Buying an i5-3570k. Is an ASRock Z68 Ext3 Gen3 a good idea?

[MichaelBrew]

Title. I was either going to go with that or a Z77 of some sort but I'm not sure, after looking around, that it's worth the extra $100. Also, are both compatible with a GeForce 9800 GTX+ GPU (I'm going to try to salvage it if at all possible, and maybe SLI it)?

I'd really appreciate any help.

[kressnm]

Why would you keep that card? Why would you SLI it? Do you game or what?

I'll sell you two GTX 260s for a very reasonable price.

[MichaelBrew]

Why would you keep that card? Why would you SLI it? Do you game or what?

I'll sell you two GTX 260s for a very reasonable price.

Yeah, I was hoping to play Diablo3 on the 15th. I was going to keep my card to save the $150+ a new video card would cost (and I can probably get a used 9800 for like $40 on ebay).

Is this a bad idea? I ask because I honestly don't know.

[kressnm]

What's your current setup? CPU, RAM, etc...

Usually it seems when people upgrade to a new CPU etc they bring the video card up to date as well.

You'll be fine with that card. You probably won't run it at the highest settings but it'll do.

[MichaelBrew]

What's your current setup? CPU, RAM, etc...

CPU: i5-3570k.

Mobo: At issue.

GPU: At issue, I guess, but I was planning on a 9800 GTX+ (salvaged from old comp, possibly buying another to SLI).

PSU: 700w Raidmax RX-700 (salvaged from old comp).

RAM: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 sticks of 4GB).

HDD: Was going to reuse my 150 GB, 8 year old hard drive.

[Godfrd824]

The Asrock Extreme 3 Gen 3 is a great motherboard, and it should work perfectly with Ivy Bridge.

About your HDD, get a new one that old one is bound to fail soon, plus it's SATA 1, which is incredibly slow. If you can afford it, get an SSD.

Also get a new graphics card, the name of the game is longevity, buying another outdated card to SLI is not the smartest idea.

[MDizzle11]

just wanted to post in this thread because I literally couldn't tell you what a single thing in the title means

[toneekay]

I would go for the Z77 equivalent of that ASRock mobo... Being an owner of that exact motherboard (Z68 E3G3), I would have to say that I wish it was build as solid as the Z77. What I mean about this is that on the Z68 board, there's a few flaws that I've caught myself and wish it was better.... for example, the first and second PCIe slots are a bit lower than expected and if you DO happen to use the bottom slot, it's very low on the board and my obstruct airflow. On the newer Z77 board, the PCIe slots are a bit higher, so if you DO happen to use that bottom slot, you will still be in the clear and have plenty of space between that card and the PSU. Just a little nit picking here and there for me since I'm running an SLI setup................................. BUT, if you're planning on going with a IB processor, might as well keep the mobo/chipset current with its gen (Z77).

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 ($129.99 + free shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

^Virtually almost the SAME price as the Z68 motherboard you're looking at ($121.99 + $7.87 shipping = $129.86)


EDIT: Check out this article if you were looking to buy a new video card. I know the 9800 used to be great in its time, but we're all passed that point of heat and power consumption.

"Best graphics card for the money, May 2012"
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

[MichaelBrew]

I would go for the Z77 equivalent of that ASRock mobo... Being an owner of that exact motherboard (Z68 E3G3), I would have to say that I wish it was build as solid as the Z77. What I mean about this is that on the Z68 board, there's a few flaws that I've caught myself and wish it was better.... for example, the first and second PCIe slots are a bit lower than expected and if you DO happen to use the bottom slot, it's very low on the board and my obstruct airflow. On the newer Z77 board, the PCIe slots are a bit higher, so if you DO happen to use that bottom slot, you will still be in the clear and have plenty of space between that card and the PSU. Just a little nit picking here and there for me since I'm running an SLI setup................................. BUT, if you're planning on going with a IB processor, might as well keep the mobo/chipset current with its gen (Z77).

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 ($129.99 + free shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

^Virtually almost the SAME price as the Z68 motherboard you're looking at ($121.99 + $7.87 shipping = $129.86)


EDIT: Check out this article if you were looking to buy a new video card. I know the 9800 used to be great in its time, but we're all passed that point of heat and power consumption.

"Best graphics card for the money, May 2012"
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

I gotcha, there are definitely better graphics cards out there...but I'm a law student and strapped as **** cuz. If I can get my computer to handle D3 on medium graphics (with the possibility of a better graphics card later, when I've got the cash), that's what I'm looking for.

[mk.ultra]

Title. I was either going to go with that or a Z77 of some sort but I'm not sure, after looking around, that it's worth the extra $100. Also, are both compatible with a GeForce 9800 GTX+ GPU (I'm going to try to salvage it if at all possible, and maybe SLI it)?

I'd really appreciate any help.

I just completed my first ever build and I used the ASRock Extreme 3 Gen 3. I got it off Amazon for $105 and it works perfectly for me. To be quite honest I don't know the exact advantages of higher end motherboards besides more RAM slots. All I know is that for my purposes it is more than sufficient. If you do get it, be sure you find the ETron USB 3.0 drivers for it, they're kind of hidden and I had to find them to get my 2 USB 3.0 slots working.