I am new to Intel in general. After being burned by ASUS and AMD I have decided to join the dark side - I am coming to Intell. I have settled on the MSI GD-65 motherboard as I am new to overclocking and want a gaming board I can learn on, if you have an alternative opinion I am open to that also. I know a fair amount about PC hardware, but overclocking is new to me. Anyway my question is what do you reccomend as the best 'bang for my buck' Intel i7 Processor. My budget is $300 - $350 with the primary use being to install in a gaming rig. I will be using a Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler, 8 gigs of low profile 1600 mhz ram, 1TB hard drive, ASUS (Nvidia) GTX 770 2gig graphic card, Samsung Blu Ray, one light dvd player, Sony multi - card reader, Cool Master Haf 932 Advanced tower, Corsair 650 Bronze level PSU. Thank you all for the input and advice.
New to Intell - CPU Advice
- Thread starter martok78
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ingtar33
Glorious
- Dec 17, 2012
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you're a glutton for punishment if you're planning on a MSI motherboard. hate to see you make that type of mistake.
best bang for the buck intel cpu will probably be an i5-3350p; if you plan to overclock an i5-3570k or i5-2500k will both be better options then a i5-4670k. if you plan on playing crysis3 or bf4 you might want to look into a i7-3770k or i7-4770k.
otherwise stick with the i5s.
as for motherboard gigabyte and asus will make the best stuff, with asrock a half step behind (due to inconsistencies and poor QC) msi is in the next tier with some really epic bad issues with their quality control (like asrock, when their stuff works it works great, but you always are gambling with them).
best bang for the buck intel cpu will probably be an i5-3350p; if you plan to overclock an i5-3570k or i5-2500k will both be better options then a i5-4670k. if you plan on playing crysis3 or bf4 you might want to look into a i7-3770k or i7-4770k.
otherwise stick with the i5s.
as for motherboard gigabyte and asus will make the best stuff, with asrock a half step behind (due to inconsistencies and poor QC) msi is in the next tier with some really epic bad issues with their quality control (like asrock, when their stuff works it works great, but you always are gambling with them).
Roland Of Gilead
Titan
- Aug 8, 2008
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+1^ Ingtar. Haswell runs way hot when overclocking, and seemingly doesn't have the same head room as SB/IB. @Ingtar, good post, very comprehensive. Couldn't be any clearer
Can only say good things about ASUS, I've only ever had their mobo's and never had an issue. Still running my trusty P5NE-sli 6 years down the line (luckily anough
).Read a lot of posts on other forums as well as Tom's, regarding MSI. Seems, lots of people, having lots of problems, particularly with mobo's.
Yes I plan to play some shooters and air plane simulators. What's the difference on the i7 processors? As for MSI? Really? What would you suggest? I have been reading newegg, amazon and here to get info. My current board is an ASUS Sabertooth 990fx and it has been nothing but trouble for me. I just don't want to get burned twice - the RMA with ASUS has been erm challenging so I am trying to do my homework before buying. Thanks
ingtar33
Glorious
- Dec 17, 2012
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i'll take that sabertooth off your hands gladly. i have an am3 cpu i'll drop right into it and play around. been looking for a mb replacement. let me know what issues you're having with it and i'll see what i can do about taking it off your hands.
as for MSI, as i said, they're like Asrock, in that their boards are great when they work. the trick is they have poor quality control. so while 7 boards might go out that work fine 3 will be plagued with a myriad of issues (those numbers are just made up, the actual number of bum boards is probably a bit lower)...
for a non computer analogy, it's sorta like ford cars. 8 people could buy a focus and have it hit 200k miles before needing even a tuneup, while 2 people will have a focus that is plagued with crazy issues from day one. ford is notorious for this, that's why i used them as an example.
because of this it's hard to get a good read on asrock and msi... i mean the models they send out for review i guarantee have been tested extensively so reviewers always get a board that works perfect, and as i said, when an asrock or msi board works it's usually top notch. the trouble is their QC isn't close to as good as gigabyte or asus, who generally do a good job making sure junk boards don't get shipped out.
sorry to hear about your trouble with your sabertooth. they're excellent motherboards and asus is a reliable and quality company. but i guess sometimes even they have an issue or two and asus has never been known for stellar customer service (i am serious about wanting that motherboard if you're done with it)
as for MSI, as i said, they're like Asrock, in that their boards are great when they work. the trick is they have poor quality control. so while 7 boards might go out that work fine 3 will be plagued with a myriad of issues (those numbers are just made up, the actual number of bum boards is probably a bit lower)...
for a non computer analogy, it's sorta like ford cars. 8 people could buy a focus and have it hit 200k miles before needing even a tuneup, while 2 people will have a focus that is plagued with crazy issues from day one. ford is notorious for this, that's why i used them as an example.
because of this it's hard to get a good read on asrock and msi... i mean the models they send out for review i guarantee have been tested extensively so reviewers always get a board that works perfect, and as i said, when an asrock or msi board works it's usually top notch. the trouble is their QC isn't close to as good as gigabyte or asus, who generally do a good job making sure junk boards don't get shipped out.
sorry to hear about your trouble with your sabertooth. they're excellent motherboards and asus is a reliable and quality company. but i guess sometimes even they have an issue or two and asus has never been known for stellar customer service (i am serious about wanting that motherboard if you're done with it)
LOL! good answer - the Sabertooth 990fx has been having CPU LED light red issues - this is the 3rd RMA and has had 3 managers swear it works, but I still get the error, however I had planned on an Intell upgrade for Christmas anyway. I didn't look at Asrock since they are ASUS owned. I read that Gigabyte UDH4 was having hardware issues so I was basically left with MSI. This is why I am being so dang careful - the RMA with ASUS was a nightmare. My other 2 ASUS boards had issues from day 1. I Read up on the Intell processors you suggested and since this is my first Forray with Intel so I will opt for the 4770k. I was also looking at the MSI MPower board. I looked at the sabertooth Hero VI board but that has issues with 770 Graphics cards reported. I looked at Gigabyte but I keep seeing hardware issues. As for the board - a straight swap or cash - as I said open to suggestions. It has been a few years since my last build. I got my Cisco degree a few years ago only to find I need experience too- gah!
Not sure if I posted so here is short version - it had CPU LED light red issues - they swear blind that this one was tested by 3 managers and suggested I have a faulty CPU - done messing around - moving on to intel. I have a GTX 770 graphic card - I looked at the heroe VI which as issues with that card. Asrock parent company is ASUS - looked at Gigabyte boards, but they seem to be having hardware issues. Suggestions? I also looked at MSI MPower board
ingtar33
Glorious
- Dec 17, 2012
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kk... well i'll play with that board happily.
as to your questions... asrock was a factory/subcontractor for asus like 10 years ago. sometime around 2005/2006 they descided to make their own motherboards. they're not actually owned by asus, they just used to make some of their boards. Sorta like how samsung makes apple's iphones.
as for issues you're seeing with different boards. understand that when you look at forums the more someone pays for a motherboard the more likely they are to find fault. Asus and Gigabyte generally are a bit more expensive then everyone else, so as a result there is the "price" disappointment criticism. Frankly, you'll find issues with all computer hardware, for some reason motherboards and ram seem to be the most finicky, probably because the motherboard is the easiest part to break (bad power supplies blowing up boards, overclock damage, wrong instillation, lots of end user damage, ON TOP of the bad boards that ship from the factories) while ram might be the most sensitive part to ship causing most of that damage.
if you're going with the z87 chipsets and a haswell i7-4770k i would suggest you look into the Asus Maximus -something-, those Asus ROG boards are really impressive; and they overclock well. if you're not really planning on massive overclocking then something like an Asus z87 pro on the more feature rich side or a solid budget overclocking board would be the Gigabyte GA-Z87N-D3H. the asrock extreme 6 and msi gd65 gaming boards would be roughly in the same class as the asus z87 pro or gigabyte ga-z87x-ud4h
as to your questions... asrock was a factory/subcontractor for asus like 10 years ago. sometime around 2005/2006 they descided to make their own motherboards. they're not actually owned by asus, they just used to make some of their boards. Sorta like how samsung makes apple's iphones.
as for issues you're seeing with different boards. understand that when you look at forums the more someone pays for a motherboard the more likely they are to find fault. Asus and Gigabyte generally are a bit more expensive then everyone else, so as a result there is the "price" disappointment criticism. Frankly, you'll find issues with all computer hardware, for some reason motherboards and ram seem to be the most finicky, probably because the motherboard is the easiest part to break (bad power supplies blowing up boards, overclock damage, wrong instillation, lots of end user damage, ON TOP of the bad boards that ship from the factories) while ram might be the most sensitive part to ship causing most of that damage.
if you're going with the z87 chipsets and a haswell i7-4770k i would suggest you look into the Asus Maximus -something-, those Asus ROG boards are really impressive; and they overclock well. if you're not really planning on massive overclocking then something like an Asus z87 pro on the more feature rich side or a solid budget overclocking board would be the Gigabyte GA-Z87N-D3H. the asrock extreme 6 and msi gd65 gaming boards would be roughly in the same class as the asus z87 pro or gigabyte ga-z87x-ud4h
Be my guest - my e-mail is martok78@hotmail.com - message me for further info/arrangements - offer of swap or cash welcome - I just want rid of it - I have taken your advice and am looking at the other boards - I have a long graphics card in the GTX 770 so I am checking to make sure that it fits on the asrock. The first Gigabyte board you mentioned I do not see on either amazon or newegg so that is homework for the weekend, though the other gigabyte board seems ok. I agree about the poor installation causing issues, which is why I am probably one of the few people to read a manual twice before working on the board and even then I refer to the manual to make sure I get it right. The 'price dissapointment' I get, I mean that's a lot of cash for a single part, which is understandable given that it is supposed to be a major compenent, however with the price comes a certain expectation of quality or craftmanship that we simply are not seeing translate to motherboards right now.
ingtar33
Glorious
- Dec 17, 2012
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yeah, you'll notice i don't argue with your assertion the board is broken. I've been in this hobby a long time, long enough to know problems like you're facing happen sometimes. it's unfortunate, and it makes my heart skip a beat every time i suggest any type of computer part, because i don't want to be the guy to direct someone to something that's DOA. unfortunately DOA parts are sadly sorta common in this industry.
LOl! No sir you did not dispute that it was the board, though ASUS swear blind it is fine. I guess what made me so dang angry was the poor customer service, I mean I KNOW they need to check the basics, but once I prove to you I have a working knowledge of computers and you STILL treat me like an idiot I tend to get kind of mad, I mean if not professional courtesy then at least civility from them would have been nice, along with a genuine effort to fix the problem. DOA is far too common in this industry yes sir, if it was regulated like cars are now I would hope we would see a drop in the DOA events we have now as getting customer service from the board makers seems to be a case of looking for a wining lottery ticket. I am sure, at some point, I will try ASUS again, but I reckon it will be 3 - 5 years before I contemplate it sir. I hope by then they have changed their hold theme tune, though 40 mins on hold with the same tune is likely to grate on your nerves no matter what the toon is. In the meantime he is hoping my Intell system works without a hitch. I appreciate the reccomendations btw, a lot has changed in the time off I had and getting caught up to speed has been interesting to say the least. I have 1 board from Asrock (Extreme 6), MSI (GD-65) and the two Gigabyte boards as my finalists. Once I make a decision I will likely cross my fingers and push the buy buttons.
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