Decent enough upgrade?

Alasdairhurst · 6 May 2011 at 15:05

Looking to replace my asus m4a785tdm-evo + phenom II 695 and Hyper TX-3 cooler (only as i have the oppotunity to sell them and therefore have a chance to upgrade on the cheap)

i'm looking at an i5 2500k + Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 and getting a H-60/70 later on for cooling.
i can probably sell the current cpu/mobo for £150 which means i can get the above upgrade for about £150.

sk82jack · 6 May 2011 at 15:11

I'd look at the MSI P67A-C45 as the Asus boards have had their fair share of problems.

Alasdairhurst · 6 May 2011 at 16:46

Cheers, but i was looking for a board with good upgradability. - i.e CF support. (16x-8x, or 8x-8x)

depending on how much i get, i may go for this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-326-GI&tool=5
it's got a decent amount of expantion (triple crossfire/sli) plus a pci-e slot at the top for my xonar D2X

stulid · 6 May 2011 at 16:49

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-165-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1906

thats got future upgrades in mind.

Alasdairhurst · 6 May 2011 at 16:55

so it does

both slots run at 16x i take it?

olivier renault · 6 May 2011 at 16:57

Alasdairhurst said:
Cheers, but i was looking for a board with good upgradability. - i.e CF support. (16x-8x, or 8x-8x)

depending on how much i get, i may go for this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-326-GI&tool=5
it's got a decent amount of expantion (triple crossfire/sli) plus a pci-e slot at the top for my xonar D2X

Seems OTT, but it depends on your needs really. Asus P67 Sabertooth, ASRock Extreme 6 P67 also worth a look at if you want a posh board. GD65 is my pick of the bunch for x8 SLI, price, performance and features.

BTW, for the price difference between a GD65 (or there about) and a top board, you can start thinking of getting a 2600K.

olivier renault · 6 May 2011 at 16:58

Alasdairhurst said:
so it does
both slots run at 16x i take it?

afaik all Sandys are limited to x8 x8. Not much difference between x8 and x16.

stulid · 6 May 2011 at 16:58

Alasdairhurst said:
so it does
both slots run at 16x i take it?

They are 8X/8X,

which makes a1-2% difference and only at really high resolutions - http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/08/23/gtx_480_sli_pcie_bandwidth_perf_x16x16_vs_x8x8/

I wouldnt look at the P67 range as suggested above, to many people are having issues with them - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18261244

and ASrock are owned by ASUS too, so who knows with that one?

Alasdairhurst · 6 May 2011 at 17:17

stulid said:
They are 8X/8X,

I wouldnt look at the P67 range as suggested above, to many people are having issues with them - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18261244

and ASrock are owned by ASUS too, so who knows with that one?

8x/8x is fine.
which chipset range would you recommend then? this chipset is the only one worth getting the K series cpu's with. (i'll see what the z series are like though when they come out as i like to have onboard grahics incase there's a gpu problem.

BTW, for the price difference between a GD65 (or there about) and a top board, you can start thinking of getting a 2600K.

well i'll see what resources i have when the time comes. i'd prefer to get a better board+i5 than a cheaper board+i7.

stulid · 6 May 2011 at 17:20

The P67 chipset range is fine, its just ASUS implementation of it that people are having issues with.

Alasdairhurst · 6 May 2011 at 17:24

ah, i just realised that's what you were referring to.