Affordable MOBO for G3258 build (Htpc / Gaming). PCI dilemma? Dual Vid card size?

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Stangman

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Apr 29, 2013
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Hey guys, I have not built a system in quite some time, so I have some questions (and am on an extreme budget), and only yesterday discovered the overclocking ability of the G3258, so I figured maybe I will try that? (Current computer is an A10-5500 but that is mainly for recording).

I will be going MATX to fit it into an HTPC case, and be using a Geforce 750 TI OC that I have here (And this is where the dilemma comes in!)

I've read about these Z97 and what not boards, but they seem to be above my bracket, and indeed, I'm looking at the bottom of the barrel, so I was looking at these.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8524041&CatId=8586

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9187532&CatId=9594

Those using an H81M...

Also

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8913449&CatId=8586

Which I guess is B85M...

So, here are my questions! haha

#1) Does the chipset (Is B85M referring to chipset?) matter? I just want to boost it a bit to be able to play games if need be (I've heard it can go to 4.x+ with a good cooler).

2) My 750 TI OC is a dual slot. I assume this will cover up a PCIx1 slot? Is it ok to use this type of card in a MATX board? I will be looking for an HTPC style case.

3) Some boards come with an extra larger PCI slot at the bottom (older PCI I guess?).. Is this something I should seek out? I am debating which cards I will need.

I know I will need Wifi/Bluetooth, since thse matx boards do not seem to include it. I could use a USB for that, but would rather use PCI. Audio will be via HDMI on the 750TI 'IF' it can do 5.1, which I assume it can. Anything else I'm missing? Would I need that older/longer PCI slot for anything (the last mobo I posted had one I believe)

Thanks guys!! Appreciate it!
 
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Eximo
Almost too many answers to cover here.

If you are looking at a G3258 then I recommend sticking to the ASRock Anniversary boards. They are intended specifically for that chip. And the Z97 board is not that expensive, which might be useful later if you ever decided to replace the chip.

The motherboard layout will determine if any slots will be blocked by a dual slot GPU. Generally they try to arrange it so the less used 1x slots become unusable.

If you truly mean to buy an uATX (MicroATX) motherboard and case you have 4 slots to play with. If you mean a Mini-ATX board there will only be a single slot available anyway.

There is no card you can find today that is PCI that an equivalent, and newer, PCIe card can't be found for. That is...
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Eximo

Eximo

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Almost too many answers to cover here.

If you are looking at a G3258 then I recommend sticking to the ASRock Anniversary boards. They are intended specifically for that chip. And the Z97 board is not that expensive, which might be useful later if you ever decided to replace the chip.

The motherboard layout will determine if any slots will be blocked by a dual slot GPU. Generally they try to arrange it so the less used 1x slots become unusable.

If you truly mean to buy an uATX (MicroATX) motherboard and case you have 4 slots to play with. If you mean a Mini-ATX board there will only be a single slot available anyway.

There is no card you can find today that is PCI that an equivalent, and newer, PCIe card can't be found for. That is mostly for businesses who try to recycle as much as possible to save money.

There are plenty of boards with Wireless capabilities, if these are out of your budget, then including an equivalent separate wireless card actually comes to about the same cost.

If you list the components you need and already have and your overall budget it would help for a recommendation.
 
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Stangman

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Apr 29, 2013
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Thanks for the reply man! Unfortunately, we are on a VERY strict budget (new apartment, realized that we now do not have anything for entertainment on the main floor.. Can't afford cable! haha)

So first off, I don't need the old legacy PCI slot then I imagine, if I'm not putting any card in, except a WIFI? I can't think of anything else i would need for this one.

Budget is low. As low as feasible for this one. I need an HTPC style case, chip, motherboard, and ram.

So I have heard Asus boards now support OC the G3258.. Truth to this? Does this mean I can grab the H81M-Plus i was eyeing up, and all will work swell? (I'm not going fast for the sake of seeing how fast I can get it.. Just to make it a decent rig if I were to play a game.. GTA5, or some such, let's say.. (Throwing out a random game. haha)

There is also teh MSI H97 Motherboard, but I'm not sure if MSI allowed overclocking through the bios?

And to further complicate things, I have just read that a lot of motherboards won't register this chip, until the BIOS is updated, which obviously, I cannot do without a chip?

ahhh, give me back the days of jumpers and IRQ and autoexec files.
 
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Eximo

Eximo

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There are a lot of boards out there right now that can be flashed to overclock the Pentium. However, a lot of those boards aren't made for overclocking. And you are right, many of those boards are older then the chip, they may not boot out of the box. More expensive motherboards now offer CPU-less flashing.

My suggestion is just to get the ASRock Z97 Anniversary board. Removes all potential complications. There are also the H97, B85 Anniversary boards, they are intended for overclocking and should work with the Pentium out of the box (I think you still need to flash them with the modified BIOS)

HTPC cases are usually kind of expensive.

If you could provide the strict budget I can probably toss something together.

 
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