Hi Guys, Im after some friendly advice! I'm currently running: i7 2600k @3.4 GHz Asus P8P67 Pro mobo Kingston Hyper x Grey (8GB - 2x4 GB) GTX 580 Gainward Phantom (3GB version) Creative fatal1ty Pro intel SSD (120GB) Corsair AX850 Modular PSU Coolermaster HAF X Now, The system is only Just over year old. Im looking to upgrade. (My wife - also a gamer - is envious of how my games look and thinks i should give my rig to her ) So, A couple of questions. Since I built this rig, I have completely lost touch with new tech coming out. So I'm unsure what a few things are. Firstly, For a new MoBo - What the hell is with all the new Chipsets?? Z68, B75, H77, Z77 X58, X79 etc... Im a bit confused. I know my current system is 1155 - what are the pro's cons of the 1366 and 2011 boards? (I know the CPU will need to match). Some help deciding which chipset to go with would be very helpful. Secondly, My current GTX 580, to me, is still a beast. I play all my games at 1920x1200 and play everything maxed out, without any problems. However, Im just about to go to a new monitor with a 2560 x 1440 resolution - Will the card still cut the mustard? How much of a step up is the 680 over the 580? Im particularly interested in this! So yeah, thats about all! Overall Im very happy with my current system - But the wife is stealing it and leaving me to build a new rig (Bonus) and i want something good! I will be re using my Sound Card, PSU and case plus all HDD's - Reccomendations for a new Mobo, CPU, RAM and if i should upgrade the GFX Card would be awesome. The system is for gaming mainly, and although i dont currently plan to overclock, I may do in the future. Thanks for reading my mini novel, feedback is appreciated!
If this rig is purely for gaming, I would go with a i5 ivy bridge, as games show very little difference with an i7. Mobo: not sure, maybe someone else will help you out on this although I would recommend looking at some z77 reviews, as thats probably the chipset your aiming for. Ram: 8gb of 1600mhz is fine. Graphics card: at 1080 a 670 will max everything out, at 1440 a 680 would probably be needed to do that. Hope this helps
Thanks for the reply. I will stick with i7, as cost isnt a massive issue! Although I dont want to go too crazy on the build. Z77 is the chipset of choice right now?
Ivy Bridge is only around 5-10% faster than Sandy Bridge. Do not upgrade the CPU, it just isn't worth it. You should be able to easily overclock your current 2600K to 4.5GHz. That should give a decent performance boost. If your GPU maxes out the games you play, why do you need to upgrade? edit: Ah, I see, you are building a second system. In that case a 3570K is a good choice. A Z77 board is good for that. H77 and B75 are budget chipsets that don't support overclocking. Z68 is the Sandy Bridge equivalent of Z77, while H61 is the budget version. X58 is for older LGA1366 chips, and X79 is for LGA2011.
nothing at all wrong with the rig. I think upgrading the whole rig would be a waste of money overclock the CPU and get a 680 if you must. but i think what's going on here is you have to build a rig for your wife and you don't like the thought if her having the newer rig lol
Thanks for the replies! The Wife insists I upgrade while she gets my old components (CPU, RAM, Mobo and GFX) and I build her up a system that way. Thanks for the explanation on the Chipsets. Makes sense now! Is there an easy way for a complete beginner to apply a modest overclock to this system? Whilst being air cooled?
There are so many guides on the internet, but Ill summarise. Increase core multiplier by 1, test for stability. Repeat until more voltage is needed, then increase voltage a bit then test for stability. Most people get to 4.5-4.6ghz, with about 1.3v I think. gtfy.com/?q=Overclocking+i5+3570k
Honestly if its for gaming, it will make practice zero difference, I would spend the money on a 4gb 680 instead maybe/ a better motherboard.
Cheers for all the answers. I may even end up waiting for the new Nvidia Cards (685 or 700 series, whichever comes first) If they look like they will drop in the next 6 months at least! I will look at a few overclocking tutorials, see if I can bump up to 4gHz easily enough.
