Upgrading to sandy bridge?

[mcg75]

I've had my i7 860 since 2009 and despite my best efforts, I haven't been able to get past 3.6ghz without 90c temps despite trying 2 different coolers and a new case. I've accepted that my 860 runs hot and that is that.

With my birthday coming up soon, my fiance wanted to know what to get me. Since I can't think of anything I really needed, I said what the heck and I'm going to upgrade to sandy bridge.

Here's what I have in my wishlist from newegg.

ASUS P8P67-M PRO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131707

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445

I went with the micro-atx version simply because I didn't need all the features the full size does. According to reviews, it overclocks well and has usb and sata 3 connections.

I went with the 2500k because most of my use is gaming and surfing. I do some high def video creation with Vegas but not enough to justify the extra $100 for the 2600k.

I went with that ram because it's rated to run at 1.5v @ 1600mhz which leaves room for overclocking if needed.

Opinions?

Thanks.

 

[mcg75]

I should have mentioned what the rest of my system is. Corsair 600t case, EVGA GTX 580, Crucial C300 64gb os drive, 2 seagate storage drives, Corsair AX750 psu.

 

[jerreddredd]

I like it.

Thats the mb/ram/cpu set up I am running. I have my i5 OC'd @4.5Ghz without even trying. My 2nd GTX 570 SC is in the mail... going to run SLI on that board

You will have more room than I do in your case, so get a good cooler. Hyper 212, add a second fan for push pull is the most economical solution. the Gemini II cooler that I am running is real good too. Of course I have a 140CMF Apollish Vegas fan on top of it.

 

[mcg75]

I actually have a Hyper 212+ just sitting here. It was the first cooler on the 860. I replaced it with an Xigmatek Gaia that runs slightly cooler and is less noisy for about the same price.

Glad to see you are happy with your setup. Did the ram run at specified settings right out of the box or did you have to change it in bios?

 

[jerreddredd]

seems to me they ran at 1333Mhz which is default for the p67 mb. but when I fired up AI Suite and used the auto over clocking utility, it adjusted them up to 1648Mhz. I am up to 4.5Ghz on the CPU.