Looking for a cheap one for an I5-2500k

[venur]

Hi I,m looking to buy a new computer going for an i5-2500k with a 3d card: 460gtx 1Gb and 2x4 Gb RAM maybe 2x 4Gb RAM. This comp is only for gaming. I,m planing to use the "auti overclocking config" when the needs will be their (so once I'll play a game where I can't max graphix due to my CPU).

I'd like to have some room for a bether 3d card since I'll probably end going for something bether then a 460gtx 1Gb in a year or 2.

My budget is kinda low ATM so as long as it can use the overclocking abilities of the i5-2500k with a nice video card I'll be happy.

The "Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 motherboard" might be just good enough but I'm to clueless to figure it out.

Thanks for any help you might provid to a clueless guy.

 

[Guest]

that board has a descent newegg rating, it doesnt have very many USB ports though, you might want to think about that before hand. personally i would go with a board that has an 8 pin power connector up top instead of a 4 pins, and one with better vram heat sinks. this is very generalized, but if that board is black its usually better for overclocking.

i would suggest getting this, it has ivy bridge and PCI-E 3.0 support, better vram heat sinks, 8 pin power, same amount of ports and its the same price. its more future proof

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

personally i would save up and get something in the $180-$200 range, they have a better selection of ports and features

 

[danraies]

The Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 is a good motherboard in that price range that is certainly not cutting any corners. A similar option is the ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 for $125.

($130) Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502
($125) ASRock Extreme3 Gen3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

The advantage that you get out of those two boards is the ability to SLI or crossfire. Both of those boards support x8/x8 PCIe modes which is what you want to run two cards. If you only ever plan on running one card and you're willing to give up the SLI or crossfire capabilities, there are cheaper motherboards that only have one PCIe 2.0 x16 slot or only support x16/x4 mode which will be bad for two cards. The following are two good cards in that range.

($100) Gigabyte GA-Z68P-DS3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128520
($100) ASRock PRO3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157251

Personally I'd go for ASRock, but all four are quality boards.

One last thing - you're going to have to add a lot of GPU before you get a CPU bottleneck. With a gtx460 the i5-2500K will not hold back your graphics.

 

[danraies]

vanwazltoff points out the difference between $125 cards and $180 cards and that's usually the size of the port cluster. There's not going to be a noticeable performance difference between cards in those two ranges but you may need the extra ports.

The motherboards that say "gen3" will be compatible with Ivy Bridge processors and PCIe 3.0 x16 graphics cards when they come out. The Extreme3 Gen3 is one such motherboard. To my knowledge Gigabyte does not make compatible boards but I am not a Gigabyte expert.

 

[Guest]

looks like we agree on the asrock. from my understanding ivy bridge is compatible with many z68 boards after a bios update, as to which brands i have no idea, but asrock advertises it for many of their boards. i know many asrock and msi and a few asus boards have pci-e 3.0 which sounds like a native improvement for ivy bridge, or its just to usher in better gpus. not sure if pci-e 3.0 will go mainstream for ivy bridge, but i am assuming it will.

from how it sounds, asrock is ahead of the game

 

[danraies]

Ivy Bridge should work on any Z68 board. In order to use PCIe 3.0 your board has to actually have PCIe 3.0 slots. Not all of them do.

 

[venur]

thanks a lot for the help I think that I,ll go with the ASRock.