Advice on upgrading a friends PC

[synixx]

I haven't been keeping much up to date with intel motherboards since the LGA775 core 2 quad days. One of my friends is looking to upgrade from his Q6600 system so i've been looking around for some good deals for him. I've spotted this deal in the b grade section:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-285-MS&groupid=595&catid=689

From what I gather Z67 was the high end when sandybridge was released and then when ivy came along it was the Z77. Are there any major differences between them? I see that the above motherboard is compatible with Ivy Bride so I was considering getting him an ivybridge setup with the recent price drops.

He currently has something along the lines of:

Q6600 @ stock
4850 512mb
4GB DDR2
Antec 900
Corsair HX520W
250GB HDD (he has 2 in raid but one died)

Currently he is looking on ebay for second hand PC's but I think he could reuse his his case and power supply as they are still up the job. I was thinking the following would be a good upgrade:

3570K
Suitable motherboard
8GB RAM
2TB HDD

And then a decent graphics card like the 7950 or GTX670. Maybe even an SSD as well.

Total cost should be around £500 if buying second hand.

Is this the best option for the money?

 

[Idleman]

Sounds good, but you might want to keep your eye open in the MM.

 

[synixx]

Do you think I could get a motherboard on par with the one linked for less on the MM?

 

[Idleman]

Do you think I could get a motherboard on par with the one linked for less on the MM?

Anything is possible but it all depends on what someone is selling. You open a Wanted thread and see what you get offered. But most of the time it is just chance.
Is there a time scale for putting all this together. You could get most of the other stuff whilst wating for a decent mobo to come along. There have been a few SB and IB chips sold recently, so the chances of a good mobo(Z77) are reasonable.
Good luck with the search.

 

[synixx]

Any other opinions?