Motherboard/CPU upgrade advice for 1080p @60+fps gaming

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
M

marshman11

Reputable
Jan 4, 2016
19
0
4,510
Hi All,

I'm looking for a smart path to a slight upgraded/new build. I'm looking into purchasing a MSI Gaming 5 Z97 motherboard and pairing it with an 1231v3 Xeon or an i5. I'll be using it as a gaming and office workstation (creating some PDFs, Word, Excel spreadsheets, possibly some streaming to my TV).

I'm currently using:
Gigabyte GA-MA790xt-UD4P motherobard (having to use USB connector for Internet access as my ethernet port on the motherboard is toast)
AMD Phenom II 965 BE @3.8ghz overclocked
8GB DDR3 1600 memory ( I think, I'll confirm when I get home today)
GTX970
128GB Intel SSD as main
34GB WD Raptor 10,000 HDD
2 WD Caviar 500 GB HDD
650 Watt PS

Want to reuse everything except the motherboard and processor. Not overly concerned about needing to overclock right now but want that option should I want to upgrade in the future. Should I go Xeon or i5? Do you recommend a different motherboard? Looking for fairly cheap build but no frills 1080p or 1440p gaming.
 
Solution
F
Never had any trouble with MSI very good service and backup ,As above just get a K series i5 and do a mild overclock it will be stable and cool and way enough power for 1080p gaming Why dont you get a 7600k only 239 USD or T if your not overclocking and get an MSI pro carbon its fully loaded built for gaming cheaper,can overclock has RGB lighting space for onboard ssd ,usb 3,1 and 3,1type C SLI with armoured pcie slots and carbon grapite finish its a nice board won't support a 4690 though ,At least check it out
Sort by date Sort by votes
L

lrrelevant

Commendable
Jun 22, 2016
210
0
1,760
That motherboard is fine. I personally prefer ASUS though. I would also opt for an i5 4690K to go along with your overclocking motherboard. If you don't intend to overclock, there's no need to spend extra on a z97.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

marshman11

Reputable
Jan 4, 2016
19
0
4,510


Good point. So if I'm not going to overclock which board would you recommend from MSI and ASUS? And would you still go with an i5 over the Xeon 1231v3? Keeping in mind this will also serve as my workstation for some light music editing or video streaming.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

FullmetalJacket

Commendable
Feb 13, 2017
169
0
1,710
Never had any trouble with MSI very good service and backup ,As above just get a K series i5 and do a mild overclock it will be stable and cool and way enough power for 1080p gaming Why dont you get a 7600k only 239 USD or T if your not overclocking and get an MSI pro carbon its fully loaded built for gaming cheaper,can overclock has RGB lighting space for onboard ssd ,usb 3,1 and 3,1type C SLI with armoured pcie slots and carbon grapite finish its a nice board won't support a 4690 though ,At least check it out
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
M

marshman11

Reputable
Jan 4, 2016
19
0
4,510


Because I was trying to do a minimal upgrade to get me to comfortable gaming but expansive enough where if I just add a more powerful video card down the road I could go into 1440p or VR gaming if I wanted. Based upon what I do now with the limited free time I have, I just wanted my CPU to not be the bottleneck.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

FullmetalJacket

Commendable
Feb 13, 2017
169
0
1,710
Well just get one of the cheaper i5 chips but don't do at the expensive ,of buying a more expensive motherboard which will give you little or No extra gaming performance ,Most of them contain the exact same chipset's anyway ,you will just be paying extra for features you don't need ,Like people pay an extra 50 bucks just for on board wifi and a decent pcie wifi card is 15 bucks or less,i5 are fine for gaming and it wont bottleneck unless you get a 1070,Why do you wanna spend 339 on that motherboard it so much over kill you wont see any difference in performance from that to 100 buck MB and buy a better chip and better graphics card way more important
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

marshman11

Reputable
Jan 4, 2016
19
0
4,510


I won't be buying that mobo new. It will be half that price. I won't be buying the processor new either. I'm figuring I can reuse everything except my processor and motherboard and maybe get a new fan IF I get an i5 - K version. If I get the xeon it won't overclock anyway. I also want the option to upgrade the processor in the future so I want the motherboard to be fairly relevant a year or two down the road. Thanks!!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom