Looking to upgrade mobo, CPU and RAM.

[fraknyerk]

Hi,

As the title suggests I am looking to upgrade motherboard, CPU and RAM.

Currently in my basket I have the folowing:

Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P
Intel Core i5 2500k
8GB Corsair DDR3 XMS3, PC3-12800 (1600)

My graphics card at the moment is a GTX 260 and will be the next thing to be upgraded. I don't game a lot but will be playing SW:TOR and probably BF3 and Skyrim.

Any suggestions welcome.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Wait two weeks and see how Bulldozer performs and whether Intel does any price cuts.

[fraknyerk]

Wait two weeks and see how Bulldozer performs and whether Intel does any price cuts.

Cheers for the heads up. Will do.

[fraknyerk]

Okay. So it's been a while since I first posted. I guess there has been enough time for people to have a look at the Bulldozer chips and what not.

Should I stick with Core i5 or are AMDs new chips any good?

From my brief reading it seems as though I should stick with Intel for now.

[eyezpy]

AMD still offer good value IMO, but even the 8 core Bulldozer can't beat the 2500K in most cases, only in heavy multi threaded app where more cores matter more does it do better.
If it was me I would stick with the 2500K.

[eyezpy]

AMD still offer good value IMO, but even the 8 core Bulldozer can't beat the 2500K in most cases, only in heavy multi threaded app where more cores matter more does it do better.
If it was me I would stick with the 2500K.

[fraknyerk]

Thanks for the input eyezpy.

I should also add that I mainly use Linux but will soon be having to be booting to Windows to play SWTOR. I guess this is the main reason for my upgrade as I have found from previous MMOs that I have played (WoW,Aion,Rift) that they seem to be quite heavy on the CPU.

The Linux thing also means I will 99% have to get an nvidia GPU when I upgrade that. Do nvidia GPUS perform better on intel? I'm guessing it doesn't matter but you never know =]

[eyezpy]

No, they should perform the same on equvilant boards and set up. It's the drivers and some times the games are developed with either NVidia or AMD that make the difference.

Really? I dont remember WoW being very system taxing. My friend was playing on a small centrino lappy and still king ass. Ok, that was a while ago tho and settings probably wasn't on the highest or the frame rate but don't remember WoW had any graphic improvements.

Most games still benefit more with better GPU. I think RTS like Starcraft uses the CPU more.

[eyezpy]

[Pob255]

Most MMO's are more cpu heavy than gpu, but also RAM heavy.
Does depend on the MMO, CityOfHeroes/Villians will happly spread itself over all the cores you have and chew up about 3gb of ram by itself.
WoW was always a low end game to work on as many systems as possible, however to have all the new graphical options and stuff on the requirements have gone up.

That said a 2500k should be able to more than cope with any MMO you can throw at it, heck any game currently should work fine on it.

On graphics card, you're going to want to look at a gtx560 or better, a gtx550ti would only be a slight step up from your current gtx260 and anything less will be a step down.

[fraknyerk]

Cheers chaps.

Anyone got any suggestions on a motherboard other than the one I have put. I don't really need a Z68. Most important thing for me is plenty os SATA ports as the box is mostly a Linux file server. Also SLI/Crossfire is not needed at all.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What CPU does the OP have ATM??

I have a Core i3 2100 and and HD5850 1GB and I can run SupCom,SupCom 2 and Sins of a Solar Empire under Windows 7 fine at 1680X1050.

Having said that I know friends who have WoW,Aion and Rift and they run fine even on Core2 quad and Phenom II X4 CPUs under Windows 7 and Ubuntu.

Hence,a Core i5 2500 will be more than enough for the games you mentioned even at stock speeds.

This motherboard has 4 SATA2.0 and 4 SATA3.0 ports:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...-%28x16%29-atx

As Pob mentioned a GTX560TI is a good choice especially with recent price drops. The HD6870 1GB and HD6950 1GB are worth looking at too.

[fraknyerk]

Cheers Cat. Will have a look at that motherboard now.

As to your question I currently have Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8500 @ 3.16GHz. So I'm hoping the 2500k will be a huge step up.

Will also have a look at the GTX560TI. I'm a total nub when it comes to gfx cards naming conventions. Is the 560 Ti better than the straight 560?

[fraknyerk]

Ok. I've had a look at the motherboard posted by Cat and it looks really good to me.

What are the differences between P67 and Z68? Does the second motherboard lack any key features from the one listed in the first post.

At the moment I am leaning heavily towards the one posted by Cat. And it's cheaper too

[shaithis]

P67 cannot use the on-die GPU in the sandy bridge CPUs.

Z68 can....it also has an extra interface to connect an SSD to which will cache the HDDs connected to the normal SATA ports.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would check this thread for BF3 hardware requirements:

http://forums.hexus.net/pc-gaming/21...ts-thread.html

It seems the game will even run fine on a Phenom II X2 so their E8500 should be fine too.

In fact a Core i3 2100 or Core i3 2120 would do the job it seems and this way they can probably get a better graphics cards,ie,a GTX570. I have a Core i3 2100 and it is fine for all the games I play ATM with an overclocked HD5850 1GB.

Also,what PSU does the OP have ATM??