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Futureproofing for 770GTX SLI: MOBO + i5 or i7

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  • Intel i7
  • SLI
  • Intel i5
  • CPUs
Last response: in CPUs
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January 11, 2014 8:51:05 AM

Currently I have a Phenomx4 965 CPU--I know, really old and out of date. I recently bought an EVGA 770 as a the first piece of a gradual complete system overhaul. I also bought the Corsair AIR Carbide cube. Absolutely love it.

Power supply is a Corsair 650tx. I know I will have to upgrade this before I can SLI, but that is many months down the line.

The next step is my mobo + cpu upgrade. I don't know too much about what bottle-necking means, but I want to purchase a mobo+cpu that will be capable and even beneficial to EVGA 770gtx SLI in the next 6 or 9 months.

I have about 500 bucks to spend total. Will be using the rig for gaming (LoL and other various MMORPGS and word processing :p ).

Please help tom's hardware community! My first post, but I've read so much and learned so much from you guys so far, so thanks!

More about : futureproofing 770gtx sli mobo

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January 11, 2014 8:54:21 AM

Do you live near a Microcenter?
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January 11, 2014 9:05:46 AM

No. They closed the one in Santa Clara. I have Fry's and Central Computers and absolutely love Newegg. Plus I have a 50$ giftcard to Fry's :D 
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January 11, 2014 9:11:55 AM

Right on, was just wondering because Microcenter is the best place to get CPU and Motherboards together, hands down the best prices. Not familiar with Fry's though. With a $500 budget, is that just for the CPU and Mobo? You can get a really nice set that will last a long while for that. What will be your main use for this rig?
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January 11, 2014 9:16:28 AM

Yea 500 is like the max, but I am very eager to save as much as I can. The main use will be gaming, video streaming, and word processing :p 
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January 11, 2014 9:25:04 AM

Are you partial to Intel or AMD? My recommendation would be an i5 with a decent mobo, can get them for about $300, but there are some great setups from AMD as well. Do you plan on overclocking at all?
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January 11, 2014 9:31:19 AM

I've always had AMD. Not partial, but I kind of want to switch to Intel , though I can't articulate why. I see myself overclocking down the line, but I've never overclocked before. I'm interested in it, but have always been a bit scared haha!
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January 11, 2014 9:46:36 AM

Harvey Wallbanger said:
I've always had AMD. Not partial, but I kind of want to switch to Intel , though I can't articulate why. I see myself overclocking down the line, but I've never overclocked before. I'm interested in it, but have always been a bit scared haha!


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($172.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $492.98
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-11 12:43 EST-0500)

Since you're going to stream, I recommend and i7 4770k, coupled with an Asus Z87-Pro, which is a very solid motherboard. Of course you can go with something cheaper, like the ASRock Z87 Extreme4: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z87extr...
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January 11, 2014 1:27:32 PM

Great recommendations from Francisco there. I think you'd be fine with an i5 4670K

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I'd get the unlocked processor because you can do a decent overclock without much tinkering. Pair that up with a decent motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

That'll even you out at $400 and you can put the $100 left over from your budget towards either an SSD (if you don't have one, even just a 120GB for OS and system software can make your system MASSIVELY faster) or a power supply ready to support your future SLI setup :-)
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January 11, 2014 1:46:34 PM

bdiddytampa said:
Great recommendations from Francisco there. I think you'd be fine with an i5 4670K

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I'd get the unlocked processor because you can do a decent overclock without much tinkering. Pair that up with a decent motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

That'll even you out at $400 and you can put the $100 left over from your budget towards either an SSD (if you don't have one, even just a 120GB for OS and system software can make your system MASSIVELY faster) or a power supply ready to support your future SLI setup :-)


An i7 will perform better than an i5 in sstreaming, but yeah you're right, the price difference won't pay off.
For the mobo, i really think the Pro is better than the GD-65, and the price difference is just $5. However if he wants to save some bucks, he could always buy the ASRock Z87 Extreme4, because it's a really good motherboard for the price: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z87extr...
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January 11, 2014 2:28:03 PM

Francisco Costa said:

he could always buy the ASRock Z87 Extreme4, because it's a really good motherboard for the price: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z87extr...


Totally agree on the ASRock mobo, I have a Z77 Extreme 4 and it is definitely a great board :-) Good way to save a few bucks and still get some of the advanced features
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