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Bang for the buck gaming build opinions please

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krnmastersgt said:
Also bear in mind that Z68 can support 3rd gen i5/i7's but if you have an older BIOS from ordering that board, you'll need an older generation CPU to flash the BIOS to support the 3570K properly.

Actually I don't see why you'd grab that board when you can grab the ASRock Z75 Pro3 for quite a bit less. And if you want a full ATX board for some reason, even the ASRock Z77 Pro3 is cheaper as well, and both will natively support the 3570K.
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Am I understanding this correctly that the Z68 board always/sometimes comes with an older BIOS than the ASRock Z75 Pro3 or ASRock Z77 Pro3?

Because otherwise I tend to lean towards the paying the extra $30. and have hyper threading on the board, etc. if I decided to move to an i7 processor later.
 
XshadowfoxX said:
Is there any substantial difference between MSI 7870 and MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card ?

With the current promotions there is $70 difference in the purchase cost between them.
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http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=548

That shows you the rough comparison of the 2 chips, the 7850 is no slouch at all however if those extra settings at higher resolutions are what you want, the 7870 beats it completely. Some games there won't be a difference between the 2 though because they can both run everything maxed out very well. For the most part I'd prefer to recommend the 7850 since if you're making the step up to 7870 might as well just keep saving and go for a GTX 670 which blows right past the 7870 as you can see here.


XshadowfoxX said:
Am I understanding this correctly that the Z68 board always/sometimes comes with an older BIOS than the ASRock Z75 Pro3 or ASRock Z77 Pro3?

Because otherwise I tend to lean towards the paying the extra $30. and have hyper threading on the board, etc. if I decided to move to an i7 processor later.
Click to expand...

Z68/77/75 all fully support third gen i5's AND i7's. However the issue is that the Z68 is an older chipset, made and sold with the second generation of i5/7's so without newer BIOS updates they won't properly recognize most of the 3rd gen offerings. There is no reason to pay more for a Z68 board at all, the Z77 is everything Z68 was and much much more. The Z75 chipset is a more streamlined variant of the Z77 with a few less ports here and there but usually also a lower price tag.
 
Personally I'd say yes considering the amount you're sinking into either CPU, the difference in price % is outweighed by the increase in CPU performance with a moderate OC. Do you by chance happen to live anywhere near a Micro Center? You could get the 3570K for less than that 3570 AND get a discount on a motherboard if you happen to live near one.
 
krnmastersgt said:
There is no difference really, likewise you won't see any actual performance differences with just this set of G.SKILL Value 8 GB for a gaming rig. You might score higher with the Ripjaws in some benchmarks, but for actual gaming experience they'll be more or less identical.

Also bear in mind that Z68 can support 3rd gen i5/i7's but if you have an older BIOS from ordering that board, you'll need an older generation CPU to flash the BIOS to support the 3570K properly.

Actually I don't see why you'd grab that board when you can grab the ASRock Z75 Pro3 for quite a bit less. And if you want a full ATX board for some reason, even the ASRock Z77 Pro3 is cheaper as well, and both will natively support the 3570K.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clearing that issue up with the type of Ram used for gaming.

Oh and please check your PM's.
 
krnmastersgt said:
Personally I'd say yes considering the amount you're sinking into either CPU, the difference in price % is outweighed by the increase in CPU performance with a moderate OC. Do you by chance happen to live anywhere near a Micro Center? You could get the 3570K for less than that 3570 AND get a discount on a motherboard if you happen to live near one.
Click to expand...

I live 1.5 to 2 hours North of Los Angeles and the closest Micro Center is Orange County / Tustin. To make a special trip would probably negate much of the savings. Have you ever had them ship to you?
 
mfenn said:
They're the same CPU except for the overclocking capability and the slightly better IGP on the K model. The IGP is irrelevant in your case, so it really comes down to whether or not you plan to overclock this machine.
Click to expand...

I don't plan to overclock so the non K model is probably fine.
 
XshadowfoxX said:
I live 1.5 to 2 hours North of Los Angeles and the closest Micro Center is Orange County / Tustin. To make a special trip would probably negate much of the savings. Have you ever had them ship to you?
Click to expand...

They ship stuff just fine, but you lose out on most of the savings that way. The best deals are in-store only. I definitely wouldn't drive 4-5 hours just to save $50 on a CPU.
 
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