Motherboard choice 2nd gen and 3rd gen

[bigirishman]

I currently have an amd set up. Asrock extreme 3 and a phennom II 975 be. Im wanting to change to intel, at first possibly 1155 2500k but want the option to be able to upgrade to 3rd gen cpu. I can only afford the mother board now and in a month or so I can but the cpu. I have £120 to buy the board and i wish to be able to crossfire 2 hd 7950's. I only have one at the minute. Im gona buy the parts one by one due to cash flow issues as i have 6 kids! Which board should I get ? Also will my windows 8 license be messed up if i change cpu and motherboard.

 

[MauveCloud]

Haswell (4th generation of Intel's Core i series) is coming out in June, and it uses a new socket, so a motherboard for Sandy/Ivy Bridge won't work with it. Sure you don't want to wait for that?

If you can't wait for Haswell, the following motherboards should work with both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge cpus:
if you plan to overclock: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/asrock-motherboard-z77extreme4
otherwise: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/asrock-motherboard-h77pro4mvp

If you got Windows 8 with a prebuilt computer, you might have a problem with the license, but if you bought it separately, the license should be fine. You might have to reinstall Windows after inserting the new cpu and motherboard.

Edit: also, if you're not going to wait for Haswell, why get the Sandy Bridge cpu at all? The i5-3570k is only 4% more expensive than the i5-2500k in the UK, and if you don't plan to overclock, you can get an i5-3470 for less than an i5-2500k.

 

[bigirishman]

Haswell (4th generation of Intel's Core i series) is coming out in June, and it uses a new socket, so a motherboard for Sandy/Ivy Bridge won't work with it. Sure you don't want to wait for that?

If you can't wait for Haswell, the following motherboards should work with both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge cpus:
if you plan to overclock: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/asrock-motherboard-z77extreme4
otherwise: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/asrock-motherboard-h77pro4mvp

If you got Windows 8 with a prebuilt computer, you might have a problem with the license, but if you bought it separately, the license should be fine. You might have to reinstall Windows after inserting the new cpu and motherboard.

Thanks for the quick reply. I would love to get a 4th gen but money is tight for me. Im gona get a 2500k at first until i can afford a 3rd gen cpu and by the time i can afford a 4th gen the 6th gen will be out :lol: . A 2500k is a good upgrade for me from my phenom 975. Im a bit gutted by saying goodbye to amd but i think its the way to go. To tell you the truth i even wish i had of bought geforce instead of my hd 7950 as ive had a few issues with the newer game titles lately!
The virtual vsync on the asrock boards sounds good. Thats if it actually works! Thank you 4 taking the time to find them boards. They are conciderably cheaper than the boards i was looking at and yet they have nearly the same stuff. I do like the Msi Z77A-Gd65 but i think i should buy the asrock h77pro4mvp that you listed. Ill save a few quid. My windows 8 is an oem disk i bought when i built my pc so hopefully i should be ok then. many thanks again.

 

[MauveCloud]

I would love to get a 4th gen but money is tight for me. Im gona get a 2500k at first until i can afford a 3rd gen cpu and by the time i can afford a 4th gen the 6th gen will be out :lol: .

I still don't see the point of getting a 2500k first. Spending money on a Sandy Bridge cpu means it will take longer before you can afford an Ivy Bridge (or even Haswell) cpu. Also, the prices overlap a lot - the Core i5-3470 costs *less* than a Core i5-2500k, but can meet or beat it in nearly all benchmarks:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/702?vs=288
Once Haswell comes out, there will probably be a model of it for less than the Core i5-3470 that can beat it.

My windows 8 is an oem disk i bought when i built my pc so hopefully i should be ok then. many thanks again.

If I'm understanding things correctly, the "system builder" discs you can buy for windows 8 have licensing similar to retail editions of older versions of Windows (unlimited hardware changes as long as you only have it installed on one computer at a time), despite the minimalist packaging that makes them look like OEM editions.

 

[bigirishman]

Haswell (4th generation of Intel's Core i series) is coming out in June, and it uses a new socket, so a motherboard for Sandy/Ivy Bridge won't work with it. Sure you don't want to wait for that?

If you can't wait for Haswell, the following motherboards should work with both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge cpus:
if you plan to overclock: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/asrock-motherboard-z77extreme4
otherwise: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/asrock-motherboard-h77pro4mvp

If you got Windows 8 with a prebuilt computer, you might have a problem with the license, but if you bought it separately, the license should be fine. You might have to reinstall Windows after inserting the new cpu and motherboard.

Edit: also, if you're not going to wait for Haswell, why get the Sandy Bridge cpu at all? The i5-3570k is only 4% more expensive than the i5-2500k in the UK, and if you don't plan to overclock, you can get an i5-3470 for less than an i5-2500k.

Just received a asrock z77 extreme 4 in the post today. I ordererd it thanks to your suggestion and am very happy with it so far. I cant test it yet as i aint got the processor yet. It is smaller than normal for an atx m/b. Was worried at first, thinking they had sent me the wrong one but its fine. thanks for your help. I love buying new hardware yet making the right decision on hardware is not my strong point.