Spec me two gaming systems...

Jed Shields

Jed Shields

Jed Shields

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Joined
23 Apr 2007
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1,785
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Cardiff-ish, Wales
Hi guys and gals,

my main gaming rig is playing up, SSD drives not being seen in the BIOS and I suspect the mobo is on the way out. It's an Asrock Z68 Extreme 4 Gen 3 with an i7 2700k 1155 CPU, watercooled. It looks like I'm out of luck with finding a replacement motherboard as 1155 is now discontinued. I've emailed Asrock to see if they can help with the issue, but I've tried flashing BIOS, clearing CMOS, checked all cables and SATA ports etc... I don't hold out much hope.

My second PC, an ancient Q6600 is also facing retirement due to a failing motherboad.

What I'm after is a new Mobo / CPU and (maybe) RAM bundle for my main rig, plus a cheaper Mobo and CPU bundle (and maybe RAM) for my second rig. My main rig has 4x 4Gb DDR3 RAM, so I can either keep this and get some new RAM for my secondary rig, or pass it over to my second rig if I end up going the DDR4 route. Also, my i7 is watercooled, will I need a new waterblock for a new socket type?

My main rig currently has a 7950 that will go to my second rig. My main rig is running 2560x1600, so I'm thinking of replacing the 7950 with a 980ti. This will be primarily for gaming, but also for photo editing with Lightroom etc.

My second rig will be running 1920x1200, and will be used to play multiplayer BF4, Hardline etc with my son who will no doubt be comandeering my main rig :/

I'm not looking at new cases, PSUs, HDDs etc. My main rig has a Corsair AX850W, my second rig has a 620W Corsair, so I'm assuming they should be fine.

So... any suggestions? Bear in mind that I'm looking for cheap solutions for the secondary rig and a reasonable solution for the main rig - I certainly don't want to "downgrade" from my i7 2700k performance. I've got used to the 4.5GHz overclock ;)
 
I would update bios and stuff on the main rig or try another SSD if you know someone with an SSD to see if effeminately is the mobo. If it is, then just grab a Z77 board second hand.

No new block needed if you stick with intel mainstream chips, as they use the same socket size.
 
Then i would grab a z77 replacement for your main rig and the 980ti and some pentium bundle to replace the second rig. no need to replace the i7, it is still solid and you will stand to gain little by upgrading it in terms of gaming
 
I've got a bit further with my mobo issue after some guidance from Asrock. I think the issue may now be with the SATA backplane in my Corsair 800D. There's still a fault, but it looks like a new mobo isn't required, just a case fix... :/

Sooooo... that just leaves me with a cheap Mobo / CPU / RAM and cooler for my second rig, running at 1920x1200 with a 7950. Any suggestions... the cheaper the better.
 
Okay, my first rig is now fixed and up and running. I'm probably going to order a 390 8Gb to replace the 7950, eventually moving on to Pascal if it looks worthwhile maybe next 6 to 12 months.

For now though, I'm after a motherboard, cpu, ram and cooler for my second gaming rig. It will be running 1920x1200 using the 7950 from my first rig and maybe the 390 if I eventually get the Pascal upgrade. This rig will be just for gaming and general surfing etc, so I'm assuming I should be looking for an i5? Any suggestions... the cheaper the better.
 
Go MM and pick up a sandy or ivy i5 combo. You can get away with less but not much point given current prices. An advantage to having another Sandy is you can problem solve with the other equipment if something goes wrong again.
 
I'm buying it through my company so I'll need to go the retail route in order to offset it against my tax. It just so happens that I'll also be able to play games on it ;)
 
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