Upgrading ~$500 for new CPU and MB

[sinnatra]

My current system:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler
XFX 790i Ultra (this MB has been a pain in the ass)
Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2GB DDR5
2x Hitachi Deskstar 1TB Sata II drives
4GB Crucial CT2CP25664BA1339 DDR3 (2sticks of 2GB)
4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC10600 1333Mhz (4sticks of 1GB)
Antec Truepower 750 Watt PSU
Antec P182 Mid Tower Case
LG Blu-ray/DVD Burner (SATA)

The MB and CPU are the last part of my upgrade. I have around $500 to spend on this. I am really leaning towards the Intel I5 or I7 cpus but I am baffled by the 3 different sockets, the new UEFI instead of BIOS. Most of all I don't want to walk into another nightmare like my 790i Ultra. Please don't even think about recommending NVidia chipsets at this point. I might get over the 790i in about 5 - 10 years and if Nvidia is still doing chipsets and they get really great reviews and prove themselves over time I might consider buying another board with Nvidia chipsets. So can someone please point me in the right direction for a processor and motherboard? What brands of motherboards are the most reliable right now? I definitely want USB 3.0 and a good raid controller on board. I don't need onboard video. I need 1Gb LAN. Thanks in advance.

 

[mdd1963]

The socket 1155 Z68-chipset mb( Gigabyte, Asus, Asrock, MSI)/i5-2500k combo is the defacto 'gold standard'-upgrade these days.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/07/20/gigabyte_z68xud7b3_motherboard_review/1

 

[k1114]

If this is for gaming I would suggest the i5-2500k and a p67 mobo. I would suggest the asrock extreme4 gen3 since it has pcie 3.0 for a bit of future proofing. But the gen2 board is also good and is tom's recommended board. The asus p67 pro is also a good choice.

You don't need Z68 if it's just for gaming since the only difference really is just ability to use the integrated graphics and it does cost more.

 

[sinnatra]

Hey thanks for the quick replies. It is a 90% gaming machine and 10% ripping.

 

[Derbixrace]

this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

and this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264

if your overclocking then get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

that asrock mobo will support PCI-E 3.0 and ivy bridge CPUs.