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Looking for a great motherboard

Posted on 1/28/13 at 10:02 am
Posted by Lucky Tiger13
Baton Rouge
Member since May 2012
232 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 10:02 am
To compliment this build.
So far items purchased are as follows:

LIAN LI CASE $99.99

Seasonic 850W modular PSU $109.99

Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200rpm HD $79.99

Intel i5-3570k Ivy Bridge 3.8GHz Turbo $229.99

Zalman CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink $31.99

And last night I made an impulse buy on the GPU. I had already decided to get the standard 7970 at 399.99 but was able to find the GHz version at the same price. (about $70 off in rebates)

XFX Double D Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB $399.99

So all that's left is the Mobo, RAM, and SSD. My brother did his first tax return ever and will be getting quite a big return so he upped budget to $1500 total for the tower. So i guess the remaining budget is about $550. I'd like to keep him under though just in case we have to purchase an OS.

The build is going to be for gaming/media and it's gonna be his induction into the master race. It will start off as a single monitor setup, with the ability to support more if he chooses. I assume with crossfire, this build should give him 3-4 years of high-max settings.

I need info on the remaining parts with consideration of the budget. My instinct says to get a quality mobo over anything else, but I don't want to spend unnecessary cash.

TIA


Posted by LSU Coyote
Member since Sep 2007
53390 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 10:08 am to
MSI MPower

I have ran through 6 MOBOs this year before settling on the MPower in the Z77 chipset range.
Posted by jcole4lsu
The Kwisatz Haderach
Member since Nov 2007
30922 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 10:10 am to
kingston hyper x RAM and SSD
(corsair and samsung also both make excellent products of both)
as for an 1155 board, make sure its a Z77 chipset from gigabyte, asus, asrock, or msi. a quality board can be found at $200, $175, or even $130 just depends on budget.
Posted by LSU Coyote
Member since Sep 2007
53390 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 10:10 am to
Also 1150 is right around the corner. I have been seeing after market coolers with "1150 Compatible" on the front box.

It might be closer than we know. Supposed to be May/June but still thinking that it will be April like the last 2 refresh cycles.
Posted by jcole4lsu
The Kwisatz Haderach
Member since Nov 2007
30922 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 10:13 am to
This one from ASRock is $140 and tom's hardware approved.

Posted by Lucky Tiger13
Baton Rouge
Member since May 2012
232 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 10:17 am to
quote:

Also 1150 is right around the corner


Wouldn't it be problem that the CPU has already been purchased?
Posted by jcole4lsu
The Kwisatz Haderach
Member since Nov 2007
30922 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 10:24 am to
nah we can just remove a couple pins no problem
Posted by LSU Coyote
Member since Sep 2007
53390 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 11:17 am to
quote:

This one from ASRock is $140 and tom's hardware approved.

I used an Extreme6 for about 2 months this Summer. Great MOBO. The Extreme 4 and 6 are the same except for a few capacitors and phases for OCing, maybe some SATA ports? I don't remember exactly. No need to worry about that.
Posted by ILikeLSUToo
Central, LA
Member since Jan 2008
18018 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 11:23 am to
quote:

Wouldn't it be problem that the CPU has already been purchased?


Yeah, you'll be fine for a while. New technology is always around the corner. The CPUs and motherboards will be at a premium for a few months, and depending on what you plan to do with your computer, it may not be a worthwhile upgrade in real-world performance.

I second everyone's recommendations for sub-$200 motherboards. There are enthusiast-level boards, and many with tons of features packed in, like thunderbolt, more true 16x PCIe ports for triple and quad crossfire/SLI, extra USB 3.0, esata and extra 6gbps sata, overclocking potential (i.e. extra capacitors and whatnot), etc. I think the ASUS sabertooths or rampages even have a waterblock on the northbridge. I think Thunderbolt tends to drive the price up. Just all depends on what you think you need and what you're willing to pay. For me, a stable motherboard with reasonable overclocking options, True SLI/Xfire support (i.e., no shared lanes), and a few USB 3.0 ports is all I really need.
This post was edited on 1/28/13 at 11:24 am
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