Help me decide on a motherboard

[jay05]

Hello,
I'm currently in the process of building a new computer. I currently have the i7-950, antec 902, 2 gtx 470 and antec 750 watt psu. I plan on getting 3 X 2Gb ram and a nice SSD with Windows 7 and another gtx 470 or step up the 2 I have to 2 gtx 480s.

I need help picking out a motherboard for my computer. I plan to overclock the cpu somewhere between 3.8-4ghz. I have been looking around here is what I have seen so far. I'm willing to spend up to $350 on a good motherboard I can over clock on while I can future proof my rig for at least a couple years. If you can help me on decide on what I should get, that would be awesome! Thanks guys.

1. ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$290

2. ASUS Rampage III Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$355

3. EVGA E760 CLASSIFIED "Overclocker's Pick" 3-Way SLI + PhysX 1366 Intel X58 EATX Intel Motherboard
$310 AR

4. [strike]EVGA 170-BL-E762-A1 LGA 1366 Intel X58 4-WAY SLI Classified XL ATX Intel Motherboard
$280 AR[/strike]

5. [strike]EVGA X58 FTW3 132-GT-E768-KR LGA 1366 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard[/strike]
$239 AC

6. MSI Big Bang-XPower LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $300

 

[Emperus]

I don't think that the EVGA 4-way SLI board (being a XL-ATX) is going to fit inside the Antec 902.. So you can count that out.. Also, the 3-way SLI board does not comes with all the latest features for the price you pay.. So count it out too.. Out of the rest, you can safely choose the one which has a layout good enough to handle 2+ video cards, all the latest features and is highly overclock friendly.. In short, the Asus Rampage III Extreme.. It looks nice also..

 

[jay05]

I don't think that the EVGA 4-way SLI board (being a XL-ATX) is going to fit inside the Antec 902.. So you can count that out.. Also, the 3-way SLI board does not comes with all the latest features for the price you pay.. So count it out too.. Out of the rest, you can safely choose the one which has a layout good enough to handle 2+ video cards, all the latest features and is highly overclock friendly.. In short, the Asus Rampage III Extreme.. It looks nice also..

Yea I was leaning towards the Asus Rampage III extreme. I have heard that their customer service isn't that great compared to EVGA. The 4 way SLI seemed like a good deal for the price after rebate but since it won't fit my case I can eliminate it. What are the latest features that I should be looking for? I thought it was USB 3 and Sata 6 gb/s and nf200.
Thanks for your help!

 

[tecmo34]

1) Why did you remove #5??? It is a solid board for 3-way SLI.

2) I would put the ASUS P6X58D-E & ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 on your list. They are some of the best boards for the price (price to performance).

 

[jay05]

1) Why did you remove #5??? It is a solid board for 3-way SLI.

2) I would put the ASUS P6X58D-E & ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 on your list. They are some of the best boards for the price (price to performance).

1) EVGA X58 Classified > FTW 3
2) I think the ASUS P6X58D Premium has additional features over the -E version. Asus Sabertooth does not offer 3 way sli. However both mobos are great and have good reviews on newegg.

 

[tecmo34]

Well, the Rampage is the better motherboard out of the ones you have left... IMO. It is ASUS's flagship for their motherboards (currently)

 

[Emperus]

I see you've added the MSI board also.. While it is an excellent option for a dual video card setup, i'll still recommend you to shell out the 55$ extra and get the R3E.. Its a more pleasant board to work with..

 

[jay05]

What do you think of the EVGA Classified 3 and does it come with USB 3/Sata 6? I think it's suppose to come out soon. Thanks for your help!

 

[tecmo34]

When the board is released, it will have USB 3.0 & SATA III. From what I've seen it is just like the current Classified with support for those. I see no issues with it outside of the price for my taste.

 

[jay05]

When the board is released, it will have USB 3.0 & SATA III. From what I've seen it is just like the current Classified with support for those. I see no issues with it outside of the price for my taste.

Will it be on par with the Asus Rampage III extreme?

 

[jaquith]

I would get the EVGA X58 FTW3 | 132-GT-E768-KR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188065

It is the newer EVGA with SATA3/USB3. EVGA offers more power for OC, offers IMO better SLI, but the ASUS Rampage III will tender better benchmark running on a single GPU.

Side-by-side - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627%20600007887&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=280|13-131-666^13-131-666-TS,13-188-065^13-188-065-TS