CPU/Mobo Please suggest a Mobo for Intel G620 and Radeon HD 6670

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setonfire

setonfire

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Dear Mods,
I am planning on a basic gaming system. I have read through almost all suggestions/recommendations given in different posts in TE. I have especially been following posts made by ALHA17 and Jakob.

I am not an expert but I gather this much -

I was initially looking to build an APU-based system. However, it has been pointed out several times that Intel G620 coupled with a Radeon HD 6670 would beat the AMD A8-3870k APU.

So please help me complete my system -
Processor - Intel G620
Graphics Card - Sapphire Radeon HD 6670
Motherboard - Help me out here. I know ALPHA17's recommendation is the Intel DH67-BL but it costs Rs. 5500!
(I do not plan to use any fancy features like USB 3.0, Sata 6gb/s, overclocking, HDMI - Nothing)

All I want is a motherboard that -
1. enables the CPU and GPU to give their best performance and
2. can accommodate a better CPU and GPU maybe a year later

Please pardon my ignorance. I may have overlooked something very obvious. What can I say - I am a noob :-)
 
If you don't want the H67 mobo then here's what you'd get-
Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H-3.2k OR Intel DH61-WW-3k
Unfortunately you'd have to spend more if you want a future proof motherboard.Either way by the time you'll upgrade intel would've launched a new set of motherboards and new socket.So there's no such motherboard that can add multiple processors of new generations in intel case.If you get a H67 motherboard you'll have luxury to add Intel ivy bridge series processors like i5 3550 on that motherboard so it's your choice if you want to get Intel DH67BL-B3-5.5k or not.
 
H67 / H77 based options --
Intel DH67-BL ~5500/-
Intel DH77-KC ~7000/-
ASUS P8H77-M PRO ~9000/-

In my opinion anything below this without essential features like USB 3.0 and SATA III will be a problem for future upgrade possibilities. Also more importantly next year Intel will change its processor socket to LGA 1150 [for the Haswell family processors] so you cannot upgrade to that until and unless you overhaul your entire RIG but you can upgrade to the Ivy-Bridge family on these motherboards.

Hope this helps, Cheerio!

@vivek.krishnan and @Jakob I feel the H61 chipset inadequate for an Ivy-Bridge setup.

If by adding only ~2000/- INR to the base price for a H61 based motherboard you can get a more powerful H67 chipset why not go for that?
 
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I've pointed out in the above post that H67 is what op should get if he wants to upgrade later,I know that H61 isn't good enough but if op is not going for the H67 chipset then H61 is what he'd get that's all,Cheers.
ALPHA17 said:
H67 / H77 based options --
Intel DH67-BL ~5500/-
Intel DH77-KC ~7000/-
ASUS P8H77-M PRO ~9000/-

In my opinion anything below this without essential features like USB 3.0 and SATA III will be a problem for future upgrade possibilities. Also more importantly next year Intel will change its processor socket to LGA 1150 [for the Haswell family processors] so you cannot upgrade to that until and unless you overhaul your entire RIG but you can upgrade to the Ivy-Bridge family on these motherboards.

Hope this helps, Cheerio!

vivek.krishnan and Jakob I feel the H61 chipset inadequate for an Ivy-Bridge setup.

If by adding only ~2000/- INR to the base price for a H61 based motherboard you can get a more powerful H67 chipset why not go for that?
Click to expand...
 
ALPHA17 didn't even read my post :-)
I already know what your normal recommendations are. Like I said I am your fan and have been following all your suggestions elsewhere.

Jakob and ALPHA17 my questions are -

1. The only benefit I get with Intel DH67-BL is that I will be able to upgrade to Ivy Bridge - Right? Is that it? Is Sandy Bridge not adequate? When I do upgrade after a year I will directly upgrade to the best CPU + Mobo available then. Will Ivy Bridge still be relevant 2 years down the line?

2. My main concern is upgrading the GPU one year later. If I can do that without upgrading my CPU and Mobo - Great! Will the Intel G620 + Mobo last me for a year or two?

3. Will the performance of Intel G620 and Radeon HD 6670 be affected if I use Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H/Intel DH61-WW instead of Intel DH67-BL?

The reason I am assembling this PC is Max Payne 3 -
The last game I played was Max Payne 2. Thereafter I got busy with other things and did not game since then. In the meantime some great games came - Bioshock, Half-Life2, Crysis, Battlefield 2, Call of Duty MW. This PC is meant for catching up on the games I have missed. The only modern game I want to play is Max Payne 3. Beyond that I have stocked a lot of old titles on my Steam account while this year's Summer Sale was on.

Am I on the right path with this build?

Thank you!

(My current monitor resolution is 1366x768)
 
setonfire said:
ALPHA17 didn't even read my post :-)
1. The only benefit I get with Intel DH67-BL is that I will be able to upgrade to Ivy Bridge - Right? Is that it? Is Sandy Bridge not adequate? When I do upgrade after a year I will directly upgrade to the best CPU + Mobo available then. Will Ivy Bridge still be relevant 2 years down the line?

2. My main concern is upgrading the GPU one year later. If I can do that without upgrading my CPU and Mobo - Great! Will the Intel G620 + Mobo last me for a year or two?

3. Will the performance of Intel G620 and Radeon HD 6670 be affected if I use Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H/Intel DH61-WW instead of Intel DH67-BL?

(My current monitor resolution is 1366x768)
Click to expand...


I did read your post, the reason I was on post #3 was because I had initially suggested a few Z77 offerings as well. Had to edit that out and had to list advantages of going for a H67 based chipset board over that of a H61 based system.

Here are you answers --
  • Even the H61 is compatible with the Ivy-Bridge processors but it simply is too weak for a system of that power. No USB 3.0 and SATA III cripple the future prospects of the build [upgrading to faster hard-drives and SSD's].
  • The processor and the motherboard will be both outdated as soon as Intel releases its Haswell family of processors and chipset.
  • No it will not be affected in the least but anything more powerful [for e.g. -- a HD 78** series graphics-card OR Core i5 processor] will be bottle-necked.

Research a bit, we cannot say whether you are on the right-path OR wrong-path. Fill up this template [http://www.techenclave.com/pc-buying-advice/template-what-should-i-buy-73107/p2/#post839513] and post it here and we might be able to give you a more definitive answer.

Hope this helps, Cheerio!
 
A few queries

ALPHA17 please pardon my ignorance. I had a few queries -

ALPHA17 said:
Even the H61 is compatible with the Ivy-Bridge processors but it simply is too weak for a system of that power. No USB 3.0 and SATA III cripple the future prospects of the build [upgrading to faster hard-drives and SSD's]. - How is H61 'weak' and what do you mean by 'power'?

The processor and the motherboard will be both outdated as soon as Intel releases its Haswell family of processors and chipset. - All the more reason not to overspend right now? Doesn't it make sense to get the cheapest build right now and then overhaul complete rig later when upgrading to Haswell?

No it will not be affected in the least but anything more powerful [for e.g. -- a HD 78** series graphics-card OR Core i5 processor] will be bottle-necked.
ALPHA17 - what does bottle-necked mean? Can a motherboard also bottle-neck performance? I used to think only CPUs did that.

What are PCI Express Lanes? (The H67 has 8 PCI-E 2.0 while H61 has 6 PCI-E 2.0)
Click to expand...

Thanking you
 
setonfire said:
ALPHA17 please pardon my ignorance. I had a few queries -



Thanking you
Click to expand...

The lack of USB3/SATA III means the system is not future proof. Many people who buy any sort of HDD now a days, opt for USB3 than USB2. You might too get one, then that becomes a limiting factor when you wish to copy data to or fro from a such a HDD. As for SATA II, if you ever get an SSD, you might feel bottlenecked by SATA II.

Also, not to mention if you want to sell the rig, these might count against the rig in FS threads.

Plus, cheaper boards might come with 10/100 mbps onboard. Also, there are some small minor things against the H61 like IGP overclocking (i'm not too sure)

Well, as for haswell, dont ask. I think every year a new architecture comes out, so go figure.

About the bottle necking, its difficult to say. H61 might be a bottle neck, for a powerful proccy and GPU combination, but I dont think so for the G620. So that should not be considered here.

PCIe is the new universal expansion option. Unlike olden machines which had PCI and VGA, here every thing is PCIe. Now, the number of lanes indicate the number of available bandwidth. This will be of help : PCI Express - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
setonfire said:
  • Even the H61 is compatible with the Ivy-Bridge processors but it simply is too weak for a system of that power. No USB 3.0 and SATA III cripple the future prospects of the build [upgrading to faster hard-drives and SSD's].
    How is H61 'weak' and what do you mean by 'power'?
  • The processor and the motherboard will be both outdated as soon as Intel releases its Haswell family of processors and chipset.
    All the more reason not to overspend right now? Doesn't it make sense to get the cheapest build right now and then overhaul complete rig later when upgrading to Haswell?
  • No it will not be affected in the least but anything more powerful [for e.g. -- a HD 78** series graphics-card OR Core i5 processor] will be bottle-necked.
    what does bottle-necked mean? Can a motherboard also bottle-neck performance? I used to think only CPUs did that.

    What are PCI Express Lanes? (The H67 has 8 PCI-E 2.0 while H61 has 6 PCI-E 2.0)
Click to expand...

Here are the answers --
  1. 1 The lack of USB 3.0 and SATA III means the storage hardware which is slowly [but surely] gearing up for the change in industry standards will be incompatible with the H61 chipset. As you have mentioned fewer PCIe lanes [w.r.t H67] expect the bandwidth also to scale back proportionally, so less bandwidth shared between more components = lower performance [than the full potential of the component / port].
  2. 2 True.
  3. 3 Thanks to the fewer lanes being routed to a similar number of ports / peripherals [OR proportional decrease in number of same], the graphics card is starved, the external drives are starved [just a crude example] and thus the entire performance goes down.

Hope this explains the situation concisely, Cheerio!
 
Thank you ALPHA17!

ALPHA17 said:
Here are the answers --
  1. 1 The lack of USB 3.0 and SATA III means the storage hardware which is slowly [but surely] gearing up for the change in industry standards will be incompatible with the H61 chipset. As you have mentioned fewer PCIe lanes [w.r.t H67] expect the bandwidth also to scale back proportionally, so less bandwidth shared between more components = lower performance [than the full potential of the component / port].
  2. 2 True.
  3. 3 Thanks to the fewer lanes being routed to a similar number of ports / peripherals [OR proportional decrease in number of same], the graphics card is starved, the external drives are starved [just a crude example] and thus the entire performance goes down.

Hope this explains the situation concisely, Cheerio!
Click to expand...
 

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setonfire said:
Why do we have so many chipsets in the first place? :-)

Why not just make one or two good ones that do the job? Why the complexity?

Have a look at the list of different chipsets available on Flipkart -
Click to expand...

Because different companies have different chipsets, AMD processors and Intel processors are not inter-changeable, neither are their chipsets.

Also, amongst themselves the companies re-release different chipsets along with different processor families [sometimes they are inter-compatible for two processor family types and sometimes not]. Some are incremental revisions and older chipsets with new features retro-fitted on them, other-times they are radical changes which come along with newer processor families.

Intel B- / Q-series chipsets are business oriented chipsets. They are to be found in the office computers, the H- series generally fall in the home usage, media and gaming category and finally the P- / Z- and X-series chipsets are the extreme variants which are targeted at computer enthusiasts and over-clocking buffs.

Hope this explains the cause of variety in chipsets.
 
Thank you ALPHA17!

I did not think you would answer that. The question was intended to be rhetorical :-)
Yet you very kindly went a mile to explain me the logic/need for different chipsets.

Thank you again.
 
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