Jumping ship

This will be done approx. a month from now.. So knowing that would you wait for the new intel platform? Or would you do it then...

I game and mine. Not looking for crazy overclocks, but it's something I like to tinker with. Budget isn't set in stone, and I want to get at least a 240gb SSD when I do upgrade, or even before. CPU + Mobo I'd like to keep reasonable though. If I was just going to spend money I cant afford, I'd go with the Maximus VI Formula and be done with it. If I wait, RAM will have to be upgraded immediately as well if DDR4 is a reality, without DDR3 backwards compatibility.

I will be watercooling the CPU with a Phobya DIY set up to start with. GPU may happen down the road. X-Fire or SLI is a future possibility as well.

If I do my upgrade next month the plan is.. (Note, I'd rather avoid Gigabyte.. but I'm not going to cut my own throat by refusing to buy their product)

Intel Core i5 haswell 4670k

What I'm not sure on is the mobo...

MSI Z87-G45 or the G65 if the difference is worth it.

ASRock Z87 Fatal1ty Pro

GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD4H Would the G.1 Sniper be better? Same price, but the color is gross ><

MSI Z87 M-Power

GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-OC

ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO

And anything between those price points. So I guess my board budget is 200ish tops. But, if the GD45 will do as well as the GD65 for me, I can save some coin. Same goes for the M-power boards. ASRock has boards besides the Fatal1ty line as well....

FYI, I did a project on DDR4. No where did I read that it was backwards compatible.

Also, DDR3 has better timings and speeds compared to the DDR4 that is around today.

Silver_Pharaoh said:

Thanks.

I purely did research on the DDR4 itself. I didn't even think to look into the IMCs

Click to expand...

I removed the post because I cannot remember where I saw it, and it may not be accurate.

NVM, it wasn't the IMC... http://www.tomshardware.com/news/MSi-Eight-Memory-Slots,7214.html

DDR 3 wont fit in the DDR2 slot and some older boards LGA 775 supported both DDR2 and DDR3 with different slots for ram.

I would think they could do the same with DDR4, maybe not.

I like the GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-OC LGA 1150 Intel Z87 I have had better service with Gigabyte than Asus.

Unless you're planning on extreme overclocking I'd get the MSi G45 based on price and service. I've had good luck with Msi and RMA's of their motherboards. You'll get just as good of overclocks out of it on ambient cooling as the rest, in most cases. I own the Maximus Hero Z87 and it's a great board but it's overkill for most users. The reality is there isn't anything wrong with any of the boards you listed.

If you're on ambient, just grab a Z87X-UD3H, IMO.

Unless you're going cold any but the bottom of the barrel Z87 board will get you the same results.

+1 If your only air cooling or water cooling you can save some money with the GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD3H.

Hope this saves some time

Thanks everyone. ATM I see you snuck more RAM in there. I've heard stories about you talking people into spending more $$ Once I get caught up on a couple of bills from being laid off I'll make sure and give credit where it is due.

one question.. Whats the difference between the UD3H and the UD4H? Besides color and a heat pipe (I prefer the red)

UD3H has 8 digital CPU VRM phase and UD4H has 16. The UD4H is good for sub ambient room temperature cooling and overclocking past 4.6 or 4.7ghz.

Gotcha. Thanks wingman.

I would avoid MSI boards. Too many various issues lately ( or it's my luck ). Most brands have usually repeatable issues with their products that sometimes they fix with BIOS or new board revision. MSI boards lately have mixed issues that they never ( or rarely ) fix. I'm just not recommending MSI unless more users tell you that board is really good.
I can only tell you that these boards are good:
- ASRock Z87/Z87M OC Formula
- Gigabyte Z87X-OC
- ASUS Maximus VI Hero

Personally my favourite is ASRock Z87M OCF but it's in mATX format. Cheaper but has all the features of the top series. It's also easy to overclock and works good with all memory kits that I was testing.

wingman99 said:

UD3H has 8 digital CPU VRM phase and UD4H has 16. The UD4H is good for sub ambient room temperature cooling and overclocking past 4.6 or 4.7ghz.

Click to expand...

Yep, nailed it.


Luke, I just threw together a quick "upgrade kit" since you had mentioned mobo/CPU/SSD already.
Your current 1600 CL8 will do just fine, but when people are talking mobo/CPU it never hurts to have a RAM option ready!

For the ~$10 price difference from UD3H to UD4H, its a toss up, but those are about the most I would pay unless going cold.

plus 1 for UD3H. running mine with i5 at 4.5 on ambient water with no problems at all. very happy with it and i even got it on sale like $40 off which helped heh.