Woke up this morning to find my desktop refusing to boot. After a bit of testing I can't get any diag LEDs to light up on the mobo with another PSU, so all signs so far point to a dead mobo. This is the worst case scenario I guess, because it probably means reinstalling Windows - f%@*&%. This was a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H with a Intel i7 3770 - so getting on in age, though certainly fine in performance. I'll want to run 16GB of RAM - I'm guessing if I go buy a modern i7 I'll probably need to replace this too I've recently bought an 1050Ti, which it'll run. A new board needs at least 6 SATA ports for me. Since I don't tend to keep up to date on chipsets and CPUs until I need one I'm not sure what's what these days (in terms of sockets for each level, what RAM we're even using these days) and I haven't done a great deal of research yet but want to be able to go in and byuy something tomorrow lunchtime if possible - without spending a fortune, what what are some reasonable suggestions - even if it's just "this chipset if you need X feature, this chipset if you don't". In the meantime, it's mass reading time for me :/
if you want to keep your ram then 1150 platform will do you fine but will be 2nd hand scrounging around on gumtree/ebay invovled otherwise z170 [ asus Z170-ar has 6 sata ports] and some 67XX chip and some ddr4 will be what you need
$100 gets you a decent secondhand 1155 motherboard here, or you can get NOS or refurbished on eBay for double that (there's a site wide 10% off tomorrow, according to OzBargain). Much cheaper option than upgrading the lot.
Just missed a z77 sabertooth for $75! Keep an eye on the FS section and get in quick when a deal pops up.
Well, crisis averted it seems. I was able to find an identical secondhand one, so if that lasts only six months I'll be more than happy. It's merely that the timing was crappy at the moment (November-December I have rates, car insurance, car rego and christmas all come in at once) - not a problem but just a just wipes out any discretionary spending for a few weeks, specially when I had a list of other things to get :/ Hopefully now I can wait for the next Intel tick cycle, i7 7600 or something.
