Which motherboard is best for me, for now and in the future?

[Tig2575]

Hey all,

Here's my situation: currently, I'm using an old Asus P5N32-E SLI mobo (socket T) with a core 2 duo processor, and a Nvidia GTX 285.

Right now, I'm looking to upgrade my processor to a Core i3-21xx and my mobo to one with a z68 chipset, while retaining my GTX 285.


My plans for the not-too-distant future (roughly 1.5-2 years from now) are to take that z68 mobo and replace the i3-21xx with an i7-2700K (or the Ivy Bridge equivalent), and then run a super high end water cooled SLI system for triple-monitor gaming.


My questions are twofold:

1). Is my timing accurate, or will the z68 chipset mobo be obsolete within 2 years for a high end machine.

2). If not, and the mobo I buy today would be usable for a machine in the future, what would be the best board for me to purchase? (Ideally I'd like a board that has the capability to run 16x PCI 3.0 from two cards without dropping it down to 8x/8x). I'm not terribly familiar with all the features one has to consider when purchasing a new mobo, so apologies in advance if I have a few blunders in my reasoning here.

All the best,
Tig

 

[nikorr]

Drop in 2500K and be done with it now!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131701

 

[Memnarchon]

Hello.
Nikorr suggested a great mobo from the best (in my opinion) manufacturer, ASUS.
I would just add that if you can wait a bit, z77 motherboards will be out in a couple weeks.
So in the same price (I hope ) you are going to get a Z77 mobo (maybe the equal ASUS P8Z77 DELUXE).

ps: I have the same mobo like you but a Q6600 on it and I am planning to change it for a z77 + ivy too xD
ps2: I had GTX275 xD

 

[nikorr]

^ Or that, if u are willing to wait.

 

[Tig2575]

^ Or that, if u are willing to wait.

Thanks for the feedback - but what about 1.5-2 years down the line?

 

[Memnarchon]

Thanks for the feedback - but what about 1.5-2 years down the line?

In 1.5 years, Haswell will be here and we dont know the improvement from Ivybridge. Haswell also will use socket 1150 so it will not be compantible with today's mobos. Haswell will provide some new features too.
But in anyway thats how PC industry works. For such time you will see new gpus/cpus. If you wait for 1.5 year for Haswell then in 2+ years there will be Skylake which will be a completely new architecture far from what we know (maybe not core-microarchitecture) and then there will be Skymont at 10nm etc etc.
There is no stop. But when a new "tick or tock" is around I think its a good time to buy a cpu.

 

[nikorr]

Thanks for the feedback - but what about 1.5-2 years down the line?

If u will get 2700K, in few years, it still will be very competitive set up.

When u OC @ 4.5GHz, it will not be much slower than the newest CPU's, and it will take AMD few years to match it in most tasks, so I would not worry about that much at all.

It still will be very fast!

 

[toolmaker_03]

man talk about a loaded question, here is one man's opinion. wait to upgrade the entire system to something new, instead if you jest must upgrade something, upgrade what you already have to equipment the is prime for o-clocking on that platform. to give yourself some more time, the issue with upgrading right now is this, is having 20 cores really going to make your system faster. not unless they figure out how to evenly load all of them, throw the programming. the real advancement will come with new processor architecture, that means a true break of the 3GHz bearer. it is a design restriction not programming EX: remember the Intel 4.3 processors that were slower than some 2.5 GHz processors, there was a reason for this the multipliers were really high, so the through put was really low. we need a new form of processing and it is coming. in fact it has already been built, but we can't afford it, the manufacturing process for that type of architecture is too much for us to afford EX: $34,000 processor with board to understand it. that is a little out of my price range, any way they are working hard to lower the costs of this process and make it more reasonable. I would say that within three years we will have them, but it may be like it was the last time we saw a new architecture. they could be a $1000 dollars for these instead of the $200 - $ 400 we have come accustom to.

 

[jsc]

EX: remember the Intel 4.3 processors that were slower than some 2.5 GHz processors, ...

True, except that Intel never had a stock 4.3 GHz CPU.

... there was a reason for this the multipliers were really high, so the through put was really low.

No. High internal multipliers had nothing to do with the problem. After all, an i5-K can have an X45 or 50 internal multiplier, much higher than a P4EE. The problems were a really long pipeline and the associated time penalty in flushing it when branch prediction failed. Power consumption and thermal problems didn't help either.

 

[toolmaker_03]

ok, ok, ok, don't take my head off I was trying to simplify the issue, but you are Wright there was a lot more to it.

 

[Tig2575]

Thanks, all! You've certainly made my decision for the future much clearer.

So, now that I know that I'm going to get a new mobo / processor entirely when I upgrade in 2 years, what would you recommend for a mobo right now?

I'm going to go with an i5-25xx series with a single 285 GTX GPU, and I'm while I'm going to OC the processor, I'm not planning on going absolutely ape**** with it. What board should I be looking at? I like Memnarchon's suggestion of going with an Asus board, as I've used their products in the past and have had a solid experience with their quality and customer service. Keep in mind I'm not looking for a super high-end board for this current build.

Thanks again for all the support!

 

[Memnarchon]

Thanks, all! You've certainly made my decision for the future much clearer.

So, now that I know that I'm going to get a new mobo / processor entirely when I upgrade in 2 years, what would you recommend for a mobo right now?

I'm going to go with an i5-25xx series with a single 285 GTX GPU, and I'm while I'm going to OC the processor, I'm not planning on going absolutely ape**** with it. What board should I be looking at? I like Memnarchon's suggestion of going with an Asus board, as I've used their products in the past and have had a solid experience with their quality and customer service. Keep in mind I'm not looking for a super high-end board for this current build.

Thanks again for all the support!

Actually nikorr suggested the board. I just said to go with the Z77 version of it .
Now if you want something that is cheaper (the cheapest to be honest) is ASUS and still has the ability of SLI and be a Z77 board is P8Z77-V .
Now if you dont want SLI and still want an ASUS Z77 mobo, P8Z77-V LX .
The 1st will cost around $170 and the second around $110 (judgin by the z68 versions of them). Although I would suggest you that even if you dont go with P8Z77-V DELUXE at least go with P8Z77-V.