Is GA-H61N-USB3 Ivy Bridge Compatible?

[Nezbert]

Hi, first post.

I bought an H61N-USB revision 1.0 about two months ago and I'm happily running an i5-2500K chip in it.

I want to go the Ivy Bridge route, but not change my motherboard for a few months.

I've had a look here at the compatibility list and at the moment it only references Sandy Bridge chips.

I'm thinking of maybe putting an i5-3570K or maybe even an i7-3770K in there, but unsure if it will boot.

I haven't flashed the BIOS from new and CPUID says that I'm on F2 BIOS at the moment.

Does anyone know if it will work before I splash the cash?

[Nezbert]

Oops. I spoke (typed) too soon!

I just looked here at the BIOS updates and it appears that if I update my BIOS I will get 22nm CPU support.

Does anyone have experience with this board and Ivy Bridge? Should I go the whole hog and get the i7-3770K or should I just save money and buy the i5-3570K, bearing in mind that this is only a Mini-ITX board and when I do upgrade the board in six months time I'll be using another Mini-ITX board. Is there any point in using a top of the range chip like the i7-3770K in a relatively less powerful motherboard than the full sized ones?

[Nezbert]

So, I've flashed my BIOS to F7 and all is well. I wanted to make sure I had the latest update and it mentions 22nm E1 stepping in the list of BIOS improvements. I don't know what E1 stepping means but the flash went fine (I'm typing this using the 2500K).

My 2500K is up for sale on eBum, and I've just ordered the i5 - 3570K Ivy Bridge, which is due to arrive before I have to pull the 2500K out for posting. I was tempted by the i7 - 3770K but I couldn't justify the extra 80 pounds for such a small machine that gets used constantly, but not for gaming. I think I made the right choice, and with the money I get back for the 2500 I reckon the upgrade will only have cost about 40 quid.

I'll reply to this thread when I get the new CPU up and running in case anyone else is wondering about doing the same with a Mini-ITX PC.

[Fatman]

Personally I think if your not going PCI-E 3 then your wasting your money as you will not really see any real world difference. Why not just bump your multiplier in the bios to give your chip a boost?

I think your just trading apples for apples.........