So yeah, it's that time again. I need to upgrade my motherboard and get a new processor, the current ones are getting old. And as usual, I have very limited knowledge of the current...things, so I'm asking for suggestions. The budget for those is about 400 euro combined, can be more if needed.

So, fire away, I guess?

I'm thinking of doing the same so I'll keep an eye on this thread. What do you have now? I have a Phenom II 965.

I'm quite content with my current setup with an AMD FX 8320 (8-core at 3.5 GHz, though I originally was looking at getting the 4.0 GHz 8350) and an Asus Sabretooth 990FX R2.0 (was either that or the ASRock 990FX Extreme9 - though I wanted to try something else than Asus, and ASRock are rumoured to make good stuff). What made my decision was the fact that I found a pack complete with RAM, CPU, and mobo for quite a bit cheaper than I could get by buying them separately (I was going to upgrade from the 8 GB I already had anyway and 16 GB was included in the pack).

That's what I'm planning to buy as soon as I have enough money:
MSI z87-G45 mobo =120-140 Euro
Intel i7-4770k CPU = 300/330 Euro
Many users will tell you that this CPU is overkill unless you also do video/image editing so you could go with an i5 CPU 4th gen if you want to save some money (the difference should be 100/130 Euro I think).
:)

In gaming probably as powerful as a Core i7: Core i5 4670 (if you want to overclock 4670K)
If you don't want to overclock ASRock H87M Pro4 is a cheap and good motherboard or something with Z87 for overclocking.
Better spend saved money in a better video card to get more gaming performance ;)

I have a z87-G43 MSI board myself and I can also recommend it. I have the i5-4670 and it's a solid CPU, but the i7 I can see reason for if you have the funds and want to go for it. I was a BIOSTAR fan for a while, but I got the MSI board because it was on sale for cheap ($120ish with shipping) and figured what the hell. I am particularly fond of their Click4 BIOS, it is simply a joy to work with. :)

Intel :

an Intel i5 4670 around 200 Euros will leave you with enough budget for a reasonable Motherboard and some decent RAM as well; Z87 Motherboards start around 100 € ( Asrock 87 Pro 4)

AMD

Kaveri APUs are a possibility, coupled to a FM2+ MB and to a R7 250 GPU, to benefit from the Dual Graphics(350 € for the 3 components ) but the performance is on par with a recent I3.

Unfortunately, the correspondig Athlon X4 ( APU with disabled graphics, usually much better if you have your own GPU at hand ) is not available yetC.

The only FX that make sense are the 6350 & 8350. a 6350 with a good MB is probably much cheaper than the APU solution and offer decent performance, but will be inferior to the intel 4670

yeah I saw a lot of video reviews and dat BIOS... just woah! it's great! It has a neat control center with an integrated app to help you overclock your system. I still have one of those old style keyboard-only BIOS... *shivers*

I don't MIND the old style of BIOS as I only recently changed over to a more modernized GUI version, but yeah I like dealing with the newer version since it also has a mouse cursor. It is much more easy to navigate than the older styles.

So would i7 be more cost-efficient than i5 ?

What exactly are you using your computer for? If it's gaming the i7 is complete overkill. If it's internet browsing, it's complete overkill. If it's video editing, I'd get the i7 if I had the budget.

If you get into loads like photo or video processing where there are real benefits to being able to run a large number of threads, you should pull both the Core i7 and the 8-core AMD CPUs into the frame. In this use case, the AMD FX's are a good bargain even if they still don't match the Core i7's overall performance.

For gaming loads, the Core i5's beat the Core i7's on price-performance and the AMD FX's on straight performance.

Also, the selection of quality motherboards for LGA 1155 (Ivy Bridge) and LGA 1150 (Haswell) is much greater than it is for AM3+ (AMD FX).

Is i7 really an overkill for gaming? I see many games that are recommending that processor (The new thief, for instance)...

Yes it is, the recommendation is a very old i7 920 which is slower than a modern i5. The most limitating thing for FPS games is the video card, other CPU usage games dont have real problems with an i5 at all and you wont even recognize a difference.
I wonder why they recommend a quite low midsize videocard (GTX660) for highest performance but want a high CPU.