Best motherboard + cpu combo for under $250?

[HURRIC4NE]

hi!

i was thinking of upgrading my old socket 1156 stuff, and have $250 to spare, i cannot sell what i have right now cause i gave it to my younger sibling to play with, however, i want something thats easy to OC since i got a H100 to cool it with and i do a lot of photoshopping and playing games online

so far i came up with an i3 and cheap motherboards, but i still dont feel like its the right choice...

 

[AtenRa]

If you are not near a Micro Center i will suggest the following,

ASUS M5A97 EVO AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
$114.99

A complete motherboard with tones of features and nice for OC with UEFI BIOS.

AMD FX-6100 Zambezi 3.3GHz Socket AM3+ 95W Six-Core Desktop Processor FD6100WMGUSBX
$139.99

Just OC to 4.2GHz or above and you will be fine for every game. You will also have 6 threads for MultiThreaded applications. Next year you will be able to upgrade to an 8-core PileDriver.

 

[borisvodofsky]

If you are not near a Micro Center i will suggest the following,

ASUS M5A97 EVO AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
$114.99

A complete motherboard with tones of features and nice for OC with UEFI BIOS.

AMD FX-6100 Zambezi 3.3GHz Socket AM3+ 95W Six-Core Desktop Processor FD6100WMGUSBX
$139.99

Just OC to 4.2GHz or above and you will be fine for every game. You will also have 6 threads for MultiThreaded applications. Next year you will be able to upgrade to an 8-core PileDriver.

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

stop stop stop stop.....

DO NOT BUY AMD, PERIOD, eat top-ramen for 2 weeks, and save up $350 total for an i5 2500k and a z68 motherboard.

 

[AtenRa]

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

stop stop stop stop.....

DO NOT BUY AMD, PERIOD, eat top-ramen for 2 weeks, and save up $350 total for an i5 2500k and a z68 motherboard.

stop stop stop stop.....

DO NOT BUY THE 2500K, dont eat for a couple of months, save $800-1000 and buy the Core i7 3930K with X79 motherboard.

 

[tigersty1e]

i know the limit is $250, but i just bought a 3570k and gigabyte z77 ud3h for 300 plus tax at microcenter.

190 for cpu and 50 off a z77 motherboard (the board was 160 - 50 = 110).

price/performance would beat anything out there.

 

[2is]

stop stop stop stop.....

DO NOT BUY THE 2500K, dont eat for a couple of months, save $800-1000 and buy the Core i7 3930K with X79 motherboard.

That's more reasonable than your first suggestion.

 

[blastingcap]

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

stop stop stop stop.....

DO NOT BUY AMD, PERIOD, eat top-ramen for 2 weeks, and save up $350 total for an i5 2500k and a z68 motherboard.

Might as well just get a z77 mobo to go w/ the 2500K, instead of a z68, unless the cost difference is prohibitive.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Might as well just get a z77 mobo to go w/ the 2500K, instead of a z68, unless the cost difference is prohibitive.

+1 but there is no difference

 

[Leyawiin]

I'll just assume you're not near a Micro Center:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115077
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128543

Something along these lines would be a decent budget build.

 

[nonameo]

I'll just assume you're not near a Micro Center:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115077
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128543

Something along these lines would be a decent budget build.

I don't know, personally I think he'd be better off getting a less fancy motherboard but getting a better CPU. ECS still has a deal going for an H61 motherboard at NE for what... 30 bucks after rebate? that + 200$ 2500k = rock, even if you can't overclock it. It's not like you can overclock the 2120 anyway. The big question comes down to if he's going to use things like PCIE 3.0, sata 6 and USB 3. Even then, you can take care of SATA 6 and USB 3 with expansion cards, and PCIE 3 is backward compatible.

Anyway, just something to think about.

edit: nevermind, he wants overclocking. Guess I need to read first >_<

In that case, it's going to be difficult to get overclocking and intel for 250 dollars, and if you go AMD the 2500k + h61 setup might still be faster in some situations, even with an overclocked 8150. However, you're not going to get a good OC board and an 8150 for 250$, and if you're going to spend more, you might as well get the 2500k + an OC motherboard.

You could go for something like an i5 750? I'm assuming your sig is your rig. That would be a nice bump, and you can use your current setup to OC with it. It really wouldn't cost you much, you can probably get one for about 100 used. edit: and then save and wait till you can get a 2500k + good motherboard

 

[blckgrffn]

I think ~$100 is probably the floor for a solid motherboard. I've just not had great luck with cheap motherboards.

I'd get at least a z68/z77 as well. My $.02. Might as well get it all without compromise.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Get a biostar z77 with core i5 2500k used

 

[Leyawiin]

edit: nevermind, he wants overclocking. Guess I need to read first >_<

Ah, my bad too about reading carefully! Yeah, the mobo is fine for OCing, but the i3 is kind of useless then.

 

[zoiks]

I'm running my FX8120 with 32gb ram at 4.5ghz using the antec H20 620 water cooler.
The motherboard + CPU was for $245 + tax (after $10 MIR) at Microcenter.
I love it actually. Pretty damn good CPU and great performance. Best bang for the buck.

 

[HURRIC4NE]

I don't know, personally I think he'd be better off getting a less fancy motherboard but getting a better CPU. ECS still has a deal going for an H61 motherboard at NE for what... 30 bucks after rebate? that + 200$ 2500k = rock, even if you can't overclock it. It's not like you can overclock the 2120 anyway. The big question comes down to if he's going to use things like PCIE 3.0, sata 6 and USB 3. Even then, you can take care of SATA 6 and USB 3 with expansion cards, and PCIE 3 is backward compatible.

Anyway, just something to think about.

edit: nevermind, he wants overclocking. Guess I need to read first >_<

In that case, it's going to be difficult to get overclocking and intel for 250 dollars, and if you go AMD the 2500k + h61 setup might still be faster in some situations, even with an overclocked 8150. However, you're not going to get a good OC board and an 8150 for 250$, and if you're going to spend more, you might as well get the 2500k + an OC motherboard.

You could go for something like an i5 750? I'm assuming your sig is your rig. That would be a nice bump, and you can use your current setup to OC with it. It really wouldn't cost you much, you can probably get one for about 100 used. edit: and then save and wait till you can get a 2500k + good motherboard

well i do use a pci-e 3.0 graphics card (7850) and i have usb 3.0 devices....

 

[lehtv]

Can't do overclockable Intel for $250 any other way than the MC way:

i5-3570K $190
Asrock Z77 Pro3 $110 - $50 when combo'd with 3570K

=$250

AMD isn't worth it, so if you don't have a MC nearby you'll have to increase budget in order to afford i5-2500K+Z68/Z77 or i5-3570K+Z77 from newegg.

 

[HURRIC4NE]

Can't do overclockable Intel for $250 any other way than the MC way:

i5-3570K $190
Asrock Z77 Pro3 $110 - $50 when combo'd with 3570K

=$250

AMD isn't worth it, so if you don't have a MC nearby you'll have to increase budget in order to afford i5-2500K+Z68/Z77 or i5-3570K+Z77 from newegg.

holy mother of god that is a really good deal!

why is microcenter cheap ?? hmm i wonder if there is any around philly

 

[exar333]

Can't do overclockable Intel for $250 any other way than the MC way:

i5-3570K $190
Asrock Z77 Pro3 $110 - $50 when combo'd with 3570K

=$250

AMD isn't worth it, so if you don't have a MC nearby you'll have to increase budget in order to afford i5-2500K+Z68/Z77 or i5-3570K+Z77 from newegg.

This. No one should really consider anything other than this for around $250, assuming they are close to a MC.

 

[Yuriman]

OP, you're going to end up with a PC slower than the one in your sig if you have only $250 to spend, no matter how you look at it. Anything less than a Sandy/Ivy i5 will be a downgrade, expect to spend at least $300 on motherboard/processor to match your old system. You might also need new ram if it's not 1.5v or lower.

 

[infoiltrator]

I have seen some I7 920/940 used motherboard/cpu combos around $200/220.
Generation one.

And the AMD combo is not bad, just not "the best."

 

[borisvodofsky]

THERE is no point in upgrading from the processor you currently have. It's more than enough for Everything that's currently out.

 

[borisvodofsky]

This. No one should really consider anything other than this for around $250, assuming they are close to a MC.

it's not a pleasant experience overclocking with these budget boards, they don't gotz nuff' phazors. :biggrin: