Need new CPU/Mobo

[ROK]

ASUS has essentially screwed my brother over and after 1 year of continuous RMAs we still haven't received a functioning mobo. (He was using bought a 3570k and ASUS P8Z77-V LK paperweight).

 

So now, in desperation to get him gaming, I've decided to buy him a new CPU and Mobo. My budget is $400 CAD (I am in Canada!) and I'd like to grab a mATX board that looks half decent (eventuallty plan on downsizing his rig with a windowed case) that is Capable of SLI. The only requirements are: no ASUS and no AMD.

I am currently looking at a Xeon E3 1230v3 and an i5 4690k but I am unsure which is ideal (8 threads on Xeon vs overclocking on i5). I'd like to get some parts capable of overclocking, but it doesn't really matter as long as the performance is there.

[Hashiyan]

ASUS has essentially screwed my brother over and after 1 year of continuous RMAs we still haven't received a functioning mobo. (He was using bought a 3570k and ASUS P8Z77-V LK paperweight).

 

So now, in desperation to get him gaming, I've decided to buy him a new CPU and Mobo. My budget is $400 CAD (I am in Canada!) and I'd like to grab a mATX board that looks half decent (eventuallty plan on downsizing his rig with a windowed case) that is Capable of SLI. The only requirements are: no ASUS and no AMD.

I am currently looking at a Xeon E3 1230v3 and an i5 4690k but I am unsure which is ideal (8 threads on Xeon vs overclocking on i5). I'd like to get some parts capable of overclocking, but it doesn't really matter as long as the performance is there.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128716 Should be really good! I think Gigabyte is a good contender this refresh in motherboards. Lots of USB's and Sli able, mATX and not Asus

[Akolyte]

ASUS has essentially screwed my brother over and after 1 year of continuous RMAs we still haven't received a functioning mobo. (He was using bought a 3570k and ASUS P8Z77-V LK paperweight).

 

So now, in desperation to get him gaming, I've decided to buy him a new CPU and Mobo. My budget is $400 CAD (I am in Canada!) and I'd like to grab a mATX board that looks half decent (eventuallty plan on downsizing his rig with a windowed case) that is Capable of SLI. The only requirements are: no ASUS and no AMD.

I am currently looking at a Xeon E3 1230v3 and an i5 4690k but I am unsure which is ideal (8 threads on Xeon vs overclocking on i5). I'd like to get some parts capable of overclocking, but it doesn't really matter as long as the performance is there.

I recommend these:

 

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690k - its fast and is new Devil's Canyon.

 

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97mxgaming5 - it looks good (if you have a red and (something) theme) and I would have picked an Asus board (as I prefer them personally) I thought after your experience you probably wouldn't want to go Asus. 

[ROK]

Is it really worth an extra $30 jumping from the 4670k to the 4690k?

Also, will there be no benefit from grabbing a Xeon? With game requirements often suggesting 8 threads, it seems a choice like this would be more futureproof, for the same price as the 4690k.

[i_build_nanosuits]

Is it really worth an extra $30 jumping from the 4670k to the 4690k?

Also, will there be no benefit from grabbing a Xeon? With game requirements often suggesting 8 threads, it seems a choice like this would be more futureproof, for the same price as the 4690k.

- Not really unless you are looking to push at maximum overclocks (in wich case i would recommand not going mATX form factor and get a very good CPU cooler), it's the same chip but with better thermal solution between the silicon and integrated heatspreader so the CPU run's cooler and allow for better overclocking

-Yes many games require/will require more than 4 threads processing for optimal performance so it can be assumed that an 8 thread capable CPU will perform better than a 4 thread in the long run, absolutely...i can confirm you that when i disable hyper-threading on   my i7 watch dogs does not run as well and the GPU load fluctuate a lot and dips.

 

The problem you are facing is that you want SLI capability, this is found mostly on more expensive Z87 or Z97 motherboards...wich also come with overclocking capability (wich the xeon cpu does not have) so you pay a price tag for features you don,t need...if you could let go the whole SLI thing, wich is a bad idea BTW especially on mATX, you could go with something like that and save a bunch:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada)

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($44.99 @ Canada Computers)

Total: $329.97

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

If you really want to stick with SLI and OC capable hardware, then this is your best solution i suppose:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($269.99 @ Memory Express)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($127.00 @ Vuugo)

Total: $396.99

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available