Motherboard Recommendations?

[Thorax_the_Impaler]

Thanks for the heads-up. I don't suppose the i3 allows overclocking?

 

[PP Mguire]

It doesn't as they don't make a K i3 lol. It really isn't needed though. I ran my 3960x stock for the longest time, and currently since my switch to 8 pro full time my i5 750 is stock too.

 

[Thorax_the_Impaler]

Just looked closer at the specs and I see what you mean. Something that's troubling me is the number of cores; two would be sufficient to game yes?

 

[PP Mguire]

Looky here:
http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/your-cpu-modern-games-guide-those-building-261626/

My 6000+ and 5850 played BF3 well on ultra with no AA.

An IB i3 is like 3x the speed of that old 6000+. Not to mention, an i3 has HT so 4 threads. But yes to answer your question a dual core is perfectly fine. You have to wait for next gen console/games before they really start taking advantage of multi-core CPUs. Even still that's a 50/50 as well.

 

[Thorax_the_Impaler]

Thank you for the visual aid that was nice. I'm assuming this processor also makes for a slightly more powerful setup in general, yes?

 

[PP Mguire]

Yes of course, and if you get a 77/75 board you can always upgrade to a quad later if you have more free cash.

Edit: Currently playing Mafia 2 and tried my 750 in dual core mode with a 580 and maxed out it's fine. It's the only game I have installed right now though.

 

[Thorax_the_Impaler]

I think I've settled on the Z75. It says it supports up to 32GB RAM. Would 16GB be a little much to install?

 

[PP Mguire]

Budget wise 16GB is pointless. An 8GB setup for gaming is more than plenty.

 

[Thorax_the_Impaler]

Makes sense. I'll go with 8GB then; thanks for all your help, man.