My mainboard is in valhalla... soo

Off-topic
#1

Calling for help to all tech-savvy vassals and lieges!

After fighting gloriously for years, my motherboard, an NFORCE 680i SLI, decided to ascend to valhalla and feast with the gods.

Now, I would like to build another worthy warrior, that can withstand the power of the medieval knights in Kingdom Come.

We’re talking about Armor / Helmet / Bracers. (Motherboard/CPU/RAM).

What I really am undecided is for:

i5 4570k(or without k) OR Xeon E3 1230 v3

I keep reading on the net comparisons, fan boys flame wars, articles from 2012/2011/2013 and I really cannot make my mind up. What I’m mostly thinking is whether gaming will support hyperthreading and make good use of it. Right now, it’s a bit too new(?) to know I think.

Honestly I’m a n00b when it comes to overclocking, never did it, don’t see the need for it if I want my PC to last for a long time, and the K cpus cost a bit more (not including the mobos and RAM). I could always learn though, but not on a 150 Euro CPU :smile:

XEON is a server CPU that also has an 1150 slot, has hyperthreading, 100mhz under the i5, is 50 euros cheaper than an i7, and 50 more than the i5.

My final build for now is:

i5 4570k(or without k) OR Xeon E3 1230 v3
ASRock Fatal1ty H87 Performance
8 GB RAM
Nvidia 660 (this is what I have now, I can always update it next year)

What do you guys think? Will it run this game? Please help a poor baron out… i5 or xeon?

#2

Does it have to be Intel? Why not AMD?

#3

First things first: I really am a person that don’t sticks to one particular brand, so with the things I’m gonna write, I do not intend to start a fanboy flamewar.

@Ragnar: For gaming purposes Intel seems to be better these days than AMD. At least this is what most (if not all) reviews conclude. We might want to take a look at the budget @fire has and compare benchmarks on AMD and Intel CPUs for that budget, but in my opinion AMD “lost” the CPU war (for now).

@fire: I would go with the i5 or even an i7 of the 4th generation. (Even though i5 should have enough power). For just plain gaming I wouldn’t use a server CPU. They are designed to serve a different purpose. :wink:

#4

@Ragnar - Not at all, doesn’t need to be an Intel, I also never had an intel CPU before, it’ll be my first one, but as @Senseless said, right now Intel seems to be “winning” the CPU war. Although next gen consoles ARE both using an AMD :stuck_out_tongue:

@Senseless. indeed the Xeon is for servers, although I saw that other users simply used it for gaming. This is really my dilemma :frowning:

#5

@Senseless: Xeon’s carry very similar spec to i7, run cooler, consume less power and support ECC RAM.

The only downsides being no overclocking, limitations on board selection and pricing, (for most models).

Honestly, this game won’t require anything excessively beefy. A decent i5 would probably still be a safe option.

A mid-to-high tier i7 would have more legs, though.

The GPU may be pushing its luck :smiley:

#6

Yeah, the intention is to get a new GPU next year.

#7

I’d say you do not want to get a Xenon processor. I wanted to at first because spec-wise is sounds awesome. However it wasn’t designed for gaming it’s designed for workflow. Even though the I7 and other consumer CPUs don’t look as good they actually do perform better for gaming. So I recommend the I7 Ivy Bridge processor. Though there new Haswell architecture should be coming out soon (I think they’re waiting for Ivy bridge to star cooling off profit-wise) So if money isn’t an issue and you can wait I’d say wait for Haswell. Or if you’d like to save money wait for haswell and then buy the ivy bridge at a greatly reduced price. As for motherboards I recommend anything on this list http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627%2050001315%20600438203%20600009016&IsNodeId=1&name=ATX
They should all be compatible with an I-7 or I-5 processor

#8

The sweet spot for gaming right now is basically a Haswell I5 processor with a LGA 1150 board and a GTX770 GPU. The I7 is a better processor but the only advantage it has over an I5 is hyperthreading which is only used in serious number crunching/scientific applications and currently has little to no benefit in gaming, and the Xeon will present difficulties in mainboard selection and a few other things.

While I don’t pretend to know the specifications Kingdom Come will have it is highly unlikely that the I7 would be a benefit as much as a better GPU. That said, if you can afford an I7 it is a better cpu than an I5. I imagine your 660 will run KCD (at less than full settings), but if you have money to put into upgrading in the future that’s where I’d start.

Either way you’ll want an 1150 motherboard if you get a haswell processor or an 1155 motherboard if you get a ivy bridge. My sons gaming pc is running an ivy (I5 3570k) and I have a haswell (I5 4670) and for our purposes they perform identically.

For MOBO brands, as stated above ASUS is good and reliable, the most popular board for gaming builds is usually the ASRock pro 4 (functional and cost effective) and I prefer Gigabytes ultra durable boards personally.

#9

An i5 should be sufficient, but I’ll recommend that you get a motherboard that supports the LGA1150 socket because the future CPUs that intel is going to make is going to run on that socket, LGA1150 is the standard of Haswell Processors I’d recommend this CPU:

I’ve been spending time finding some perfect gamer computer parts for my new desktop, the build all together costs: €1.866,76 if you want to I can post some of it components or all of it. I’ve picked the parts so that the machine should hold for very long and be able to play on Ultra settings.

Here is the motherboard that I’m going to use for that processor: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VI_FORMULA/
Not necessarily the very best in terms of performance but one of the best and it can support all the fans and cooling systems I need.

Edit: also the reason that the PC I’m buying might seem a bit pricey is because I’m supporting local businesses and not buying from foreign stores, if I did though the price would have been 25-30% lower.

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