Should I Upgrade my Z68 to a Z77 Mobo?

davejroy

Honorable
Jan 18, 2013
8
0
10,510
Wondering if I should for a my MSI Z68A-GD80 (G3) a new MoBo?

Current Build:
AZZA Hurrican 2000 Case
MSI Z68A-GD80 (G3)Mobo
32 GB G.Skill RipJaws DDR3 2133 RAM
i7 2600k (usually run at 3.8 to 4.0GHz) - upgrading to i7 3770k
Cyberpower Water Cool w/ 3x120mm Fans/radiator/XSPC Raystorm block
(on my 3rd pump)
2 x HIS 6850 IceQ X 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E DP/2xDVI/HDMI with X-Fire enabled
(1st card seems to carry entire load??)
Raidmax RX-10fluid, 00AE Power Supply 80 Plus Gold
256GB Intel SSD w/Win 8 and games
2x2TB 7200RPM
2x1TB 7200RPM

Looking to get MAXIMUM performance out of my machine. Watercooler pump has failed twice now and CPU overtemps to 95C and system shuts down. Waiting for my new hose, fluid, hose connectors, and new CPU to arrive. Have worried about Mobo and GPU issues from pump failures due to extremely degraded performance and video chopping.

Will pull Vidoe boards and test seperately when new Water Cooling components arrive. Looking for advice on Mobo upgrade (if needed) and RAM settings as since I installed new RAM have aslo had issues...

I know there is alot going on here all at once, looking to effectively upgrade, and optimize performance...

Thanks,

DR
 

davejroy

Honorable
Jan 18, 2013
8
0
10,510


Thanks seriousgamer, I appreciate your response. The board you recommended is an X79 LGA2011, and I need to run with an Z77 LGA1155.

I've arguably tried to run with the best performance at the best overall value. Here are the mobo's I'm considering and would appreciate input from all...

Gigabyte Z77X-UP7
ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe
ASRock Z77Extreme9
MSI Z77 MPOWER

Are there any that I left out that are High End Z77 LGA1155 Mobo's - with Wifi and Bluetooth is prefered.

and a blue and black color theme is prefered to go with my blue and black themed lighting, ect... for my machine...
I know, not performance related, but if here is a tie or extremely minor difference, the color wins :)

Please provide your comments and suggestions...