Do motherboards matter? (newbie not looking to over clock or anything) (Help!!)

curioususer123

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Sep 15, 2013
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Hello there, I'm looking to build my own PC and I'm wondering if motherboards matter to the overall performance.

I know I need to get a compatible mobo to my processor choice (ie a 1155 socket mobo), so I have two in mind, one is half as cheap.

I will have 8gb ram, maybe upgraded to 16 later, but won't ever need 32gb ram which the £85 mobo offers. I'm also not looking to overclock. What are the pros and cons of each?

Here are the two I'm choosing.

Asus P8Z77-V LX Motherboard - £85

http://www.amazon.co.uk/P8Z77-V-Motherboard-CrossFireX-Intelligent-Processors/dp/B007KZQE7Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1379263760&sr=8-2&keywords=1155+motherboard#productDetails

Asus P8B75-M LX Motherboard - £51

http://www.amazon.co.uk/P8B75-M-LX-Motherboard-PCI-Express-Socket/dp/B008P4ZS64/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1379265075&sr=8-6&keywords=1155+motherboard

I've noticed that the £85 one has a HDMI cable slot, I'm not bothered about connecting it to a TV or anything. I also don't think I'll want to connect 2 graphic cards in the near future.

I am wondering, will the AMD HD 9000 series cards need new motherboards, or will these be compatible?
 
Solution
The P8B75-M LX is a great motherboard, but is microATX and only has two memory slots so if you get that you would have to totally replace your memory to go from 8 to 16GB, although 8GB is really plenty. The HD9000 will work in either.

RealBeast

Titan
Moderator
The P8B75-M LX is a great motherboard, but is microATX and only has two memory slots so if you get that you would have to totally replace your memory to go from 8 to 16GB, although 8GB is really plenty. The HD9000 will work in either.
 
Solution
The ASUS P8Z77-V LK is the same price ($115) as the P8Z77-V LX, at least on this side of the pond, the main difference being that the LK can do SLI / CF

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837

The LK is aboard I have used many times in budget based systems .... only odd issue was CPU LED being on for a GFX card failure. As much as I like the board, with 1155 being a dead socket, I'm buying only 1150 socket boards for new builds today

The budget board I had been using to date was the ASUS Z87-A ($140) but with the MSI Z87 now at the same $140 price, it has a better feature set, 22 Motherboard awards, better performance, better user feedback and MIL Spec components.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131981.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130693

As for your questions "do mother boards matter ?" ..... Id say so.... kinda like cars....they both get you to work each day, but some have better performance (acceleration / braking), better efficiency (mpg), better features (AC, sound, traction control) than others. More and better BIOS features, better overclocking performance, better / more robust components, number of clots, slot spacing, number of fan headers, type of fan headers, type of LAN, sound etc all may have an effect on which you choose.