Going with the P67 board is a good call, Glowyrm. Sometimes I forget it's still around.
As far as the cooler....anything that's been mentioned by me or Glow will get your i5 up to 4.7 easily. It's pretty hard not to, as the processor ramps up pretty easily. I wanted the Spire Thermax, but Newegg didn't have it so I went with the CM 212 Plus.
Unless you want one of the three main items a Z68 board gives (onboard video, ssd caching and quicksync), go with a P67. I wanted the onboard video in case I flashed my video card wrong (and I did, so it saved me). ASRock is solid...I'm partial to Asus simply because their uEFI Bios ui is so far ahead of everything else out there. In the end, you can't go wrong with either brand.
What about this fan (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835103046)? Or is it just overkill. The other one you linked looks pretty good too, just figured I'd ask.
Good deal about the PSU. As far as the fan...I've never used it so I couldn't speak to it's effectiveness. It may be worth searching around for some reviews or comparisons.
With the cooling it has, I'd have a hard time believing it wouldn't overclock higher than the EVGA. It may be another item to check actual reviews on. The Newegg comments are nice, but they can't replace a review that Anand or another tech site does. Another you may want to look at is http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127582&Tpk=msi%20570 Like the Asus it is overclocked slightly and comes with a superior cooling solution than most cards. A bit pricier though. Just throwing out options
The EVGA is nice, but with the stock cooling and smaller fan, it's going to be louder. It really comes down to personal choice.
This mobo (http://www.newegg.co...#scrollFullInfo) looks pretty good. Wish it was about $50 less (I know the other board is like $30 less, but it's open box & I don't trust that).
It is exactly the same as the Pro, aside from three things
2 extra SATA III ports on the Pro
Onboard firewire on the Pro
Bluetooth V 3 (the non pro has v 2.1) on the Pro
I'm looking to upgrade my current PC (q6600 processor, 9800gt 512mb video card, 4gb ram) and get these components, but I don't know which mobo to go with....
CPU - perfect
Fan - I've heard the cooler is good, but can be loud. Check out the CoolerMaster 212 Plus http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835103065
It'll get your processor to 4.5 GHz easily. And it's quiet and a bit cheaper.
RAM - I'd probably go with 1600MHz. You just won't notice the difference with anything higher and it'll save you a bit of cash http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231314
GPU - And then you can put that extra cash into a slightly better video card http://www.newegg.co...&Tpk=asus%20570
Both are 570s, but the Asus will be quieter and slightly faster.
If you were looking to save a bit more money yet not sacrifice much performance, you could go with an AMD 6950 or an Nvidia 560Ti. Of course they aren't QUITE as good as the 570, but are close. And it'll save you $80-$100, depending upon the brand, model, etc. I don't want to talk you out of the 570, because it's a great card. Just sharing what I thought through before I purchased my card. I ended up getting an MSI 6950, simply because I don't play THAT many computer games, and the ones I do aren't very GPU taxing (WoW, D3, SC2, Aoe3, etc etc).
PSU - you didn't mention what power supply you have. It may be something you'll want to upgrade as well, given the higher power requirements. As long as you have a good 650W or higher you'll be fine.
Edit: I saw this (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131791) motherboard, which looks like it's bad ass, but it's more than I wanted to spend. *frowny face*
Ha! Yikes. Check out that Asus I linked to earlier http://www.newegg.co...8-v+pro&x=0&y=0
Solid board, will let you overclock the i5 and, if you so choose, will work with the Ivy Bridge processors. At this point it should come with the required bios version of at least 0902 for the Ivy.
You could also go with a Gen3 version http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131790
But really the only difference between the two (aside from price) is the Gen3 supports PCI-Express 3.0. But I don't foresee GPU bandwidth being a problem for quite some time. So spending the extra $40 would be a personal choice.
If you're spending 2K-3K on a new pc, get the i7 2600K. Even thought it's real overkill for any pc game atm...even BF3. The best cpu for a good price is the i5 2500K. The only difference between these i5 and i7 is that the i7 has twice (8 where i5 is only 4) the hyperthreading capability...which no game require...you only need that much when doin big 3D rendering or something, which is basically just multiple tasks at once.
What if you were to run more than one game at a time on a single pc, would the additional hyperthreading capability be beneficial then?
The only rendering I do (and am not totally sure this is the game thing), is through Sony Vegas when I edit videos of gameplay. Matter much?
When running multiple games, they'll surely use the four physical cores (if they are programmed to use multiple cores), however very very few games are written to use the extra four virtual cores that Hyperthreading gets you. Let's see...flight sims maybe? So for almost all games, no they won't use the virtual cores. I know Sony Vegas does use those virtual cores, but I'm not sure what version you have and when they actually programmed that into the app. But let's be honest, there isn't a game out there that will max out all four cores of an i7 or i5. You could probably count the number of games that can actually use four physical cores on two hands.
So as everyone is saying, if you are spending 2-3k on a computer, you can't go wrong with either processor as both are solid. Perhaps games will utilize hyperthreading down the road. For people with "normal" budgets (say 1k-1.5k), I'd say the i5 is a no-brainer.
First, if you are going to spend that much on a computer, you just as well go with the better processor (Intel). Either way, unless you are going to be rendering some large videos, you won't notice a difference.
Second, with Ivy Bridge coming out in Q2 2012, you'll have a good upgrade route by going with a Gen 3 motherboard. Essentially, with the right motherboard you can upgrade to the newest Ivy Bridge processor with minimal expense (cost of processor). Where as with AMD...who knows what they are doing.
Just curious, you're talking about any motherboard with an LGA 1155 socket? I've been thinking about upgrading my PC (it's about 4 1/2 yrs old) and I'm gonna have to change my mobo to accommodate the new components I'll want.
I'm not sure about ANY motherboard with an LGA 1155 socket. Unless it specifically has Gen3 as part of the motherboard name, it will probably need a bios update to utilize the new ivy bridge. For example http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131730R
It isn't a Gen3 motherboard, however they've already released a bios update that allows you to simply drop in an Ivy Bridge processor when they come out.
First, if you are going to spend that much on a computer, you just as well go with the better processor (Intel). Either way, unless you are going to be rendering some large videos, you won't notice a difference.
Second, with Ivy Bridge coming out in Q2 2012, you'll have a good upgrade route by going with a Gen 3 motherboard. Essentially, with the right motherboard you can upgrade to the newest Ivy Bridge processor with minimal expense (cost of processor). Where as with AMD...who knows what they are doing.
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As far as the cooler....anything that's been mentioned by me or Glow will get your i5 up to 4.7 easily. It's pretty hard not to, as the processor ramps up pretty easily. I wanted the Spire Thermax, but Newegg didn't have it so I went with the CM 212 Plus.
Good deal about the PSU. As far as the fan...I've never used it so I couldn't speak to it's effectiveness. It may be worth searching around for some reviews or comparisons.
With the cooling it has, I'd have a hard time believing it wouldn't overclock higher than the EVGA. It may be another item to check actual reviews on. The Newegg comments are nice, but they can't replace a review that Anand or another tech site does. Another you may want to look at is http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127582&Tpk=msi%20570 Like the Asus it is overclocked slightly and comes with a superior cooling solution than most cards. A bit pricier though. Just throwing out options
The EVGA is nice, but with the stock cooling and smaller fan, it's going to be louder. It really comes down to personal choice.
Ah, didn't even see it was open box. Check this one out then http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131729
It is exactly the same as the Pro, aside from three things
2 extra SATA III ports on the Pro
Onboard firewire on the Pro
Bluetooth V 3 (the non pro has v 2.1) on the Pro
CPU - perfect
Fan - I've heard the cooler is good, but can be loud. Check out the CoolerMaster 212 Plus http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835103065
It'll get your processor to 4.5 GHz easily. And it's quiet and a bit cheaper.
RAM - I'd probably go with 1600MHz. You just won't notice the difference with anything higher and it'll save you a bit of cash http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231314
GPU - And then you can put that extra cash into a slightly better video card
http://www.newegg.co...&Tpk=asus%20570
Both are 570s, but the Asus will be quieter and slightly faster.
If you were looking to save a bit more money yet not sacrifice much performance, you could go with an AMD 6950 or an Nvidia 560Ti. Of course they aren't QUITE as good as the 570, but are close. And it'll save you $80-$100, depending upon the brand, model, etc. I don't want to talk you out of the 570, because it's a great card. Just sharing what I thought through before I purchased my card. I ended up getting an MSI 6950, simply because I don't play THAT many computer games, and the ones I do aren't very GPU taxing (WoW, D3, SC2, Aoe3, etc etc).
PSU - you didn't mention what power supply you have. It may be something you'll want to upgrade as well, given the higher power requirements. As long as you have a good 650W or higher you'll be fine.
Ha! Yikes. Check out that Asus I linked to earlier http://www.newegg.co...8-v+pro&x=0&y=0
Solid board, will let you overclock the i5 and, if you so choose, will work with the Ivy Bridge processors. At this point it should come with the required bios version of at least 0902 for the Ivy.
You could also go with a Gen3 version http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131790
But really the only difference between the two (aside from price) is the Gen3 supports PCI-Express 3.0. But I don't foresee GPU bandwidth being a problem for quite some time. So spending the extra $40 would be a personal choice.
When running multiple games, they'll surely use the four physical cores (if they are programmed to use multiple cores), however very very few games are written to use the extra four virtual cores that Hyperthreading gets you. Let's see...flight sims maybe? So for almost all games, no they won't use the virtual cores. I know Sony Vegas does use those virtual cores, but I'm not sure what version you have and when they actually programmed that into the app. But let's be honest, there isn't a game out there that will max out all four cores of an i7 or i5. You could probably count the number of games that can actually use four physical cores on two hands.
So as everyone is saying, if you are spending 2-3k on a computer, you can't go wrong with either processor as both are solid. Perhaps games will utilize hyperthreading down the road. For people with "normal" budgets (say 1k-1.5k), I'd say the i5 is a no-brainer.
I'm not sure about ANY motherboard with an LGA 1155 socket. Unless it specifically has Gen3 as part of the motherboard name, it will probably need a bios update to utilize the new ivy bridge. For example http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131730R
It isn't a Gen3 motherboard, however they've already released a bios update that allows you to simply drop in an Ivy Bridge processor when they come out.
First, if you are going to spend that much on a computer, you just as well go with the better processor (Intel). Either way, unless you are going to be rendering some large videos, you won't notice a difference.
Second, with Ivy Bridge coming out in Q2 2012, you'll have a good upgrade route by going with a Gen 3 motherboard. Essentially, with the right motherboard you can upgrade to the newest Ivy Bridge processor with minimal expense (cost of processor). Where as with AMD...who knows what they are doing.