AMD converting to Intel

[Bang]

You can see by my sig that my unit is fairly old and It's getting to be time to upgrade. What used to be true is no longer true. The only thing Intel used to have over AMD was faster video encoding, which I dont do so I always stuck with AMD. AMD used to be the gamers chip, good performance and reasonable cost.

Things have changed though and thanks to Toms clips I think I'm now fully aware of how crappy AMD has become... SO it's time to convert. My current board and RAM are AM2+ and DDR2>> got to go.

I'm looking for advice on which Intel motherboards are good for overclocking, along with which CPU's people are using, and what DDR3 to use. So far Ive narrowed my future CPU down to the 3470, 3570K or the 3770K.
While the 3770k looks to be the cream of the current crop, its more than $100 AUD more than the 3570k.

I plan on keeping my Thermaltake Dokker case and 700w PSU, along with the 5 week old GTX550Ti

The one thing I've noticed is many AMD mobos support 2xPCI-E x16 at 16X, while Intel has a limitation on the chip that only allows one GPU at 16x and if you run a second GPU both cards in SLI mode will only run at 8x? whats up with that? Say what you will about AMD being weak nowadays, at least they can run two cards in SLI at 16x.

Thus is my dilemma. I currently only have one GTX550, but was considering adding a second when I upgraded my mobo and cpu. Would it be pointless in an Intel mobo?

Thoughts, facts, opinions? Any input would be greatly appreciated, because I am totally stuck at this point. This is the first time in years that I have absolutely no idea what do do next.

If AMD is pure junk, I dont want to buy a new AM3+ mobo and cpu, though the FX4170 really looks like a bargain, I know its not a great chip. So yes, AMD is pretty much out the window for me and its time to convert to intel and its better ram controllers.

 

[Bang]

Derp! I forgot to mention that I will be playing with the overclocking just a bit and plan on getting either the Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme Enclosed Liquid Cooling System or the Corsair H100, and if anyone knows, do you reckon it will fit inside my case (Dokker) at the top? Theres a pretty big area there and the case comes "liquid cooling ready."

I dont do video encoding. This is a gaming box.

 

[ObscureParadox]

Well for a start the only chips that will overclock are the K series chips, which leaves you with only 2 choices when it comes to buying your cpu.

We need to know what sort of budget to work on, otherwise we could just say go all out and get a 3770K and a rampage extreme

Also I don't really think it would be the best idea ever to go sli with your 550. Getting a stronger single card would be a much better idea, something like the 7950 offers almost unbeatable performance to cost ratio and it comes with 3 games free too, so maybe that's worth looking into??

 

[garih]

one thing that has not been mentioned yet. your concern about pci-e bandwidth is a non issue. in a test by linus he tested sli gtx580 on a pci-e 2.0 board. he tested them in both in 8x slots, and then in dual 16x, they scored pretty much the same in 3d mark. the result was exactly the same, so dont get hung up on what pci slots u got, especially with a gtx550

source: link removed

 

[Master&Puppet]

3570K is the gamers chip - the extra threads on the i7 is a waste of money because there are very few games that can use them (and none that need them).

As for the pcie issue - with the bandwidth that pcie3 brings (which all Ivy Bridge motherboards have) you have far more than you will use.

x8 on a pcie3 board is equal to x16 on a pcie2 board. No GPU in existence is bottlenecked by x16 pcie2 so that's nothing to worry about.

 

[Bang]

Thanks guys. Budget isnt really that big of an issue as I will probably buy the bits one at a time. I'm thinking $200ish for the cpu, $150-$200 for mainboard and ram is about $50 for 8GB in my area. Dont really need $200 in ram too. I can always add more ram later.

Ive been reading everything I can find on CPU's and watching every clip I can as well. The 3770k really looks wicked but I cant justify the extra $100+AUD it would cost as thats almost enough to pay for a decent motherboard.

All I really need is the CPU, mainboard and DDR3. Everything else Ive got will transfer over. I guess the one thing I want right now besides those three parts is an SSD. Ive been reading reviews on those and following threads here and seeing what people prefer. RAM is cheap so I plan to get at least 8 gigs to start.

Besides the bad experiences I've had with Asus PCB's, I had 4 sticks of Corsair ram go bad on me and I've been leary about touching it ever again. The 4x2GB sticks came with a lifetime warrantee, but why replace crap with more crap?

Toms clips and his relationship with Corsair are helping me regain my faith. So I'm willing to give them another go.

I only bought the 550 about 6 weeks ago and im not super impressed with it. Ill replace it as well and make it a hand-me-down to my daughter in a few months.

So far I think Ive settled on the 3570k, but what motherboard would you guys suggest excluding (dont know the coversion to pounds) the really expensive ones like the Maximus V. I can provide a link to the place where I will be buying the parts as it's the cheapest place in Melbourne, if that is permitted here.

I'm still researching everything but I reckon I need a mainboard with lots of USB and sata ports. Three sata2 drives will be transfered to the new board, but I plan on adding one or two SSD's. Can always buy more later eh?

My main goal is to upgrade enough to have a decent system for the next 4 years. All I do is game and watch youtube clips, no coding/encoding or anything. Me and programming didnt get along

 

[Bang]

If I decide to keep the 550, I will probably use it as a PhysX card.

As for the 3570k, I plan to add liquid cooling at a later date, but before I try overclocking. I reckon theres another $150AUD to budget in. No rush on it though.

 

[Josh Weston]

Check to see if your etailer has MSI's range of Z77 boards in stock. MSI Z77A G45, GD55 and GD65 are all solid boards at very good price points.

 

[Bang]

No eTailers for me. I live 15 minutes from the cheapest shop in Melbourne. After scanning various boards and reviews I had pretty much settled on the ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Intel Mainboard,which last night listed at $145aud.

I went back to their site just now and thought they had removed it from their parts list. Sort by: Price. Gone. Look a little further. They had dropped the price to $109!!! I take that as a sign. It makes me wonder if Asrock is about to release a new line of boards. Might not be worth waiting to find out.

So, it looks like:
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Intel Mainboard
Intel 3570k
Now to pick the ram. I do intend to overclock eventually, but will wait until I can swing the Corsair H100. Chuck in An SSD or two and I'll be set.

 

[airdeano]

the asrock is limited in the power phase 8+4 which is decent, but the MSI seems
to have a smooth control on power switching, especially the GD65 and Mpower.
yeah, price can sway a bit, but you do get what you pay for.. ive use asrock
P67/Z68 boards and there alright, kinda hot tempered in voltage and VDROOP.
im a top three kinda guy.. ASUS, MSI and Gigabyte

airdeano

 

[Bang]

I looked at the MSI board and it costs $120 more than the Asrock board I mentioned and lacks some of its features. I think what I'll do is get the Asrock board then upgrade to the Maxiums V down the road a few months. Right now I just want to get this thing up and running. I want it yesterday but unfortunately dont have the iskies just yet. Ill get the board tomorrow or Saturday if I can find the time, and CPU in a fortnight, hopefully.

But what RAM? Get me past 800Mhz and an AMD chip and I'm lost

 

[Master&Puppet]

Surely it's more sensible to go somewhere in the middle? I'd say get something decent enough now and don't upgrade it.

I think getting the maximus V down the line is a brave shout given that you are worried about budget! You will still be limited by the chip at 24/7 volts which will get you somewhere between 4.5-5GHz pretty much regardless of which z77 mobo you put it in.

You just need 8gb (2x4gb sticks I recommend) at between 1600-1866MHz. Don't worry about timings and make sure it's 1.5v. No worries!

 

[Bang]

Thank you sir!! Finally a difinitive answer G.SKILL DDR3 8GB (2x4GB) PC-14900/1866 Ares @1.5v is now the item on my list.

Budget for now In a couple months the money wont be so tight. The more I have to spend the longer this will take to get set up. So I'm happy to go cheap for the moment to get the performance improvement and upgrade again further down the line. Plus if I upgrade the mobo later I'll have a decent spare laying around in case I need it. Ill have this puppy up and running inside a month, if not sooner

 

[ugiboy]

I had AMD for years my last 3 CPU's were 1100T which I ran @ 4.6Ghz, only ever had two blue screens. FX4100 @ 4.555Ghz, ran stable all of the time. FX6200 @ 4.3 on all six cores which was also stable. I recently changed to Intel 7 currently have I7 3820 @ 4.2Ghz stable. I am now building a new rig & have a I7 3930K to go with Asrock X79 extreme11 mobo. The intel chip I have now scores about double as my last AMD chip did on 3D mark vantage

 

[grassman]

I had AMD for years my last 3 CPU's were 1100T which I ran @ 4.6Ghz, only ever had two blue screens. FX4100 @ 4.555Ghz, ran stable all of the time. FX6200 @ 4.3 on all six cores which was also stable. I recently changed to Intel 7 currently have I7 3820 @ 4.2Ghz stable. I am now building a new rig & have a I7 3930K to go with Asrock X79 extreme11 mobo. The intel chip I have now scores about double as my last AMD chip did on 3D mark vantage

That's a SB-E....

OP Wait for spring new chip set and CPU's on the way very soon

 

[Bang]

Have done as suggested M&P. I settled (after much deliberation and research) on the Asrock Z77 Extreme6, and i5 3570k.

I had almost decided which ram I wanted, then I read the thread titled Fun with RAM drives. I want to have a go at this. As the Author stated he plays X3 Albion Prelude, and it greatly improved his gaming experience. I play this game as well and I found his post very intrigueing.

So now I want more than the 8GB of 1866 that I had originally planned on. I also have a better understanding of how RAM works in the ivy bridge set up than I did a week ago. So, it's back to the drawing board on the ram. I may have to get 8 gigs of 1866 to start, then get a speed/quantity upgrade down the line.

 

[Bang]

I have run into a potential problem. As I had planned to get a Corsair H100, I'm not sure if it will fit inside my case. I think it will but I would hate to spend the money and find out it wont fit. My case is a Thermaltake Dokker.

http://thermaltake.com.au/products-model.aspx?id=C_00001662

The page says it will handle up to a 240mm radiator, whereas the H100 is 275mm long. If I can find a volunteer who owns a Corsair H100 I would gladly take some photos of the inside and topside of my case (or do my first ever youtube clip) and then try to get your oinions on whether or not the H100 would be suitable for my case.

I already know the mobo runs about 30mm from the top of the case, which might not be a problem as it looks like the screwholes run toward the front of the mesh on the top of the box, so the radiator wouldnt be centered along the mesh.

 

[Rastalovich]

...
Thus is my dilemma. I currently only have one GTX550, but was considering adding a second ...

I'd not really bother, considering..

Thanks guys. Budget isnt really that big of an issue as I will probably buy the bits one at a time....

I'd just get a 6xx series single card, it's 'generally' the better option.

If I decide to keep the 550, I will probably use it as a PhysX card....

I'd not bother with that either.

 

[Bang]

Final build decision (for now)

3570k
MSI Z77A-GD65
Samsung 830, 128GB SSD
8GB G.Skill @2133

All will be picked up Thursday morning and installed by 1pm.

Used from exsisting build (for now)

Thermaltake Dokker mid-tower case
Thermaltake Litepower 700w
WD 1TB Caviar Green
WD 500GB Caviar Green
Seagate 160 HDD
Gigabyte GTX550Ti 1GB

Coming mid-late January:

Corsair H100i
Corsair AX 760i
Corsair C70 case
AMD 7950, brand to be determined.
32 GB G.Skill Trident @2400 (once the Corsair parts arrive)

The long and short of it is, I'll have the heart of the system built and in use by Thursday arvo. Wewt!!

Build log starts Thursday.

 

[ccaution]

760i for a single card and an i5? RLY?