• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

best bang for my buck motherboard and cpu

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.
J

Jrdnj15

Registered
​
Joined
Oct 16, 2012
I am going to start building a new pc soon and i know as far as building a pc goes it is probably better to build it all at once however im going to build a whole new machine over time while substituting new components into my current build. The first thing im going to start with is a Motherboard and CPU and as time goes on i will eventually buy a better video card, SS harddrive etc.

My goal in the end is i want to have a machine good enough to run all of the newer games coming out in the next year to 2 years (The Elder Scrolls Online, Battlefield 4, Crysis 3) on max settings without having to tweak this or that to run at a steady 60 FPS. I also want w/e i build to last meaning i dont want to have to upgrade again for a while. Also please feel free to express your opinions on the whole "building a PC over time" idea as i am still unsure if i really want to go that route.


Things i know i want to so far:
Intel CPU
motherboard with good overclocking abilities and capable of SLI

for both the Motherboard and CPU i would like to spend no more then 600$ give or take 25$ if someone knows of an awesome deal even cheaper then that to get what im looking for please let me know.
 
Heh.. PC building is a fickle fickle b.....

That said, since you have the budget, I would go...:

3770K
Asrock Z77 Extreme 4

Worst case pricing that is $440. Best (you live near a microcenter?) is $320.

What resolution are you gaming at? If its 1920x1200 or less, you really have no NEED for SLI/CrossfireX setups. What is your budget for a videocard?
 
thanks for the reply man. the cpu and mobo you linked definatley seem like a good combo. As far as the video card goes i am waiting more towards the release of the elder scrolls online and then im going to upgrade but right now im looking at getting the nvidia GTX 680

I do have a question about mobos though how does your motherboard directly affect gaming ?

also right now i have a GTX 560
 
I'd advise building a PC over time...the market moves so fast that new stuff comes out every few months. By the time you finish...it'll be last generation stuff.

It's hard to say without knowing your current specs though.
 
well simply put, bang for buck CPU+MOBO for gaming sounds kinda silly. Even C2Q chips + 775 mobos paired with $300-$500 video cards handle BF3 Crysis 3 like champions! If you have any quad right now 3.0ghz or more, spend the $400 on one amazing video card. With future proofing 2 years out I would get asrock Z77 Extreme 4 and i5 3570k or used i5 2500k then, spend the rest of the money (maybe $200) on ATI 6850 or nvidia 570ti. SLI always sounds good on paper, but doesn't always work so well in real life, lots of SLI setups don't scale well in every game and sometimes there are driver issues.
 
You're budget is $600 for the motherboard and CPU? That is way more than you need to spend. You can get a good Z77 motherboard for $100-150 that is capable of overclocking and you can get an i5-2500K, 2600K, or 3570K for under $200 on sale. You should only need to spend $350 max on a CPU+Motherboard combo. If you shop smart you can get it for a lot less.
 
Ajay, people need 100 posts and an ISP/MIL/EDU type email address in order to see the classifieds. The OP does not qualify at this time.


ibewok said:
well simply put, bang for buck CPU+MOBO for gaming sounds kinda silly. Even C2Q chips + 775 mobos paired with $300-$500 video cards handle BF3 Crysis 3 like champions! If you have any quad right now 3.0ghz or more, spend the $400 on one amazing video card. With future proofing 2 years out I would get asrock Z77 Extreme 4 and i5 3570k or used i5 2500k then, spend the rest of the money (maybe $200) on ATI 6850 or nvidia 570ti. SLI always sounds good on paper, but doesn't always work so well in real life, lots of SLI setups don't scale well in every game and sometimes there are driver issues.
Click to expand...
I was with you for the first part more or less, but you lost me on buying outdated videocards. I would see no point in buying those cards at this time unless budget was a concern. Seeing as how he will have a ton leftover from 3770K and Extreme 4, Im guessing he should be fine to get a 7 series AMD or 6 series Nvidia.
 
Hey guys sorry for such a late response but here is my current pc build

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-M68MT-S2

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1045T (2.7Ghz)

GPU: EVGA Nvidia Geforce 560 GTX 1GB Superclocked

RAM: 2X 4GB Corsair PC3-10700H (667 MHZ)

PSU: PC Cooling and Sons Silencer 750W (SLI ready)

OS: Window 7 64 bit SP1

hopefully that is enough to go on if you need any more details feel free to ask

and thanks for all the replies so far it has definatley been a huge help i dont feel as obligated to go out and spend 500$ on a motherboard when i can get one capable of the same things for 150$
 
Why are you upgrading that PC? Seems more than adequate for 99% of people...
 
to be honest man i have found myself asking the same question at times but honestly i dont know what it is. It seems in most games i have tryed to play on max settings for (examples BF3, Guild wars2) my pc can seem to break 30 fps or i get lagg spikes my first thought was video card so i purchased the 560GTX which was a huge upgrade but still the same things happened so that led me to think my cpu wasnt cutting it bought a nice aftermarket heatsink was all set to tryout my first ever overclock and was unsuccesful so i called up my mobo manufacturer and he said the motherboard isnt meant for OC not enough phasers or somthing
 
That CPU should be sufficient for any game but you really should overclock it.

What I would do is get a nicer motherboard something in the 990FX range with a big beefy power section(power phases), and get a really nice cooler. Either go for one of those massive coolers like a noctura or phantek, or grab a 2x120MM LCLC system. That x6 of yours should be able to do 4Ghz+ with a decent motherboard and cooler.

I would maybe consider upgrading to some faster ram also since the stuff is so cheap nowdays. Grab a set of 1866 1.5v cas 9 sticks in 2x4Gb which should run you ~$50.

That burns up like 1/3 of your budget.
Do you have an SSD yet?
What about a blueray drive?
How are your peripherals(KB/Mouse/Gamepad)?
How nice is your monitor/do you want a 2nd screen?

If none of the above either save the leftover or invest that last $400 into a 670 or a 79(50/70) which will boost your gaming performance way more than replacing your CPU.
Seriously though if you dont have an SSD you really need to get one. They will change your entire perspective on what a "Fast computer" is.
 
The 560 is decent at best, but wont run BF3 cranked @ 1920x1080 well. First it has 1GB vRAM, that is a problem, and 2nd is that its just not a really powerful card in the first place for this game which is quite demanding.

Also, 'lag' spikes, by definition, are network related.. not sure that is what you are meaning to say there, but I dont think lag is the proper term.

That out of the way, Id first try buying a better GPU assuming you game at 1920x1080.
 
I googled your mobo...GeForce 7025/nForce 630a chipset, micro ATX form factor. Ouch, he's right. Not suited for overclocking.

IMO best bang is to get a good mobo for your current CPU that is full ATX and has a good overclocking chipset. I'm sure some of the guys better read than I can help with recommendations.
 
Im still afraid that even with overclocking, that 560 isnt gong to be enough with the settings cranked.

you could try to max out the amount of ram your motherboard supports..
Click to expand...
That wont help at all. He has 8GB which is PLENTY for BF3.
 
EarthDog said:
That wont help at all. He has 8GB which is PLENTY for BF3.
Click to expand...

didn't see that...except the 667mhz part. i think he should up that to 800mhz or higher. at least....or, again, go with the upgrade. he could use that old computer for running steam on linux :D
 
Well all of these replys are great but there is also another reason im building a new pc. My girlfriend really needs a upgrade so my intentions were to give her the components im currently using as i am getting the new components to build a new pc if that make sense... so in the end she will pretty much have my current machine and i will be left with a complete new machine. as of right now i have taken an interest in the mobo and cpu earthdog originally had recommended. Really my goal is to kill two birds with one stone

She is also a gamer as well but not as hardcore into pc gaming as myself
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Help on my daughters build before pulling trigger
Replies
4
Views
355
infinitevalence
infinitevalence
A
4090 vertical mount question
Replies
8
Views
414
EarthDog
EarthDog
dumpa
Is it just me?
Replies
5
Views
142
dumpa
dumpa
BruceUSA
Intel Core Ultra i9 285K
Replies
16
Views
514
Woomack
W
T
Is TIM burn-in still a thing?
Replies
18
Views
727
freeagent
freeagent
Back