The difference between a $180 and $250 mobo? + other general questions

[qwerty123456]

So I'm upgrading.
I'm getting some sort of p67, probably in the $180 range. but is there anything significantly different about a $250 one?

Also which is better, an i5 2400 or some sort of i7 under $300? And what is the biggest difference between i5 and i7, besides the socket (sometimes)?
I was going to get a i5 2500k but it's only .2 ghz faster so I could just overclock and save $50. plus an article here said an i5 2500k is better pricewise than any i7 out right now. so I'm a little confused.

Thanks.

 

[mosox]

For gaming get the 2500k, for the mobo it depends if you plan to run more than one video card.

 

[jaquith]

^+1 the i5-2500K is the best Gaming CPU; i7-2600K's Hyper-Threading does zip for Gaming HT is good IF your other Apps support it.

The i5-2500K 4-Core offers no Hyper-Threading, the i3 is 2 Core + Hyper-Threading and NO OC! See -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge#Desktop_processors

P67 MOBOs - $190 ASUS P8P67 PRO or $230 P8P67 DELUXE for 2-WAY CF/SLI.
P8P67 DELUXE {2-WAY, x8/x8 + x4 open, Marvell 9128 RAID 0/1, eSATA, BT, Dual Intel/Realtek LAN, USB3 Ft Panel}
P8P67 PRO {2-WAY, x8/x8 + x4 open, Marvell 9120 no RAID, eSATA, BT}

 

[RetiredChief]

^ ++
I see you pulled the trigger befor me LOL. Good post - jaquith

5-2500 = 4 cores, 4 threads
I7-2600K = 4 cores, 8 threads.
For serious multitaskers and some (few) programs that can use multthread, the I5-2500K is the better option. Gaming will see no diff.

For MB:
Need to look at features. ie How many sata ii, and iII drives will it support. How many Usb2 & 3 ports -HOW many of each do you use. also look at the pci-e slots. some ar x16, x 0 - some X8, x8. What you need depends not just on if you want xfire/sli 2 video cards. Do you need that 2nd slot for some other card.

Cost is not just dictated by the features (does play a big role), but the cost (quality) of the components also factors into cost. In most cases we get what we pay for.

 

[pacioli]

The Asrock boards give the best bang for your buck as far as price/performance. Asus makes quality products too. I'd just look at the features of the board to see how much you want to spend. Asus and Asrock have many boards at many price points for many uses.

You won't be able to OC the i5 2400 to a 2500. The i5 2400 has a locked multiplier 100 Mhz x 31. The base frequency of Sandy bridge cannot be changed by very much and still maintain stability. You might be able to get the base frequency to go up to 105-107 mhz and remain stable. The fixed multiplier effectively makes the the non K series SB processors like the i5 2400 very poor overclockers. However... even at stock speeds the 2400 is a very nice chip!

Only the i5 2500K and i7 2600K have unlocked multipliers. They overclock like champs! You can change the multiplier from 37 to 41 on the i5 2500K with stock cooling and get an easy 400 Mhz bump. With better cooling you can change the multiplier to 4.6 Ghz and easily get it 900Mhz faster without fiddling with the voltage or base frequency. I have my voltage at 1.37 and my clock frequency at 105.5 x 45. I am getting 4.75 Ghz out of the i5 2500K. That is a full 1.05 Ghz faster than stock. At $220 The i5 2500K is the best gaming CPU under $300 period. It is just as good or better than the $315 i7 2600K for gaming. The 2500K is as good in games as the $1000 i7 990

 

[qwerty123456]

I'm probably just going to use one video card at a time. I have a 5850 right now, but when I need something newer, rather than get another 5850, I'd just get a really high end card and sell my 5850.

Also is there a real difference in performance between 6 and 8 gigs of ddr3 2000?

thanks for the help

 

[jaquith]

On a P67 there's little advantage to high frequency RAM, the IMC is more less locked via the 'BCLK' being fixed, and for some games there's an advantage to 8 GB. However, the P67 is DUAL CHANNEL; 6 GB 3x2GB kits are menat for LGA 1366/X58 Tri Channel. Odd sticks will kill the Dual Channel mode...

P67 1600 MHz CAS 9/8 is the sweet spot -> http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory/2011/01/11/the-best-memory-for-sandy-bridge/1

P67 2x4GB is a good idea, RAM is cheap -> http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ram-memory-upgrade,2778-8.html

 

[pacioli]

I'm probably just going to use one video card at a time. I have a 5850 right now, but when I need something newer, rather than get another 5850, I'd just get a really high end card and sell my 5850.

Also is there a real difference in performance between 6 and 8 gigs of ddr3 2000?

thanks for the help

If you'll never get a second GPU then don't worry about SLI/Xfire. That will save you some $. The highest end motherboards without SLI/Xfire are; Asus P8P67, Gigabyte P67A UD3, Asrock P67 Pro3. MSI has had issues with some boards so I'd stay away.

Memory is cheap right now.You should be able to get a quality brand of 1600Mhz for between $100 and $75. 1333 Mhz RAM tends to be a tiny bit cheaper but I've seen special pricing where the 1600 has been less than the 1333. G.Skill, Corsair and Kingston are the top performers for P67 boards. Get low voltage memory like 1.5v. Timings of 9-9-9-24 Cas 9 works fine.

P67 is Dual Channel not tri channel. If you get 6 gb kit for a socket 1366 board you will have a pair of RAM running in dual and a single stick running in single. This causes all three sticks to run at single rate... not good to half the speed of your RAM. You'd be better off with 4GB of ram running at dual speed than 6 Gb running at single speed. I'd just get 8 Gb and never worry about RAM again.

 

[qwerty123456]

Best answer selected by qwerty123456.