What's the best Mobo and Ram set for an i5-4670K?

[12pak]

Looking to upgrade and I want to use the Toms recommended i5-4670K, but I have no idea what's the best mobo or ram to go with it. I prefer to use G-Skill ram, if someone can tell me the best set to use with that processor and whatever motherboard gets recommended here.

PS: I want at least 8 gigs of ram

Thanks,

 

[RCguitarist]

I'd go with a set of ripjawsX. I have 12GB of that and it plays well with my i5. For the Motherboard, if you plan on overclocking, go with a z87 or z97 board. If not, an H87 or H97 will work just as well. Stick with ASUS, Asrock, MSI or Gigabyte and you should get a reliable board with good features. Make sure it has a 1150 cpu socket.

 

[12pak]

I'm a little confused. I tried reading up on the Z97 and Z87 boards. The Z87 boards are pricier. Which series is better? Also, if I wanted to go with a Gigabyte (this is my current board and I've never had issue with it, so I think I'll still with them), which is the best Gigabyte board? In looking at their website, they have WAY too many variations. I don't care about it having on board wi-fi. I just want the best game performance with an i5-4670K. Any more detailed recommendations out there?

 

[RCguitarist]

I'm a little confused. I tried reading up on the Z97 and Z87 boards. The Z87 boards are pricier. Which series is better? Also, if I wanted to go with a Gigabyte (this is my current board and I've never had issue with it, so I think I'll still with them), which is the best Gigabyte board? In looking at their website, they have WAY too many variations. I don't care about it having on board wi-fi. I just want the best game performance with an i5-4670K. Any more detailed recommendations out there?

All of the Z boards are basically the same when it comes to performance. Just look for the one that has the features you want and for the price you want. Some of the higher end boards will have heat shields and more extreme cooling, but unless you are doing heavy overclocking of all of your components, then you won't need that.

This level of boards will do everything you want unless you are overclocking everything very heavily or are wanting to run multiple GPUs:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128677

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128715

 

[12pak]

Ok, below is what I have selected at the moment. Does this look good? Anyone have any suggestions to change?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132125
mobo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116899
cpu

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231568
ram

I have a question about the ram. Which performs better, 4 4gig sticks or 2 8 gig sticks?

I'm pulling the trigger tonight so any help is much appreciated.

 

[terry4536]

The CPU & Motherboard are excellent choices. I prefer G. SKILL memory as well. I would recommend CL9 1866 at 1.5V like these Snipers. They are at the optimum for price and performance. You can select faster RAM, but you begin to spend more for less effect.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231627

 

[12pak]

Terry, about the ram, that is 1866, but on intel's website is says the i5-4670k only supports up to 1600. Would the ram you linked give me any more performance than the ram I linked? I notice it is $10 dollars cheaper than my selection.

 

[terry4536]

The motherboards for Intel CPUs accept faster RAM, but technically it is listed as OC or overclocked. Basically it means that you have to manually set the speed to 1866 or use XMP.

It is faster, but whether or not you could tell the difference I don't know. Probably the only way you would be able to notice i would be if you were transferring large files. I don't know why it is cheaper. I noticed that two, but I would have selected it anyway.

The RAM that you linked is for :
"G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-16GXM ".

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($228.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $608.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-29 18:58 EDT-0400)

 

[12pak]

It looks like price wise 2 8gig sticks is about the same as 4 4gig sticks. Do any of you know if there is any performance difference in a 2 stick or 4 stick configuration?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Go with the 2 x 8 modules.

 

[12pak]

Argh! Too late, I went with a 4 x 4 set of Gskill snipers, the 2400 set. Anyways, thank you guys for your help. Don't know which asnwer I should give the credit to as it was a group effort.

 

[12pak]

Update: The install went flawlessly. Was much easier to install the Hyper 212 EVO on this board than on my last Gigabyte AM3+ board. More room around the CPU on this one. Was worried about the RAM performance after I picked the 4 x 4 instead of the 2 x 8, but it seems to be working great. The EZ Tune tool in the BIOS has the CPU running at 4.48 Ghz, and the ram over the 2200 mark. Hasn't crashed yet. It stayed below 45 C during a 3d Mark Firestrike test. Scored 7092. Wish I knew more about Overclocking. That 4.48 makes me a little nervous. As long as it stays cool, should I be worried?

Thanks again for yall's help.

 

[terry4536]

I wouldn't run it that fast for day to day stuff. You will only shorten the lifespan of the CPU.

I started out with a 2 x 4GB 1866 CL9 set of G SKILL Ripjaws. then added another set of identical RAM. So I have 4x 4GB set of RAM as well. It runs fine.