Time for an Upgrade

[Tyranicus]

I'm seriously considering upgrading to an i5 system in the next month or so to replace my aging E4500. Right now I'm looking at the GA-P55-USB3 ($95 on Newegg) because of the price, reported hackintoshability, and 8 SATA ports. I'm also thinking of the i5-750 ($200 on Newegg) based on price, features, and reviews. Does anyone know if there are better options in the same price range? Also, what speed DDR3 provides the best balance of price and performance?

 

[kushninja]

Sounds good, if you can afford it, I say go for it. As for memory you can't beat this: Newegg Link
G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB (2x2) 1600 for $49.99 WHAT? I know...I'm actually going to buy 2 kits of this soon to replace my 1333 so I can have more OC headroom. Definitely what you want.

 

[Vendetta]

Sounds good, if you can afford it, I say go for it. As for memory you can't beat this: Newegg Link
G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB (2x2) 1600 for $49.99 WHAT? I know...I'm actually going to buy 2 kits of this soon to replace my 1333 so I can have more OC headroom. Definitely what you want.

Or, you could get the 8GB (2x4GB) for $100.

 

[longtom]

Sounds good, if you can afford it, I say go for it. As for memory you can't beat this: Newegg Link
G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB (2x2) 1600 for $49.99 WHAT? I know...I'm actually going to buy 2 kits of this soon to replace my 1333 so I can have more OC headroom. Definitely what you want.

Or, you could get the 8GB (2x4GB) for $100.

Yeah, go for 8gig!

 

[kushninja]

Depends on if he can use that much, if not then it would be more cost effective to spend that extra money on an i7 (with a little more of course). Either way you can't go wrong!

 

[ShavenYak]

Heh, I'm about to build my first Hackintosh with the GA-P55-USB3, i5-760, and 4GB Ripjaws. Newegg had the deals goin' on last week. I'm just waiting for the case to arrive now. The power of an iMac at the cost of a mini, gotta love it.

 

[Tyranicus]

I ended up putting together a more powerful build. I was in Micro Center yesterday and saw that they had the Core i7 950 for $200! That CPU is $300 anywhere else. Needless to say, I could not resist that bargain. Sadly, while they normally carry the Gigabyte X58A-UD3R motherboard, they were out of stock, so I ended up ordering the motherboard and RAM from Newegg. Now i have to wait until Tuesday to put it together.

 

[Shelby]

Sweet!!!