Recommendations for a CPU + Motherboard upgrade or replacement

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TheRemnant

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Jan 24, 2016
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Currently I have a AMD FX 6300 and a ASUS M5a97 2.0 looking to replace both. Other than that I have a AMD 270x Graphics card, 8 Gb DDR3 Ram. Not really looking to replacing those.

I use this computer for gaming and what that includes. My current specs do me just fine with what play nor do they limit me at all, but a few months back unintentionally while cleaning it I damaged a pin or two on the CPU and while in the case I scratched a bit of my mother board. One of these or both of them caused there to be no sound coming from my computer at all. I temporarily fixed this using a sound card. Now I am looking to get some new components to put in my machine.

I am fine with AMD and have had minimal problems with their products other than the occasional overheating crash. Since I am getting a new mother board as well I have considered switching to Intel. My budget for these new pieces is 300$. A friend of mine recommended the Intel i5 4690k and MSI ATX z97. Those fit my budget and seem like a pretty good upgrade. Just want to see some others opinions and recommendations on what I should get.
 
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DonkeyOatie
The Board and CPU you have is about as good as it gets at the moment. To go further requires a change to Intel. you could save some money and get another motherboard like the one you have and install a better CPU cooler than the stock one. If you are in the USA, this would cost about $100. You could then overclock your FX6300 for about 10% more gaming performance.

The 4690K + MSI Z97 would cost a bit more than $300 if you get a good motherboard.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($221.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($113.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $335.86
Prices...
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DonkeyOatie

DonkeyOatie

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Sep 16, 2014
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The Board and CPU you have is about as good as it gets at the moment. To go further requires a change to Intel. you could save some money and get another motherboard like the one you have and install a better CPU cooler than the stock one. If you are in the USA, this would cost about $100. You could then overclock your FX6300 for about 10% more gaming performance.

The 4690K + MSI Z97 would cost a bit more than $300 if you get a good motherboard.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($221.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($113.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $335.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-28 04:42 EDT-0400

This motherboard is OK, but a bit lighter than I like for overclocking, and there is little point in getting the i5 4690K if you never plan to overclock. you would also need a CPU cooler.

A stock, locked i5 and a H97 board would be good.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $253.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-28 04:45 EDT-0400

and you could even stretch to consider a Xeon 1231v3 (like I use here)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $318.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-28 04:45 EDT-0400

That would give you four cores, Turboboost, and Hyperthreading.

I did not suggest the current Skylake products because you need different memory (unless you are using DDR3L on your existing system)
 
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T

TheRemnant

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Jan 24, 2016
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@DonkeyOatie (not sure how to respond to your answer other than this)

The z97 you found is not the exact model i was looking at and i found a nice deal for a brand new one which keeps the cost about 300$. I do not plan on overclocking so the second build you link is interesting. Thank you for taking the time to put all that together
 
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DonkeyOatie

DonkeyOatie

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Sep 16, 2014
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The cheap Z97 is the MATE, which is too light for overclocking and not an especially robust board either. I deliberately avoided it in the hope that you would too :).

If you do notr plan to overclock, then the i5 4460 or i5 4590 would be excellent choices. The Xeon is no faster, but is more powerful.
 
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