Need to decide on MoBo tonight! Please help between these choices...

[xrome]

Can't decide between these motherboards. I'm on a budget. i was trying to pair the mobo with another part to maximize savings. But i will just link the ones I'm deciding between and take feedback. Please help, trying to decide by tonight.

For use with:
Phenom II x4 955
Gskill 4gb DDR3 1600
HD 5770

ASUS AM3 770:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131603&cm_re=asus_770-_-13-131-603-_-Product

Gigabyte AM3 770:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128419

MSI AM3 770:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130250

Things I'm considering:
-Price
-Brand performance (Anything wrong with MSI or ASUS? I've only used Gigabyte)
-Warranty (# of years)
-Features (for example the MSI is CF ready)

Your help will be so greatly appreciated everyone!!!
~Rome

 

[saint19]

Hi.

1- If you plan use Crossfire in the future, get the MSI.
2- What is your budget for the mobo?
3- If I were you, I will buy the ASUS mobo.
4- The Gigabyte is a micro-ATX mobo, that IMO isn't a good option for your system

 

[xrome]

Opps! sorry edited my OP with the correct link to the gigabyte.

 

[xrome]

1.) I do not "plan" to use CF in the future. But it is a nice bonus to be able to should 5770 become available for bargain basement price someday.

2.) Budget is $100 before rebate

3.) Any reason you like the ASUS the best?

 

[xrome]

The Gigabyte board is the only sane choice there.

Would you please elaborate on your comment? Thanks!

 

[duk3]

[strike]If you are actually going to xfire, than something like this bard would easily beat all three.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402&cm_re=790-_-13-131-402-_-Product
For 25$ more, another usable slot for a second 5770.[/strike]
EDIT: Just saw your reply, this motherboard could work if you are interested in crossfire.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130249&cm_re=790x-_-13-130-249-_-Product
However according to the specs it only supports up to ddr3 1200, which may be a deal breaker.
For another 20$ before rebate of 10$ the motherboard linked above (the asus) looks good to me.

 

[swifty_morgan]

Would you please elaborate on your comment? Thanks!

Sorry but the first time I clicked on the gigabyte link it was a micro atx board. After my reply I took another look and it's an atx board... WTF up with that ?.... In the time it took me to delete my post you had already posted this question.... SO........ I don't like any of these boards and wouldn't put any of them in something I would put together.

 

[xrome]

It was microATX by accident because I pasted the wrong link so i edited it.

 

[xrome]

[strike]If you are actually going to xfire, than something like this bard would easily beat all three.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402&cm_re=790-_-13-131-402-_-Product
For 25$ more, another usable slot for a second 5770.[/strike]
EDIT: Just saw your reply, this motherboard could work if you are interested in crossfire.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130249&cm_re=790x-_-13-130-249-_-Product
However according to the specs it only supports up to ddr3 1200, which may be a deal breaker.
For another 20$ before rebate of 10$ the motherboard linked above (the asus) looks good to me.

We're thinking on the same lines it seems!

I originally had the ASUS 790X in my cart paired with the 955 for the $20 combo. But I came in over budget and started looking for places to trim down. It seemed MSI 790X would cut some $$ off the build.

So i went to the MSI 790X for $99. I love the idea of being able to CF at some point, but in honesty i always end up with a new card and selling my old one and have never gotten around to even trying to CF. So in the interest of $$ once again, i cut to the MSI 770.

The MSI 770 is $20 cheaper but allows the possibility to CF at some point even at reduced effectiveness I suppose. Save $20 and still keep the "option open"

Then I looked into other brands of 770, and here I am...

 

[saint19]

Ok.

I don't know why I said that the Gigabyte is a micro-ATX mobo, if isn't.

SO, with that change. The Gigabyte mobo is the best option with SATA III and USAB 3.0.

Now, if you can spend a little more ($9 more), you can buy the ASUS M4A79XTD that is a better mobo. It's only $119.99 before $10 rebate and have free shipping.

 

[duk3]

What is your budget?
We could look at it and see what we could do (get a 5850, cut processor to the x3 rana 440 and get the motherboard to the asus one if your budget is 1k for example.)

 

[xrome]

Yeah budget is $700 max

After playing with the combo discounts, If i went with the MSI 770 my total build is $662
IF I go with the ASUS 790X, the total is $684.

Worth the $22 I assume considering it still comes in under budget? If I saved that $22 on the mobo though, I could potentially upgrade to a corsair PSU over the OCZ.

But as it is with the OCZ, I can go from MSI 770 to ASUS 790X for $22.

 

[xrome]

AND, going with the ASUS gets me a free game because of how i worked the combos. therefore I get BattleForge for free. Maybe I could sell it on ebay and make my $20 back lol.

So ASUS all the way then?

 

[saint19]

Yeah, the ASUS M4A79XTD is a very good option for you.

 

[xrome]

so that ASUS doesn't have 2 PCIe x16 slots? if you put in a second card they both go to x8 slots? I'm really confused now.

 

[xrome]

even the MSI 770 stays at x16 for the first card when you CF. If it isn't obvious enough yet I'm not too sure what all those numbers mean. But I'm not sure why i would want a board that when I crossfire it, the main slot looses performance?

 

[saint19]

^Yeah, with only one GPU the slot is at x16, but you you install a second GPU for Crossfire, both slot run at x4. That is very slow for a Crossfire, for a good performance in Crossfire, you need both slot at x16 or x8.

 

[xrome]

Best answer selected by xRome.