Motherboard Upgrade?

[callumorr]

Hey
i am about to upgrade my Motherboard and CPU. i have about £500 to spend. i have been extensively looking into new MBs and CPU's however i am unsure as to which LGA chipset to go for. i have noticed that the LGA 2011 is the newer version. however the 3rd generation Intel chips seem to run on 1155?? what should i go for?? or should i wait, as i wont be until december that i buy them??
cheers

 

[Bejusek]

What is your old system specs and what the system will be used for?

LGA2011 is a high end, expensive platform with benefits from 6 core CPUs and quad channel memory. X79 chipset (socket 2011) is actually older than the Z77 (1155). For home usage (gaming included) Z77 board with i5-3xxx is enough and its price is more acceptable.

 

[abekl]

Agreed. I The z77 chipset is the choice current chipset for enthusiasts. Paired with an i5 CPU, you have a powerhouse.

 

[callumorr]

Hey.
thanks for the help. the system i am running at the moment is a asus P6t SE motherboard with an i7 920 CPU. that is the 1366 LGA chipset. I would be using it for mainly gaming, and running graphics programs such as CAD, MAYA and photoshop. as i am also doing architecture and animation.
So Z77 is the way forward probably.
i was also thinking of just upgrading the Motherboard so one that can take advantage of USB 3.0 and maybe run Sli, which my one cant do. i was just put off upgrading the MB as 1366 is uncontinued. i realise this path would obviously be cheaper, but i may regret it in a year or so. what do you think??
i have got the gtx 560ti graphic Card and 6GB of DDR3.

 

[Bejusek]

I think it isn't a good idea to buy a new CPU + mobo in your case. Z77 + 3770k would give you about 25-30% more performance in rendering, but only 10-15% in gaming. I would do the following. Sell your current mainboard on ebay, buy used p6t deluxe or any other that supports your cpu and sli. Overclock your CPU to 3.5-3.8GHz, maybe add new heatsink. Add another 6GB ram (again used triple channel kit), add another 560ti (may be used as well if identical to your current one). Make sure your PSU is enough, with OC and 560 in SLI you should be considering 750-800W, 5 series is power hungry unfortunately. If you need usb3 add an adapter on pci-e x1, they cost about 20$.

This should give you another two years without spending too much money. Have a look around and calculate how much you will need to spend on used parts vs new Z77 + i5-3xxx CPU.

 

[thrasher32]

I just did the same thing, replaced my Mobo and CPU. After researching for a day I ended up with a Core i7-2600k and Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H from Tiger Direct. LOVE IT!

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2276153

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7073159

Oh, don't forget the memory. It's cheap as dirt right now.