I have reached the point where I want to upgrade CPU and MB.

As the title says I quite like the look of the i5-3570K and wanted advice from more experienced users on this CPU. (AMD = No because I prefer Intel)

In addition, any help on Mobo (preferably Asus) to go with this CPU would be appreciated. This will go on my Q9300 system with Asus GTX660TI

I would also like to know if I could use built in CPU graphics to run mundane stuff like browsing and HD Video while using 660TI as dedicated cruncher.

Thanks in advance with any help. It has been over 4 years since I last built a computer and feel a little out of touch with the current processors.


ADDED

Must have "Virtualization" USB 3, PCIe 3 and Sata 3 but these are probably already a given just thought I'd mention.

Why not look at the i5-4570 'Haswell'? The internal GPU is no slouch at crunching, either, and without a discrete GPU that entire system box is drawing less than 90 watts from the wall (monitor powered separately).

The K following the 3570 means it's unlocked which means you can OC it easily. If you don't want to OC then you might be able to find a non-K model running at similar speed for less money.

Since it's Ivy Bridge I don't think that model has PCIe 3, I think you must go to the newer Haswell models for that.

It doesn't have HT (hyper-threading). If you look you will find Xeon models that run at similar speed and have HT and are similarly priced. What the Xeon's don't have is onboard video but your mobo will likely have that anyway.

Edit added:

I just noticed at Newegg Canada, the i5-4670K (Haswell, new) is $5 cheaper than the i5-3570K (Ivy Bridge, old). That's a bargain but you might find the mobo's for Haswell are more expensive than mobo's for Ivy Bridge but you may have to go Haswell anyway if you want PCIe 3.
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BOINC <<--- credit whores, pedants, alien hunters

Thanks Richard and Dagorath I've looked at those and while I'm a long way from deciding yet I have dropped the requirement for PCIe 3.0

Please note that the K models also Do Not support Virtualisation. This includes the i5-3570K, i5-4570K and the i7-4770K.
By Virtualization I mean, Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

Please note that the K models also Do Not support Virtualisation. This includes the i5-3570K, i5-4570K and the i7-4770K.
By Virtualization I mean, Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

VT-d being distinct from VT-x which is the feature some projects require for running their Virtual Box.

Would a cruncher miss anything if a rig didn't have VT-d? That's not a rhetorical question, I don't understand how it might be useful for DC or number crunching.

Thanks to Richard for pointing out that the onchip GPU can be used for crunching with OpenGL, I didn't know. I think I will go Haswell for my next CPU purchase too.

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BOINC <<--- credit whores, pedants, alien hunters

Will there be any problems running 2 GPU projects? I mean I won't want a GPUGrid WU on the integrated GPU.

Please note that the K models also Do Not support Virtualisation. This includes the i5-3570K, i5-4570K and the i7-4770K.
By Virtualization I mean, Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

VT-d being distinct from VT-x which is the feature some projects require for running their Virtual Box.

Would a cruncher miss anything if a rig didn't have VT-d? That's not a rhetorical question, I don't understand how it might be useful for DC or number crunching.

PS. Thought Betting Slip wanted Virtulization for work rather than Boinc (don't know why)!

There are no i3-4xxx processors, and I don't know if any are in the pipeline.

You are correct SK my need for Virtualization has nothing to do with Boinc and I wasn't aware that this technology played a part in any Boinc projects.

Note that Haswell compared with Ivy Bridge will run very hot under full load. Haswell has from origin also a lower turbo boost ratio on low-end models compared to Ivy Bridge.

IMHO, the greatest advantage from Haswell is:
- USB3.0 integration in chipset 8 series
- AVX2.0 support (only no folding project support at this moment)
- power saving @ idle loads (folding isn't @ idle load... :P )
- a little bit more (single core) performance compared to Ivy Bridge (avarage 5-8%)

The bad:
- heat under full load
- price (compared with new and second hand Ivy Bridge)

Make sure not to skimp on main memory speed, as the iGPU and especially Einstein need some serious throughput. DDR3-1866 9-11-9 should be the minimum (fair price), but depending on your budget upgrading to 2133 or at most 2400 on good latencies will yield some performance improvement for Einstein (not GPU-Grid).

Well a lot of you have more knowledge from hardware than I. I can only make decisions on things I read at "official" sites (and some trusted people). So for information of my new Haswell I go to Intel's page and with the i7 4771 I want, it says that only 1333 and 1600 memory can be used.
I will put this CPU in an ASUS Sabertooth Z87, and that can indeed handle faster memory. I have read in the past that when you put in faster memory (more expensive) and the CPU or the MOBO can't handle it, it will run at lower speed. That is why I have concerns and already bought 8GB of 1600.

Indeed I would like to run Einstein on the iGPU and some Rosetta/FightMalaria/Docking on the CPU. With HT on I use 60 to 75% of the CPU. So a core free for GPU and a core free for me to check the system, using internet and such.
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Greetings from TJ

Asus Z87-WS is good for us.

Asus Z87-WS is good for us.

I'm sure it is but it's a lot of pennies for a MB :(

That's the way I do it too, but it takes a long time to get a new rig complete.
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Greetings from TJ

All I can say is the bitter taste of a hasty purchase lingers long after the sweet taste of a quick, inexpensive purchase. It's your money not mine so I'll stop preaching.

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BOINC <<--- credit whores, pedants, alien hunters

That is a good piece of advice skgiven!

I would like to make one addition. The motherboards with 3 to even 6 PCIe slots have all the issue that the space between slots is two, so that means that 3, 4 cards will be very close to each other, which likely result in heat build up and thus lesser performance or even errors. Moreover most MOBO's have only 2 x16 slots
So in my opinion two high-end cards in one system are enough. That makes a system also less expensive as a PSU of 1000-1100W would be enough, not a to big case, less memory, less expensive MOBO.
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Greetings from TJ

Yes, we can always rely on skgiven for good advice (not to say he's the only good advisor). I must agree with his thoughts regarding future-proofing within the context of crunching GPUgrid but in the broader scheme, there are other projects with GPU apps one might want to crunch, not just GPUgrid, and there will be even more in the future. Those might very well benefit from higher PCIe capacity. Or they may not. So really, maybe the only benefit of spending more on a mobo is that I would feel better knowing that if I need it I'll have it already. Hmmmm. Money just to feel good. Like beer without the hangover.

Ram

If you intend on eventually having 4 GPUs then it's slightly more economical (wrt RAM) to have all the RAM on 1 mobo with 4 GPUs because then you have RAM overhead for only 1 OS. If you have 2 GPUs on 2 mobos then you have 2 OSs to provide RAM for. It's a very small difference but I think it is slightly in favor of 1 mobo.

Power Supply

If you consider cost per watt rather than purchase price, bigger power supplies cost about the same as smaller power power supplies and in some cases even less. For example, st newegg.ca right now the cheapest (in terms of $/watt) Rosewill Capstone +80 Gold PSU is the 1,000 watt model at $5.00/watt. Their 550 watt model is $6.47/watt, the 750 watt model is $6.00/watt. If 4 GPUs on 1 mobo require 2,000 watts then I think maybe 2 X 1,000 watt PSUs properly connected and grounded might work. I haven't tried it with 2 modern PSUs but I have combined 2 old 250 watt PSUs together to power 1 mobo and it worked. One PSU powered the mobo, the other powered the HDD, CD and floppy. By worked I mean the voltages at the outputs didn't change, nothing over-heated, the computer ran fine and even crunched a few Einstein tasks error free before I finally shut it down and tossed it all in the trash. It was an old P3 mobo. I haven't had the cahones to try it with 2 new PSUs and a new mobo but I have heard it works fine with new active PFC style PSUs too. As for a 2,000 watt PSU... I haven't found a price for one but I haven't looked very hard. Newegg lists an Athena brand 1620 watt +80 certified (not Gold) with active PFC for $270 which gives $6.0/watt, FWIW.

Case Size

I think 4 GPUs in 1 big case is more efficient in terms of space and expense. And who needs a case anyway? Skip da Shu sticks his mobos in milk crates, no problem he says.

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BOINC <<--- credit whores, pedants, alien hunters

Case Size

I think 4 GPUs in 1 big case is more efficient in terms of space and expense. And who needs a case anyway? Skip da Shu sticks his mobos in milk crates, no problem he says.

Flashawk, that would go fast for sure but I've noticed the fastest cars in NASCAR have wild flames painted on them, might work on computers too?

Seriously, wood is easy to work with but I would go with metal for better static protection and if I were to go to the trouble of making a case (which I will be doing) I would make it big enough to hold 4 mobos plus PSUs. I would make it with an easily removed false back that the mobos would butt up against. I would cut holes in the false back for the video cards to blow hot exhaust through. The space between the false back and the real back would be a duct that would carry the hot air out of the box. I would mount the case below/beside/over a window and I would continue that duct out the window. I would also have a duct to draw air into the box from the outside and put a HEPA dust filter in the duct.

The PSUs would attach directly to the false back and exhaust directly into the duct. I would likely vent the CPUs directly into the box because the mobos likely would not be all the same model therefore the CPUs would not all be in the same positions relative to the false back which would mean a custom duct for each CPU, doable but with adequate airflow through the case probably not necessary.

I would mount an ethernet switch inside the box so only 1 ethernet cable going into it. The mobos would boot off PXE and share 1 HDD configured as NAS.

Some of you will recall I did something like this months ago. It worked extremely well but I abandoned it because it was essentially a huge box that I stuck cased computers into. The duct work was complicated and wasted a lot of space. It proved the concept but I'm going to redo it as described above to shrink it's size and increase "component density".

That's food for a totally new thread so enough about that in this thread. I brought it up here only to continue the idea I brought up earlier about building farms slowly and inexpensively with scalability and cooling (always the biggest problem if running multiple rigs/GPUs) in mind.

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BOINC <<--- credit whores, pedants, alien hunters