make:

http://www.davidalee.co.uk/projects/newpc/P1010229.JPG

The attentive amongst you will notice that end is a molded plug, and I can't possibly have made it. Yes, you are right - I didn't make that end! I used a right angled lead I already had, cut the mains plug end off and soldered the required connection on the other end ;)

http://www.davidalee.co.uk/projects/newpc/P1010230.JPG

vs the other one which didn't fit.

Comment removed: Didnt realise you had solved it!