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On May 07 2013 01:57 Myrmidon wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU_socketYou've got LGA 775. Usually, but not always, every CPU of a certain socket can work with every motherboard that uses that socket (wasn't that way for 775, isn't that way sometimes if you're looking at say a very low-end motherboard that can't handle the power draw of a high-end chip). You can check compatibility on the motherboard manufacturer's website's product page. Everything that doesn't match doesn't work—first of all, it physically doesn't fit.
Thanks a lot, I suddenly feel more educated.
I'm considering upgrading my CPU to an Intel Core i3-3220, and therefore buying a new Motherboard. However, I'm shocked by the price discrepancies between different motherboards : from 40€ to almost 400€ for a motherboard with a Socket LGA 1155.
If I'm not interested in overclocking and I'm just looking for a reliable motherboard to support my new CPU, my GPU (AMD Radeon HD 7850) and my RAM, do I have any interest in buying an expensive motherboard? If so, why?
I would not call myself a complete computer newbie, but when it comes to hardware I'm feeling a bit lost  .
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The more expensive motherboards are intended for enthusiasts that overclock and run multiple graphic cards. Since the Core i3 3220 cannot be overclocked, you can just buy a H77 or B75 board.
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Intel's chipset and the CPU already provide most or all of the features that you'll typically use, so all boards are pretty much equal if you don't use any of the additional features. You can basically simply look through the features the motherboard has and buy the cheapest that has everything you want.
The Z77 chipset is the one that enables overclocking, but you still shouldn't ignore those as there are still very cheap Z77 motherboards. What drives up the price most is building a motherboard that keeps itself cool while overclocking. The price increases when a motherboard supports AMD Crossfire and again when it supports NVidia SLI. There is better onboard sound. Another thing is Intel's networking which is in the chipset, but using it means the manufacturer has to pay for a license so most use an alternative chip instead.
You could wait a little and see what happens in a month or two. Intel is releasing their newest generation of i5 and i7 and a new chipset and socket. The new i3 will come this autumn. I'm guessing it won't be very interesting for you, as while the new CPUs will be a little faster, they will also be a little pricier. It could be interesting because of the newer socket.
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Thanks a lot for all the pieces of advice there, much appreciated.
I think I'd settle for an Asus B75 motherboard, and the Core i3 3220, since I cannot spend more than 200€ on this upgrade.
Thanks again guys !
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I purchased a corsair h100i liquid cooler, which comes with a patch of thermal stuff on the cooler, but should I have ordered some arctic silver 5 or some other thermal compound instead? will it make a big difference?
The thermal compound that comes with the h100i can be seen in this picture: http://www.legitreviews.com/images/reviews/1737/corsair_h100_009.jpg
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United Kingdom20322 Posts
I think the paste they put on their clc's is decent at least, if you're not an extreme overclocker you wont notice the difference
You should probably have some other paste somewhere though, thermal paste needs to be replaced if you remount the cooler
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I am looking to upgrade my system and would like to have some advice. This is my current setup:
Mainboard: Gigabyte 770TA-UD3
Processor: AMD x4 955 3,2 Ghz (custom cooler because boxed one was too loud)
Graphicscard: XFX Radeon HD 5870 1GB
Ram: 2*4GB Gskill F3-10666CL9-4GBRL
Drives: Samsung 840 SSD 128 GB; Samung Hard Drive 500 GB
1080p Monitor
With this system I only manage to play SC2 on low settings. On medium I have 90-100 FPS at the start but about 40-50 midgame and lategame is even below that. I also do some streaming.
As far as I know my CPU may be my weakest part for my usage. I dont know if AMD made any good processors in the meantime but I only see Intels everywhere and for getting an Intel I would need an new mainboard too I assume.
I would just like some info what my options are and what priceranges we are talking about by for example upgrading to an i5/i7.
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United Kingdom20322 Posts
i5 3570k at stock settings would be about 60% faster than your CPU, but you can overclock fairly easily to over 2x. For prices? Germany, i dunno, maybe (complete random ballpark figure don't trust this) 400eu for overclocking i5, it's so good it's hard to recommend anything else.
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On May 08 2013 03:28 Flaiker wrote:+ Show Spoiler +I am looking to upgrade my system and would like to have some advice. This is my current setup:
Mainboard: Gigabyte 770TA-UD3
Processor: AMD x4 955 3,2 Ghz (custom cooler because boxed one was too loud)
Graphicscard: XFX Radeon HD 5870 1GB
Ram: 2*4GB Gskill F3-10666CL9-4GBRL
Drives: Samsung 840 SSD 128 GB; Samung Hard Drive 500 GB
1080p Monitor
With this system I only manage to play SC2 on low settings. On medium I have 90-100 FPS at the start but about 40-50 midgame and lategame is even below that. I also do some streaming.
As far as I know my CPU may be my weakest part for my usage. I dont know if AMD made any good processors in the meantime but I only see Intels everywhere and for getting an Intel I would need an new mainboard too I assume.
I would just like some info what my options are and what priceranges we are talking about by for example upgrading to an i5/i7.
In addition to what Cyro said, which I agree with completely, there are unfortunately no upgrade paths for AM3. And AMD's AM3+ CPUs are barely any better at SC2 than your Phenom II x4. An overclocked FX 8320 or 8350 on an AM3+ board would be an upgrade, but not nearly as huge as a 3570K, which only costs a little more and draws a whole lot less power. FX is just a poor choice for gaming overall, but especially for SC2.
For some specific recommendations: Motherboard (Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H) 121,50 Euro @ Amazon.De + 3570K 221 Euro @ Amazon.de = 342,50 - maybe you can find cheaper prices at other German e-tailers, and hopefully you can re-use your current CPU cooler. If not, a thermalright hr-02 macho is 45 euros and a worthwhile long-term investment - great cooling, nearly silent.
EDIT:
As you can see from this Starcraft 2 benchmark, 3570K stands out among the top performers because of its great price/performance ratio and ability to overclock. Of course the 3770K is slightly better for both playing and streaming but you probably don't have an unlimited budget. Also notice how the 8350 is only ~16% better than a Phenom II 970 while the 3570K is ~65% better (!!!!) and overclocks a lot very easily.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/129
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United Kingdom20322 Posts
^Confirming everything said, and hr-02 macho is god tier cooler. Much much closer to nh-d14/h100 than to lower tier coolers than the 212+, very quiet, amazing for it's price point. We may be jumping ahead of things a little bit though since you didn't reply yet =P
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Thanks for your answers! I should propably include some more information. My PSU is an Enermax Pro 82+ 425W and my custom CPU cooler is a CoolerMaster Hyper TX3 (propably not suitable for the i5 as it was the cheapest most quiet one I could find at the time). I am using Windows 8 Pro 64 Bit.
I could propably get 50€ for my 955 on Ebay and 15-20€ for the mainboard looking at recent auctions, the cooler doesnt really sell at all.
From your suggestions I come to these prices:
Gigabyte Z77X-D3H, Intel Z77, ATX - 118,44€
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155 - 199,59€
Thermalright HR-02 Macho Rev.A (BW) - 38,22€
Shipping costs - 4,99€
----------------------------------------------
= 361,24€
Some questions I still have:
1. Can my PSU handle the new system?
2. When I bought my current setup I also asked on a community board to give me suggestions with the condition, that it can handle SC2 on medium settings, which it obviously cannot (or cannot anymore? Either the hardware requirements increased for SC2 or my standards have.) Can the new system handle it?
3. I have never done overclocking before as I was afraid of destroying my CPU and having no warranty anymore. Is it safe / worth overclocking?
4. My current custom cooler is propably not to be used with the i5?
5. Are my not to be replaced hardware components compatible with the new mainboard and CPU? Is my GPU on a level with the CPU / is it a balanced system?
I know that is a lot of questions and that I can be quite picky about these things. That is because I am currently finishing school and therefore that is quite a lot of money for me I am looking to spend, so bear with me if possible.
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On May 08 2013 19:54 Flaiker wrote:Thanks for your answers! I should propably include some more information. My PSU is an Enermax Pro 82+ 425W and my custom CPU cooler is a CoolerMaster Hyper TX3 (propably not suitable for the i5 as it was the cheapest most quiet one I could find at the time). I am using Windows 8 Pro 64 Bit. I could propably get 50€ for my 955 on Ebay and 15-20€ for the mainboard looking at recent auctions, the cooler doesnt really sell at all. From your suggestions I come to these prices: Gigabyte Z77X-D3H, Intel Z77, ATX - 118,44€ Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155 - 199,59€ Thermalright HR-02 Macho Rev.A (BW) - 38,22€ Shipping costs - 4,99€ ---------------------------------------------- = 361,24€ Some questions I still have: 1. Can my PSU handle the new system? 2. When I bought my current setup I also asked on a community board to give me suggestions with the condition, that it can handle SC2 on medium settings, which it obviously cannot (or cannot anymore? Either the hardware requirements increased for SC2 or my standards have.) Can the new system handle it? 3. I have never done overclocking before as I was afraid of destroying my CPU and having no warranty anymore. Is it safe / worth overclocking? 4. My current custom cooler is propably not to be used with the i5? 5. Are my not to be replaced hardware components compatible with the new mainboard and CPU? Is my GPU on a level with the CPU / is it a balanced system? I know that is a lot of questions and that I can be quite picky about these things. That is because I am currently finishing school and therefore that is quite a lot of money for me I am looking to spend, so bear with me if possible.
1. Yes. A stock 3570k draws a lot less power than the x4. A normal overclock would probably put it on par.
2. Perception has changed, and streaming causes huge performance issues. An overclocked i5 will give you the best possible experience with today's hardware. HOTS has slightly more involved physics settings as well, turning these off helps.
3. It is safe, and can be 'worth' it. If you don't overclock you can save money on the motherboard (cheap b75 instead), normal non-k 3570, and the after market cooler. The tx3 will fit the 3570k, it's just dated and not that great. If you pay for the ability to overclock, not overclocking is a waste. You're looking at a 30% gain in processing power when streaming with a normal 4.5gHz overclock, which translates to 40%+ gains in sc2.
It is also completely safe if you follow a guide, and don't set voltages what more experienced people or guides tell you to. When you're overclocking come back to us to help you get a nice overclock without mucking up anything 
4. It can be, it's just not very good, so you'll run louder/hotter and not be able to overclock as easily.
5. Everything else is in order.
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So yesterday my cpu fan suddenly stopped spinning (thankfully I have a giant heatsink so I could still run my computer passively) and after having trialed and errored for a while I discovered that neither of two cpu fan connectors I have on my motherboard seem to be working (Asus P8Z68 v pro). Then just for kicks I connected it to the chassi fan connector and suddenly it started spinning like nothing have happened. Any idea what could be causing this? Is my mobo breaking down or can it be something with the fan itself? The fan is just a standard 4 pin Scythe fan that came with my heatsink. I realize it can be hard to tell but maybe it's a know issue with the motherboard or if there's some logical reason why a fan would work on on connector and not another (that's it's been working on previously) if it's the fan that's faulty.
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In the BIOS, you can probably switch between PWM and voltage mode on the CPU fan header. You could try to see what happens if you try the different options.
PWM is the signal on pin number four. It's used for setting the speed. The other mode called "voltage" or similar means the pin that supplies the 12 V is used to reduce the speed, pin number four isn't used. I could imagine that mode giving problems by using a voltage that's too low for the fan. The lowest voltage that can still start up the fan could have changed over time.
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Ok thanks, I'll check that out. Might buy another fan anyway just to see if a new one works.
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United Kingdom20322 Posts
On May 08 2013 19:54 Flaiker wrote:Thanks for your answers! I should propably include some more information. My PSU is an Enermax Pro 82+ 425W and my custom CPU cooler is a CoolerMaster Hyper TX3 (propably not suitable for the i5 as it was the cheapest most quiet one I could find at the time). I am using Windows 8 Pro 64 Bit. I could propably get 50€ for my 955 on Ebay and 15-20€ for the mainboard looking at recent auctions, the cooler doesnt really sell at all. From your suggestions I come to these prices: Gigabyte Z77X-D3H, Intel Z77, ATX - 118,44€ Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155 - 199,59€ Thermalright HR-02 Macho Rev.A (BW) - 38,22€ Shipping costs - 4,99€ ---------------------------------------------- = 361,24€ Some questions I still have: 1. Can my PSU handle the new system? 2. When I bought my current setup I also asked on a community board to give me suggestions with the condition, that it can handle SC2 on medium settings, which it obviously cannot (or cannot anymore? Either the hardware requirements increased for SC2 or my standards have.) Can the new system handle it? 3. I have never done overclocking before as I was afraid of destroying my CPU and having no warranty anymore. Is it safe / worth overclocking? 4. My current custom cooler is propably not to be used with the i5? 5. Are my not to be replaced hardware components compatible with the new mainboard and CPU? Is my GPU on a level with the CPU / is it a balanced system? I know that is a lot of questions and that I can be quite picky about these things. That is because I am currently finishing school and therefore that is quite a lot of money for me I am looking to spend, so bear with me if possible.
To add to what Rollin said, the 5870 is a very capable graphics card. On max settings sc2, you will only see the difference between a 5870 and the best graphics cards on the planet in the very start of the game, when there is 12 supply, on max settings - as soon as supply starts to increase and CPU has some work to do, any graphics card past a certain tier will just fall into the same framerates.
Overclocking at low-mid tier with a good cooler like the hr-02 macho and good motherboard like the d3h there's no real risk, CPU will last far longer than it's useful life, and depending on the CPU, you can get a really nice overclock. You should be able to run an overclock around 1.3v on a 3570k with it, depending on the CPU that will probably get you 4.7ghz, which is a massive leap from the stock 3.4ghz.
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Ok, before I could try anything else something seems to be degenerating. Now two of my chassi fans have stopped as well but while my cpu fan was connected to my motherboard the two chassi fans are connected to a built in fan controller on my case and then powered by a molex connector from the psu. So now it's two of my cpu fan connectors on my mobo not working and seemingly the molex connectors on my psu (I don't have anything else connected to molex so not sure). The computer seems to be running fine otherwise and I can connect the two chassi fans directly to my chassi connectors on my mobo, though they are then running on max speed. I'm afraid this might mean my psu is failing or something. Is there anything you can do to confirm this?
I think both my mobo and psu is still under warranty so it would be nice to be able to pin any errors with them while that is.
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Is there a way to make the sound from different sources more even ?
I have this annoying problem where the sound on some websites will be extremely higher than the sound on other sites.
Examples in order from ''make the house explode'' to ''can't hear'': Armorgames, grooveshark, twitch, youtube
It's to a point where the max local volume on youtube will be lower than such a small setting on grooveshark that it's hard to click.
I'm using chrome, the problem is the same with headphones or speakers.
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Unfortunately, I don't think there is a way - at least not for chrome. Though if you have local storage enabled for flash, the volume on flash videos should remain constant throughout websites (eg. Twitch and Youtube).
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What kind of minimum FPS could you expect with a standard 3570k and 7870 in a 1v1? What about an educated guess for Haswell?
Looking to put a new build together and wondering what kind of improvements I'd see in SCII.
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EPT
