CPU + mobo upgrade research

M

Magix

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 27, 2012
Messages
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Hey, so I'm looking into getting a new cpu (and therefore also mobo), so I'm trying to figure out what I should be looking for (good chance I will buy it used) and how much money I should scrape together. Relevant questions from the sticky:

1) What will you be doing with this PC?
Some CPU intensive games (csgo, minecraft), basic video editing in Sony Vegas
3) Which country do you live in?
Estonia
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
Central processing unit, motherboard
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?
GPU: Sapphire HD 7770
PSU: Corsair CX500
Case: Corsair 200R
RAM: 8gb Crucial Ballistix Sport (single stick)
6) Will you be overclocking?
No experience, so I'd rather not - but if it means a much cheaper setup for the same performance, I can look into it
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
From weeks to months, depends really
9) What features do you need in a motherboard?
USB 3.0 and Sata 6gb/s would be nice, don't know what else to ask for really. Doubt I'll need a dual GPU setup.

Mainly concerned with the mobo right now, since I'll prolly buy the CPU at a later date and prolly used. Am I right that I should be looking for H77, B75, or Z77 mobos? mATX seems cheaper, so if it doesn't change performance, that would be a smarter choice, yes?

This is the cheapest acceptable one I can find:

ASUS P8B75-M LE / Intel B75 / 2 x DIMM, Max. 16 GB, DDR3 Non-ECC

Full list of available mobos (chipset can be filtered on the left): http://www.hinnavaatlus.ee/products/Arvutiriistvara/Emaplaadid/
CPUs are here: http://www.hinnavaatlus.ee/products/Arvutiriistvara/Protsessorid/
 
If you are saving, wait till haswell comes out sometime next month. Prices should be similar.
 
Get the CPU and mobo at the same time. No point in buying one without the other.
 
That's true. For some reason I completely forgot about the fact that my current CPU wouldn't work with the mobo.

How big is the performance difference between an i5 and some i3? For example, could I reach 120 fps stable in a game like CSGO with i3?
 
Last edited:
Magix said:
How big is the performance difference between an i5 and some i3? For example, could I reach 120 fps stable in a game like CSGO with i3?
Click to expand...

Depends on the game and application you're talking about. For the example you're taking about, the Core i3 should allow you to have high FPS like that. Though your GPU may not be able to provide 120FPS like that.
 
I can already get to that fps, but it is very unstable and most of the time it is still somewhere a bit below 100.

About the CPU, what's the main thing I should be looking at? Are there some i5s/i3s that aren't worth buying? I.e should I keep an eye on nr of cores/threads, clock frequency etc.
Since I might end up buying something used there's a good chance I can't buy exactly what is recommended here, so I'd rather learn how to fish =P
 
The main reason why we don't recommend certain Core i5 and Core i3 CPus is due to their price. The problem is that you're buying used. As such, those non-recommended Core i3s or Core i5s may actually be good buys. Or not. Again, the world of used pricing makes it hard to predict.

Clock frequency, number of thread, number of cores, etc are pretty much stuff you don't have to care too much about.
 
The only significant difference I could find (regarding specifications) is that the MSI B75MA-P45 has four RAM slots versus two on the Gigabyte GA-B75M-D2V.

Are two missing RAM slots a deal-breaker for you?
 
About 40% to 50% faster give or take. It's a decent CPU.
 
Bought, seems to work fine. But since installing the new mobo and CPU I seem to get these weird grinding noises every once in a while. Happens for maybe 5-10 seconds. I can't describe it so I tried recording it, though there's a lot of fan noise so it might be hard to hear (turn speakers up)

http://www.mediafire.com/?28cwrjwpa70kzhv

I don't remember hearing it with the old setup. It doesn't sound quite like a HDD noise. But I'm pretty sure there's nothing rubbing against the fans either.
 
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