I need help picking parts!

UR2BTOAST · April 15, 2015

Hello all!

A while back, I upgraded my HP Envy 700-210xt to make it suitable for playing more than microsoft word. Currently, it has an EVGA Geforce GTX 760 FTW 4gb, Intel i7 4771, 12gb RAM, Corsair Carbide 300r case, and an H60 Corsair cooler. The only original parts are the motherboard and RAM. I have finally decided to finish the project that I started and swap out the motherboard and upgrade ram.

I'm pretty sure I've found a motherboard that I like. https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z97PRO_GAMER/

What I need help with is the RAM. I'm thinking I want to upgrade to 16gb. 32gb is probably more than I need and there aren't that many 24gb sets available (If anyone has a 24gb set that they like or use, feel free to comment). My color scheme is black and blue, so either color works as well as grey. (Yes I know that motherboard has traces of red on it). The max that I am willing to spend is $200 for the RAM. Any suggestions are appreciated.

And also, with the new motherboard comes the z97 chipset. That's a different chipset than my old motherboard, so I would end up re installing windows. The product key was "embedded into the bios" on the HP OEM motherboard... I have re installed once before when I moved my OS to an SSD. For that re install, I used a diagnostic type program to scan and tell me the product key. I manually typed the key in during the install process. My question is this: with the new motherboard that doesn't have the product key embedded, will I be successful in the re install if I use the same process of scanning for the product key (neglected to write it down the first time)? I don't want to have to purchase another copy of Windows 8 because you know, money and all. Thanks!

Sheldon_King · April 16, 2015

the fist thing I would say is look away from any product that says ROG (Republic of Gamers) or Gamer in the name. You will be paying a premium for the "advanced features" that include a red colour scheme, and one or 2 extra VRM that will not help with a locked CPU like the 4771 you have.

That said, Look at H97 or H87 boards, or low end Z97/Z87 to avoid having a bunch of featurs that you will not need or be able to use.

The RAM, do you really need an upgrade? Are you rutinely hitting 100% RAM usage? If not, you are wasting money there too. That said, 24GB hits are not available anymore, they were tripple channel kits. You can make a 24GB kit by running Dual channel with 2x8GB and 2x4GB, but over 16GB the average person will not see any difference for a long time. Actually, most perople will never need 8GB for a long while yet.