Upgrading mobo/cpu/ram

[cyberman999]

(edited 1/2/2010, added case to list of current parts)
I'm planning on upgrading my computer from an old Athlon 64 x2 3800+ (89w part according to wikipedia), ASUS A8R-MVP, 2 GB ram to something a bit more current. I'm gonna keep my current gpu (5750 1GB, low res gaming), hds ( 500GB Spinpoint f1, 1 TB spinpoint F4), power supply (antec neo he 430), case (antec P150) and fans (120mm yate loon, 2 x 92 mm nexus). Prices are current as of January 1.

Currently thinking of (opinions on this stuff and other suggestions strongly desired):

Intel Core i3 550 ($120) . I had considered a Phenom II x4, but the higher power usage would make an unberably hot room during a hot summer day even worse. I expect a summer weather maximum of 110 degrees F, once or twice a summer (and even worse with low airflow in my room). I don't really want a sandy bridge since you can't overclock them without paying a premium. I plan on overclocking whatever I can get without increasing fan speed too much.

ASUS P7P55D-E LX ($126). I think finding the right motherboard is the hardest since most reviews don't consider the quiet computing features all that closely. Specifically, I'm looking for at least 3 fan headers that support software based fan speed control (speedfan, and the like) of 3 pin fans. One other thing I've read is that this motherboard isn't quite so bandwidth limited in SATA III and USB 3 as another recommended motherboard series I've read about the gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 series. One last thing: will I be able to use my 4 pin motherboard power connector on today's motherboards as they all seem to have 8 pin connectors? I'm assuming it won't be an issue since the cpu I'm getting is going to use less power than the cpu it will replace, but you never know.

G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL ($50). This'll give me some room for overclocking, isn't too expensive and has a voltage of only 1.5v. If heatspreader on this is too big, I'll get the F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ, which is the same thing but with a smaller size heat spreader.

Scythe Mugen 2 Rev b ($34). The rev b has compatibility with socket 1156, unlike the first revision. I'm planning on ducting the rear case fan to the heatsink, as I am now with an original Scythe Ninja. I'd get a Ninja 3, but with the issue of a concave base, its a non-starter.

If anyone has any other suggetions, I welcome them. Thanks in advance.

[speedkar9]

Looks good overall (though I'd go with AMD for more performance for my buck).
Does your GPU have a good quiet cooler?

One last thing: will I be able to use my 4 pin motherboard power connector on today's motherboards as they all seem to have 8 pin connectors?

Yes the 4 pin will work in the 8pin connector.

[cyberman999]

Looks good overall (though I'd go with AMD for more performance for my buck).
Does your GPU have a good quiet cooler?

I was considering going with AMD, but the heat from my computer makes my room too hot during the summer as it is (on top of being hot summer weather and before upgrading from an x1300 to a 5750 last month). I don't want to add to it anymore. My video card is this. The fan is nearly silent. I think I might just replace it with a nexus 92mm fan connected to motherboard via a fanmate2. I've got a thread dedicated to that topic. If you're interested I'll post more there.

[tim851]

Core i3s really overclock like crazy. My 530 (2.93 stock clock) runs at 4.4 without even raising the voltage. I just upped the BCLK from 133 to 200 and that was that.

I use the MSI H55M-E55 Micro-ATX board. SpeedFan can control 3 of its 4 fan headers, but the 4-pin header can only control a 4-pin (PWM) fan. Don't know if this is always the case, wanted to mention it still.

The P55 chipset makes no sense to me. You'll lose the option to use the integrated GPU (e.g. if your 5750 should break and you have to RMA). And I have never seen anything that would indicate what the P55 actually does better (or just different) than the H57.

[cyberman999]

Core i3s really overclock like crazy. My 530 (2.93 stock clock) runs at 4.4 without even raising the voltage. I just upped the BCLK from 133 to 200 and that was that.

I use the MSI H55M-E55 Micro-ATX board. SpeedFan can control 3 of its 4 fan headers, but the 4-pin header can only control a 4-pin (PWM) fan. Don't know if this is always the case, wanted to mention it still.

The P55 chipset makes no sense to me. You'll lose the option to use the integrated GPU (e.g. if your 5750 should break and you have to RMA). And I have never seen anything that would indicate what the P55 actually does better (or just different) than the H57.

Wow, that's one hell of an overclock. Good to know about the 4 pin fan header limitations. It'd be nice if intel made a chipset that would automatically switch back and forth from the discrete graphics and the built in graphics. Oh well, can't have everything. Still have my old video card in case my new vid card dies on me. Extra Parts ftw.

[ilovejedd]

Core i3s really overclock like crazy. My 530 (2.93 stock clock) runs at 4.4 without even raising the voltage. I just upped the BCLK from 133 to 200 and that was that.

You sure about that? Or did you leave motherboard voltage control on Auto? My i3-530 can only do 3.5 at stock volts and I think that's the case with most samples. If yours can truly do 4.4 on stock, you've got a golden chip.

[tim851]

Or did you leave motherboard voltage control on Auto?

As you wrote that, I checked. Indeed, I did leave it on Auto. I don't even have the option to set it to stock, I can either leave it on "Auto" or start increasing the voltage. So I figured that Auto is fixed stock voltage. But when I checked with CPU-Z, it did raise the Vcore to 1.32V once I engaged Prime95.

My bad.

I still think Core i3s overclock like crazy though...