• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Looking for a Mobo/CPU/RAM combo to upgrade.

nv40pimp

New Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
121 (0.03/day)
Location
NC, United States
System Name Like a Boss
Processor i5 2500k @ 4.5GHz
Motherboard MSI P67A-G43
Cooling H50 on CPU
Memory 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 XMP
Video Card(s) 1x GTX460 1GB
Storage 120GB Phoenix Pro SSD, 1TB WD Black, 500GB WD Blue
Display(s) Samsung 23'' + Samsung 19''
Case Lian-Li
Power Supply Lian-Li 650W
Software Win 7 Ultimate
I do believe that it is about time to trade up my trusty 4GHz e8400 setup to something a little quicker.

-C2D E8400@ 4.0GHz
-H50 Cooling (would really like to re-use this)
-4GB G.Skill DDR2 800 @ 890
-Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L
-Gigabyte GTX460 1GB (885/2100)
-G.Skill 120GB Phoenix Pro SSD
-WD 1TB Black
-650w Lian-Li PSU

I'm looking for a new mobo, CPU and RAM and im shooting for $250, no more than $300 (maybe if you sweet talk me into it lol)

It's been a while since I kept up with the new AMD's and Intels so I'm a bit lost what's the best bang for buck.

EDIT: I'll list out the programs I use most in case that help steer it one way or another
-Starcraft 2
-BF: BC2
-GTA IV
-Fall Out 3 GOTY
-Portal 2
-Duke Nukem (when it comes out)
-Counterstrike Source (never gets old lol)
-Photoshop CS5
-iTunes
 
Last edited:

brandonwh64

Addicted to Bacon and StarCrunches!!!
Joined
Sep 6, 2009
Messages
19,542 (3.68/day)
Used I7 parts like in my FS threads help :)

Seriously, ATM i would wait until bulldozer or socket 2011. the time is drawing nie!
 
Joined
Apr 29, 2008
Messages
742 (0.13/day)
Location
Auckland
System Name PBD
Processor Core i5 760 @ 4.0GHz
Motherboard Asus Maximus III Gene
Cooling Corsair H-50-1
Memory 4 x 4096mb G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 Cas7
Video Card(s) ASUS GTX 670 DirectCU TOP
Storage Crucial 256GB SSD (system) + 2x Samsung F3 1TB (storage) + 2x 2TB Raid-1 NAS (backup)
Display(s) Dell SP2309w 23" 2048x1152
Case Antec Max Fusion Remote
Power Supply Corsair AX750W
Software Win 7 Pro x64
Used I7 parts like in my FS threads help :)

Seriously, ATM i would wait until bulldozer or socket 2011. the time is drawing nie!

I would imagine that Socket 2011 will be out of his budget, especially at release. Bulldozer may be as well.

However their release may drive down prices of the existing tech.
 

nv40pimp

New Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
121 (0.03/day)
Location
NC, United States
System Name Like a Boss
Processor i5 2500k @ 4.5GHz
Motherboard MSI P67A-G43
Cooling H50 on CPU
Memory 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 XMP
Video Card(s) 1x GTX460 1GB
Storage 120GB Phoenix Pro SSD, 1TB WD Black, 500GB WD Blue
Display(s) Samsung 23'' + Samsung 19''
Case Lian-Li
Power Supply Lian-Li 650W
Software Win 7 Ultimate
I would imagine that Socket 2011 will be out of his budget, especially at release. Bulldozer may be as well.

However their release may drive down prices of the existing tech.

That's kind of what I was thinking. However I could take that time to save up some more.

For the moment I was looking at... (blew my own budget:shadedshu)
i5 2500k
MSI P67A-G43
Corsair Vengence 8GB (2x4gb) kit
$439.97 (yay for bill me later lol, no interest for 6 mo. means $73.33 for 6 mo. and it's paid)

Would you change anything here?
 

Fourstaff

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 29, 2009
Messages
10,018 (1.92/day)
Location
Home
System Name Orange! // ItchyHands
Processor 3570K // 10400F
Motherboard ASRock z77 Extreme4 // TUF Gaming B460M-Plus
Cooling Stock // Stock
Memory 2x4Gb 1600Mhz CL9 Corsair XMS3 // 2x8Gb 3200 Mhz XPG D41
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro+ RX 570 // Asus TUF RTX 2070
Storage Samsung 840 250Gb // SX8200 480GB
Display(s) LG 22EA53VQ // Philips 275M QHD
Case NZXT Phantom 410 Black/Orange // Tecware Forge M
Power Supply Corsair CXM500w // CM MWE 600w
Probably consider Z68 boards, but choices are fine.
 

nv40pimp

New Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
121 (0.03/day)
Location
NC, United States
System Name Like a Boss
Processor i5 2500k @ 4.5GHz
Motherboard MSI P67A-G43
Cooling H50 on CPU
Memory 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 XMP
Video Card(s) 1x GTX460 1GB
Storage 120GB Phoenix Pro SSD, 1TB WD Black, 500GB WD Blue
Display(s) Samsung 23'' + Samsung 19''
Case Lian-Li
Power Supply Lian-Li 650W
Software Win 7 Ultimate
Probably consider Z68 boards, but choices are fine.

What's the advantage of the Z68's?

Also I would like to be able to SLI another GTX 460 down the road. What's the deal with the '2way SLI' in the Z68's? such as this Gigabyte
I'm not real sure what I need to be looking for as far as the PCI express is, (16x,4x) (16x,8x)?
 
Last edited:

nv40pimp

New Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
121 (0.03/day)
Location
NC, United States
System Name Like a Boss
Processor i5 2500k @ 4.5GHz
Motherboard MSI P67A-G43
Cooling H50 on CPU
Memory 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 XMP
Video Card(s) 1x GTX460 1GB
Storage 120GB Phoenix Pro SSD, 1TB WD Black, 500GB WD Blue
Display(s) Samsung 23'' + Samsung 19''
Case Lian-Li
Power Supply Lian-Li 650W
Software Win 7 Ultimate
Well impatient me went ahead and ordered the following
-MSI P67-G43
-i5 Sandy Bridge 2500k
-G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB (2x4gb)
when purchased separately it would cost 444.97
however I got a combo deal on the CPU and RAM and only paid 416.97:cool:
This RAM is 8-8-8-24 rather than 9-9-9-24

My boss is going to buy my old mobo cpu and ram for $200 (287.97 on the egg if purchased new) to build a Hackintosh.
 
Joined
Apr 29, 2008
Messages
742 (0.13/day)
Location
Auckland
System Name PBD
Processor Core i5 760 @ 4.0GHz
Motherboard Asus Maximus III Gene
Cooling Corsair H-50-1
Memory 4 x 4096mb G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 Cas7
Video Card(s) ASUS GTX 670 DirectCU TOP
Storage Crucial 256GB SSD (system) + 2x Samsung F3 1TB (storage) + 2x 2TB Raid-1 NAS (backup)
Display(s) Dell SP2309w 23" 2048x1152
Case Antec Max Fusion Remote
Power Supply Corsair AX750W
Software Win 7 Pro x64
Well impatient me went ahead and ordered the following
-MSI P67-G43
-i5 Sandy Bridge 2500k
-G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB (2x4gb)
when purchased separately it would cost 444.97
however I got a combo deal on the CPU and RAM and only paid 416.97:cool:
This RAM is 8-8-8-24 rather than 9-9-9-24

My boss is going to buy my old mobo cpu and ram for $200 (287.97 on the egg if purchased new) to build a Hackintosh.

Ha ha ha! Impulse buy!

Can't see anything wrong with that. It's what I would have suggested as a buy-now option.
 
Joined
Mar 2, 2009
Messages
5,061 (0.92/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 7600
Motherboard Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
Memory Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-5600 16GBx2
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Gaming OC AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB
Storage TEAMGROUP T-Force Z440 2TB, SPower A60 2TB, SPower A55 2TB, Seagate 4TBx2, Samsung 870 2TB
Display(s) AOC 24G2 + Xitrix WFP-2415
Case Montech Air X
Audio Device(s) Realtek onboard
Power Supply Be Quiet! Pure Power 11 FM 750W 80+ Gold
Mouse Logitech G304
Keyboard Redragon K557 KAIA RGB Mechanical Keyboard
Software Windows 10
If you go SLI with the mobo you bought, it would be x16, x8. That is denoted with the "G" in the name. The "GD" boards from MSI (like mine) would both be x16.
 

nv40pimp

New Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
121 (0.03/day)
Location
NC, United States
System Name Like a Boss
Processor i5 2500k @ 4.5GHz
Motherboard MSI P67A-G43
Cooling H50 on CPU
Memory 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 XMP
Video Card(s) 1x GTX460 1GB
Storage 120GB Phoenix Pro SSD, 1TB WD Black, 500GB WD Blue
Display(s) Samsung 23'' + Samsung 19''
Case Lian-Li
Power Supply Lian-Li 650W
Software Win 7 Ultimate
If you go SLI with the mobo you bought, it would be x16, x8. That is denoted with the "G" in the name. The "GD" boards from MSI (like mine) would both be x16.

How big of a performance hit would it be in SLI if I were to get another GTX460 only running 8x? I've still got time to cancel and reorder if it's really a big difference.
 
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Messages
2,972 (0.61/day)
System Name Old Fart / Young Dude
Processor 2500K / 6600K
Motherboard ASRock P67Extreme4 / Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 DDR3
Cooling CM Hyper TX3 / CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory 16 GB Kingston HyperX / 16 GB G.Skill Ripjaws X
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 1050 Ti / INNO3D RTX 2060
Storage SSD, some WD and lots of Samsungs
Display(s) BenQ GW2470 / LG UHD 43" TV
Case Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced / Thermaltake Core v31
Audio Device(s) Asus Xonar D1/Denon PMA500AE/Wharfedale D 10.1/ FiiO D03K/ JBL LSR 305
Power Supply Corsair TX650 / Corsair TX650M
Mouse Steelseries Rival 100 / Rival 110
Keyboard Sidewinder/ Steelseries Apex 150
Software Windows 10 / Windows 10 Pro
Almost nothing. The x8 PCIE 2.0 is the same as x16 PCIE 1.1 which is found on P35 chipset for example so you will be fine.
 

nv40pimp

New Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
121 (0.03/day)
Location
NC, United States
System Name Like a Boss
Processor i5 2500k @ 4.5GHz
Motherboard MSI P67A-G43
Cooling H50 on CPU
Memory 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 XMP
Video Card(s) 1x GTX460 1GB
Storage 120GB Phoenix Pro SSD, 1TB WD Black, 500GB WD Blue
Display(s) Samsung 23'' + Samsung 19''
Case Lian-Li
Power Supply Lian-Li 650W
Software Win 7 Ultimate
Thanks guys. This new setup is awesome!

Boot time til Firefox is open is only 29 seconds on this G.skill SSD:cool:
 

nv40pimp

New Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
121 (0.03/day)
Location
NC, United States
System Name Like a Boss
Processor i5 2500k @ 4.5GHz
Motherboard MSI P67A-G43
Cooling H50 on CPU
Memory 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 XMP
Video Card(s) 1x GTX460 1GB
Storage 120GB Phoenix Pro SSD, 1TB WD Black, 500GB WD Blue
Display(s) Samsung 23'' + Samsung 19''
Case Lian-Li
Power Supply Lian-Li 650W
Software Win 7 Ultimate
Pictures are up!



In the Case Gallery here

Thanks again!
 
Last edited:
Top