Assistance with my motherboard upgrade

[mojac]

Hello, I am looking to upgrade my motherboard and then my CPU in the future. I am a gamer so I need to associate the gear with that in mind.

My current set up is:

ASUS CM5570-AP002 with a P5QL-VM EPU (motherboard) and a Pentium dual-core E5300 2.6 GHz and 6g DDR2 RAM
My resolution I am working with is (1920 x 1080)

I have recently purchased a new video card (Radeon HD 6870) and a new PSU (Corsair 750W). These might be a little overkill right now, but I didn't want to upgrade the MOBO and CPU and then have to upgrade the video card and PSU again, so I overshot it.

Here is what I need to know:

I want to keep my current case from the ASUS CM5570-AP002 (keep in mind I've not upgrade anything on my PC since I purchased it), and find a new MOBO that will fit in this case.

I believe my case is an ASUS mid-tower case.

I would also like to know some opinions on a new CPU (maybe an i5 or i7 with DDR3 or better) at the quad-core level.

Trying to keep eveything compatible and keep my current case. Any other information would be helpful if you think about it.

Thanks for all your informative and beneficial assistance.

 

[Nukem]

If you want to go i(3,5, or 7) then you are going to have to do upgrade the core all at once. (CPU/mobo/ram) The one you have is a socket 775, the i core processors are socket 1155... so at a minimum you will need to plan for that. Newegg has some pretty good combo's for the money. now if you wanting to save money... Trotter has a good AMD setup that runs all of his games. Check his sig out and take a look at those parts. I have a good budget INTEL setup in my sig as well.

 

[Trotter]

Thanks for the referral, Nukem.

I am running an Asus AM3 motherboard, Phenom II x4 965, 8GB (4 x 2GB) RAM, and a GTX560Ti (2GB model). I use a 60GB SSD as my OS drive and mechanical drives for programs and storage.

 

[mojac]

If you want to go i(3,5, or 7) then you are going to have to do upgrade the core all at once. (CPU/mobo/ram) The one you have is a socket 775, the i core processors are socket 1155... so at a minimum you will need to plan for that. Newegg has some pretty good combo's for the money. now if you wanting to save money... Trotter has a good AMD setup that runs all of his games. Check his sig out and take a look at those parts. I have a good budget INTEL setup in my sig as well.

OK. I understand that I would have to upgrade all three (MOBO, CPU, RAM) and that is fine. My biggest concern was that I want it to fit in my current case without having to buy another case. My PC is orginal meaning I have not upgraded it, so the model ASUS CM5570-AP002 has the original case and I wanted to make definitely sure the MOBO would fit in the case.

Thanks for all informative and beneficial information given.

 

[MindoverMaster]

You would need a Micro-ATX board to fit it in there.

 

[lasvegascomputer]

Here is my thought process... You are going to upgrade your motherboard, ram, and CPU (very expensive)... I wouldn't limit yourself because of your current case. Look on craigslist, I picked up a very nice full tower Coolmaster last week and only cost $25 and it came with all the working fans! Just my two cents..

 

[MindoverMaster]

Actually, that is a hit or miss. Yea, you might get an awesome product. But then again, you may not. Could have some defect with it.

A Mid-ATX is no less powerful than a full ATX. I can do SLI on my Mid-ATX board. The only difference between the two, is some features (in some models), and less PCI ports.