Build Advice What platform should I use for a 2013 era build?

[BKsniperguy]

I have an old gaming desktop that I built maybe 5 years ago that was designed to be a 2008 gaming PC, with a Core 2 Q9550 and an 8800GT (designed to run games like F.E.A.R, Mirrors Edge, and Far Cry 2). Since then, I've upgraded to an R9 270X (which I bought a few years back for very cheap), but unfortunately I think the motherboard has died (would sometimes post, now not at all).

Nowadays decent LGA775 boards are pretty damn hard to find, at least in my country, and so I've thought about upgrading to something that is more of the era of the R9 270X, being 2013 (COD BO2, BF3, FC3, Driver SF, etc). My current options are either a first gen i5/i7 (LGA1156), or something like a 2600k (LGA1155). A first gen would be more unique and rarer (which would add to the cool factor), but likewise it would be more difficult to find a replacement board should I ever need one. A unlocked second gen would be less rare/unique, but then finding a replacement motherboard would be easier.

Feel free to weigh in, the more advice, the better.

 

[punkncat]

2013. 4th generation Intel. i7 4770K hands down. What you are mentioning for CPU are a bit older than that. Of what you list, the 2600K was also a very good CPU.

 

[BKsniperguy]

2013. 4th generation Intel. i7 4770K hands down. What you are mentioning for CPU are a bit older than that. Of what you list, the 2600K was also a very good CPU.

I actually have a prebuilt lying around with a 4770 (non-K), in which the motherboard died 2 years ago. For some reason I thought the 4000 series was newer; mentally I always associated it being commonly paired with a GTX 970. The motherboards also don't seem to be too expensive either, I'd be looking at around 55$ USD for a Z79M board. Of course, unless I buy a 4770K I won't be able to overclock.

Honestly, since I can get a 2600K+mobo+ram for 60$ USD, I'm probably gonna go for that option anyway.

 

[dark_globe]

well 4770 is faster compared to 2600K and you already have it at home
so i would probably go for the haswell compatible motherboard .
and since it´s not a K model you can search for a bit cheaper motherboard
with H87 or B85 chipset even .

 

[BKsniperguy]

well 4770 is faster compared to 2600K and you already have it at home
so i would probably go for the haswell compatible motherboard .
and since it´s not a K model you can search for a bit cheaper motherboard
with H87 or B85 chipset even .

Yeah, that's true, but in a sense I'm not really going for performance. I already have another "fast" desktop. If I could, I'd just buy another LGA775 motherboard and use the (admittedly restrictive) Q9550, I just can't find any decent ones for sale.

 

[dark_globe]

yeah i hear you , i also have a thing for restoring old PCs , or building them from scratch
finding such old parts that actually work is getting harder each year .

my latest project was a system featuring NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra from 2003