New mobo to work with what I have

[LittlBUGer]

Hello,

I need some suggestions/recommendations as I have a dilemma about a possible future upgrade.

I'm mostly a gamer but also watch plenty of movies on my computer as well. I have a custom built system from late 2009 that still works great and I believe I have upgraded it as best as I can except for one thing: SATA III

I would love to be able to use my two Samsung 850 Pro drive in RAID 0 and get over 1 GB/s instead of a 'paltry' 500 MB/s on my current SATA II motherboard. I know, probably overkill, but I like having instant load times and I also do a lot of video conversion, so it helps there as well.

My current PC setup is as follows:

Case: CoolerMaster HAF 922
PSU: Corsair 1000HX 1000W
Motherboard: Asus P6T
CPU: Intel Core i7 960
CPU Cooler: CoolerMaster V8
RAM: 12GB Corsair Dominator (*upgraded from 6GB somewhat recently last year)
Video: ATI Radeon 5970 2GB (yes, one of the first, great dual-GPU DirectX 11 cards and it still works great)
HDD set 1: 2x 256GB Samsung 850 Pro in RAID 0 (main C: partition) (*just upgraded to within past couple months)
HDD set 2: 3x 750GB WD Black in RAID 5 (data/backup partition)
Optical: 8x LG Blu-ray burner
Audio: SoundBlaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
Headphones: Sennheiser HD 558 (*just upgraded this past week)
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
Network: Bigfoot Killer Xeno Pro 256MB NIC
Addon card: 2-port USB 3.0 PCIe card (*added somewhat recently this year)
KB/Mouse: Logitech MX 5500 combo
Monitor: 24" Dell 2408WFP

My dilemma is this, what new motherboard and CPU (and heatsink) would be the best bang for the buck without touching any other parts? I can probably part with the Killer NIC if number of slots becomes an issue, and of course the USB 3.0 2-port card would go away (motherboard would have USB 3 built in). I can still play nearly all games at max/ultra settings at 1920x1200 resolution so I have no issues there. Can anybody recommend something that would work?

Thank you!

 

[Burpo]

Upgrade your CPU and add a PCI-E SATA III card. It really is that simple, and effective for what you seek. LGA1366 is still potent for most anything you wish to do. Your board supports the 6 core Xeons that are currently plentiful & cheap. I currently run an X5650 Xeon with Asus SaberTooth mobo. It has USB 3 & SATA III via 3rd party controller (which is why I chose it), but an add on card accomplishes the same, with your Asus P6T. With an over clocked Xeon hex core, the performance difference is quite noticeable, and the total cost could be as little as $100..

Typical video encoding work is sped up 1.5-2X.. That was the main reason for building such a rig a yr ago, and I have not been disappointed. My rig at 4.3Ghz is close to a new i7-5820, so I can wait for an upgrade a couple more years.

 

[LittlBUGer]

Yes, I've already researched for a guality PCI-e, RAID-enabled SATA III card but it seems I cannot find one of worth, at least not one cheaper than $300 or something. Most of the reviews I've found for cards in the $100 range say either the RAID doesn't work, or it's software and not hardware RAID, or the system won't boot, etc., etc. Hence why I was going for the whole new motherboard option so that I can be sure it all works.

Do you have any suggestions for a SATA III card that does in fact work well? Please let me know.

Any other suggestions from anyone else are of course welcome as well.

Thank you!

 

[Burpo]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-041-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815158365

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-...845?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27f183fe05

 

[LittlBUGer]

Thank you, I appreciate the research. I'm still a little reluctant since it's not native to the motherboard, but it's something I will definitely think about.

I see from both of those products (as well as a Vantec one I found) that they all use the same Marvell chipset on the card. I would have to get rid of my dedicated Killer NIC card (which is fine) to make this fit, but I will definitely think about it, especially at that price.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Burpo]

No problem.. Look any better than your i7-960?


Cheap, easy & effective upgrade