A good motherboard to go with HD5970 and i980x

[mdarklight]

I have a basic idea of what I'm going to buy except the motherboard.
I'll use it for gaming mostly.
The components I'm buying are:

CPU: i7 980x
Graphics: ati 5970
RAM: Kingston DDR3 6GB

The motherboard is really bothering me, I'm currently looking at ASUS P6X58D Premium and GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD7. The gigabyte board doesn't seem to function as well as it should according to the reviews of newegg despite it having better specs than the asus board. I could really use some advice on the motherboard I should buy.

 

[saint19]

Hi newcomer and welcome to the Tom's hardware forum.

I love Gigabyte (in fact I'm waiting for my new Gigabyte mobo), but in this case the best options for u in price, performance, quality and reliability is the ASUS P6X58D Premium.

 

[waylander]

I'm using a P6X58D Premium right now and it's a great board. No problems whatsoever and working great.

My other specs are:

i7-950
Saphire 5970
12 GB Corsair 1600
2 x intel X25M SSD's
3 x Hitachi Deskstar 1TB HDD's
LG 10x Bluray writer
ST1000 PSU

Everything in a HAF 932 case.

I only have 1 issue and that's because the case has 4 USB ports which use up both USB headers on the motherboard so I had to buy a NZXT IU01 to get another USB header.

 

[mdarklight]

Thanks for the help, can't wait to see how these all work out!

 

[Emperus]

How about an EVGA..!!!!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188048

 

[saint19]

^Very expensive for price/specs.

 

[mdarklight]

How about an EVGA..!!!!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188048

Send me one if you have an extra one lying around

 

[Hasse]

If you've got no need to expand in multiple graphics (you can always add another 5970) get any of EVGA, Gigabyte or Asus brand cards and you're more or less safe. If you want USB3 and SATA3 then your options are way less and prices thereafter.

Options around $210-240:
Gigabyte:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423
Asus:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131641

Both have Sata3 and USB3, which is handy for the future, they also support SLI/CrossfireX..

 

[Emperus]

Send me one if you have an extra one lying around

A motherboard forms the most essential part of a system as it is the most difficult component to upgrade unlike CPU's , video cards or even PSU's.. Now you are suggesting that you can invest on an i7 980X and a HD 5970 but need relaxation on the motherboard..!!!

 

[mdarklight]

Best answer selected by mdarklight.