Motherboard/Memory for i5 2500k

Triamp9 · 7 Dec 2011 at 19:51

Hi all,

I've decided to upgrade from a Q9550 to the i5 2500k. Main uses are for gaming and surfing. I may well run SLI or Crossfire at a later date so a board that has at least 2 fast graphics card slots with some cooling space between would be desirable

Can you recommend a Z68 motherboard for a budget of around £150. Initial temptation was with the Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3...any good? Or is there something better for the money for my purposes? I'll go for 8GB of memory as well so if you can recommend some good memory for whatever motherboard I'd appreciate it.

Cheers. T9

95thrifles · 7 Dec 2011 at 19:54

Thats the board I went for, so hard to look past it really, slightly cheaper option would be this Gigabyte as its other I was considering
Re memory theyre all much of a muchness to an extent, PC 12800 is best bet for speed/price, something like the Corsair vengeance would match the mobo colours well, just be aware if you get the larger heatsink stuff it may conflict with bigger CPU cooler, if you get the low profile you wont have any issues

kissenger · 7 Dec 2011 at 20:03

I'm in the same boat as you mate. Based on what I've read the Asus P8Z68 V Pro Gen3 (i.e. with PCI-e 3.0 support) is the best for around that price.

As far as memory, I'm probably going to go with the G.skill ripjaws for around £35 or the Kingston greys that are on offer at the mo' on OCUK.

Vespasian777 · 7 Dec 2011 at 20:05

I'm very happy with mine.

bedazzled · 7 Dec 2011 at 20:08

Buyers of Asrock boards have had a lot of problems with bent cpu socket pins

95thrifles · 7 Dec 2011 at 20:09

bedazzled said:
Buyers of Asrock boards have had a lot of problems with bent cpu socket pins

No I haven't

But yes I have seen a few reports, I have also seen an awful lot of reports on problems with Asus boards too though

olivier renault · 7 Dec 2011 at 20:12

bedazzled said:
Buyers of Asrock boards have had a lot of problems with bent cpu socket pins

Mine is fine, but yeah, first thing I'd check, on any board, one thing that can void the warranty.

95thrifles · 7 Dec 2011 at 20:16

olivier renault said:
Mine is fine, but yeah, first thing I'd check, on any board, one thing that can void the warranty.

Yep, I checked mine as soon as I received it, that way if there were any I could return it, with CPU unopened, to show I hadnt caused the damage

Karateyid · 7 Dec 2011 at 20:47

bedazzled said:
Buyers of Asrock boards have had a lot of problems with bent cpu socket pins

Me neither...

... Can't fault the board tbh... I wonder what the sales and RMA numbers are really like... People tend only to post bad things that have happened..

Triamp9 · 7 Dec 2011 at 21:10

Thanks for your thoughts guys. Looks like the Asrock could be a good choice. Didn't realise memory was so cheap at the moment so might stretch to 16GB.

Thanks again.

Roverno · 7 Dec 2011 at 21:16

Yes, memory prices are cheap. But they will only get cheaper in time, you only need 4GB for gaming, and 8GB is still a good load. Personally id use that extra bit of cash to make sure your cooler and mobo and good for future upgrades. and get an SSD if you got enough money to spare. 16GB ram really isn't going to benefit you much.

IvanDobskey · 7 Dec 2011 at 21:22

Triamp9 said:
Hi all,

I've decided to upgrade from a Q9550 to the i5 2500k. Main uses are for gaming and surfing. I may well run SLI or Crossfire at a later date so a board that has at least 2 fast graphics card slots with some cooling space between would be desirable

Can you recommend a Z68 motherboard for a budget of around £150. Initial temptation was with the Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3...any good? Or is there something better for the money for my purposes? I'll go for 8GB of memory as well so if you can recommend some good memory for whatever motherboard I'd appreciate it.

Cheers. T9

I've gone for the Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 and 8Gb of Corsair Vengeance. Fingers crossed these are decent choices

Triamp9 · 7 Dec 2011 at 21:25

Roverno said:
Yes, memory prices are cheap. But they will only get cheaper in time, you only need 4GB for gaming, and 8GB is still a good load. Personally id use that extra bit of cash to make sure your cooler and mobo and good for future upgrades. and get an SSD if you got enough money to spare. 16GB ram really isn't going to benefit you much.

Thanks Roverno. I have a crucial 64GB SSD for my OS but another would be nice for any games that might benefit. I have the Corsair H60 for cooling which I'm pretty happy with and I think will fit the i5 2500k. I was thinking of being able to run without a page drive with 16GB but as you say this may well be overkill.