Hardware Best mobo + CPU for $250-$275

[DarkFlare69]

I need to get a new motherboard, as my current one is defective (SATA ports randomly disconnect for 30 seconds to a minute; None of the PCIe slots work except for the one my GTX 960 is plugged in to) and decided that I should get a new CPU too.

I currently have an MSI 970A-G46 and an FX 8320. Can I get a CPU and motherboard that will outperform this for $250 - 275? I know the answer is yes, but I want the best possible. It needs to fit into an ATX case (same size motherboard) as the 970a-g46

Thanks

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Tag me in this tomorrow afternoon and I'll do some digging (otherwise I'll forget)

 

[raystriker]

$250-275 you say?

CPU- Intel Core i5 6400/6500--->$179/198
Mobo- Spend the remainder on it. Simple. There are a lot of great options in the $100-120 range, you might even get some BCLK OC action if you invest right.
Also including the factor that you'll have to get new DDR4 RAM, so the 6400 would make more sense if your 250-275 budget constraints are tight.

 

[ILuvGames]

Deleted

 

[KazoWAR]

I was thinking about this last night and I am not really sure. the 8320(CPU Mark: 8009 Total, 1396 Single Threaded) is a decent cpu when 8 threads are thrown at it. An i5 would beat it at any workload that would use 1-4 threads. since the 8320 uses DDR3 that means you need to get DDR4 if you went with skylake. I think your best bang for $275 would be a i5-4590($200, CPU Mark: 7177 Total, 2113 Single Threaded) and a low end motherboard. I picked out an ASRock B85M Pro4/ASM($65) for this build since it has 4 RAM slots and PCI slots just like the MSI 970A-G46, and I am not sure how many RAM DIMMs you have and if you use any PCI cards. You can probably get something cheaper if you only need 2 RAM slots or you don't need PCI slots. But if you want something a little more future proof you can get a Skylake build. i5-6500($205, CPU Mark: 7012 Total, 1947 Single Threaded), MSI H110M Pro-VD($55), and a G.SKILL NT Series 4GB($17) to start you off.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

I was thinking about this last night and I am not really sure. the 8320(CPU Mark: 8009 Total, 1396 Single Threaded) is a decent cpu when 8 threads are thrown at it. An i5 would beat it at any workload that would use 1-4 threads. since the 8320 uses DDR3 that means you need to get DDR4 if you went with skylake. I think your best bang for $275 would be a i5-4590($200, CPU Mark: 7177 Total, 2113 Single Threaded) and a low end motherboard. I picked out an ASRock B85M Pro4/ASM($65) for this build since it has 4 RAM slots and PCI slots just like the MSI 970A-G46, and I am not sure how many RAM DIMMs you have and if you use any PCI cards. You can probably get something cheaper if you only need 2 RAM slots or you don't need PCI slots. But if you want something a little more future proof you can get a Skylake build. i5-6500($205, CPU Mark: 7012 Total, 1947 Single Threaded), MSI H110M Pro-VD($55), and a G.SKILL NT Series 4GB($17) to start you off.

I just did some looking around, I think this looks like your best bet as well. I was originally going to suggest the 6500 and cheap, non-flashy MSI board combo, but then I realized (like everyone else in the thread) that you'd have to get DDR4 RAM as well

 

[raystriker]

It would be stupid to upgrade to Haswell or Devil's Canyon as they aren't future proof. Skylake on the other hand as a complete slew of new future proof features like native support for USB3.1 etc. Also, better IPC can't be compared with. Go for the 6400 and OC it. You'd be doing yourself a favour.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Future proofing is a lie, the sooner you accept that the happier you'll be when building computers. Just get whatever is in your budget that has the features you want

 

[raystriker]

Future proofing is a lie, the sooner you accept that the happier you'll be when building computers. Just get whatever is in your budget that has the features you want

Future proofing as in someday he can just jump to a Kaby lake i7 if he runs into some money. Can't beat that.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Future proofing as in someday he can just jump to a Kaby lake i7 if he runs into some money. Can't beat that.

That is a good point, yes, but consider the people who are still contentedly running 2500Ks

 

[raystriker]

That is a good point, yes, but consider the people who are still contentedly running 2500Ks

2500Ks will still probably put a 8320 to shame IPC-wise.
The argument here is, RIGHT NOW, if you were to buy a new cpu/mobo, why would you get a yesteryear's product line which is a dead end instead of today's product which can support tomorrow's products. Why Haswell instead of Skylake?

 

[TotalInsanity4]

2500Ks will still probably put a 8320 to shame IPC-wise.
The argument here is, RIGHT NOW, if you were to buy a new cpu/mobo, why would you get a yesteryear's product line which is a dead end instead of today's product which can support tomorrow's products. Why Haswell instead of Skylake?

Depending on where you get it the location may be trying to get rid of overstock, and thus be selling it at a discount. Plus he could use the RAM he already has.

I get what you're saying, you should definitely try to get the newest possible product as a general rule, but there are exceptions to that rule and hard/extreme budgets are one of them

 

[DarkFlare69]

If I go to $300 instead of $275 would the i5 4690k outperform the i5 6500 and the i5 4590? What would be the best option for $300? I don't want new RAM.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

If I go to $300 instead of $275 would the i5 4690k outperform the i5 6500 and the i5 4590? What would be the best option for $300? I don't want new RAM.

If you go for $300 instead then I would 100% recommend the 6500 combo, but otherwise if you really, REALLY don't want to part ways with your current RAM then yes, get the 4690K+cheap work pc class MSI z97 board and overclock the CPU. You'll find it's more than capable of handling modern workloads

 

[DarkFlare69]

If you go for $300 instead then I would 100% recommend the 6500 combo, but otherwise if you really, REALLY don't want to part ways with your current RAM then yes, get the 4690K+cheap work pc class MSI z97 board and overclock the CPU. You'll find it's more than capable of handling modern workloads

I guess it wouldn't be a huge deal, then that means I will have 12GB in my upstairs PC (it has 4 rn).

is the 6500 really that much better? looking at and http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-6500-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4690K the 6500 doesn't look much better. but i think they made a mistake, there's no way this can be accurate

I render videos and will play battlefield 1 when it comes out

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Yeah, for those uses get the 4690K. It performs better than the 6500 (albiet I don't think it gets in as many IPC), the only real downside is there's no real upgradeability path

 

[DarkFlare69]

Yeah, for those uses get the 4690K. It performs better than the 6500 (albiet I don't think it gets in as many IPC), the only real downside is there's no real upgradeability path

im planning on keeping this PC as long as possible, so i might go with the i5 6500 for the upgradability in a few years or so. still waiting for more people's opinions

 

[Armadillo]

i might go with the i5 6500 for the upgradability in a few years

Other than i5->i7, which is a change you can make on any socket (not like haswell i7 will ever be a rarity), there won't be a worthwhile upgrade path on 1151. Never is, by the time it's worth it, Intel will have change socket.

Sandybridge->Ivybridge
Haswell->Broadwell
Sandybridge-E->Ivybridge-E
Haswell-E->Broadwell-E

None were worth it, there's no reason to think Skylake->Kaby will break the trend and be a big jump and make sense as an upgrade from Skylake.

Unless you get a really good deal on Haswell, I'd still go Skylake though, just for the newer chipset. Pretty sure Asrock are still able to do bclk overclocking as well (Intel did try to stop it at one point).