[alexondrums]

I've been looking at building a new PC recently, and had settled on a build around a mid range Z170 board, Intel Core i5 6500, 16GB RAM and a Gigabyte GTX 950 OC 2GB GDDR5.

Unfortunately I've had other expenses that I've got to cover (that's life!) so want to scale this down to as cheap as possible.

The main reason for the new build was due to my current PC MB not having a supported chipset for Windows 10.

I'd like to upgrade from W7 before the 'free' deadline later this year. My intention will be to upgrade the rest of the system somewhere to where I originally wanted it to be later on.

Therefore I'm trying to figure out if I should go i3, or lower, and if I just buy a dirt cheap MB, and buy the lot again when I can, or buy a nice MB now and cheap CPU/RAM, then upgrade.

Ideally it should be at least as fast as my current Intel Core2Quad Q6700. My budget could strech to about £200 max, but less is better.

To summarise I need, motherboard, CPU and RAM.

Any ideas?

 

[Masterchiefxx17]

What do you do on this PC? Game at all or just daily web browsing?

 

[alexondrums]

Mostly web surfing, developing and a bit of old school gaming (90's-2000's). Also a occasional graphic design and music production.

However in this interim period, all I need it to do is run at least as good as my current pc, but work with Windows 10, with a view to upgrade it all again later on in the year. (My MB is incompatible and I can't get USB devices to work, see link in my first post).

I suppose the first thing I'm trying to decide is If I buy the motherboard I wanted originally (Z170, probably Asus - also looking for recommendations budget around £70-£100), then upgrade the CPU and RAM at a later date - or If I buy a cheap one now with a cheap CPU and RAM (just so I can run W10), then later on buy all good stuff. The cheaper alternative to a nice Z170 MB would probably be a H110.

My budget for MB / CPU / RAM at this point is under £200.

Originally I was planning on spending around £500, but as mentioned I've got other priorities now!

Current Specs:

Asus P5K Premium Black Pearl
Intel Core2Quad Q6700
4GB DDR2
AMD Radeon R7 200

 

[Rich-M]

Do you realize how few skt 775 boards are available right now? I just happened to look at Newegg and there are 5 2 of which are refurbished and the other 3 I would not want. 2 Ram slots. 3.0 sata hard drives and 41 chipsets....wow and who knows if they would be compatible either. Your hardware is too old I think and spending money on any of those boards right now is money thrown away.

 

[alexondrums]

Do you realize how few skt 775 boards are available right now? I just happened to look at Newegg and there are 5 2 of which are refurbished and the other 3 I would not want. 2 Ram slots. 3.0 sata hard drives and 41 chipsets....wow and who knows if they would be compatible either. Your hardware is too old I think and spending money on any of those boards right now is money thrown away.

I think you misunderstand! I'm not looking to upgrade my skt 775!

To clarify:

Start of Feb 2016.

I installed Windows 10 on my current PC. All went well until Windows update did something and the end result was my chipset is too old and W10 doesn't like it. (see link in first post)

I'd been thinking about upgrading anyway, but as a result of of Windows 10 I decided to do it sooner rather than later.

I was going to spend around £500 on putting a new motherboard, CPU and RAM in my existing case, replacing my Asus P5K motherboard, Intel Core2Quad Q6700, and 4GB DDR2 RAM.

I was looking at a Z170 Chipset motherboard, LGA1151 socket CPU (prob i5 6500), and some DDR4 RAM.

Middle of Feb 2016 -> now

I need to spend some money on my car, thus reducing my budget on the new components for the PC. Later in the year when I've saved up, I will probably just go and buy the set up I originally wanted, but in the meantime, I'm thinking about going half way and getting a cheap LGA1151 MB , CPU and RAM. This is so I can use the free upgrade to W10 before the deadline later in the year. I wanted some recommendations on this.

Secondly, as I'm getting an interim upgrade - should I buy a Z170 motherboard, cheap CPU and RAM for under £200, then upgrade the CPU and RAM later in the year - or buy a cheaper H110 motherboard, cheap CPU and RAM then upgrade the MB, CPU and RAM later in the year?

Hope that makes sense!

 

[Masterchiefxx17]

You still have until June to upgrade to Windows 10. I recommend you save your £200 quid and instead wait until June with more money to get the parts that will last you for much longer. I'm not of the mindset to tell you to spend money on a lower end mobo then upgrade again later.

 

[michaelb15]

I think the z170 chipsets look pretty appealing as a 'base', as it does have a lot of upgrade options if you decide to go cheap. (in a couple years from now, you would be able to cheaply 'upgrade' to a Kabylake, which is an architecture that isn't even released yet)

Only problem is that you would have to go /really/ cheap to build an entire system around it. You would have to get something a dual core i3, and, the cheapest possible ram, which isn't exactly great. (but, it would still outperform any lga775 socket by miles)

Doing that would allow you to upgrade to better CPU's and memory later on, while still being pretty cheap now.

But all in all, I agree with masterchief. Wait a bit, save up a bit more, and buy a z170 in a couple months when you can afford a quad core i5. Its a huge leap in performance.

Of course, you could go for something older/cheaper then the z170, but, then you will not have any future in the board.

 

[LittleGreyCatUK]

I've replied to the other thread you linked.

I have an Asus P5K SE with a Q6700 so will probably hit the same problem you did.

I suggested that you might fit a PCIe card with USB ports on to get round you problem with the controllers on the mother board - 7 port USB3 cards seem available and affordable.