Mobo and CPU upgrade help please.

[Deleted]

Need some advice please guys, as i'm a bit out of the loop with mobo/chip upgrades...

I've currently got an i3 530 clocked to 4gz and an ATi 6950. It runs WOW perfectly, and I get 50-60fps in BF3 with ultra settings, however it struggles a little with Tera and the beta of GW2 (which I know isnt optimised) with a lot of people around, so i'm pretty sure my chip/mobo is my bottleneck.

Budget wise, I don't really want to spend over £250, I should be able to get a bit back on my i3 mobo/chip.

Chip wise i've seen these two:

i5-3570k 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) LGA 1155 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CP-418-IN)

and

i5-2500k 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) LGA 1155 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CP-360-IN)

Looking at the benchmarks on CPUbencmark it shows i5-3570K @ 3.40ghz 7,757 and i5-2500k @ 3.30ghz 6,738 - so higher so that i assume means much better - but why then are they a similar price?! (well.. the SAME price).

I've read a bit and apparently the Sandybridge has more overclock potential compared to the Ivybridge, however i'm only looking to do a medium O/C at most. So question is, which chip to go with...?

Then it comes to the Mobo...

I was looking at the Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...-364-GI&tool=3) - would that be a good one to go for with the Ivy or the Sandy? does it matter? My current board is 1156 socket, so i've GOT to upgrade anyway. But I have no idea what I should do.

The X79 boards seem to have better/latest features, but at double the price its going to take me over my budget and I really want to avoid that - but do I NEED one of these if I go with the Ivy?

My current RAM seems to be compatible, its PC3-12800C9 1600MHz (9-9-9-24 2N).

Really appreciate any help guys, thank you. Don't want to make a mistake on my purchase.

[Deleted]

The 2500k has more overclocking potential, as ivy bridge runs hotter than sandy bridge. If you're not going to overclock high, you're probably better off with the ivy bridge. The motherboard you linked should be fine for either one you choose. The RAM fits on the new boards aswell

[Auralian]

Need some advice please guys, as i'm a bit out of the loop with mobo/chip upgrades...


i5-3570k 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) LGA 1155 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CP-418-IN)

and

i5-2500k 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) LGA 1155 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CP-360-IN)
.

I'd go with the 2500K, it's till a rock solid chip even running at stock. Either of these chips with your current GPU should give you solid Fps without even a O.C, Your decision really. You can only gain so much for O.C at some point your just boasting a Epeen without any really measurable increase in gaming performance.

As far as the MB, with your budget the chip alone takes a majority of that. You have another option, find a I5-6XX and wait a few more years. The I3 will sell fairly fast.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the input guys, Aur I did look at that as an option, but an i5-6xx are £130+ give or take (new) so figured it'd be better to get a 1155 chipset mobo and 2500k or the 3570k.

[n0cturnal]

If you are planning to overclock to 4,5GHz or higher go with the 2500k and a z68 or z77 motherboard. If you are happy with around 4,2GHz I would go for 3570k and a z77 motherboard. The z77 motherboard had support for Ivy bridge straight out of the box, the z68 you would have to flash the bios. I5 3570k has higher IPC which means that it will perform about 5-15% higher than the I5 2500k at the same clockspeed.

[Deleted]

Thank you n0c, thats great info i'll have a look at the z77 motherboards. Theres a few in my budget range, does make matter that much - anything I should look for specificially.

[n0cturnal]

ASRock is great if you are looking to save a few bucks. Asus is well known for their support and quality, they also have motherboards that offer stuff like WiFi and Thunderbolt. Gigabyte and MSI are also well known brands.

[Deleted]

These are the ones within my budget range:

Gigabyte - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=5&subcat=2261
MSI - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=5&subcat=2261

I'll have a look @ some reviews.

Thank you again for the help