So, it's my birthday, and my dad wants to pay for some pc upgrades; the motherboard and CPU.

I know I should get DDR3 and heard its all about i5 and i7 CPU's, but that's about it.

Price ranges:
around 100,- euro for MOBO
max 300,- for CPU

Any tips on RAM are welcome too.

1 decade ago*

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I'd say give a bit more for a MOBO and get a good gigabyte or asus with x87 chipset. They cost about 150-170 euro in my country.
For CPU get an i5 4670 which is around 200 euro.
As for RAM, I'd suggest a pair of 2x4GB sticks clocked at 1600Mhz with low latency (CL 7-8).
Hope I helped :) Any questions are welcome.

1 decade ago
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This. I'd go for something along this lines also.

1 decade ago
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Thanks, i didn't know mobo's where that important, i'll keep an eye out for x87. :)

1 decade ago
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Okay, so, rather than shoot for 100 + 300 for MoBo & CPU separately, I'm just aiming for $400 combined, because honestly, a better MoBo would be a better choice.
So, my advice:
MSI Z87-GD45 MoBo. Good, mid-range MoBo for the Haswell line, with a good SoundBlaster audio chipset, and a fantastic network chipset by KILLER.
Then for CPU, an i5-4670k.

Between the two, you can basically do anything you want with the PC. It'll stomp gaming, do some great audio, etc. It'll handle anything you throw at it, core system-wise. Still obviously need a good GPU for gaming and high end video rendering, etc. The total for this is $385 US, which works out to a little less than 300 Euros, but I'm not sure what the taxes and such will be on your end. I'm assuming it's still going to end up coming in under 400 Euros total, even if you have to pay things like VAT etc.

As for RAM, that CPU & MoBo combo will run basically anything. If you want to avoid having to actually go in and custom clock your RAM though, you're going to want to go with either 1600 or 1866. Anything above 1866 will be supported on the MoBo only by going in and setting the MoBo to OC'd RAM settings. If you're comfortable with that, then you can run 2133. However, it's worth noting that increased RAM clock tiers generally come with slower Latency as well, so if you want to actually run faster overall RAM, you'll have to pay a pretty penny to buy 2133 RAM that's at a low enough latency to actually end up faster overall than the 1866. One of the misnomers a ton of people don't really understand about their RAM. So I'd realistically suggest you go with 1866, as that's going to generally default to something like 9-9-9-36 ish, which is liable to be faster overall than most 2133 in cycles. Brand wise, I've had great luck with a few brands (Kingston, G.Skill, Crucial, etc) but am fairly partial to Mushkin RAM, because the Mushkin is usually reasonably priced, and carries a lifetime warranty. I'm a sucker for a good warranty.
Amount of RAM, I'd suggest that 8GB is basically standard anymore, so that's your minimum. If you can, and want to be good for a while without having to upgrade it later, I'd suggest you go with 16GB.

1 decade ago
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Thanks, very helpful! :)
Combined it was 320,- (Euro) leaving some money for the RAM.
The RAM part was a little confusing but I found 8gb Corsair CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10 for 60,- which seem to be around those specs.

1 decade ago
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What about the intel i7 2600k? Would it make a lot of difference compared to the i5?

1 decade ago
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i7 2600k is a bit slower than i5 4670 but is two generations old :)

1 decade ago
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slower? but it gets 8,479 vs 7,535 on this list:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

Also its 25,- more expensive.
I'm confused :O

1 decade ago
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That really depends on how well the test program threads.

Also I think some 2600k can clock very high.

Personally I went with Xeon E3 1230v3. Bit lower clock rate than 4670 or 4770, but cheaper and does offer hyper threading... Also no IGPU, but that's only problem if you need to make HTPC or something much later.

1 decade ago
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Haswell is the current Intel CPU line. The i7 2600k was a great CPU from the Sandy Bridge line, but won't end up performing as well as the current gen i5-4670 overall, while usually still being more expensive most places that still carry it. *(Edit: Note by overall, I am speaking to all the improvements of the new chipset - ie: lower power consumption, lower heat, improved architecture, improved RAM clocking, larger caches, etc. CPU to CPU in benchmarking and the like, the i7 is still a stronger processor, however the other improvements make the new i5 an overall better option).

As to the RAM being a bit confusing, that's... Pretty normal. RAM speeds are a bit confusing. Trying to really simplify it: the clock speed sorta correlates to how fast it can send info, while the CAS timing is effectively the delay in cycles. Higher frequency RAM can send info faster, but typically has higher latency between cycles, meaning it may actually be slower overall as the delay between cycles can cancel out any benefit of the higher frequency.

The RAM you linked I would probably not use myself, as it's quite high latency for DDR3-1600. The tested latency of it is 10-10-10-27, with the max standard setting of 9-9-9-24. I'd just go with something comparable in latency at 1866 instead, as that would be a faster overall choice. Alternatively, you can find lower latency 1600.
Again, just estimating the price: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series F3-14900CL8D-8GBXM. That's a 2x4 GB kit of DDR3-1866 at 8-9-9-24 timing. It's $85 US on Newegg, so roughly 65 Euro. That would be faster overall, by a reasonable margin.

However, it's worth noting: much of the difference in RAM speeds is difficult to notice outside of either artificial benchmarking, or EXTREMELY RAM intensive uses (such as very heavy multitasking, certain types of compiling and encoding, etc).

1 decade ago
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Just for everyone's info (not trying to be snarky or anything)... For intel's most current chips, Nehalem bridge is 1st gen (xxx series), Sandy bridge is 2nd gen (2xxx series), Ivy bridge is 3rd gen (3xxx series), Haswell is 4th gen (4xxx series). With some exceptions, your MoBo will need a 1156 socket for Nehalem processors, 1155 socket for Sandy and Ivy processors and 1150 socket for Haswell.

1 decade ago
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I just choked on my coffee when you said to put an i5-4670k in an ivy bridge motherboard! Then I googled the MoBo you were talking about, and figured out it was Haswell after all. Those are compatible alright (1150 socket)

1 decade ago
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Oh, that was a mistake on my part in gen names is all. I was referencing the 1150 socket correctly, I just keep forgetting to say Haswell and not Ivy Bridge.
You're correct though, the stuff I'm talking about is Haswell, not Ivy Bridge, as Ivy Bridge is last generation not the current one. Again, mistake in gen name only, everything else I say (and the stuff I suggested) is correct.

1 decade ago
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Agreed, that MoBo and chip combo will do great for a gaming rig.

1 decade ago
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are you saying mobo/cpus aren't always compatible, or just not the best choice combo?

1 decade ago
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Yes.

There is a few different sockets around.

1 decade ago
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The motherboard must have the right socket for the processor. There are multiple sockets for Intel and multiple sockets for AMD. You just have to make sure that the motherboard and CPU are compatible. They are always labeled clearly as to which socket they are. Also, many stores run a bundle discount when you buy a CPU and compatible motherboard.

1 decade ago
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Motherboards are built for a specific socket type. The socket type denotes what CPUs can be used.
Intel LGA sockets come in a few varieties, as Pyroscott mentioned. Current gen is 1150, which is what I had suggested to you.

AMD current gen FX line uses the socket AM3+, and the A-series APUs use the FM socket. These socket types are all exclusive: ie you cannot slot an A-series APU into the AM3+ or 1150 socket types, or visa versa.

1 decade ago
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How RAM latency affects performance varies between architectures. In the case of Intel Core architecture latency is not very important and a high latency 1866 RAM will outperform a low latency 1600 RAM. I did this research when buying my RAM and all benchmarks I saw had these results.

1 decade ago
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I'd suggest a AMD FX.

1 decade ago
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FX8350 + MSI 970A-G46 mobo compared to the i5/msi suggestions of Khale;
worse? the same? better?

1 decade ago
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Note that I'm something of an AMD fan before I make the statement. I don't do brand loyalty much with PC building, I tend towards whatever gives me the most bang for the buck. However, I started with AMD CPUs back in like 1998 or 99 with an AMD K6-2. I've only owned one Intel CPU since, back when I bought a Pentium 4 to push close to the 2Ghz 'barrier' (Yes, that was decade ago...)
So, you'll now have some background for the nature of the following statement: The FX line honestly is not worth being looked at by about 95% of PC users. Everything below the 8 core versions are worse than the Phenom II x4 and x6 lines basically. Their 8 core versions perform about as well as the high end of the x4/x6 lines at the high end, but still perform noticeably worse than the higher end of the Intel i5/i7 lines in all common tasks and gaming. The only time the FX line ever outperforms anything else is in cases of extreme multi-threading (ie: unlimited multi-core encoding, transcoding, compiling, and so on).

So there is virtually no reason for anyone to ever look at the FX line as a standard consumer. They will perform worse for basically all average PC users and PC Gamers. Only those rare few, or commercial companies specializing in the multi-threading intensive tasks will see any real reason to pick up a CPU from the FX line, and even then ONLY from the 2nd Gen (Piledriver) architecture, as the 1st gen (Bulldozer) was a complete let down in basically every possible way.

If you were going to go for a budget rig, I'd absolutely recommend AMD, for the A10 APU. But for a standard rig at your budgeted amount, there's no reason to look at anything but an i5, especially when posting on a gaming related site which leads to the obvious assumption you game, and the i5 line is the absolute standard for the past 2-3 years now for a gaming rig.

1 decade ago
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Well i have MSI Z87-G41 MoBo and i5-4670k CPU and dont have any problems, so as long as you are not into overclocking, i think you should be just fine with a cheaper MoBo. The price for these 2 should be just a bit over 300 Euros(at least thats what i paid for them). The difference up to 400 Euros shoud go into an aftermarket CPU cooler(even if you dont overclock, the stock cooler for 4670k is not quite the best). I got the NIC F4 from Thermaltake, but beware that you will need a larger case for this. As for GPU, I`m aiming for Sapphire Radeon HD 7950, from what reviews i have read so far it seems to me the best value/perfomance GPU.

1 decade ago
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1 decade ago
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dat^

1 decade ago
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Just a heads up. Unless you are getting the exact same MOBO, you need to reinstall windows or else you will ave all kinds of problems.

1 decade ago
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Okay, thanks!

1 decade ago
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Get a z87 motherboard
and an i5 4670k LGA 1150 socket

i7 is just hyperthreading, which is usually better at multitasking and video editing/rendering, workstation stuff.

The K means it can be overclocked. Use an aftermarket cooler if you're going to plan on overclocking your CPU.

For ram it's DDR3. One socket, so all you need to know is DDR3. Unless you want to know the frequency of that ram, but that hardly makes any difference. Just get an 8GB kit.

1 decade ago
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Alright, I think i'll go with the z87 and the 4670k as it's recommended by so many in this thread.

1 decade ago
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Core i5 4670(k version if you want to overclock later on) and an Asus Z87. (Or alternatively grab the H87-pro one if you cant afford that one)

1 decade ago
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Just a little heads up: If you don't want to overclock - and why would you want that anyways,the gain in performance is so significantly little compared to the loss of warranty and life expectation - there is no need to get those expensive mainboards. The capacitors and stuff aren't really that much better on high quality boards from my experience. My advise, get an ASRock. Ever since ASRock and ASUS split up they manage to build better boards while ASUS keeps getting worse.

Also you won't need the K version of the CPU. As mentioned before, i7 costs a bit more but the gains are not really noticable. At least not in a way that would justify the price. The only gains come in other fields but as you have to ask here want components to choose you won't do that kind of stuff anyways. So i5 is perfectly fine. I wouldn't choose and AMD at all. Their TPD is usually higher and while the clocks might seem tempting, it's really just numbers that in the end don't make a noticable difference at this level.

You might not want to use the boxed fan for the i5 because I noticed a few cases where the temps were troublesome. Shouldn't be hard to find a nice one though. You will also want to use low profile RAM, especially if you use a non-boxed fan for your CPU. 1600 is perfectly fine. The gains of more are, as always, neglectable.

1 decade ago
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Closed 1 decade ago by Mertaan.