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CPU and Mobo recommendation


daredevil

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Go with the intel 2600-K. No brainer if you have the money. Get a $200 asus mobo. I think the deluxe is pretty good. Steve got the top end ASUS board and the auto overclock hit 4.7 or .8 with his watercooling. The ASUS are currently the best and least problematic from what I have read. Rip Jaws are good. I'm a corsair dominator guy, because of Corsairs customer support for RMAs and whatnot. Make sure the memory is 1.5 volts for the p67 chipset. Anything higher is not recommended since it can harm the memory controller on the CPU. Real world results from getting faster than 1600 ram on the P67 boards are almost non existent since the overclock for the processor is not linked to the memory speed. The 2600K has an unlocked multiplier like the Extreme series Intels that usually cost near $1000. P67's use dual channel ram which means you can either go with a 4GB kit or a 8GB kit. I would go with a single 8GB kit (4gb x 2) since it is currently well priced and it will eat everything you through at it.

 

You will definitely want an aftermarket cooler as well. Look at overclock.net and xtremesystems.org in the air cooling sections for choosing the heatsink and the fans. The stock cooler just does not cut it with these.

 

For high quality cheaper cases with excellent airflow look at the Antec 900 or 1200s. Coolermaster's HAF cases are good as well without having to spend too much. Pretty much any monster cooler should fit in the 900/1200 or the HAFs.

You can also look at Corsairs D cases as well as Lian Li's and Silverstones. All of these will be $250+

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I ran across a few cases I've never heard of before while reading a review at Toms Hardware. The design on them looks impressive and they are priced well (under $200).

 

I would recommend giving these a look over. They appear to be really sweet cases.

 

Fractal Design Define XL (Currently $139 @ newegg)

 

BitFenix Colossus (These range from $149-169 @ Frozen CPU.com depending on if you get adjustable outer LEDs.) Heres another link directly to the Bitfenix store

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The fractal design cases get great reviews. They are a newer item on Newegg too. Very clean looking which i am a huge fan of. The Antec900 has always been a great case for the price. The 650D from corsair is probably the smexiest (yes smexy) "mid"tower right now. I say "mid" is a big midtower. Its more pricey (199) than the 600t (150) but i love the look of both. 600t comes in white also. Really any case with multiple 120/200mm fans in the from/side will allow for good airflow. I am a huge fan of removable dust filters to help keep the pc from building dust bunnies.

 

I would say get a 2600k if you can. Most 200 dollar mother boards will allow decent overclocking. Asus has UEFI and a nice auto over clocking feature. Gigabytes arent bad either but last time i checked they are still bios controlled. AsusRock, while being cheaper and maybe a bit harsher on the eyes, got great reviews for their extreme4.

 

Z68 would be the way to go currently. Might as well have built in video drivers incase the video card craps out. I think the new z68 also has trim support and maybe N200 chip (not sure on these havent really followed MB since my build).

 

As for ram, Corsair vengence, GSkill ripjaws, kingston hyperx all get good reviews and carry limited lifetime warranties. And if you are patient there are usually killer deals on newegg on one of these every week. Since overclocking is essentially locked to the cpu now, the ram just needs to be compatible with the pc really lol.

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Yes Corsair Vengence, not dominator, would be what I would get for a p67/z68 build unless the G Skills were significantly less. As long as it works then it doesnt matter, unlike a motherboard which gives you different capabilities and overclocking options based upon which model.

 

It would probably be a toss up between a $200 asus or gigabyte z68 board. I have not had a chance to read up on any of these z68 boards or the updates to the p67 boards. But the best boards change from chipset to chipset so don't choose anything strictly by brand loyalty.

 

Do some research on:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/

http://www.overclock.net/

http://hardforum.com/

 

Just dont get sucked into the watercooling case galleries. ;)

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my old computer has an nvidia 680i, it bugged out and I had to ship

it back for replacement. Customer service was good but after that MB

crashed I researched it and found they are full of problems. Nvidia has

it going on for graphic boards but not so much for the motherboards.

 

Build a i5 system for a friend, it rocked. Seems the biggest factor is

the amount you are willing to spend.

 

When you think about the amount of time you spend on your computer, it

might as well be fast and fun. So sell your car and buy a better machine.

:lol:

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