i5 2500k based mATX setup

Associate
Joined
19 May 2003
Posts
1,396
Location
Saltaire, West Yorkshire
i5 2500k based setup for gaming/overclock

Guys its been a long time since i've bothered with PC hardware (converted to apple a while back when I stopped gaming) and i'm wanting to build a i5 based gaming machine. I'm not after super high end I just want enough grunt to last me a couple of gfx card upgrades.

I'm currently set on the i5 2500k as it seems like a decent clocker I just need a decent motherboard and ram that will work well with it.

I've got £300-400 to spend but need to but motherboard, cpu, ram, case and psu.

Any help will be much appreciated :)
 
Last edited:
So far i'm thinking of the following

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz £159.98
Asus P8P67-M PRO Intel P67 B3 £109.99
G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) £53.99
OcUK Battle 450W Dual Rail High Efficiency Modular £43.98
Fractal Design Core 1000 Midi Tower Case £28.99

Total: £411.94 including delivery
 
I'm currently using a 2GB XFX 5570 which is passive cooled and draws no additional power from the PSU which is why i've only gone for a 450w PSU.

I'll only be playing FPS Source, Warsow and maybe COD and will 99% be configged up to the eyeballs so visuals are not a big desire for me. I'm really just after CPU power for Source as I currently run a Q6600 on a board that can't be overclocked and it would cost me around £150 to buy something that would clock it well so looking at options for Sandy Bridge to compare with before I buy either.
 
if you have a q6600 have you thought about getting a mobo out of members market ?

I don't have access, I got banned along time ago for annoying an admin.

or could go with a g41 mobo and some ddr3 memory.

This was my initial idea and i've seen some half decent boards and could get the lot for around £150 just don't know if it will be a waste considering the sheer CPU performance boost of the Sandy Bridge range.
 
however, a gaming PC with an ATI 5570 really doesnt compute tbh. you can pick up a 768MB GTX 460 for ~£80 which will give you far better gaming performance than any processor upgrade, so if i had £3-400 to spend on a gaming PC, i'd go for this instead:

The main games I play are CPU limited not GPU limited so don't require a high end gfx card. For example at the moment I play source at 150~250fps on my current hardware but I want that to be 300fps+ stable and need more CPU grunt to do this.

I'll turn off most DX effects, the only thing I tend to use is AF/AA as I usually run at 800x600 ~ 1280x1024 depending on the game.

I was kinda worried i'd be waisting money going for the stop gap mobo/ddr3 combo to get my Q6600 past 3ghz but maybe it's not that bad.
 
I've given in on the mATX thanks to the 360 case as its small enough to take to lans, from what i've seen this board is a great clocker.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68A-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £72.98
1 x OCZ ModXStream Pro 500w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply £52.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B) £44.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 360 Mini Tower Case - Black £30.98
Total : £389.86 (includes shipping : £16.60).

 
Back
Top Bottom