Educate me and guide me please.

[Gr8Timz]

Well, here is my initial post on this topic. I know there are numerous posts and lists and etc, but I want to learn what I am doing as I do it.

This comp, listed in next paragraph, was my first build. It went well and I learned a ton. I was able to build it and time the memory with help from these boards. THANK YOU. It is, however 3 years old now and I need to upgrade.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0 GHz LGA 775, Gigabyte EP45-DS3R MOBO, xFire Radeon HD 4850s PCIe2.0 , Mushkin XP Ascent 8 GB DDR2 800 (4 units of 2GB), PC Power and Cooling 610Watt EPS12V, XigmaTek HDT-S963 heatsink, 3 hard Drives, DVD & CD ROMs, Vista64 Home Premium.

I will preface my questions with my intent. I want to upgrade for gaming. I play MW3, BF3 and others. I also do amateur video editing and converting. My questions mainly revolve around MOBO, CPU and video card.
I have a couple basic questions and .................. I will number them for ease of answering.

CPU
1. Is the 1155 socket the best choice for the near future?
2. Will the Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz LGA 1155, 95W Quad Core,HD3000 Graphics be a good choice? I believe this is the one I WANT.
3. Will I need to buy a video card with that processor?
4. Is it wise/OK to transfer my CPU cooling to the new CPU?

MOBO
5. Based question 2 and 3 will I need to worry about dual PCI slots for video cards?
6. I have 5 SATA drives in my comp now. Do I need to worry about SATA connections?
7. Will the new SATA be backwards compatible with my drives?
8. What Northbridge should I be looking towards? Again, I will likely not overclock, but I might try.

Video card
9. If a video card is not required with this CPU, would it be beneficial to add one or is it redundant?

Additional
10. Is my power supply adequate?

Please suggest a good MOBO, northbridge and any other info you think I need. Best bang for the buck to support the best processor...
Thanks in advance!!!

 

[slhpss]

CPU
1. Is the 1155 socket the best choice for the near future?
-- Yes, as the new Ivy Bridge processors will be compatible with it, but personally I'm waiting for them to come out instead of buying now (about 6 months)

2. Will the Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz LGA 1155, 95W Quad Core,HD3000 Graphics be a good choice? I believe this is the one I WANT.
Yes, but the i5 2500K is a better choice as it's cheaper and performs nearly as well.

3. Will I need to buy a video card with that processor?
No

4. Is it wise/OK to transfer my CPU cooling to the new CPU?
If the proper mounting equipment exists it should work just remember to clean off the old thermal paste and put new stuff on.


MOBO
5. Based question 2 and 3 will I need to worry about dual PCI slots for video cards?
Probably not based on the games you want to play.

6. I have 5 SATA drives in my comp now. Do I need to worry about SATA connections?
Nope

7. Will the new SATA be backwards compatible with my drives?
Yup

8. What Northbridge should I be looking towards? Again, I will likely not overclock, but I might try.
Probably Z68 to ensure compatibility with ivy bridge and allow for dual video cards should you go that rooute

Video card
9. If a video card is not required with this CPU, would it be beneficial to add one or is it redundant?
Yes add one... the built in video is crap for gaming

Additional
10. Is my power supply adequate?
depends on how you build... single video card it should be fine... SLI/CFX and you might want to upgrade

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.763036

^^mobo proc combo.... remember you will be going to DDR3 so you will need ram as well..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233180

^^8GB ram

 

[Outlander_04]

you cannot game with the graphics built in to a sandy bridge processor .

read the thread at the top of the forum about how to ask for advice . It makes it a lot easier to help you

 

[Gr8Timz]

Best answer selected by Gr8Timz.