New Build

[sleeker]

Ok building a new system very soon....

CPUs looking at the 970 and the 2600k any thoughts???

[Mario]

Ok building a new system very soon....

CPUs looking at the 970 and the 2600k any thoughts???

What an uninspiring thread title. :(

Either CPU is fine, probably the 2600K (http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=52214&wapkw=%282600k%29) I'd say. If you plan on gaming you know the GPU is very important. Don't even think you'll get any real gaming out of an in-built graphics on either a motherboard or CPU. Spend $300-350 on a decent GPU. Speaking of which, I am selling my less-than-a-year-old ASUS GTX-480 (http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=B6fn5EvgG3e6FLA6&templete=2) GPU for around that price. It has a three year warranty which means it still has over 2 years left. Purchased locally from NetPlus (http://www.netplus.com.au/), and has never been overclock or any such bullshit. Paid over $900 for it. Don't be fooled by the 560-570 range - they're the "cheap" versions of the 580 for the masses. The 480 is the second fastest/best nVidia GPU after the 580 (which sells for no less than $550). If you go for an AMD (ATI) GPU I'd guess one of the higher end Radeon HD 5000/6000 series. The point is, whichever brand's GPU you get, the cost should be around the $350 mark. Anything less and I wouldn't be happy. I'd also suggest an SSD. Coincidentally, I'm also selling my Corsair F120 (http://www.corsair.com/solid-state-drives/force-series/cssd-f120gb2-brkt.html) for $280. You can have both for $600. Whatever motherboard you get, it should have at least a couple of SATA 6GB/s and USB3 ports.

PS: If your total upgrade budget is only a few hundred dollars, speak to Dean (http://forums.mariosworld.org/member.php?u=3) - don't insult me. ;)



Warning:
If you're getting an Intel Sandy Bridge (http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/sandy-bridge/?wapkw=%28sandy+bridge%29) chipset motherboard, make sue it's not one of the affected ones (http://www.google.com.au/#hl=en&source=hp&biw=1920&bih=1096&q=intel+sandy+bridge+sata+issues&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&fp=36d261c4da5e48f9)!! By now most local dealers should not have the old stock, but I'd check.