LGA 1155 Socket/Mobo Qustions

I was going to get a GTX 970 when there avalible again and then remembered that I only had two PCI express 2.0 slot and i need a PCI express 3.0. So I am in the market for a new motherboard. Then looking around for compatible motherboards, with my CPU. I found out there are motherboards that are listed as 4th and 5th generation LGA 1155. I have a Intel Core i7-2600K, Which is second gen. what is the difference between LGA 1155 and  LGA 1155 4th/5th gen? IF 5th gen LGA 1155 is backwards compatible my CPU I will buy the newer 5th gen. I can then get a new CPU in a few months.

If you really want to upgrade, b75, h77 and z77 are all compatibile with sandy bridge and feature pci-e 3.0 . From what I remember though, there's little to no difference between pci-e 2.0 x16 and 3.0 x16 in performance. Also, there are no compatibility issues between 3.0 cards and 2.0 slots, and vice versa.

edit

 

Actually, the cpu itself only supports pci-e 2.0. 

you dont need pci-e 3.0.

pci-e 2.0 works totaly fine, no performance lost or what so ever, there isnt any single gpu out there, who is capable of maxing out pci-e 2.0 yet.

You are totaly fine with your current mobo.

your cpu does not support pci-e 3.0 anyway. so getting a new mobo, is kinda pointless.

I was thinking of also upgrading my CPU with the mobo and giveing girlfriend the old cpu and mobo. She is still rocking a old quad core form 2006.

I was also thinking of updateing my CPU with it.

For 4th gen core CPUs (Haswell and Devil's Canyon) you need to be looking at LGA 1150 motherboards. LGA 1155 was for 2nd and 3rd gen core processors (Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge). 

Keep in mind that your current 2600k isn't compatible with the newer LGA 1150 motherboards. If you upgrade to a Haswell CPU (e.g. i5-4670k or i7-4770k) you need to purchase an 8 or 9 series chipset board (e.g. Z87 or Z97). If you upgrade to a Devil's Canyon CPU (e.g. i5-4690k or i7-4790k) you have to use a 9 series chipset board.

If you do upgrade however you can still use your current heatsink because the mounting holes are the same for 1150 and 1155.

Like Dubmental and Mistery already said you can PCI-e 3.0 cards in PCI-e 2.0 slots without any performance hit.

1 Like