Need opinions

[Asera]

I recently got a Bitfenix Prodigy and H77 ITX board to compress my 2500K system into a smaller form factor (previously was in a Define XL). I find I don't like the ITX platform, as I cannot use a dedicated sound card, and onboard just isn't cutting it. Sooo...

I'm thinking of either:

A) Replacing the case and board with a Define Mini and appropriate LGA1155 board, or
B) Replacing the case, PSU, and switching from the 2500K to Haswell.

The only thing I'd be reusing on option B is the video card.

Now for the opinion part. How much is it worth going from an i5 2500K to say, an i5 4570? Keeping in mind I don't bother with overclocking anymore. Is the 4670K enough of a performance bump at stock speeds to the 4570 to justify the extra $20CAD? And finally, I like the look and price of the Gigabyte Q87M-D2H, but I'm not sure if the vPro and Small Business Advantage is useful to me. That and the position of the PCIe slots is kinda crap. I don't think I need a Z87 board since I don't overclock. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[chazus]

A) Case, Board - Will cost about $160 with no performance difference
B) Case, Board, PSU, CPU - Will cost about $430 with about a 15-25% performance boost

If you aren't overclocking, don't get the K version. I think it's silly not to overclock, but that's you're call. The difference between the 4570 and 4670 is just 100mhz. Not worth it, IMO.

The Q87M-D2H also seems expensive for what you're doing.

Personally, I wouldn't go for Haswell. You're spending a lot of money for a fairly small performance boost, where you could get performance boosts much cheaper. A better solution is overclocking your 2500K beyond the capabilities of a stock Haswell.

[Asera]

A) Case, Board - Will cost about $160 with no performance difference
B) Case, Board, PSU, CPU - Will cost about $430 with about a 15-25% performance boost

If you aren't overclocking, don't get the K version. I think it's silly not to overclock, but that's you're call. The difference between the 4570 and 4670 is just 100mhz. Not worth it, IMO.

The Q87M-D2H also seems expensive for what you're doing.

Personally, I wouldn't go for Haswell. You're spending a lot of money for a fairly small performance boost, where you could get performance boosts much cheaper. A better solution is overclocking your 2500K beyond the capabilities of a stock Haswell.

I had the 2500K running at 4600mhz for about 16 months before I had to start bumping the voltage up every couple of weeks. I'm kind of worried it's degrading and trying to do that to it again might slaughter it. :[

I'm all for option A myself, but the only drawback is I can't find a board that isn't gaudy, too cheap, or doesn't have a horrible slot layout.

[chazus]

2500K @ 4.3ghz would be the same performance as a 4570. Not only that, but it may have been the board, and not the CPU.

Define 'gaudy'. If you're shooting yourself in the foot over looks... well. I don't really have advice for that. What slot layout do you need?

Is there anything wrong with this?

[Asera]

2500K @ 4.3ghz would be the same performance as a 4570. Not only that, but it may have been the board, and not the CPU.

Define 'gaudy'. If you're shooting yourself in the foot over looks... well. I don't really have advice for that. What slot layout do you need?

Is there anything wrong with this?

It's the dual PCI slots that bother me about most of those boards.... ugh.

Aside from that, it's a nice board.

I had my 2500K at 4.6 on a P8Z68V-Pro. I guess it could have been that, but it was aptly cooled.

[chazus]

It's the dual PCI slots that bother me about most of those boards.... ugh.

I'm not sure I quite understand what the problem is. your video card will cover those up regardless.

[Asera]

I'm not sure I quite understand what the problem is. your video card will cover those up regardless.

I think it's mostly OCD. I can deal with it obviously, but... preference. If theres a board without them, I'd opt for that over the double PCI boards, if the extra cost isn't exorbitantly high.

[chazus]

You're going to have to deal with it, then. I can't think of any boards that don't have at least a few extra slots on them, of some kind or another.

[yurano]

I find I don't like the ITX platform, as I cannot use a dedicated sound card, and onboard just isn't cutting it. Sooo...

Sounds like the solution would be an external USB DAC.

[Asera]

Sounds like the solution would be an external USB DAC.

Except I have an Asus Xonar Essence STX sitting next to me.

[Faithh]

I had the 2500K running at 4600mhz for about 16 months before I had to start bumping the voltage up every couple of weeks. I'm kind of worried it's degrading and trying to do that to it again might slaughter it. :[

Let me guess, all C states/speedstep disabled + manual voltage? :P That way it does degrade fast yes.

[Asera]

Let me guess, all C states/speedstep disabled + manual voltage? :P That way it does degrade fast yes.

C states and speedstep on, and offset voltage, actually.