Budget SLI Motherboard

[leb]

Hi, I'm looking for a budget (if possible <150$) motherboard with SLI, USB3.0 and SATA 6GB. I learned that some board, when USB 3.0 or SATA 6GB are enabled, steal some lanes from the graphic cards, or just don't work when SLI is enabled.

CPU: i7 860 (p55, socket 1156)
GPU: MSI GTX 460 (x2 later on)

I was gonna go with Asus, but the more I read about their VIA audio, the least I'm tempted to buy one.

Any suggestion ?

 

[jaquith]

The ASUS P7P55D-E PRO 'was' until it got sold out. Amazon has a few...but more $ than newegg.

 

[leb]

Any other suggestion ?

 

[Wamphryi]

Another option is not to bother with SLI and spend your money on a decent single card. The power requirements, heat and the consumption of space and slots on the motherboard are a poor trade off for performance which your eye will be unable to discern most likely anyway. It also forces you to use the NVIDIA chipset motherboards. While these boards are certainly viable the chipset requirement does limit your choices. As for the VIA Audio just about all onboard sound solutions are very average. Use the money you save on the second GPU to purchase yourself an awesome dedicated sound card.

 

[leb]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check them right now. Do you know if enabling USB3 and SATA 6gb will reduce my SLI performances in any way ?

In fact the reason I want to SLI is mostly for future proofing. I only have a 1400x900 monitor so the card is pretty good for my current use, but I want to buy an HDTV in the near future and hook my pc to play on it. I was wondering if the GTX 460 would keep up at highest settings at this resolution. Else I would always have the option to add a second one. What do you think about that idea ? Or should I just replace my card with a better one once it starts lagging behind ?

 

[jaquith]

EVGA P55 LE 123-LF-E653-KR ; No USB 3/SATA3 or SLI
ASUS P7P55D Deluxe ; No USB 3/SATA3
BIOSTAR T5 XE CFX-SLI ; No USB 3/SATA3 + totally horrible MOBO

@leb the ASUS P7P55D-E PRO is about it unless you want to spend a lot more.

 

[leb]

I found this one too, USB3, SATA3 and SLI-CrossfireX
MSI P55A-G55
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=54097

It seems the SLI was removed from the spec section on the web site, but from comments it should support it, and this store uses it in their SLI prebuilt PCs. Price is pretty good too. What do you think about that one ?

 

[jaquith]

^Nope CF only - http://us.msi.com/index.php?func=prodmbspec&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=&cat3_no=&prod_no=1998#menu
SLI N/A
3-way SLI N/A
Hybrid SLI N/A
CrossFire Y
Hybrid CrossFire N/A

 

[tecmo34]

The best option is the ASUS P7P55D-E Pro or the MSI P55A-GD65

 

[leb]

Seems the msi one is not usb 3 or sata 6gb.

 

[jaquith]

$240 ASUS P7F7-E WS SuperComputer
ASUS P7P55D-E PRO {Amazon only 2 left}

If it were 'me' I would go the X58 route assuming you didn't already purchase the i7 860 which is a 'deactivated' CPU {Intel says one thing Newegg another}.

$190 ASUS P7P55D-E PRO
$285 i7 860
=====
$475

vs

$295 i7 950
$234 ASUS P6X58D-E
=====
$529 {$54 difference}

The 'problem' is both the X58 and P55 is being replaced, so the components are being produced less to keep the Supply & Demand in check - prices up.

 

[leb]

$240 ASUS P7F7-E WS SuperComputer
ASUS P7P55D-E PRO {Amazon only 2 left}

If it were 'me' I would go the X58 route assuming you didn't already purchase the i7 860 which is a 'deactivated' CPU {Intel says one thing Newegg another}.

$190 ASUS P7P55D-E PRO
$285 i7 860
=====
$475

vs

$295 i7 950
$234 ASUS P6X58D-E
=====
$529 {$54 difference}

The 'problem' is both the X58 and P55 is being replaced, so the components are being produced less to keep the Supply & Demand in check - prices up.

This is exactly my position too in fact. I try to keep my MB budget less than $150 because at some point it's just better to invest in X58. But since both platforms will be replaced, I think there is no point for me to invest too much. The only reason I'm still trying is because I'm getting my 860 for real cheap since one of my friend bought it with a X58 motherboard (it happens).

In fact I'm wondering if I should just leave out SLI altogether and buy a better card once that one is not powerful enough. I wanted to SLI with my previous computer, but my card was a 256MB so as of now it still seems like a limited future proofing option. At that point what would you guys suggest ?

 

[jaquith]

Don't know -- it's up to you and how long you're willing to wait. What I do for a living suggests nothing but Economic doom for the next few years -- so I don't expect the 'new' to cost 'too much' beyond the first couple months or Spring 2011.

SLI is preferred for Gamers particularly if you like PhsX games; otherwise you can look at CF MOBOs. I'm chomping on the bit to build myself an 'X68' with PCI-E 3.0 but that's 6 months away to replace my personal i7 930 + SSD; I really like the new 700MB/s ~ 1400MB/s SATA3 buster 'SSD' drives.

If there's a 'real need' now I would get the X58, the new 'P67' isn't an OMG change.