Is this mobo any good -MSI P55-CD53 ATX

[Jeardawg]

MSI P55-CD53 ATX LGA1156 P55 DDR3 PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 3PCI SATA GBLAN DrMOS OC Genie Motherboard

Looking at putting it with a fairly top of the line setup, if it is not a good choice could someone recommend a better one?

 

[Mongox]

Well, you've picked an inexpensive i5/i7 motherboard - not necessarily a bad thing but need to know more about what you're planning to put in it to give advice.

CPU - i5 or i7 - what speed?

How much RAM and what speed?

What graphics card?

And what are you planning to use the computer for? Office and Internet? hi or low-end gaming? 3-d animated graphics design?

If you plan to buy from an online source, like NewEgg, links to the items you've chosen are useful.

 

[Jeardawg]

1 x Intel Core i5 750 Quad Core Processor Lynnfield LGA1156 2.66GHZ 8MB Cache Retail Box
1 x MSI P55-CD53 ATX LGA1156 P55 DDR3 PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 3PCI SATA GBLAN DrMOS OC Genie Motherboard
1 x G.SKILL F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH Ripjaws PC3-10666 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL7-7-7-21 Core I5 1.65V Memory Kit
1 x Radeon HD 5850 725MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.0GHZ PCI-E 2XDVI HDMI Display Port
1 x Antec Three Hundred Mini Tower Gaming Case 300 ATX 3X5.25 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB & Audio
1 x Seasonic SS-650HT 650W EPS12V 20/24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 80PLUS 6PIN PCI-E 120MM Fan OEM
1 x Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64BIT OEM DVD with Windows 7 Upgrade Offer
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 750GB SATA2 3.5IN 8.5MS 7200RPM 32MB Hard Drive OEM *3YR MFR Warranty*
1 x Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22X DVD+-RW SATA DVD Writer Black OEM

 

[Jeardawg]

This machine will be almost exclusively a gaming rig, nothing ultra high end, but I want something that will allow me to turn up the settings on the games that will be coming out in the near future, and maybe the next couple years.

 

[Mongox]

All good items picked out there. I might make a couple changes then onto the MB.

I personally prefer the WD Black drive. Same price and size, two more yrs of warranty.
Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Love your RAM choice, likely the best stuff out there right now.

GPU - looks like popular and recommending gaming choice - not my area, I use the built-in on my MB!!! But see below re motherboard.

PSU - Don't know the brand, looks very nice and enough connectors to run a battleship. Might find something good quality for less. Doesn't say 2 rails, make sure of that!

Now, your GPU is CrossfireX and you've chosen a motherboard that doesn't support Crossfire at all. This would seem to be a mistake because it dooms you from further enhancement of your GPU performance. And if I'm not mistaken, lack of Crossfire support on the MB reduces the performance of a GPU even without a 2nd GPU.

Most folks here don't think much of MSI boards, you'll see that in comments in other threads and likely in this one soon! We tend to recommend Gigabyte and Asus because of personal experience, quality and performance. Doesn't mean MSI isn't a good board, just not often a favorite.

Here's my suggestion. Below I've listed the homepages of Gigabyte and Asus. Choose the 1156 socket - which gives you P55 boards - at each location and browse what they have. Below that is the same Asus and Giga and also MSI boards avail at NewEgg.

Look for the features you liked on the MSI board, but include CrossfireX in your items. You can't always trust the short blurb of features at NewEgg and don't make any choices directly from NewEgg w/o checking the specs at the mfg site. In addition, when you've narrowed down the choice, read the manual for the board front to back!

Gigabyte
http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/Products/Motherboard/Products_List.aspx?VenderType=Intel&CPUType=socket+1156
Asus
http://usa.asus.com/ProductGroup2.aspx?PG_ID=mKyCKlQ4oSEtSu5m

Newegg with Asus, Giga and MSI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280%2050001315%201070549182&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280%2050001314%201070549182&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280%2050001312%201070549182&name=LGA%201156

Good Luck!