Need help with build

[spaceghostsc]

I was getting all set to order the parts for a new system when this whole sandy bridge debacle went down. Now I would be completely comfortable waiting for it to be sorted out if it weren't for the fact my current gaming rig is literally on deaths door. Its pretty old, being a socket 939 system, but having an FX-60 and some other upgrades over the years it was still reasonably okay for what I do with it. The motherboard however has basically bitten the dust. I toyed with the idea of purchasing a used mobo for the time being to hold me over but it seems wasteful to sink more money into dead tech, especially when I was planning on building a new system and have the budget to do so. My budget for my mobo/CPU/cooler is around 600 max. Skimping on mobo quality is not something I'm willing to do and I planned on spending between 150 and 200 in that area. Video card(s) of choice were to be 6870's, either purchasing one now and adding a second down the line or just both up front, so crossfire support is a must. These days I mostly play SC2, WoW, CS source and some occasional CODMW2. Decent video/audio encoding performance is a must. I had been planning on purchasing the i5 2500k and overclocking, but seeing as this isn't really an option currently, what is my best option for cpu/mobo chip set at this point in time? Sadly I haven't paid much attention to the CPU sector in the past few years so I'm sort of out of the loop. Thanks in advance for all advice and ideas.

 

[BoomerD]

You have five options:

1) Buy a cheap replacement board to tide you over...but as you've already mentioned, that's pouring money into "dead technology."

2) Find a socket 1155 board for sale and a Sandy Bridge processor. They're still out there, and the "bug" isn't fatal...with a 5-15% chance of problems with the Intel 3 gb SATA over the next 3 years...and the board manufacturers expect to be providing replacements in April or so...At worst, you'll have some data transfer issues, not actual lost data. Use the Marvell controller and SATA sockets and no problems.

3) Buy a socket 1156 rig. TONS of that still available...with no reported bugs...Not quite as fast as the Sandy Bridge units...but available now.

4) Buy an AMD rig. Doesn't matter which you get...NONE are comparable to the i5-2500...even if you buy the top-of-the-line PhenomII 1100. Still good processors...much better than you have now, but also still quite a bit lower performance than the i5-2500K.

5) Sit tight and wait for Intel and the board manufacturers to come out with a replacement. As I said above, that's expected to happen in April...


Myself, if I was in your shoes, I'd find an 1155 board and processor and hope it was a good one...build the rig and wait for a replacement board from whatever manufacturer.

From where I stand, the Intel bug is an inconvenience at worst...and REALLY only a problem for those folks with numerous SATA hard drives who NEED all the SATA sockets their boards have to offer. (and even they can get by with an inexpensive SATA controller card.)


Just my $.02

 

[spaceghostsc]

BoomerD, in your option 3, I'm assuming you mean a socket 1156 rig? If so, that's kind of what I was leaning towards. While I considered just purchasing a sandy bridge rig anyway, this isn't an option from newegg and Id really like to take advantage of my preferred account status with them. Thanks for your reply.

 

[Numenorean]

1 - Use paragraphs.

2 - Yeah I'm sure he meant socket 1156, which would still be an excellent machine and it's doubtful you would notice the difference between that and a SB setup.

 

[cmanser7]

You could also look on the for sale/trade forum here and ask if anyone has an old socket 939 they want to get rid of. I'll bet you could get one cheap - then wait for the P67 fix and get the upgrade you want.

One option.

 

[BoomerD]

BoomerD, in your option 3, I'm assuming you mean a socket 1156 rig? If so, that's kind of what I was leaning towards. While I considered just purchasing a sandy bridge rig anyway, this isn't an option from newegg and Id really like to take advantage of my preferred account status with them. Thanks for your reply.

Yep...fixed that typo.
I just built a new rig after Christmas. As much as I wanted to wait for the Sandy Bridge release, between having a wife who insisted on having the parts under the tree...and knowing about the problems encountered in the past by early adopters...I went ahead and bought 1156 components. Would an i5-2500K be faster? Hell yes...would I notice the difference? Probably not...

 

[mfenn]

I agree with Boomer, find a 1155 on sale or go for 1156. You can get a good 1156 CPU, mobo, and HSF for far less than $200.

i5 760 $209
GA-P55A-UD3 $130 AR
Hyper 212+ $30
Total: $369 AR

 

[BoomerD]

I just browsed through Amazon. They still have 1155 boards and processors available.