Looking into upgrading my desktop, got some questions. Firstly, is all of this going to work nicely together?
CPU Intel Core i5 2500K
CPU Cooler Arctic Cooling Freezer 13
Motherboard ASUS P8Z68-V PRO GEN3
RAM 12GB G.Skill RipjawsX 1600MHZ (2x4GB+2x2GB)
I'd like to use a Z68 board so that I have PCI Express 3.0 (even though a 2500K will not take advantage of PCIE 3.0) and so that I have support for Crossfire and SLI as well as the Ivy-Bridge CPUs when they come out. I think would be a good upgrade path and keep my PC fairly up-to-date for a while. I will upgrade to a Kepler GPU later on. The question is which Z68 board to go for? I like the ASUS boards a lot and the P8Z68-V PRO GEN3 looks good, but for a bit less I can buy a P8Z68-V GEN3 and save £15 there. What is the difference between the two boards other than the PRO can support up to 14 USB ports and the normal one only 12? Which one is going to be best for overclocking because that's what I'm interested in. On that note, is the CPU cooler I've chosen good enough to get a 2500K to 4.0GHz and beyond?
Also have a question about RAM. Should I go for 12GB made up of 2x4GB+2x2GB or 16GBs made up of 4x4GB? I use virtual machines on my PC and sometimes 8GB isn't really enough when I want to run multiple VMs. 12GB is cheaper but 16GB may be better. I may try and get 16GB via 2x8GB sticks if I can afford it because then later on I can throw in another pair of 8GB sticks to get 32GB if I so desired. I went for RipjawsX over Vengeance because the RipJawsX was cheaper, I don't think there is much difference between the two brands is there? Also I understand that because this RAM is 1600MHz I will need to enable XMP in the BIOS? Will the ASUS boards I'm interested in have this feature to enable?
Thanks!
CPU Intel Core i5 2500K
CPU Cooler Arctic Cooling Freezer 13
Motherboard ASUS P8Z68-V PRO GEN3
RAM 12GB G.Skill RipjawsX 1600MHZ (2x4GB+2x2GB)
I'd like to use a Z68 board so that I have PCI Express 3.0 (even though a 2500K will not take advantage of PCIE 3.0) and so that I have support for Crossfire and SLI as well as the Ivy-Bridge CPUs when they come out. I think would be a good upgrade path and keep my PC fairly up-to-date for a while. I will upgrade to a Kepler GPU later on. The question is which Z68 board to go for? I like the ASUS boards a lot and the P8Z68-V PRO GEN3 looks good, but for a bit less I can buy a P8Z68-V GEN3 and save £15 there. What is the difference between the two boards other than the PRO can support up to 14 USB ports and the normal one only 12? Which one is going to be best for overclocking because that's what I'm interested in. On that note, is the CPU cooler I've chosen good enough to get a 2500K to 4.0GHz and beyond?
Also have a question about RAM. Should I go for 12GB made up of 2x4GB+2x2GB or 16GBs made up of 4x4GB? I use virtual machines on my PC and sometimes 8GB isn't really enough when I want to run multiple VMs. 12GB is cheaper but 16GB may be better. I may try and get 16GB via 2x8GB sticks if I can afford it because then later on I can throw in another pair of 8GB sticks to get 32GB if I so desired. I went for RipjawsX over Vengeance because the RipJawsX was cheaper, I don't think there is much difference between the two brands is there? Also I understand that because this RAM is 1600MHz I will need to enable XMP in the BIOS? Will the ASUS boards I'm interested in have this feature to enable?
Thanks!
