CPU & Motherboard suggestion

[SWAT.of.AH]

Hey guys, I want to make an upgrade ( processor & motherboard) and I need some reccomandations from you guys, this is my current build|

amd 3.0 ghz quad Phenom 945
8gb ddr3 ram 1600 mhz
am3 motherboard
gigabyte gtx 660 2gb
550 W power supply , bronze certified.

I'd like to have an i7 and I'm not sure which version is better ( in terms of being affordable and performant ), and the main issue comes to the motherboard.
Here's what I've thought ( although I am not sure about motherboard's compatibility)

Processor : Intel Core i7 4770K 3.5GHz Haswell
Motherboard : MSI Z87-G45 or gigabyte.

What suggestions do you guys have ? I've just posted some ideas, nothing more.

Thanks in advance

[76561198001357399]

Yeah, it's compatible and a good mobo so I've heard. What are your uses? I5 4670k= quad core, I7 4770k= quad core but £80 more expensive for no more gaming performance. Your ram 1.5v? Everything else is fine. :)

[chiefputsa☒lag]

'affordable'.
for mainstream gaming, go with i5-4690k rather than i7-4770k.
go with z97 (latest) rrather than the 'older' z87.

[100% Recycled Awesome]

Unless you're doing serious regular video editing, skip the i7 and go with the i5 4690k and a Z97 Motherboard.

[SWAT.of.AH]

Hello, sorry for the late answer.
Well I am not only doing gaming, I am working with Visual Studio ( C# app developement , SQL Server , Photoshop and NetBeans.
I've observed that there is a 10% difference between i5 and i7 in terms of gaming, but for what I do I guess i7 will do fine ? (since I'm not only gaming ) ?
Also sorry for misplacing the word "affordable" without proper explanation,I meant an affordable and good motherboard (not some overpriced motherboard that behaves exactly like a 100/200$ cheaper one).
Based on chiefputsa's suggestion I've spotted these 2 motherboards :
MSI Z97-G45-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130771
and
MSI Z97-GD65 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130769
What's the difference between them and which one is better ? One of them states sound perfection and the other states pc gaming perfection, but in terms of specs (by what I've seen) there isn't much difference betwen them ( the expensive one has 2 more sata-3 connections);
Also what's with that Killer Sound chipset?? Saw some negative posts about it.

Also I heard people complaining about the stock cooler not being too effective, any suggestions ?

So which versions of i7/i5 and msi motherboard should I choose ?

Thanks again

[Rove]

The 4790K is currently about $20 cheaper than the 4770K.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74790k
Amazon $309.99 Free two-day shipping with Amazon Prime $309.99

Can also be had for $280 at microcenter if you pick it up.

Also the Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 is only like $250 and performs like a i7-4770. The only downside to this is it's locked so no overclocking and also it lacks a integrated GPU if you wanted that.

Check out the Xeon E3-1231 V3
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646e31231v3
SuperBiiz $241.99 +$6.99 s/h $248.98

Also consider a AMD FX 8xxx series (cheapest) or i7-5820K though the i7 needs DDR4.

[SWAT.of.AH]

Thanks for the suggestion Rove.
I'll go with your first pick , i7 4790K, what do you think about the MSI Z97-GD65 ? Would they work okay together ? Also I need a better cooler than the stock one apparently ( people claim the stock cooler is weak)

what do you think about this :
Cooler CPU Scythe Ninja 3 rev. B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185173

[Rove]

SWAT.of.AH původně napsal:

what do you think about this :
Cooler CPU Scythe Ninja 3 rev. B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185173

I think it looks great but I also think it looks "out of stock".

Here is my current value favorite:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/zalman-cpu-cooler-zmcnps14x
Newegg $44.99 -$20.00 +FREE s/h $24.99
$20.00 mail-in rebate

For only $25 after rebate with 6 heatpipes in 2 towers it's hard to beat. Also the nice thing about this one is it's really silent at only 21 decibels maximum.

You'd have to spend like $45+ to get much better than it from the current prices on PC Part Picker as far as I know. Maybe there is one that I missed or something.

I also like these though there is a newer model washed in nickel (all sivery). The design is great; Pure copper cooling fins with 3 heatpipes that loop over to double-touch the CPU plate. It performs like a 6 or 8 heatpipe cooler with only 3 cause of this AND it's shiny.

Zalman Flower Tower (my own nickname) coolers
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/zalman-cpu-cooler-cnps9500at
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/zalman-cpu-cooler-cnps9500aled
$28-$33~

If you are into spending more Noctua makes some really nice practical ones with 6 year warranty and so do a few other brands, like the one you pointed out already.

The CoolerMaster 212 Hyper (Evo or Plus models) is also popular and often cheap. Though personally for it's current $30 price and the prices of these Zalman's I'd prefer one fo them.

I don't know that much about Intel motherboards except what I can see physically and from the stats. What you picked looks very nice. You could probably get by on a cheaper board depending on what you want to do with it.

[SWAT.of.AH]

CoolerMaster looks pretty sweet.
Thank you for all your suggestions, been quite helpful.

[SWAT.of.AH]

One last thing, do I have enough power to supply for my graphics card ( gtx 660 2gb) and i7 + 1hdd+1 ram (8gb) ?
EDIT
My gfx apparently consumes around : 140W and it's minimum system power requirement is 450W ( I have 550 ) .
I7 goes around 90 W, I guess it's ok ?

[Rove]

Yes 550W bronze is fine.

Just wanted to say your Phenom II is also probably still good and it might be a better idea to get a performance cooler and give it a go at overclocking. Can probably hit 4GHz or more on a good custom cooler if your motherboard is good, 3.7 GHz should be pretty easy since it's the same chip as the Phenom II 980 (with different microcode to set the speed lower). Anyways I'd expect you could get between 30% to 50% overclock or maybe even more with good cooler, good motherboard and a bit of good luck with a toss of skill and patience.

[_I_]

a 945 will not hit 4ghz
its 3ghz stock, getting it to 3.5will take liquid cooling or massive air coolers
also a good mobo with vrm heatsinks or better

http://www.overclock.net/a/about-vrms-mosfets-motherboard-safety-with-high-tdp-processors
a good read before overclocking amd cpus

[SWAT.of.AH]

Hmm thanks, I'll think about it.

[Rove]

Trick to overclocking specifically the CPU using FSP is to set the other parts taht FSB effects lower than normal. That's RAM, PCIe, Northbridge and maybe a few more.

[_I_]

its fsb overclocking, and yes i have a 545 c2 unlocked to a quad (same as 945c2)
and 100% stable at 3.4 with a 212evo at 1.37v
any higher and it overheats and shuts down

if his is a c3, it might oc a little higher, but dont expect another 600mhz with it

[Rove]

If 545 with unlocked cores is the same as 945 then 945 is same as 980 which does 3.7 GHz stock clock. The Phenom II x4 980 has a stock voltage of maximum 1.4V according to Newegg. If 545 with unlocked cores is not the same as 945 which is not the same as 980 then at least the 945 is much closer to the 980. I've heard that up to 1.5V is pretty safe with 1.45 to 1.475 being more ideal. As with all overclocking your mileage may vary.

Perhaps _|_ just has a unlucky chip or other problem?

It could be the RAM or any other setting effected by FSB that is holding you back. Not just the CPU. It could be that something is either too high or too low for the overclock you want. I *think* I've heard that Phenom II like a higher northbridge for higher overclocks for example even with the unlocked chips, though maybe with FSB it's getting too high? What's the temperature at 3.4 GHz & 1.37V? Are you sure it's actually temperature that shut it down?

CPU Boss says the Phenom II x4 945 got to 3.7 on air in their testing.