How do I determine if my motherboard is right for my new CPU?

[Peter William]

I'm planning on upgrading to an i7 processor (looking at purchasing this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117559). I'm just not sure how to determine if my motherboard is compatible.

Currently I have a ASRock Z77 Extreme4 motherboard. Will this work with the i7 I'm looking at? If not, what motherboards would you recommend?

 

[Ecky]

If you have a Z77 motherboard, it will accept any socket 1155 CPU, which include the i7 3770K and i7 2600K. For the 6700K, you will need an 1151 motherboard, preferably one with a Z170 chipset so you can overclock.

What CPU do you currently have? A drop-in upgrade to a 3770K would probably buy you several more years; the 6700K is not all that much faster, maybe 25%, which will be unnoticeable in most cases.

 

[Peter William]

What CPU do you currently have? A drop-in upgrade to a 3770K would probably buy you several more years; the 6700K is not all that much faster, maybe 25%, which will be unnoticeable in most cases.

Thank you for the info. That helps. I currently have an Intel Core i5 3570K @ 3.40GHz.