Mobo + RAM upgrade - any suggestions?

SpoonedurI · 29 Sep 2011 at 20:02

I'm looking to switch over to 2500k in order to make the most of my new graphics card and play the newer games at decent framerates.

So far I'm thinking of getting a Asus P8P67 Intel P67 mobo and either Corsair Vengeance 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Triple Channel Kit or G.Skill RipJawsX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit for RAM.

Do you guys have any better suggestions? Also, as I'm currently running a 32bit version of Windows, I won't have to upgrade to 64 bit if I stick to 4gb of ram (and if I do have to install a new version I might as well buy a SSD).

stulid · 29 Sep 2011 at 20:04

You want a dual channel ram kit for a i5 2500k, so either 4 or 8gb, 1600mhz with C9 timings is perfect.

such as - www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-094-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Reaper 392 · 29 Sep 2011 at 20:06

i would take this motherboard over the asus one:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-368-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990

has crossfire + SLI support, and has all of the Z68 chipset features.

SpoonedurI · 29 Sep 2011 at 20:53

As far as I understand the only benefit of Z68 over P68 is the ability to use intergrated graphics, which seems pretty pointless when you already have a dedicated graphics card.

stulid · 29 Sep 2011 at 20:56

But if your graphics card breaks, you got a back up so you can still do simple tasks.

You also get SSD caching, add a small 20GB SSD along side your HDD with the OS installed on it and it will store the most common files etc to speed up performance.

Lucid Virtu switches the dedicated graphics off/idle while doing simple task to conserve power.

Quicksync enables applications to use the onboard graphics core of the CPU to speed up encoding/rendering times.

SpoonedurI · 29 Sep 2011 at 21:13

Ok, sound pretty good. Is the Touch BIOS on Gigabyte a UEFI system?

Any more suggestions on the RAM?

stulid · 29 Sep 2011 at 21:15

The Touch BIOS is a windows desktop utility it has all the options of the main BIOS but in a pretty frock, the main BIOS you enter at startup is a normal style/looks like a Award BIOS.

Any more suggestions on the RAM?

Either the 8Gb I linked too. or this 4GB kit - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-104-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

SpoonedurI · 29 Sep 2011 at 21:30

Mmm I've never had good exepriences with Kingston when trying to overclock...wouldn't something like this -http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-203-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517 - be better?

stulid · 29 Sep 2011 at 21:32

Or Corsair

But thats another good kit of RAM, still 1600MHz and C9 timings.

SpoonedurI · 29 Sep 2011 at 21:49

Ok 1 final thing left to sort then

- would Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 give me better overclocking results to justify the price increase from a Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3?

stulid · 29 Sep 2011 at 21:53

SpoonedurI said:
Ok 1 final thing left to sort then - would Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 give me better overclocking results to justify the price increase from a Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3?

If you want to go past 5GHz easily? then the 16 phases VRM will do it more reliably and easily.

Check out my review - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18312497

I did a simple 4.8GHz in that, but I have recently done a 5Ghz+ score without any drama.

If a solid 4.5GHz is enough for you? then dont bother

SpoonedurI · 29 Sep 2011 at 22:03

Great review!

I like to get the most out of my purchases so I'll go with the UD4. Thanks for all of your advice