What LGA 1156 Motherboard?

Hey there, I'm building a new computer, and I've got every part except the motherboard handled.

I'll be running one XFX Radeon HD 5850 HD585XZAFC 725MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.0GHZ 2XDVI HDMI DP DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku= [...] acture=XFX

Because I'm only running one video card, and don't really have any plans to dual card anytime in the future, since the LGA 1156 only runs in 8X 8X, I don't care if the board has crossfire, or any dual card capabilities.

What I'm looking for is a motherboard that will let me overclock my i7-860 to 4.0 Ghz, will let me run my 5850, can support corsair 1600 mhz 7-8-7-20 ram, basically the best motherboard available that will allow me to OC and tweak basically anything I want, but doesn't need crossfire or dual card capabilities.

So my big question is: will cheaper cards that don't have SLI/crossfire capabilities be able to perform to the same standard as their dual card capable brethren? or will I have to fork over the dough on a mobo with crossfire, just so I can get the performance that I want?

Thanks for any insight into this dilemma of mine.

P.S. The cheaper the better obviously, but I want quality more so than anything else, so a mobo from say gigabyte or asus would be preferred, as I hear they make a quality motherboard.

Yes, they'll perform to the same standard. Especially the boards from the 'major' motherboard manufacturers such as Asus and Gigabyte.

I haven't pushed an OC, but for a cheap, non-CF/SLI, mATX I can recommend the Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2. It's often on sale at New Egg for $105 with free shipping: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

Early release articles show Tom's pushing an i5 750 to 4GHz and AnandTech pushing an i5 750 and an i7 860 to 4.1GHz and 4.3GHz, respectively.

What do you exactly mean by "cheaper cards that don't have SLI/crossfire capabilities "? Today, any modern card will run in sli (for nvidia) or crossfire (for ati) with its twin. In fact, two different ati cards (but from the same generation) could run in crossfire. Like for eg: a 4890 & 4870 could run in crossfire, except that the 4890 would be throttled to the speed of the 4870 (which still makes for a good dual card setup).
If you are referring to multi gpu cards (for eg: gtx 295, or hd 5970), then yes, they are faster than the fastest single gpu cards like gtx 480 or hd 5870; simply because they pack the power of 2 single GPUs into one pcb.

Rest assured, the hd 5850 is adequate to max out all of today's games at 1900 X 1200, & most of the games at 2560 X 1600.

I'l list 3 boards & you can select the ones which suit your price the best.


GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $139.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6813128425

ASUS P7P55D-E $174.99 + shipping
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6813131620

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P $199.99 + shipping
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6813128409

ASUS P7P55D-E Pro $199.99 + shipping
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6813131621