Do I need to upgrade my Motherboard?

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refudiate

refudiate

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Aug 12, 2014
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Hi all!

About a year ago or so, I decided to upgrade the pc that I was using as I wasn't happy with the performance that I was getting in games and video editing. Which was a pre-built HP Pavilion HPE h8-1170uk . I upgraded it by purchasing the following:

Corsair 500R Case
EVGA GTX 660 Ti
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB)
Corsair TX650V2 Enthusiast Series 650W

After using it for a year, I now want to make some more changes by having the ability to upgrade the gfx card & cpu in the near future, but because the computer was pre-built I am not completely sure if I will need to upgrade the motherboard as I do not know much about the board, or motherboards in general since I didn't have to worry about purchasing one when I had to move the parts from the old case in to the new one. If I do have to purchase a new motherboard, which one would you recommend that I should get? My budget is roughly £100.

The computer specs are currently:

CPU: Intel Core i7 2600
GFX Card: EVGA GTX 660 Ti
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB)
MOBO: IPISB-CH2 (Chicago)

I'd appreciate any help I can get, thanks :)

P.S: I'd also like to be able to have the option to be able to overclock my CPU in the future, if I do purchase a new one. (As I believe the one I currently have is not overclockable)


 
Solution
Shneiky
Both boards are in essence the same, with the difference that the E6 is designed for pushing higher clocks although people report more or less the same overclocks from both boards. Other minor differences are that the E4 is a bit narrower, the PCB is slightly thinner so you have to put some standoffs (usually come in the motherboard package or your case package), but people report no problems with it. You just have to be a little careful when installing or removing components. Also the E6 has a bit bulkier heat sinks on the VRMs (one of those little thingies that deliver power to the CPU) keeping the cooler for higher overclock.

I have the E6 and I am happy about it. I chose it over the E4 because it was only 15 bucks more. But if you...
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IInuyasha74

IInuyasha74

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May 1, 2013
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While upgrading your motherboard might help some, I don't think it will give you any major improvement more than a 3% increase in performance probably. I don't think it would be worth it.

As for future upgrades and overclocking. You are using socket LGA1155 which means you can one day upgrade to an i7-3770k which by itself gives about 6% performance boost. However your current CPU doesn't support overclocking while the i7-3770k does. So even if you bought a motherboard that can overclock, your current computer CPU couldn't do it.
 
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Shneiky

Shneiky

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Motherboards have something called sockets. It is the place where the CPU is physically placed. The new motherboard generations which is 80s and 90s chipset is LGA 1150. Your 2600 is on socket 1155 and it is possibly a chipset from the 60s generation. If you currently buy a new motherboard, you would have to buy a new CPU as well. I don't find it reasonable to buy a new motherboard for a 2600. Regardless, the I7 2600 has enough power to last few more years. And when you are ready to make the purchase - you buy CPU, Motherboard and new RAM (DDR4 is coming out to the mainstream in 2015/2016). I would leave the I7 2600 and concentrate on a video card, if you find your performance unsatisfactory.

If you wanted, you could jump out and buy a new video card without any problems. If you have enough power from the PSU, you can plug almost anything you want.
 
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refudiate

refudiate

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Aug 12, 2014
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Thank you both for the answers, they have helped me out a lot :)

I think I still need to buy a new motherboard as the one I have now is getting a little dodgy especially with some of the USB ports dying on me. Is there any other mobo's that you could recommend that are worth getting that perhaps could last me a good few years, that would also hopefully fit my midtower case?
 
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Shneiky

Shneiky

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I know you can still buy 70 chipset boards. I recently switched from P67 Pro to Z77 Extreme. But I have a 2700K. And he has a non-K version. It does not make sense for him to buy a 1155 board now and later get an 3770K or an even older Sandy when in few months we will get Broadwell.
 
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Shneiky

Shneiky

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@ refudiate

If you have USBs going dead, then it is a different story. I can advice you to change the motherboard to ASRock Z77 Extreme4 or Extreme6 (depending on the price). When Broadwell hits the I7 3770K prices should go down. Be aware though - CPU prices fall down when they get phased out, but rise afterwards. It all depends on timing. Motherboard prices for the enthusiast chipsets don't fall as much. I got a 2700K with the launch of Ivy Bridge for 220 instead of 330 and Z77 E6 for 120 instead of the launch price of 200. But it requires the right timing and luck. If I were you, I would just wait till the end of the year to get completely new Broadwell set up and call it a day.

P.S My mistake. Broadwell in laptops launches this winter. Broadwell for desktops launches Q1/Q2 in 2015.
 
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refudiate

refudiate

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Aug 12, 2014
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Yeah I currently have 2 usbs dead out of like 6. So I kind of need a new mobo, and a year or so to wait on getting both the mobo and cpu is a little too long to wait. As I don't think my current mobo will last that long. I've looked around for the ASRock Z77 E6 and I can't find it anywhere online that I can buy in the UK... I may have to go with the ASRockZ77 E4 instead, as it's easy to get if I order from amazon. What's the different between E4 & E6 btw?
 
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Shneiky

Shneiky

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Both boards are in essence the same, with the difference that the E6 is designed for pushing higher clocks although people report more or less the same overclocks from both boards. Other minor differences are that the E4 is a bit narrower, the PCB is slightly thinner so you have to put some standoffs (usually come in the motherboard package or your case package), but people report no problems with it. You just have to be a little careful when installing or removing components. Also the E6 has a bit bulkier heat sinks on the VRMs (one of those little thingies that deliver power to the CPU) keeping the cooler for higher overclock.

I have the E6 and I am happy about it. I chose it over the E4 because it was only 15 bucks more. But if you can't find E6 - than the E4 for 80 pounds is a good deal.

But to be honest - if you can get to upgrade both CPU and motherboard now - you can get I7 4790K which runs on 4GHz out of the box.
 
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Solution
refudiate

refudiate

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Aug 12, 2014
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4,510
Hmm, that does seem tempting to just go all out and buy a brand new CPU that runs at that speed without the hassle of OC'ing. But, I think I am going to wait as I still believe my processor has got a bit of life left in it and when it does start failing I'll be sure to upgrade. As for the motherboard, I think I am going to go ahead and purchase the ASRock E4 motherboard, as I don't trust the one I have atm. Other than Mobo's, I've just bought a H100i and a Samsung Evo 250GB SSD for now though, so that should keep me happy for a bit.

Thank you for your help once again, I'm new around here so it was nice to get such speedy helpful advice!
 
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