System Upgrade

cats_five

cats_five

cats_five

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Joined
29 Dec 2004
Posts
420
Location
Fife, Scotland
Hi

Am thinking of upgrading my system, currently an AMD Phenom 9750. The case is a Fractal Design and the CPU is a decent modular one I brought last year.

Would be going Core i5, 8GB RAM, and greatly prefer a Gigabyte mobo. I have absolutely no interest in overclocking.

The Gigabyte Z77-D3H mobo looks just what I am after (can use two monitors with no additional GPU card) and has some excellent reviews. The price is good as well - £85.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-391-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2261

That would leave me with the choice of processor (remember I don't want to overclock), and memory - I'm after 8GB of RAM in two sticks.

The only intensive task I use my PC for is Photoshop. I don't play games and I'm not interested in an SSD as it wouldn't make a difference to me that matters.
 
The Ivybridge CPUs are better out the box than SB, so I'd go with the newer stuff. This is a K version, because it has better integrated graphics and better clock speed.

Gigabyte make good boards, and thats a good choice. Though this MSI is even cheaper and has DVI/VGA/HDMI for outputs:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £173.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £77.38
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
Total : £304.75 (includes shipping : £9.50).

 
beejjacobs said:
The Ivybridge CPUs are better out the box than SB, so I'd go with the newer stuff. This is a K version, because it has better integrated graphics and better clock speed.

Gigabyte make good boards, and thats a good choice. Though this MSI is even cheaper and has DVI/VGA/HDMI for outputs:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £173.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £77.38
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
Total : £304.75 (includes shipping : £9.50).

Click to expand...

+1

Ivybridge would be wise, as my mate Beej says it has a better IGP. You have quicksync and this is basically using the IGP to "turbo charge" the video encoding process, so the ivybridge CPU will be better than sandybridge. Also the PCI-Express 3.0 lane needs an Ivybridge CPU to operate and lets not forget IB uses less power too :)

Overclocking is very very easy to do. Infact the mobos have automatic options for doing so. Although commonly we just up the multiplier, you could expect to get 4Ghz from that i5K on the stock heatsink.

If you really don't want the overclocking then maybe this which is cheaper....

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3550 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £155.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
Total : £245.96 (includes shipping : FREE).



Mobo has no overclocking features but does have USB3 and sata3 with the PCI-Express 3.0 lane too....people have forgotten your free delivery ;)
 
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OK, humour me. Why the H61 motherboard rather than a Z77 one? Thought I needed Z77 for Ivybridge?

(I wasn't clear orginally that yes, I am probably going Ivybridge rather than Sandybridge)

I want to be able to connect a 2nd monitor using DVI / HDMI in the future and it doesn't look like it can do that - just DSub & DVI.

You all agree on the memory - that's good! And different. :)
 
cats_five said:
OK, humour me. Why the H61 motherboard rather than a Z77 one? Thought I needed Z77 for Ivybridge?

(I wasn't clear orginally that yes, I am probably going Ivybridge rather than Sandybridge)

I want to be able to connect a 2nd monitor using DVI / HDMI in the future and it doesn't look like it can do that - just DSub & DVI.

You all agree on the memory - that's good! And different. :)
Click to expand...

Ivybridge will work in any socket 1155 board, you just wont get the newer features without a Z77 board. If you're definitely not overclocking, an H61 board is enough and is a bit cheaper, while still offering SATA3 and USB3.

If you need DVI and HDMI, this has both (though no SATA3 and USB3)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-455-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1965

If you have the money, the Z77 is a better board, but weather its worth it you have to decide.
 
Because it's cheaper!

You said no overclocking and no gaming. To be honest that is exactly what the Z series mobos are for, hence me showing the cheaper option. You can check the GB website for the mobo and see the CPU support list......IB is supported.

You never mentioned needing HDMI. I have included a dedicated GPU which will be better than the IGP on even the IB i5K and will give you cuda support which photoshop and some other software make use of.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3450 3.10GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £143.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
1 x OcUK GeForce GT 430 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £35.99
Total : £269.95 (includes shipping : FREE).



P.S

beejjacobs said:
Ivybridge will work in any socket 1155 board, you just wont get the newer features without a Z77 board. If you're definitely not overclocking, an H61 board is enough and is a bit cheaper, while still offering SATA3 and USB3.
Click to expand...

This is true but it's always worth checking what CPUs are supported by BIOS revision. That mobo i spec'd will take the IB CPU fine out of the box, some mobos may have needed a BIOS update to support the CPU.
 
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