So back in September I got some hardware at the Techreport North meetup, and intended to use it to build my first gaming computer. Now a combination of being busy and lack of funds has kept me from actually progressing on this until now. However, with my Christmas bills out of the way, and Boxing day coming up, I was thinking now would be a good time to start building this thing. I've decided to get something partway between the Editor's Choice and The Sweet Spot.
The hitch I've encountered is that the motherboard I scored at the meetup is a Gigabyte PV67A-UD4, which doesn't support anything newer then Sandy Bridge. So I looked into buying a ASUS Z87-A after poking around in the Christmas guide, which costs me $145 on NewEgg (Damn Canadian prices). Coupled with that, plus the fact I'd rather not overclock is leading me towards the i5-4670, again, based on the Christmas guide. Then I noticed that the i7-2600K has almost the same performance as the i7-3770K, which is only a tiny bit under the i7-4770K, and the i7-2600K will work with the motherboard I already have. (Based on http://techreport.com/review/25293/intel-core-i7-4960x-processor-reviewed/11). Well, I thought that was a no-go, as NewEgg.ca is out of stock on them, however, NCIX has them in stock for $361.98. Now, that is way to much for a processor that old- I can get a i7-4770K for less then that on NewEgg.ca, but given that I'd then not have to buy a new motherboard for $145 the costs balance out almost exactly.
So, am I crazy for considering buying a chip from 2011 so I can use the motherboard that I got for free? Should I just toss it on Craigs list or ebay and buy the ASUS Z87-A? Heck, am I even looking at CPUs in the right power range for some moderate non-twitch gaming? I mean, anything is going to be better then my current T510 ThinkPad...