Mini itx board choices

[rxco]

Hi I am trying to find a mini itx motherboard with some important features. Looking to do some overclocking - nothing to intense just reaching 4.0 -4.4ghz.
I want a motherboard that has a pretty good bios with control over clock speed/multiplier and voltage control. Looking for around the price range of less than $150.00.

Currently looking at Z87I Socket LGA 1150 Intel mITX Motherboard, but I am not sure if there is a better alternative. Also, dont know if it has voltage control. I know the max I've read is 1.3V but I am not sure if you have the ability to control that.

Please let me know! Thank you!

 

[rolli59]

Any Z87 board should allow you to do a mild overclock 4GHz+ with a "K" series CPU.

 

[faalin]

If you can squeeze a little more out for the budget the asus Z87i deluxe would be the board to get.

but look into asus, gigabyte, asrock, or msi those are the big hitters for overclocking.

 

[Rammy]

On ITX it's all about what case/cooler you are using, as picking a motherboard in isolation of this info may lead to grief.
Different boards have a pretty huge variance in layout, so will have different CPU cooler compatibility as well as suitability in certain cases.

The Z87 ITX boards (especially if you cap at $150) is a fairly small selection pool, so it's not too hard to narrow things down.

 

[rxco]

Well i have a Jonsbo U2 case and possibly putting a Thermalright Archon SBXE2 or H80i

 

[Rammy]

Ok then you have a problem. You might just squeeze the Thermaltake in from a height perspective but there will be very few ITX motherboards which are compatible with it, several (namely the Gigabyte and MSI models) will partially block the PCIe slot, which I assume you require (if not then you should have a much bigger selection). The ASrock won't work either as the cooler will probably overhang the top of the board, which leaves you with only the two expensive Asus options (the stock photos on Jonsbo's site shows what appears to be an Asus Z77I-Deluxe which has a similar layout).

The news is better for the H80i. As it's just a small mounting block, you don't have any issues of compatibility so more or less any board will work. With that case, I'd probably suggest the ASRock, as the connectors are primarily on the "right" side rather than the "top" edge which might help as there doesn't seem to be many places to tuck cables.