Some motherboard + memory advice

Gast · 8 Sep 2011 at 21:54

Change CPU + Mobo or Stick with what I have?

A while back (May 2010!) I bought the following from Overclockers:

Asus ATI Radeon HD 5850 DirectCU 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) DDR3 Motherboard
Patriot Viper 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 12800C9 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ
i7 920 1366 Processor.

Few months later I was having boot issues. PC would try to start, fans would kick in then 1 second later it would die. Returned mobo to Gigabyte and turned out there was a problem in the BIOS which they fixed.

All good, only the problem has started all over again. I have not tried overclocking, updating bios or anything else. It has just died as it did a year ago.

Im thinking of perhaps RMA the board again to Gigabyte, but also thinking of perhaps making some changes to the PC.

If I was to stick with the 1366, what Mobo would you currently recommend? Would it be just a case of buying the same type of what I currently have or change for something else? hat memory would you recommend for this as well? Price wise I would be looking for £300/400 altho I was hoping more for the 300 bracket than the 4.

The other option that I have been advised of would be to look at swapping to an i5 2500 and go for a z68 mobo. Im not really upto date with current tech so not sure if this would be worth the cost?

Thanks in advance!

Gast · 9 Sep 2011 at 01:33

edited to change first post, sorry.

mp260767 · 9 Sep 2011 at 10:06

i'd rma the mobo again, setup you have is pretty decent.

2500K setup with the asrock z68 pro3 mobo and 8gb corsair ram would set you back around £325.

Gast · 9 Sep 2011 at 14:18

I may RMA the board regardless, but I am just worried that all Gigabyte will do is fix the BIOS as they did previously and some point down the line the same thing will happen again.

Im actually probably going to get it repaired and possibly give it to a friend/family member.

I just trying to get some opinion on what people think about sticking with the i7 920 and just getting a new motherboard and memory, or if people think its worth changing to an i5 2500k and get a new mobo and memory.

Just wanted to guage some opinion before I start spending some cash

mp260767 · 9 Sep 2011 at 15:03

i'd go with a new mobo for the processor, unless you think you could sell your current kit to supply the funds to buy the 2500K.

Gast · 9 Sep 2011 at 15:34

What sort of suggestions would you recommend for a new X58 board. Back when I got the PC everyone suggested that the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R was the motherboard to go for.

Not sure I would want to go for the same board again considering the problems Im having with it.

mp260767 · 9 Sep 2011 at 15:49

aside from the gigabyte's there are a couple of asus board listed on ocuk for £155 (Asus X58 Sabertooth TUF ) and £168 (Asus P6X58D-E), both seem to have decent reviews.