# Upgrading CPU, Mobo and RAM - Gaming! Help yo! :)



## Sensi Karate (Oct 24, 2011)

I posted around a month ago, before Bulldozer was released, about upgrading my PC. Posted in another section but thought I might make a post here and see what people think I should upgrade. 

I'll state my current specs:

PSU - Corsair HX750.
GPU - MSI Twin Frozr II 6870.
CPU Cooling - Corsair H50.
Case - HAF 922.
A lot of fans. 

I think thats all the specs needed really.

I am upgrading from a E4800 which has served be good since 2008. Also a Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P board which has bugged out on me (cant overclock with it anymore due to BIOS issues and shit) but has done its job admirably. 

This gear has lasted me essentially 4 years. Currently I am feeling like my computer is starting to struggle with workload and gaming in general and would love to upgrade!

Looking for a CPU, Mobo and RAM since I just recently upgraded all my other kit on my PC. 

I was told to wait for Bulldozer to get released, and I have and from what I read most people arent impressed by it. I want a system that can last me around 2-3 years without struggle. I think the Intel 2500K which is $200 AU atm seems like the best CPU for my needs. Unless someone can state otherwise if their is something better around, then please do so.

Motherboard and RAM are what I am looking for. When I asked about a month ago, people recommended the Asus P8P67 series or Asrock Fatal1ty series mobos. If there is any better options out there please do post. I want a motherboard that can give me essentially all I need for gaming and futureproofing for the next few years since I dont like to upgrade my PC too frequently. 

Want some good quality RAM that can last me for 3 years or so. 

Budget is around $300-$600 AU which should cater for everything. 

What I am going to use my PC for: 
- Gaming (lots of it).
- Streaming.
- Video Editing.
- Upgrading to double monitor in future (22 inch and 28 inch).
- Future proof for 3 years or so.
- Multitasking.

So, CPU, Mobo and RAM. That is what I am looking for.

Thats about it really. I am using http://umart.com.au/newindex2.phtml?bid=4, to buy all my stuff. 

Cheers guys!


----------



## JrRacinFan (Oct 24, 2011)

Up that cpu to a 2600k if budget allows, hyperthreading would help with the video editing and multitasking, even though without HT on a 2500k its still a very strong chip . As for motherboard, http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=106&bid=4&sid=80064 although see when they will be coming in stock. If waiting is a problem, then go up to the Extreme4.
http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=153&bid=4&sid=78126
For memory


----------



## N-Gen (Oct 24, 2011)

For a mobo I'll vote for an ASRock, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a Fatal1ty model, the other non-Fatal1ty ASRock motherboards have just about the same specs with a lower price tag, it just depends if you really care about the color scheme.....like I do.


----------



## Sensi Karate (Oct 24, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> Up that cpu to a 2600k if budget allows, hyperthreading would help with the video editing and multitasking, even though without HT on a 2500k its still a very strong chip . As for motherboard, http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=106&bid=4&sid=80064 although see when they will be coming in stock. If waiting is a problem, then go up to the Extreme4.
> http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=153&bid=4&sid=78126
> For memory



Don't think I want to spend the extra for the 2600k to be honest. And that board looks pretty darn decent for the price point. 



N-Gen said:


> For a mobo I'll vote for an ASRock, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a Fatal1ty model, the other non-Fatal1ty ASRock motherboards have just about the same specs with a lower price tag, it just depends if you really care about the color scheme.....like I do.



I do care about colour scheme somewhat, though it isn't a major factor. For an extra $100 is it worth it to get the Fatal1ty Extreme?

Also what about the Asus Z68s?


----------



## JrRacinFan (Oct 24, 2011)

Sensi Karate said:


> Also what about the Asus Z68s?



They are nice, really tbh I don't know of nor see any differences between the Asus & Asrock boards when support & boards come into play with terms of overclocking. Only thing I can't comment on really is Ivy Bridge compatibility. I'm rather certain the Gen3 Asrock boards will provide future support.

I'm also a form & functionality over cosmetics kinda guy.


----------



## N-Gen (Oct 24, 2011)

Sensi Karate said:


> Don't think I want to spend the extra for the 2600k to be honest. And that board looks pretty darn decent for the price point.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Do you mean Fatal1ty Professional and not extreme?


----------



## Sensi Karate (Oct 24, 2011)

N-Gen said:


> Do you mean Fatal1ty Professional and not extreme?



My bad. Meant the Professional, not extreme.


----------



## entropy13 (Oct 24, 2011)

Get the ASRock Extreme4 Gen3.
Then go G.Skill for the RAM.
CPU would be i7 2600K.


----------



## N-Gen (Oct 24, 2011)

entropy13 said:


> Get the ASRock Extreme4 Gen3.
> Then go G.Skill for the RAM.
> CPU would be i7 2600K.



I'll agree with the mobo, ready with PCI-E 3.0.

Plus, there's not much difference between a Fatal1ty and a normal ASRock board, the Fatal1ty comes with a mouse port and a different color scheme, that's basically it.


----------



## Sensi Karate (Oct 24, 2011)

entropy13 said:


> Get the ASRock Extreme4 Gen3.
> Then go G.Skill for the RAM.
> CPU would be i7 2600K.



I am sticking with the i5 2500k. Will keep my overall spending down if I get the 2500k. 



N-Gen said:


> I'll agree with the mobo, ready with PCI-E 3.0.
> 
> Plus, there's not much difference between a Fatal1ty and a normal ASRock board, the Fatal1ty comes with a mouse port and a different color scheme, that's basically it.



Cheers. However when I asked the same question a few weeks ago most people told me to go the ASUS z68 series over ASRock.  :l

Asrock Fatal1ty Pro - $256
ASRock Z68 Extreme4-Gen3 Z68 - $180
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 MB (suggested by JrRacingFan) - $137
Asus P8Z68-M Pro - $143

That is my motherboard list so far, but I think the Fatal1ty is out of the question. I think I want to save as much money as possible.

And isn't MSI or Gigabyte worth a look?

And what G.Skill is best bang for the buck?


----------



## JrRacinFan (Oct 24, 2011)

Sensi Karate said:


> And isn't MSI or Gigabyte worth a look?



http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=106&bid=4&sid=77311

I don't see any MSI boards listed in your store of choice.


----------



## N-Gen (Oct 24, 2011)

Personally I'd opt for ASRock over ASUS, it was the other way round, but the ASUS boards I had always got a bit messy, same with a friend of mine, however the ASRock board I got 2 years ago is still going solid and has never given me 1 single problem, hence why I now opt for ASRock.


----------



## blaznee (Oct 24, 2011)

Looks fair.. I'd opt for the 2600k though for videoediting duties... I have never tried ASRock boards, but they seem to be mighty popular.. I dared to go Asus myself for the first time in 10 years (always had bad experience with them), and although I was lucky I build 2 very similar machines for friends, and 1 of the motherboards had a defect (boot issues, crashes etc).. So that's a 33% doa rate right there .. I'm quite happy with the way it performs though.

Besides that I'd proooobably stretch the budget to a Nvidia 560ti or even 580gtx, I have always felt Nvidia was better at supporting their products in the long run. But if you like ATI go for the chosen one..


----------



## Sensi Karate (Oct 24, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=106&bid=4&sid=77311
> 
> I don't see any MSI boards listed in your store of choice.



There are two on the site, they are below the ASRock. (They are P and H boards those, so guess they are out of the question.)



N-Gen said:


> Personally I'd opt for ASRock over ASUS, it was the other way round, but the ASUS boards I had always got a bit messy, same with a friend of mine, however the ASRock board I got 2 years ago is still going solid and has never given me 1 single problem, hence why I now opt for ASRock.



I have had quite a few ASUS items (not motherboards, but laptops etc) and haven't had any issues with them. I have never used an ASRock product before. 



blaznee said:


> Looks fair.. I'd opt for the 2600k though for videoediting duties... I have never tried ASRock boards, but they seem to be mighty popular.. I dared to go Asus myself for the first time in 10 years (always had bad experience with them), and although I was lucky I build 2 very similar machines for friends, and 1 of the motherboards had a defect (boot issues, crashes etc).. So that's a 33% doa rate right there .. I'm quite happy with the way it performs though.
> 
> Besides that I'd proooobably stretch the budget to a Nvidia 560ti or even 580gtx, I have always felt Nvidia was better at supporting their products in the long run. But if you like ATI go for the chosen one..



Already have a MSI Twin Razr II 6870. Dont plan on switching. And I prefer ATI.


So out of that list, what would be the best option, not including the fatal1ty.


----------



## Crap Daddy (Oct 24, 2011)

Extreme 4


----------



## JrRacinFan (Oct 24, 2011)

Sensi Karate said:


> There are two on the site



Yeah i see them now. Even though the GD80 is nice board, I wouldn't recommend it as there are much nicer boards listed for just as much or cheaper. You wouldn't want the other one, it's an H61, mainly used for HTPC's and not mainstream/enthusiast desktop towers.


----------



## Sensi Karate (Oct 24, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> Yeah i see them now. Even though the GD80 is nice board, I wouldn't recommend it as there are much nicer boards listed for just as much or cheaper. You wouldn't want the other one, it's an H61, mainly used for HTPC's and not mainstream/enthusiast desktop towers.



Cheers for the advice.

What is the difference between the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 and Extreme3?


----------



## JrRacinFan (Oct 24, 2011)

Sensi Karate said:


> Cheers for the advice.
> 
> What is the difference between the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 and Extreme3?



From what I can gather, 2 more SATAIII's strapped to a seperate Marvell controller.


----------



## bucketface (Oct 24, 2011)

just going to list 2 other good stores in AUS 
http://pccasegear.com/
http://www.msy.com.au/default.jsp
also this can help find cheapest price on something with a list of stores and prices.
www.staticice.com.au
this ram should be good enough:
http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=153&bid=4&sid=59834

the diff between Asrock E3 and E4 doesn't seem to be that big. e4 has a usb3 bracket. 
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_711_1183&products_id=18137
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_711_1183&products_id=18041
they list all the details.. good for a comparison. personally i'd save the money and get the E3.
and 2500k is deffinitely the better choice unless you feel like paying 50% more for less than 20% perf increase.


----------



## MatTheCat (Oct 24, 2011)

Sensi Karate said:


> So, CPU, Mobo and RAM. That is what I am looking for.
> 
> Thats about it really. I am using http://umart.com.au/newindex2.phtml?bid=4, to buy all my stuff.
> 
> Cheers guys!



I have recently upgraded from an E8400 (which I had running at 3.85Ghz) to the following:

i7 2600K
8GB Corsair Vengeance Red 1866MHz
MSI Z68A GD80 (G3)

The games that i am playing at the moment (Deus Ex and Pro Evo Soccer) aren't really that demanding to notice a huge difference, but I have installed the Holy Grail of gamers benchmarks, Crysis, and I can tell that finally, with the overclock, I have a rig that can to all extents and purposes max this game out (*NB**) and keep the frame rates at a constant 60 FPS regardless of what action is going on and/or what memory leaks the program is pissing my computers resources out. 

(*NB**) FSAA = x2, Shaders = High, Shadows = High. All other Settings = Very High (DX10).

In Crysis, it feels like the performance has doubled (or even more than doubled). Of course, the upgrade wasn't intended for maxing out Crysis, but more in anticipation of BF3, for which a quad core (hence i72600K/2500K cos lets face it, there aint no other logical choice at the moment) is a pre-requisite.

*For futureproofing, the mobo (MSI Z68A) is PCIe 3.0 ready*, a feature which to utilise will need a PCIe 3.0 CPU (i.e. *Ivy Bridge*) and PCIe 3.0 devices. From the current crop of available Ivy Bridge ready, PCIe 3.0 motherboards available at the moment, I picked this one on the back of a collection of pretty positive reviews. Also for overclockers, this board has a raft of tweakable settings that i never even seen on any other mobo that I had. A great thing if you know what your doing, perhaps not so much if you are like me and get a bit confused about what everything is. Still I managed a stable 24/7 overclock @ 4.6Ghz without having to think too much, keeping the voltage under 1.35v, and I am sure this can be bettered in due course if I find that I am being CPU bottlenecked in any games. I paid over the odds for the 2600K instead of the 2500K, yet I have found that I have disabled hyper-threading in order to keep my temperatures down beneath 70C (at 100% load during 60 minutes stress test). Being primarily a gamer, I see no need for hyper threading (there are simply no games that make efficient use of it) if it means my CPU runs hotter.

My Ram 8Gb running at 1866Mhz is probably overkill, as i believe 1600MHz is the overclockers sweetspot for the i72xxxK series, but the 'faster' RAM only costs ten quid more than the slower rated RAM, so what the hell. With regards to increasing my overclock in the future, I am sure that having the faster rated RAM will give me more options to play around with.

You say that you do a lot of mutlitasking/video editing, and for this the 2600K would clearly be the better choice. However, if you have an eye on an Ivy Bridge upgrade in Spring 2012, which will plug straight into that Z68A mobo, then perhaps the 2500K being considerably cheaper (for the same gaming performance) is a much wiser choice.


----------



## Hayder_Master (Oct 24, 2011)

For motherboard i would say gigabyte issd, extra 20 Gb SSD will very useful to you, you can check many reviews about it
for cpu i would say 2600k


----------



## Sensi Karate (Oct 25, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> From what I can gather, 2 more SATAIII's strapped to a seperate Marvell controller.



Mm. So not that much of a difference.



bucketface said:


> just going to list 2 other good stores in AUS
> http://pccasegear.com/
> http://www.msy.com.au/default.jsp
> also this can help find cheapest price on something with a list of stores and prices.
> ...



I've used those websites before, but I find umart is either $10 more or $10 less compared to them and I can essentially pick it up my gear from umart the day after I order it (from there local shop) so that is why I use them. And yeah I am sold on the 2500k, should be fine for me imo. Also I looked at the colour scheme of the E3 and E4, and the E3 looks remarkably better. Cheers man, this information is going to help me out a lot.



MatTheCat said:


> I have recently upgraded from an E8400 (which I had running at 3.85Ghz) to the following:
> 
> i7 2600K
> 8GB Corsair Vengeance Red 1866MHz
> ...



I was thinking of upgrading to the 2500k and if needed, getting a Ivy Bridge CPU if they are worth it. Thanks for the information, helps out greatly. 



Hayder_Master said:


> For motherboard i would say gigabyte issd, extra 20 Gb SSD will very useful to you, you can check many reviews about it
> for cpu i would say 2600k



I already have an SSD and dont feel like spending that much on a motherboard for that SSD.


----------



## Sensi Karate (Oct 25, 2011)

So currently I am going for:

ASRock Extreme 3.
Intel 2500K.
Dont know about RAM.

Though I am still looking at the ASUS motherboard (Asus P8Z68-M PRO) and the ASRock Extreme4.

More RAM help would be great.


----------



## Sensi Karate (Oct 25, 2011)

How far could I overclock the Intel 2500k on a ASRock Extreme 4 or 3.

Would there be any performance difference between the two boards. They are the main ones I am weighing up to buy. I am reading of issues with the Extreme 3 board, so maybe spending the extra $50 is worth it for the Extreme 4. Gah.


----------



## Hayder_Master (Oct 25, 2011)

Asrock e4 is cool, and did you check last MSI Z68 mobo with gen. 3.0 pci-E, it's really impressive.


----------



## Sensi Karate (Oct 25, 2011)

Hayder_Master said:


> Asrock e4 is cool, and did you check last MSI Z68 mobo with gen. 3.0 pci-E, it's really impressive.



Yeah seen them, they look really good, but unfortunately not stocked at umart. :l

Still contesting on whether to fork out an extra $50 for the ASRock Extreme 4 or just get the Extreme 3. And havent decided on RAM yet. :l

Also forgot to even ask, would a Corsair H50 fit into the Z68 bracket (more specifically, a ASRock Ex4/3)?


----------



## Sensi Karate (Oct 25, 2011)

Dont know why I didnt see this, but just found:

Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 - $155. WOW. So is that an instabuy over the ASRock Extremes?


----------



## JrRacinFan (Oct 25, 2011)

Sensi Karate said:


> Dont know why I didnt see this, but just found:
> 
> Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 - $155. WOW. So is that an instabuy over the ASRock Extremes?



The thing about that board thats somewhat of a con is the very skimpy VRM heatsink, also Ivy Bridge compatibility: unsure on that. The E3/4 Gen3's I'm rather certain will have future support. Just in case you want to drop a more powerful CPU in it at a later date.

EDIT:
For RAM:
Sticking to my guns here with the Gskill 2133 CL9 2x4GB kit.


----------



## Sensi Karate (Oct 25, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> The thing about that board thats somewhat of a con is the very skimpy VRM heatsink, also Ivy Bridge compatibility: unsure on that. The E3/4 Gen3's I'm rather certain will have future support. Just in case you want to drop a more powerful CPU in it at a later date.
> 
> EDIT:
> For RAM:
> Sticking to my guns here with the Gskill 2133 CL9 2x4GB kit.



Ok cheers for the RAM, I will look into it now.  The Gigabyte board is Ivy Bridge compatible. The VRM Heatsink looks better then the one on the Extreme4 board imo. :X

This is the main list atm:

Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 - $150
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 $137
ASRock Z68 Extreme4-Gen3 - $180
Asus P8Z68-M PRO Z68 - $143

The gigabyte looks like it has the best features for the price, but I love the ASRock Z68 Extreme 3. Idk much about the ASUS board. :l Still cant decide. T____T


----------



## JrRacinFan (Oct 25, 2011)

Sensi Karate said:


> The Gigabyte board is Ivy Bridge compatible.



Oh ok, like I said, wasn't too too sure. I know Gigabyte on AMD stuff is decent, heard they are meh so-so with Intel. Just giving my .02.

Also use the edit button, it will help remove alot of double posts.


----------



## brandonwh64 (Oct 25, 2011)

Intel boards I would go with would be ASROCK, and ASUS. Never had an issue out of those boards as far as stability and OCing.


----------



## Sensi Karate (Oct 25, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> Oh ok, like I said, wasn't too too sure. I know Gigabyte on AMD stuff is decent, heard they are meh so-so with Intel. Just giving my .02.
> 
> Also use the edit button, it will help remove alot of double posts.



Yeah I know about editing, just got out of the habit of using it ever since I stopped going on forums regularly. :L And my current motherboard is a Gigabyte and have had no issues with it so far (just looks crap blue. xD)



brandonwh64 said:


> Intel boards I would go with would be ASROCK, and ASUS. Never had an issue out of those boards as far as stability and OCing.



Cheers.


----------



## JrRacinFan (Oct 25, 2011)

Sensi Karate said:


> my current motherboard is a Gigabyte and have had no issues with it so far



Was referring to current gen stuff. The EP45 lineup was/is solid.


----------



## brandonwh64 (Oct 25, 2011)

Also since the 2700K just released, the 2600K will most likely have price drops so that would be something to look into. Even though I don't need it, I am a HT fan and would probably buy the 2600K if I ever upgraded to SB


----------



## Sensi Karate (Oct 25, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> Was referring to current gen stuff. The EP45 lineup was/is solid.



Well I havent seen many bad reviews about this Gigabyte board. Care to elaborate? Also it has that nifty Touch BIOS feature. 

@brandonwh64: Cheers for the information!

EDIT: MY BAD. Just found out umart doesnt stock the Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3P Z68 but rather the Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 (NO P DERP, I didnt notice until after I read it over a thousand times! My bad). So yeah idk know. The closest thing to the Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3P Z68 is the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3R-B3 which is $176.

So now I am unsure again. 

Asus P8Z68-M PRO Z68 - $143
Asus P8Z68-V LE  - $159
Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 - $150 
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 $137
ASRock Z68 Extreme4-Gen3 - $180
Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3R-B3 - $176.

EDIT: (What is the difference between the M and V ASUS boards?)
Only reason that I am resisting the ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 is because I am hearing some people saying that the BIOS software is restricting them past 4.5GHZ on 2500k or 2600k.

WHAT DO?!?

EDIT EDIT @JrRacingFan: Just looked at the RAM again. Is 2133Mhz ovrerkill? 

EDIT EDIT EDIT: Just thinking,  the ASRock Z68 Extreme3 only comes with 4 USB ports right? I use around 4-6.

FINAL EDIT BE4 SLEEP: Will the Extreme 3 board be able to OC to 5GHZ with a H50 (if it can mount)?
How about the other boards?

I am worried if I get the Extreme3 i will be dissapointed as it wont be able to overclock as far as the extreme4 (http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/1093459-asrock-z68-extreme3-gen3-motherboard.html) <--- people discussing a few weeks back about problems with the BIOS of the Extreme 3 and 4 which wont let them OC that far and stuff. That is my main concern. I want to get my Intel 2500k as far as it can go with my H50 (hopefully above 4.5ghz).


----------



## Sensi Karate (Oct 26, 2011)

Just to keep people updated, I am about to buy it in a few minutes:

Samsung 22X DVDRW Black SATA	
Xigmatek CLF-F1252 120mm Red Fan x 2	
Intel Core i5 2500K Processor LGA1155 3.3GHz CPU	
G Skill 8G(2x4G) DDR3 1600MHZ PC3-12800 CL9(8GBXL)	
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 MB, LGA1155 Intel Z68

About to click accept. 

Cheers for the help everyone.


----------

