Cheapest i5-2500k motherboard+memory for max. performance?

[newbourne]

Hi Guys!

I'm upgrading to a 2500k.

I might OC it now or in the future.

I'm going to attach 1-2 internal harddrives.

At the moment USB3, Firewire and eSATA is not anything I need.

Basically: What is the cheapest 2500k motherboard+memory, where I can get maximum performance and is still able to fully OC the CPU?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

AsRock makes a great board at $150 with the P67 Extreme 4. It has all the features of higher priced boards for cheap.


http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p67-motherboard-roundup-lga-1155-sandy-bridge,2837-2.html


Gigabyte makes the P67 UD3 for a few dollars less.

For RAM Look for GSkill, Corsair or Mushkin DDR3 1333 cas 9 for the cheapest. Anything faster is overclocking as 1333 cas 9 is default for Sandy Bridge.

 

[newbourne]

Thanks, man, have already given that board a good look.

Would DDR3 1600 give more performance in games?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Maybe just a few percent difference in faster RAM. I have 8GB of DDR3 1600 Cas 7-8-7-24 and it gives a 7.8 WEI. At 1333 cas 9 ( default timings) it gives a WEI of 7.6.

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

I'd suggest the ASRock P67 Pro3 board. Its performance is quite impressive, and it's a good deal if you don't plan to do SLI/CF.

DDR3-1600 CL9 is Sandy Bridge's sweet spot. I run 12GB (one 8GB kit and one 4GB kit) of G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3-1600 CL9 in mine. I get RAM WEI of 7.8 with mine -- not that I consider WEI a true measure of performance.