Need advice for new Mobo, cpu, graphics card

[Wayneh]

I'm preparing to upgrade my pc and was hoping to get some Mobo and CPU advice.

I've already chosen my graphics card: a GeForce GTX 660

Right now I have a Gigabyte Mobo and AMD cpu.
I'm not too concerned with Intel vs AMD (except for cost) as my current AMD performs flawlessly.

So, I'd like to stay around $300 for a new mobo and cpu.

I believe the mobo needs PCI 3 X16 to handle the GeForce.

Any suggestions?

 

[Wayneh]

jallenlabs - seems like a reasonable choice - but why is there video out on the mobo if there is no onboard video chipset? Am I missing something?

 

[arzbhatia]

Why do you need a video out if you're getting a graphic card!

(Oh and the motherboard DOES have a video out!)

 

[abekl]

jallenlabs - seems like a reasonable choice - but why is there video out on the mobo if there is no onboard video chipset? Am I missing something?

Yeah, the Intel CPUs have on board graphics built right into the CPU, that's why there's video out on the MB.

 

[Wayneh]

So, is there a comparable Intel CPU w/out video?

Maybe less expensive w/out video, or a faster version for the same price?

Or, is AMD a better choice?

 

[abekl]

No other choice on the intel side, they all come with integrated graphics now. There's no performance penalty for having it though - that's important. Pricewise, you do pay a small premium for having on board graphics, but at the same time, Intel gives you better performance across the board in their CPUs compared to AMD. All in all, Intel makes the better CPU, but AMD gives you slightly better bang for the buck.

 

[Guest]

there really is no reason to get a Z77 (or Z75) motherboard unless you get a cpu that can overclock ( a K version) a B75 mother is much cheaper and along with not overclocking the other feature is only 1 sata 6GBs port; but unless you are getting two SSDs it won't be a problem since hard drives do not exceed sata 3GBs bandwidth:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($190.39 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock B75 PRO3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $311.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-09-22 11:04 EDT-0400)

if the ~ $12 over is a problem then you can look at:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-2300 2.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($176.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock B75 PRO3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $298.03
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-09-22 11:06 EDT-0400)

but honestly you would be much better off getting the i5-3470. i aslo took the liberty of adding memory to the upgrade since i did not know if you had some already.

 

[Wayneh]

Thanks everyone - great advice and prompt too!

I'll probably go with:

Intel i5-3470
ASRock B75
Corsair Vengeance 8gb
MSI N660 GeForce GTX660

Total $624.00

If you know of a good place to sell my existing stuff when I upgrade, let me know!

Sapphire Radeon HD5870 2GB GDDR5 (Eyefinity 6 Edition)
Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P 790X RT
AMD Phenom PH II X4 940 BLK 3.0G RT
GSkil 2Gx2|GSK F2-8500CL5D 4GB

 

[Guest]

you can try your local craig's list or the forum here at tom's
Classifieds Forum

 

[Wayneh]

Great - thanks again!

 

[Wayneh]

Best answer selected by Wayneh.

 

[Wayneh]

Sorry - had to open this again - what do you think about this CPU/Mobo:
Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz
ASRock B75 PRO3 LGA 1155

It's a bit more, but no onboard graphics and much faster....Opinions?

 

[Guest]

Sorry - had to open this again - what do you think about this CPU/Mobo:
Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz
ASRock B75 PRO3 LGA 1155

It's a bit more, but no onboard graphics and much faster....Opinions?

the difference between any ivy i5 and that xeon is the xeon has hyperthreading while the i5 has onboard graphics. (doh)

if you are doing something like video rendering/editing then the xeon is a good option. but if you are gaming the i5 would do well enough.

 

[Wayneh]

I read some other forums since I posted this, and the consensus seems to be that the i5 is better for gaming.

However, most people said that because it can be overclocked reliably, not be cause it's better by design.

The Xeon has higher benchmark specs though and no native graphics (which I don't need) so I thought
it might be a better choice...still not sure.

Can I assume that a mobo that handles an 1155 socket will support either chip?

 

[Guest]

check the CPU compatibility for any motherboard you are looking at. most likely would need a bios upgrade for the 6 series (sandy) chipset.

i have read around this forum of folks having an asrock Z77 extreme4 w/o any problems.

 

[Wayneh]

check the CPU compatibility for any motherboard you are looking at. most likely would need a bios upgrade for the 6 series (sandy) chipset.

i have read around this forum of folks having an asrock Z77 extreme4 w/o any problems.

OK, I'll do that. I think I saw something about that in another forum too.

I'll probably stick to the i5 since it's primarily for gaming....thanks.