whats the best LGA1155 mobo under R1600???

[Ponyface]

Hi, im planning on upgrading my ageing PC.
i use my pc mainly for gaming
i have about R4000.00 to spend,
i only really need Processor, Ram and a Motherboard.
i want to get an i5 2500k @ +/- R2000
and ram you i can pick up for about R700
so that leaves me with about R1300.00 to spend on a mobo, can probably push it up to about R1600.00
there are just so many to choose from!!! please help any reccomendations will be appreciated...

[THE_STIG]

Might I suggest the mobo+ram+CPU combo form evetetch. Will cost you R4899 but has the stock 2500 not the "K" version but if you dont intend to overclock the "K" version will be pointless to buy

http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/in ... m-132.aspx

Pretty good deal if you ask me, thinking about buying it myself

[*Pilgrim*]

As The_Stig said, do you plan on overclocking? If not then the 2500K is a waste of money. If you do plan to overclock do keep in mind that you will have to get either a P67 or Z68 mobo, the H67 mobos will not be able to overclock.

Not sure what the cheapest model available is, but have a look at the Intel P67 "Burrage", saw it at Take2/Takealot for approx R1700.00. It also supports SLi should you wish to go that route later on.

What are the rest of your specs like, GPU, PSU, etc?

[Slimshaedy]

Thats a pretty good deal Stig!!
As everyone has already mentioned, do you plan to overclock? What GPU are you going to be running? Will you be going SLI or Xfire?
The Asus P8P67 boards are awesome and look amazing, stick a 2500K inside and you got yourself a monster!
Or go with H67 and use the cpu's on-die graphics. They're not great but it'll save you a chunk of cash. Really budget gaming:)

[Ponyface]

thanks for the ideas guys, that deal from evetech looks pretty schweet... maybe i can stretch the budget it a bit. ( just submitted my tax return! hopefully ill get enough cash from that)

I currently have a CM690 chassis, Asus ROG Rampage Formula mobo, Core2 quad Q8200 2.33ghz, Club3D HD5770, 4GB corsair dominator DDR2 - 1066mhz ram, and a 550w PSU. was a pretty damn good setup in its day... and it still runs just about anything i throw at it, but it has been BSOD'ing on me for a while now and i cant find the culprit, and i want to upgrade anyway. i want to get the mobo,ram,cpu combo for now, then a bit further down the line get a new psu and then a new GPU, or perhaps a second HD5770?
havent really dabbled in overclocking much and it doesnt intrest me that much, so i wont be doing much of that. i want a pc that will last me a similar length if time that my current one has, say 2 - 3 years, so i dont want to go too cheapo... i was looking at the intel burrage p67 board, and its very reasonably priced, but i havent heard much about them, ive always been a fan of Asus, so i had my eye on the P67 pro, its just the budget is a little tight..... do you guys think its worth saving for a bit longer for it?

[THE_STIG]

Yes defiantly save for that mobo. The only difference between the 2500 and the 2500K is that the "k" model has an unlocked multiplier, if you dont want to overclock that feature will be useless. If you do want the 2500K it only adds R199 onto the price of that evetech combo. I personally would stay away from that Intel board.....I have not had a single good experience with one. The rest of your PC seems ok, the 5770 will be fine for now. You can add an extra one if you want but simply getting one powerful card will be less troublesome.

So really go for that combo deal

[Ponyface]

that combo is looking very tempting! think i might just bite the bullet and go for it... even though i dont do any overclocking at the moment, it is something i might want to try at some point, so i would like to have the option.
intel seem intent on changing their sockets with every cpu so id rather get a decent proccessor now so i can overclock it to get some more performace out of it as it ages... as no doubt there will be new sockets as new cpu's are released... i see Ivy bridge is on the horizon already....

[THE_STIG]

So as I said, pay R199 extra and you get the 2500K

[Ponyface]

im sold! thanks for the help bro

[THE_STIG]

Glad we could help

[KALSTER]

Not sure if I'm convinced by the combo. For instance, at Landmark you can separately get:

i5 2005k - R2049
Corsair XMS3 2x 4GB - R626
Asus P8Z68-V Pro - R2166

Total - R4841

For that price you get the full 2500k CPU, good RAM (you don't need expensive RAM) and a superior motherboard. The Z68 chipset has quite a few advantages over the P67 chipset. You can even get the still cheaper Corsairs, 2x 4GB for R481, bringing the price down to R4696.

I'd definitely rather get this.

Edit: In fact, the CPU is on special for R1944.06.

[Ponyface]

wow, thanks for posting that. i recon that looks like a better deal, can always add more ram at a later stage i guess. but 4gb should be good enough. i am on a budget and i also want to get the best i possibly can for my money.

i found this ram for R646 and its 8gb http://www.landmarkpc.co.za/store/gskil ... 1a1d1bf38b

[KALSTER]

The Corsairs were also 8GB total (2x 4GB) for R626.

But, those GSkills look and are nice and are faster. Better idea!

Your system will fly. Enjoy!