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Thread ID: 121589	2011-11-01 21:05:00	part purchasing advice	Fishy (10540)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1241341	2011-11-01 21:05:00	So I figured out it was my motherboard that had broken and went on the process of figuring out whether to upgrade or just get a new 775 motherboard for my e8200. Alas I managed to snap up an i7 2600k for $200. Now I have an i7 I need to upgrade my mobo and ram to fit and the last time I kept up with current hardware the Q6600 was high end so I need a bit of help :/ I have about $300 to spend on a mobo and ram. What are my best options? Or I can sell the i7 for ~$400, make $200 profit and spend $700 on a mid range mobo/cpu/ram/gpu, obviously I would rather keep the i7 but which would be a more sensible option? Tried to do a bit of looking for myself and have pretty much no idea, 8GB of ram seems common on pricespy but is that necessary?	Fishy (10540)
1241342	2011-11-01 21:19:00	Depending on what you're going to be doing, but unless you're doing high end video editing / rendering, I'd personally hock off the i7 and get yourself something a lot cheaper. You'd be better to spend a couple of hundy on a CPU / Motherboard / RAM, get a solid graphics card (The Radeon 6950 is going for a good price currently) and then get yourself a nice SSD. Basically, to take advantage of that i7 in any kind of gaming scenario or anything but video / photo / audio editing, you're going to need to spend over a thousand bucks on your graphics cards to say the least ... 4GB of RAM is "sufficient" for most things currently, even gaming. 8GB means you'll have a few gigs sitting largely wasted, but that's not to say you won't use it in the future, and considering how cheap it is, you could argue "why not?".	Chilling_Silence (9)
1241343	2011-11-01 22:40:00	thank you for your advice it is very helpful. in your opinion would an i3 suffice moderate gaming ie playing newish games on medium settings or would an i5 be needed?	Fishy (10540)
1241344	2011-11-01 22:51:00	Until last night, I've had my dual-core 3Ghz underclocked at 2.5Ghz for the last few months because I could never be bothered rebooting to correctly set it up. Even during gaming, with full HD video running on my secondary screen, CPU utilization rarely goes over 50-60%. Now it's running at it's correct 3Ghz, it's even lower. I play LOTRO, TF2 and DotA. My HD4870 is still the bottleneck. Newer games granted require a bit more grunt, but the likes of the AMD Phenom II X4 3.2GHz goes for around $180... As it stands, I'd personally keep your CPU and possibly motherboard, and look at upgrading your RAM / Graphics card first, and get yourself a SSD too for your OS and any games etc to run from. Use your current HDD just for mass-storage of things like video / movies / music / pictures / downloads.	Chilling_Silence (9)
1241345	2011-11-01 22:51:00	All true but if you want to keep that CPU then better to get cheap RAM and a slightly better motherboard. RAM speed effects systemperformance very little. Gaming motherboards based on Z68 or P67 are a bit pricey but if you don't intend to use SLI you don't really need them. H67 or H61 is a lot more affordable depending what features you want. Gamers tend to make a bit too much of MB / RAM in my opinion ( Including Me) any good brand ( Asus, Gigabyte) 1155 motherboard with 4~8Gb RAM and that CPU has as much potential with a single graphics card as the high end gaming ones do. A couple of cheap options that would still be very nice with that CPU are: www.pp.co.nz www.pp.co.nz There are cheaper / more expensive options, I chose a cheap one with USB 3.0 as an example as I think it's a feature worth having in the future. It could always be added via expansion card later if you ignored it for now and got a cheaper board instead. You don't say what your intended use is, it can help with offering advice. For example if you game and don't overclock the i5 2400 has close to 99% of the gaming potential of a stock i7 2600K and is much cheaper. The i7 has hyperthreading for slightly better multithreaded performance and a better graphics core if you plan to use onboard graphics (HD3000 vs HD2000 on i5 non K versions) Edit: post grew while I was typing, i3 basically games as well as a phenom II 4 core black edition and even the 6 core in many cases (just to piss of the AMD supporters). Very few games need more power. i5 however with 4 cores would seem likely to last longer.	dugimodo (138)
1241346	2011-11-01 23:13:00	The main use of it would just be to play games. I don't want to overclock it because of the complications that go with it and I can't really be bothered either. Don't plan to use onboard graphics I have a 4770 I will be using until I can afford something better so the best option would seem to be sell the i7 and buy an i5 2400 or something similar and invest the extra 150 into a video card or something? I noticed that the board you posted was mATX, will that fit into my random no name generic ATX case? @chilling I would do the same thing as you recommended chilling - if I could. The motherboard is broken and as a modern 1155 costs the same as an old 775 I may as well just go the whole hog and upgrade the mobo/ram/cpu and seeing as I scored this i7 for half price I can use it or sell it.	Fishy (10540)
1241347	2011-11-01 23:32:00	mATX is subset of ATX so yes it will fit. The main difference is a couple of less expansion slots and things packed in more tightly. One potential issue is the placement of the sata ports, some of which could be hard to get to if you install a large gaming Graphics card. Usually you can manage with right angle connectors or maybe just not use some ports, but worth thinking about. If you change from ATX to mATX you may have to move a standoff screw or two and check that none are installed where there are no holes in the motherboard, but they are pretty much interchangeable. The site I linked also has 4GB DDR3 dual channel kits for about $50 and a slightly more basic motherboard for just over $100 so you have options. www.computerlounge.co.nz is also very good if you want an alternative, but seem to have less of the cheaper options available.	dugimodo (138)
1241348	2011-11-02 06:04:00	I am using right angled sata connectors in my PC at the moment so that should be no worries. None of the H67 chipset boards support ram above 1333 but 1333 ram will do won't it? At the moment with your guys help this is what I have come up with - Intel i5 2400 3.1Ghz (pricespy.co.nz) Asus P8H67-M LE (pricespy.co.nz) Kingston ValueRAM 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM Kit (2X 4GB) Memory (pricespy.co.nz) Comes to around $500 all up and then later down the track when I can afford it I will jam a new GPU in like a 6870 or something similar	Fishy (10540)
1241349	2011-11-02 06:48:00	Oh and would that all (including a new GPU) run on this - www.ocztechnology.com www.ocztechnology.com	Fishy (10540)
1241350	2011-11-02 18:47:00	1333 RAM is fine, the CPU will limit the RAM speed anyway. And yes the PSU has enough grunt, although myself I prefer fewer rails so I dont have to worry about balancing the load. 1 or two large rails is better in my opinion than 4 smaller ones. That said my previous silverstone PSU with 4 18A rails never missed a beat with a single graphics card.	dugimodo (138)
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