MOBO/CPU/Memory recommendations

[Tom5jl]

Hi guys,

I am a new member, and am looking to build a new system to replace an older system that used an Abit IP35 Pro ATX motherboard, Intel Kentsfield Q6600 1st gen CPU, and DDR800 memory. I want to use the same same Antec P182 case and Seasonic SS-520GM 520W ATX12V power supply.

This is not a gaming system, but one that I use to run by legal business. It needs to be really, really quiet, or even fanless. I use one 120mm low speed fan currently. Needs to be rock-solid reliable.

I do need RAID 1 support on the motherboard as well as support for SATA 1 and SATA 2 devices. I require dual monitor support and currently use an HD 4350 card. Hoping to avoid expensive CPU heatsinks, although I have a really good Thermalright sink on top of the Q6600 I can possibly re-use (but I realize that is unlikely and not a big deal if a different sink is needed). I will be running Windows 8 on this system from the start.

Anyway, any suggestions on motherboard/CPU/memory combinations that are cheap/reliable/quiet are greatly appreciated. Overclocking not really needed.

Thanks,
Tom5jl

 

[tweakboy]

Mobo ASUS Ivy board P9xx and 3770k and a 660 Ti and a SSD to boot. Mobo is a bit expensive but its quality you can have this rig for 5+ years no problems. Since Ivy is low wattage on stock youll be saving couple dollars a month on your bill. gl

The most important component in your upgrade is the SSD. Without it things will still be slow apps will launch slow there will be thrashing an delays and slow boots...

 

[Barfo]

Mobo ASUS Ivy board P9xx and 3770k and a 660 Ti and a SSD to boot. Mobo is a bit expensive but its quality you can have this rig for 5+ years no problems. Since Ivy is low wattage on stock youll be saving couple dollars a month on your bill. gl

The most important component in your upgrade is the SSD. Without it things will still be slow apps will launch slow there will be thrashing an delays and slow boots...

Ignore this guy and head to the General Hardware subforum, you can get good recommendations there.

 

[lkailburn]

new egg has some great i5 mobo/cpu combos. saw a 3570K/asrock combo for $330 bucks. You can also pick up 8GB of ddr3 for less than $50, there's a 16GB deal going on today for $60.

I recently purchased a noctua 120mm fan. Its basically completely silent. Terribly ugly but amazing flow/noise.

I'd also recommend an SSD. Some older hard drives can actually be pretty damn loud so reducing noise is a bonus. But also is the huge overall performance difference. I switched both my work laptop and home desktops over to SSD a year ago and it was a major upgrade to both in terms of overall performance, especially with things like application loading.

-Luke