Upgrade a comin'! What do you think? (Maximus V Formula, Intel Core i7 3770K)

fireaza

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May 9, 2011
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Hey guys! I'm currently running a socket 1366 motherboard, and although the CPU that goes with it is still kick-ass (Intel Core i7 Extreme 980X overclocked to 4010.69 MHz! Hoo-ra!) I'm finding the motherboard is starting to lack features. Features like SATA III and PCI-EXPRESS 3.0. So I think it's time for an upgrade.

I have an idea of some what motherboard and CPU I want, but I'd still like to hear your thoughts on them. I'm thinking a Intel Core i7 3770K CPU and an Asus Maximus V Formula motherboard would be pretty sweet. I know the recent "best CPU for the money" guide said the 3770K is overkill for gaming, but I do stuff like video editing and audio encoding, so I think I'll be able to use it's non-gaming features. Also, I'm coming down from a 6-core CPU and would like to lessen my pain :D

RAM I'm not sure about. I currently have three sticks of 4GBs, but they're DDRIII, which means they're still current. The Asus Maximus V Formula has 4 DIMMs, so I should probably fill them and get my quad channel on. But, I'm not sure if I should completely replace them, since my current RAM will be older than any new RAM I buy, so I'm not sure of they will channel properly.

Thanks!
 
Solution
Can go either 1155 or 1150, I'd look to buy from Newegg or the like, much better prices than most shops have and much bigger selection....Haswell run about 10% faster than IB (the 1155 CPUs) - if no need for Hyper Threading I'd go the 3570K (1155) on the ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 (very cost friendly else with the 4670K (1150) and mobo would depend on budget, I went with the Asus Hero and wouldn't change it (about $200), Asus seems to have the best handle on the Z87 chipset so other good options in descending order pricewise would be the Gryphon, Z87-Plus, Z87-A

Overclocking the CPU can be easy - and also can be hard depending on how high you want to go and to what degree you want the performance at - The Hero is nice for folks new to OCing...

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum
Your current 12 GB will prob be sufficient and will run on the Formula - you'll have 8GB in Dual channel and 4 in single which will be OK for getting started if 1333 or 1600 (or better) if you have 1066 sticks, might want to give thought to new DRAM)
 

fireaza

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May 9, 2011
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I can't remember what the speed of my RAM is, but CPU-Z says my DRAM frequency is "668.4MHz" is that helps.

What do you think about choosing a socket 1155? Haswell is suppose to be not that hot, but it seems like support for the 1155 is quickly vanishing, my local store only carries one socket 1155-based ASUS Maximus motherboard, but four 1150-based.

I plan to stick a Hydro H100i on the CPU and overclock it, but I'm kinda new to CPU overclocking. I hear you can overclock them via Intel software, kinda like how you can overclock a GPU with Precision X. Would this do the trick?
 

fireaza

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May 9, 2011
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Ah ha, I see. I'll keep using this RAM then, but should I also be thinking about replacing it at some point in the future?

Also, what are you thoughts on what I previously said

What do you think about choosing a socket 1155? Haswell is suppose to be not that hot, but it seems like support for the 1155 is quickly vanishing, my local store only carries one socket 1155-based ASUS Maximus motherboard, but four 1150-based.

I plan to stick a Hydro H100i on the CPU and overclock it, but I'm kinda new to CPU overclocking. I hear you can overclock them via Intel software, kinda like how you can overclock a GPU with Precision X. Would this do the trick?
 

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum
Can go either 1155 or 1150, I'd look to buy from Newegg or the like, much better prices than most shops have and much bigger selection....Haswell run about 10% faster than IB (the 1155 CPUs) - if no need for Hyper Threading I'd go the 3570K (1155) on the ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 (very cost friendly else with the 4670K (1150) and mobo would depend on budget, I went with the Asus Hero and wouldn't change it (about $200), Asus seems to have the best handle on the Z87 chipset so other good options in descending order pricewise would be the Gryphon, Z87-Plus, Z87-A

Overclocking the CPU can be easy - and also can be hard depending on how high you want to go and to what degree you want the performance at - The Hero is nice for folks new to OCing as it comes with preset settings to OC to like 4.2, 4.4 4.6, this is what I normally suggest to people, you can take screenshots of your BIOS settings at stock, then use the Auto to OC to 4.2 get screenshots of the BIOS again, same at 4.4 and then you can see what the presets changes as to voltages and stuff, then can experiment on your own ;)
 
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