CPU + MOBO combo recommendation

[penyekz]

Ok, I've asked this recently and was recommended the i5...


If budget is really not an issue.... Say around $400-550, what is the best CPU/MOBO combo.

Not into overclocking so I'm not interested in the K series.

I want a good reliable board.

Everyone seems to recommend the i5. What about the i7?

i7-4770 + Asus H87-Pro for $546

OR

i7-4770 + Gigabyte GA-H87-D3H for $519

I will be using an SSD so H87 series (rather than B85) needed for the SSD caching.

 

[Ark Law]

Ok, I've asked this recently and was recommended the i5...


If budget is really not an issue.... Say around $400-550, what is the best CPU/MOBO combo.

Not into overclocking so I'm not interested in the K series.

I want a good reliable board.

Everyone seems to recommend the i5. What about the i7?

i7-4770 + Asus H87-Pro for $546

OR

i7-4770 + Gigabyte GA-H87-D3H for $519

I will be using an SSD so H87 series (rather than B85) needed for the SSD caching.

1) For gaming; i5 has no performance hit against i7

2) Any board you can get from SLS can be counted as a good board already. Can't go wrong with ASRock, Asus, Gigabyte or MSI can you (unless you nitpick alot lah)? Choose the board with the features you like/want (eg. colour scheme, board colour, # of SATA ports, onboard buttons etc.)

3) If budget is really not an issue, get a proper SSD instead of using it for caching

 

[royfrosty]

An i7 has no performance difference from the i5 in terms of gaming. There are benchmarks around showing the most 5-10fps difference from the i5. The most impact in terms of performance comes from the GPU itself.

Basically you are topping up between $100-$150 more just for that small fps difference. Best is to allocate the budget to a ssd.

 

[penyekz]

Huh... i don't understand... I thought H87 has SSD caching feature.... mean needed for SSD. So this SSD caching is not for ssd? Pai se....

 

[m.garz]

just get an i5-4570 + Asrock/MSI/Gigabyte/Asus b85 Board.. and spend the rest on a monster GPU

 

[Ark Law]

Huh... i don't understand... I thought H87 has SSD caching feature.... mean needed for SSD. So this SSD caching is not for ssd? Pai se....

Intel SRT caching just means that it takes an SSD that you have in your PC and uses it to cache your other non-SSD hard drives. Why would the feature be about caching an SSD in the first place?

If budget bo issue, can get an Intel 530 240/480GB (when it's on a good deal) from Amazon. For HDD; WD Blue (1TB only and value for money), WD Red (reliable 2/3/4TB storage), WD Black (if you prefer higher performance + longer warranty than Reds), or WD RE4 (quieter yet similar performance + same 5 yr warranty as Blacks,)