Out of the game for a long time and need to get back in

Perkomate

Active Member
It's been a while :p
Computer in sig kicked the bucket at the beginning of 2014 and I was skint until the end of the year. Been spending on other things since then but since GTA V came out, I figure I should get it going again.

So basically as far as I can figure out somewhere in the CPU/mobo/ram is toast, possibly 2 or even all 3. Did some troubleshooting but can't be arsed and it's outdated anyway.

So! I'm probably just going to buy new.

I've been out of the tech world for a long time (relatively) so have no idea what's good. I'm thinking a 4690K as the CPU, and what's a decent midrange motherboard? Gigabyte GA-Z97M-D3H?
RAM is easy to find. But will that CPU and mobo combo be decent?
Will be in with the remains of the computer in sig, so the 580/SSD etc.
Will my 1155 fan fit 1150 mobo?

Thanks lads
 

ninjabubbles3

Active Member
The CPU plus mobo seems good.

I have the same CPU cooler, and it works fine on my Z97 board. I believe that all the 115x boards are all the same socket.
 

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
Yeah a 4690K and a good Z97 board would be good setup. Not a huge, huge upgrade from a 2500K setup though, but that doesn't really matter since yours is dead. The fact is that back when you got your 2500K, an i5 setup was the 'go to' recommendation for Intel price/performance gaming, and it still is today. :)

That board looks good but I wouldn't go mATX personally unless you have an mATX case. Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI is a good cheap option, or if you can spend a bit more then the Z97X-Gaming 3 and Gaming 5 are nice boards. MSI have some good ones too, though confusingly also called 'Gaming 3' and 'Gaming 5'. It depends what your budget and really if you want to overclock or not. It looks like you got a nice overclock on your 2500K so I assuming you might still want to overclock when if you got a 4960K?

Cooler should fit Socket 1150. If it doesn't just use the stock cooler until you can get something but usually they're compatible with all sockets from 775 onwards.

It's hard to believe that the GTX 580 is 5 years old this year. It barely seems like yesterday since I was dreaming about owning one of those. See how it performs with current games or the games you want to play, it should be OK, but that would probably be the next thing to upgrade if you felt that performance was lacking.

Good to see you have come back. :good:
 

Perkomate

Active Member
Did not even see it was mATX. I have been gone for a while.

The 580, at least when it was working, was still kickass. I ran Skyrim with a bunch of visual mods at full res 60 frames. Almost maxing the VRAM though.
 

tylerjrb

Member
The 2500k is still a pretty good cpu. If it was toast you should have RMA to Intel, they would have replaced it free of charge.

I'd get atleast 8gb RAM and a new Gpu. A Gtx 970 4gb would be good, and future proof for a good few years. As stated a 4690k and ATX board would be a nice upgrade. The rest you could keep to transfer over to the new system. Maybe get a 1TB or 2TB 7200 rpm HDD for games aswell.
 
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spirit

Moderator
Staff member
See what the 580 is like when you get a working machine again. You may find you want to upgrade it or you may find that actually it is still performing well. :)
 

lincsman

Member
By the looks of things, the gtx 580 should be able to run a lot of games, but won't do max settings on a lot of games. I have a gtx 770 that cost me $220 used, and it maxes settings on far cry 4 and every other game I have, so for value that's probably a good upgrade. If you get a GTX 970 4gb or especially the 980, you'll be laughing at system requirements for a while, but they are quit pricey.
 

Perkomate

Active Member
By the looks of things, the gtx 580 should be able to run a lot of games, but won't do max settings on a lot of games. I have a gtx 770 that cost me $220 used, and it maxes settings on far cry 4 and every other game I have, so for value that's probably a good upgrade. If you get a GTX 970 4gb or especially the 980, you'll be laughing at system requirements for a while, but they are quit pricey.

I don't really want to drop heaps of money on it at the moment, as I'm already shovelling it into my car (engine builds aren't cheap).
But I think I can stretch for CPU mobo ram to get it working again.
Current laptop I'm using I found in the tip and is dying a slow death

Adjusted motherboard to Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC
here

Reckon it'll serve me well?
 
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lincsman

Member
I don't really want to drop heaps of money on it at the moment, as I'm already shovelling it into my car (engine builds aren't cheap).
But I think I can stretch for CPU mobo ram to get it working again.
Current laptop I'm using I found in the tip and is dying a slow death

Adjusted motherboard to Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC
here

Reckon it'll serve me well?

According to one website I looked at, your 580 is about the same as the GTX 650 Ti, which I used to use. From my experience you should be able to play every game except maybe the latest Assassin's Creed (Rogue I think). If you are playing any new games don't expect to be able to max settings at HD resolution, as I mentioned before. So my summary is that your current card ought to tide you over for now. Nothing to really complain about unless you are obsessed with maxing settings and getting really high frame rates.
As for the motherboard it looks excellent, however considering you're on a budget it may be overkill. First of all it supports up to 4 video cards in Crossfire, and 2 cards with Nvidia SLI. Second of all it has onboard graphics, which in your case is totally unnecessary. A plus, especially if you're rusty on your BIOS skills, is the one-touch buttons it has. I recommend finding a motherboard that has all the features this one does, minus the 4 video card support and onboard graphics, if that lowers the cost.

A side note on Crossfire and SLI- most of the time it's better to use one higher power video card than two lower power cards. Most motherboards come with the option of SLI or Crossfire anyways, in fact it's hard to find one without that feature, but as I mentioned if you're trying to get the most bang for your buck, using Crossfire or SLI isn't the best option. I even watched a video of a guy explaining that he got lower frame rates using SLI on a particular set of video cards. So yeah paying for the option of 4 video cards together isn't a value conscious choice.
 
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lincsman

Member
This one looks good. Even has PCI express 3 which will support high-end video cards. Pretty basic, but I like Asus brand personally, and it's cheaper than the last one you posted. Any comments from others appreciated. It only supports 1600mhz RAM, but for gaming and other regular purposes that is all that is really necessary. A faster RAM speed wouldn't really help a lot as things are now.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_1491&products_id=27546

There is also this one which has PCI Express 1.0 slots instead of PCI, mind you the first motherboard has 2 PCI Express 1.0 slots also

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_1491&products_id=27543
 
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Perkomate

Active Member
This one looks good. Even has PCI express 3 which will support high-end video cards. Pretty basic, but I like Asus brand personally, and it's cheaper than the last one you posted. Any comments from others appreciated. It only supports 1600mhz RAM, but for gaming and other regular purposes that is all that is really necessary. A faster RAM speed wouldn't really help a lot as things are now.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_1491&products_id=27546

There is also this one which has PCI Express 1.0 slots instead of PCI, mind you the first motherboard has 2 PCI Express 1.0 slots also

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_1491&products_id=27543

They are however H chipset, is it still the thing where H sets won't let me overclock?
 

Jiniix

Well-Known Member
Yes, no overclocking on H-chipsets, unless you're using the Pentium G3258 chip.
And in regards to a 580 being equivalent to a 650 Ti, I seriously doubt it. No wait, there's absolutely no doubt. Yes it's older, but it will laugh at the 650 at the finish line. Especially if you crank up the quality and/or resolution, it will distance itself even more.
I honestly see no immediate reason to upgrade a 580, particularly if you don't intend to throw cash at the system. I can (could) play BF3 on medium 1080p with a GTX 460 1GB.
A very good mid-range motherboard for your chip would be the ASUS Z97-A. I have personal experience with this board, and it does everything you expect it to.
Never had a bad ASUS motherboard, except the P8P67 EVO B2, which was faulty because of the chipset supplied by Intel and fixed in the B3 :)
Oh, and all LGA 115X motherboards have the same mounting holes, so your cooler will fit just as well as it did before.

[Edit: I see your Gigabyte Z97-SOC is cheaper than the Z97-A, so go for the SOC. Here in Denmark the SOC is $100 more, on Newegg it's $50 more (before their crazy discounts and MIR)]
 
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Perkomate

Active Member
Righto. I'll go that combo then, with the SOC. Note it is the SOC and not the SOC Force.

Also how's the overclocking with them? Last I heard it was something of a waste of time, but that may have been the previous generation?
I obviously had a bunch of fun with my 2500k and having the capability is going to be nice
 

ninjabubbles3

Active Member
Actually,H97 chipsets are locked even for my Pentium. You need a Z97 board.
Honestly, any 150 dollarish Z97 board is probably okay.

Maybe a Gigabyte Z97 Gaming 5 or MSI Z97 Gaming 3
 

Jiniix

Well-Known Member
Actually,H97 chipsets are locked even for my Pentium.
The G3258 should be overclockable if your motherboard vendor has updated the BIOS for pretty much any H97 and H81, not sure about B85.
But back to topic, I think the first generation of 1150 was bad overclockers, but the refresh should be okay.
 
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