I am looking to seriously overhaul my ageing Q6600 system and am after some advice on a mobi and processor. I mainly game with my existing rig (BF3 and Skyrim predominatly) with a little photo editing thrown in. I am planning on keeping the following: PowerColor HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDMI Dual Mini DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card Be Quiet 530W Pure Power PSU DVD drive Couple of old but perfectly functional HDD Couple of minor points, I will not be overclocking. I bought the Q6600 with the thought of doing so but 5 years on just haven't gone through with it and won't. I am also looking to purchase a SSD, possibly at the same time. Budget wise I am a little flexible I guess but lets not go crazy here and I am not a AMD or Intel snob so I am willing to look at any and all options.
I'd go for something like this Tonnes of power there for you. Or for an extra tenner, you can get the unlocked 2500 just in case you want to overclock
Looks like a good recommendation, you can't go wrong with the i5 2500(K) for gaming and it would certainly cope with the photo editing fine. If you aren't going to overclock it then the stock cooler will be fine too. Likewise your power supply should be fine for that kind of load. Just out of interest, why no overclock? I've got the 2500K myself (as I'm sure many people on these forums have) and took mine to 4.4 GHz with no additional voltage. For SSDs, I've got the Vertex 3 MAX IOPS myself but many people seem to like the Crucial M4, it seems to be a fairly solid choice.
That seems like a solid set up, for the extra tenner I would say it is worth getting the 2500k as it really is dead easy to overclock in the gigabyte bios, using the Ga-z68a-d3-b3 (which coincidentally I'm looking to sell) I hit 4.5ghz on stock voltage, only needed to change the multiplier. How are you on the case front, do you have one already or are you looking ( if you are do you have any specific needs such as space for liquid cooling?)
With the i5 2500K overclocking is a no brainer. Even is you don't for an extra tenner the 2500K represents better value for money.
I would vouch for the 2500k as well, and as they have all said, you don't plan to overclock now, it is very simple to OC that CPU and have some fun down the line with it. The resale value will be higher too when the time comes.
Probably lack of knowledge and pure laziness. I know I should do it..... My lack of brains may be why I haven't overclocked before but if I go down the 2500 route I agree. I have got a case (of sorts) but am looking to change other key requirements first. My other half may not understand if I have a new case sat in the study As for liquid cooling..... I'm assuming that no-one is going to recommend AMD as an alternative (cheaper?) option then??
