If you take the low profile memory sticks you can fit in the Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B cooler. The i7 3770 K variant is only useful if you plan to overclock and the Z77 platform can be replaced by H77 if you don't intend to put in more than one gpu and/or overclock I just happened to read today. MSI (ZH77A-G43) one was recommended there and for Z77 the aforementioned Gigabyte one as best deals/buys. Difference in a single brand can be audio chip, number of USB, etc. Best to read some tests, just happened to be one in a pc mag I read today. So 3770 & H77 to save a few $ and spend it on a nicer case or 3770K & Z77 just in case. Intel Quick Sync get's quite impressive results with video (depending on software) so ... gpu now or later (and upgrade over 550 Ti although good pick in it's price class). About time I upgrade as well so also looking around for myself now after you started the thread , probably more or less the same machine in the end (although I'll probably swing MSI side instead of Gigabyte regardless of Z or H 77) On a sidenote: Dell should sell their XPS case separately . Ordered one (system) for my uncle, last year I guess, and it's really nice . That's one thing I have to give to the brands. A nice looking case on it's own usually comes with a pricetag that makes your eyes water
Just thinking about my old computer. It's full size but the case has a few issues. I'd quite like to keep it using it as a second computer. Perhaps I can source a 2nd hand MB from the many shops around. If so, I'd like to change it to mATX board and a smaller size. One difficulty is that I have Win7 64 bit OEM. Can I transfer the licence to the rehashed computer?
http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/HCL_10.7.4 http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/HCL_10.8_Seeds Hackintosh Compatibility list
Give me a call, I will sort you out, If you have a PCI FW800 card, then we just choose a micro atx card with a PCI slot. Your choice ASUS/MSI/ASrock, entirely up to you, warranty is 3/5/3 years No point buying a second motherboard, since z77 motherboards havent been out long. You can save a bit by using 1155 instead of 2011 cpu though. As for OEM, u need to call MS, and say your motherboard broke, and u need to reactivate it on a different motherboard.
for playing video games, like Call of Duty, what is more important? CPU, RAM, motherboard, graphics card?
Thanks, will PM you. Now I just worked out why my present MB doesn't run the 8GB RAM I bought for it (got stuck with only using 4GB). I need to do some alterations in BIOS for the RAM speed. Just found out this morning so will do some tinkering on that. I still haven't completely decided what to do...gimme sometime...LOL....Need to detail what I want to do exactly first. But yes, will still the upgrade, wether it's in a couple of months time or a bit later....
Cheung, I do photo and video editing and I got the i5-3570k instead of the i7-3770k because benchmarks showed only 5% performance increase at stock speeds. Overclock both to 5ghz and surprisingly, the i5 managed to marginally outperform the i7 in both video and photo editing. reference: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2012/05/01/intel-core-i5-3570k-cpu-review/4
The top i7 will only make a difference over the top i5 when both are stressed to the absolute maximum; with everyday stuff, the performance lines will be pretty much on top of each other. I've heard the Ivys have a much narrower temperature threshold than the Sandys, though... Personally, I'm waiting for the Ivy i3 line (which is, infuriatingly, dragging its feet).
Oh well, I ended up getting a 3770K, 32 GB and everything but a graphics card. It's been OC'd to 4GHz.