Major upgrade, helo needed

[Donleo17]

Hi there guys, i currently have
intel xeon x3430 @2.4ghz
Asus eah6850
6gb ram
antec high current gamer 520w
im not even sure about my motherboard.
anyway i wanted to upgrade my rig to have crossfire/sli support and also a new i5 processor right now either 2500k or 3750k.
i was going to purchase this case http://www.ebuyer.com/177749-cm-storm-scout-coolermaster-silent-pro-700w-modular-psu-special-offer-sgc-2000-kkwp1-gp as i quite like it and it has good cooling a good psu( i think) and is very spacious inside.
but im stuck at the motherboard, as i currently have a 6850 i was just going to purchase another one and crossfire. is the support for crossfire good? or should i just sell my current 6850 and buy a 560ti? the main problem i have with the motherboard is that i wanted something that would support both sli and crossfire, but a lot of z77 motherboards mainly support either corssfire or sli but not both, the ones that support both are quite expensive. i dont really want to spend more than 90gbp for a motherboard.
sorry im asking so many questions here.

summary :
1. Get that case or not?
2. get another 6850 or something alternative?
3. which motherboard!!!?

 

[Donleo17]

i will be using this machine mainly for gaming.
will be playing battlefield 3, guild wars 2, lots of strategy games. basically i play a lot of games and need a good gaming machine.
please keep in mind that i do not have a very high budget and what i plan is already coming out to too much.

 

[moornix]

I'm not sure what specs you're looking at, but pretty much all z77 mobos support both SLI and Crossfire.
Here's a good one for the price:
AsRock Extreme 4 z77
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

Don't get the case combo, Cooler Master is well known for bad PSUs. However, their cases are excellent. If you want the case, just get the case and buy an Antec, Seasonic, XFX or Corsair PSU.

It is typically better to have a single graphics card, but crossfire has its advantages too. The 6850 and 6870 crossfire is known to have microstuttering issues, but I'm not aware of how severe it is, or how badly it affects gameplay.

 

[Donleo17]

I'm not sure what specs you're looking at, but pretty much all z77 mobos support both SLI and Crossfire.
Here's a good one for the price:
AsRock Extreme 4 z77
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

Don't get the case combo, Cooler Master is well known for bad PSUs. However, their cases are excellent. If you want the case, just get the case and buy an Antec, Seasonic, XFX or Corsair PSU.

It is typically better to have a single graphics card, but crossfire has its advantages too. The 6850 and 6870 crossfire is known to have microstuttering issues, but I'm not aware of how severe it is, or how badly it affects gameplay.

thanks for the reply and the advice, but on that website it seems that that case and psu have good reviews. anyway the main problem is the motherboard and the website you provided is in US i live in the uk. i mainly use ebuyer.com scan.co.uk and amazon.co.uk
maybe if someone could suggest something in the uk then it would be great

 

[moornix]

Customer Reviews aren't the most reliable. If you think it's worth it, go ahead and buy it. Like I said, the case is excellent. The PSU is questionable.

The link I offered was a reference. Here's the same product at a UK website:
AsRock Extreme 4
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asrock-z77-extreme-4-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-%28x16%29-d-sub-dvi-d-hdmi-a

Asrock Pro4
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asrock-z77-pro-4-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-d-sub-dvi-d-hdmi-atx

 

[Donleo17]

Customer Reviews aren't the most reliable. If you think it's worth it, go ahead and buy it. Like I said, the case is excellent. The PSU is questionable.

The link I offered was a reference. Here's the same product at a UK website:
AsRock Extreme 4
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asrock-z77-extreme-4-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-%28x16%29-d-sub-dvi-d-hdmi-a

Asrock Pro4
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asrock-z77-pro-4-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-d-sub-dvi-d-hdmi-atx

there it says that the extreme one supports sli and crossfire but not the other one

 

[moornix]

there it says that the extreme one supports sli and crossfire but not the other one

You're right, my apologies. Then the Extreme 4 is more appropriate.

 

[Donleo17]

You're right, my apologies. Then the Extreme 4 is more appropriate.

but sadly that is over my budget
seems its cheaper on newegg wish i could buy it there

 

[moornix]

What is your budget?

 

[Donleo17]

What is your budget?

for the motherboard about 90. i've seen some that are about 100 that support sli and crossfire but a crossfire one is about 80 so i dont know what to do

 

[moornix]

If you don't intend to overclock your CPU, then you can save a bit by getting an i5-2500 or i5-3450. What you could do is keep the PSU you have now, sell the 6850 and try to get a 7850 GPU with a cheaper mobo. This way you don't need to worry about SLI.

 

[Donleo17]

If you don't intend to overclock your CPU, then you can save a bit by getting an i5-2500 or i5-3450. What you could do is keep the PSU you have now, sell the 6850 and try to get a 7850 GPU with a cheaper mobo. This way you don't need to worry about SLI.

thats something to cinsider i guess. thank you.
but i read that crossfire has more issues than sli. so if i want to crossfire that card later down the line i might have problems.