CPU Mobo and RAM compatible/good deal?

[trogdor796]

To start off, here are my current specs :
Case : Antec P180S
Motherboard : Asus P5B
CPU : E6600@3.00GHz
RAM : 4GB DDR2
HDD : 2 250GB RAID 0
GPU : 4870
PSU : OCZ 500W

Now, as you can see, many of these are becoming dated. I have a good amount of spending money right now, and micro-center is running some great deals on processors and motherboards.

The have the i5 2500K for $180 new. And if you buy any compatible 1155 motherboard you get an additional $40 in bundle savings. Now I realize that in order to OC the 2500k I need a P67 or Z68 chipset. Can anybody explain the difference in these two though? I can either get this P67 http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0363458 or pay $20 more for this Z68 one http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0364087 . Now they both seem the same to me, usb 3.0 and two pciex16 2.0 slots etc, so is it worth it to spend the extra $20?

Besides those, I would need new RAM also. Is it recommend to get 1600 or will 1333 be fine for gaming? I was just planning on getting this for RAM
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0353218 .

Now, will all of those things be compatible(based o which motherboard you guys recommend)? Will they all fit properly in my case? I play to only replace my motherboard cpu and ram. Since I only play at 1680x1050, the 4870 is plenty powerful for me. Also, my power supply should be able to handle this stuff right? since I'm not upgrading the gpu, the increased power usage shouldn't be too much.

Finally, do you guys believe this is a good deal? I figure that I need to upgrade, and this seems like a good deal so I might as well do it. I plan to sell my current mobo, cpu, and RAM for $100 altogether on craigslist. Does that seem like a justifiable price? Thanks for reading all that, any opinions/criticism/feedback is much appreciated!

 

[o1die]

The z68 has more options for the onboard video that some folks still use, and some overclocking features that the h61 doesn't have.

 

[trogdor796]

I don't need integrated graphics at all. And I know I will be going with either a P67 or Z68, the other two are not options. I heard/saw something in a microcenter ad about Z68 allowing OC of gpu and the P67 didn't allow this. I thought you could OC any gpu with programs like msi afterburner?

 

[o1die]

Intel put the brakes on unlimited overclocking options with 1155. You pay a small premium for the "k" unlock multiplier feature, which is ok. But it still doesn't guarantee that it will overclock smoothly. Temps also play a role. I just posted a reply about "lapping" the cpu. It's a good idea but also voids the Intel warranty, since you can't read the id number if it's been rubbed out. The z68 in a nutshell has some newer features built in, so I would still recommend them. The "turbo mode" is a feature that allows a modest overclock that's almost guaranteed to run smoothly. But that's all I have.

 

[trogdor796]

Due to Gigabyte being a much better known brand than ECS, I have decided to go with the Z68 chipset motherboard.

I know this has 3 PCIe slots on it, a 16x, 8x and 4x. I have been told by others that due to the location of the sata ports, crossfire/sli will not work with this mobo. Is this true? I never planned to crossfire/sli in the first place so it's no big deal but I was just wondering.

 

[simon12]

Yes you can run crossfire/SLi on that board. The overclocking the GPU on Z68 is just the onboard graphics so nothing important as you can overclock a dedicated card on either.

 

[trogdor796]

I don't know where I got the idea of 16x 8x and 4x, but on micro center's page it lists 2 of the slots as 16x and one as a 4x. Which two slots are the 16x? I would assume the top two, but wouldn't cards be too close to each other then? If the bottom one is a 16x, it does seem that a larger card could end up covering sata ports.

Also, with my current case and the Z68 board inside of if, will the Hyper 212+ fit? If so, what do you think would be a stable OC that I could reach?