Best mobo right now for a casual gamer?

[kivarocket]

Hi all,

Last winter I built my first gaming computer, but needed to borrow some parts, because the original motherboard wouldn't work. Now that Sandy Bridge is out I'm thinking I'd like to get an Intel i5-2500 CPU (not planning on OC'ing) but I'm having difficulty figuring out a good mobo that will last me a while. I read the reviews and many have a lot of stars, but tons of DOA reviews.

With the cpu and mobo, I'm going to upgrade my memory and graphics card as well, so if you have any thoughts on those please share!
Thanks


Parts I have right now, not including mobo, GPU and CPU:


Sound card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

Keyboard & mouse: Logitech MX 5500 Revolution Black Bluetooth Cordless Desktop Standard keyboard & Mouse Kit

Monitor: ASUS VH236HL-P Black 23" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor w/height & swivel adjustment

DVDRW: Sony Optiarc AD-7260S-0B 24x DVDRW Drive - 24x, S-ATA, Black, OEM

HDD: Western Digital WD1002FAEX Caviar Black Hard Drive - 1TB, 7200RPM, 64MB, SATA 6Gb/s
and
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB, SATA 3.0Gb/s

RAM: Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT25664BA1067

CPU Cooler: Ultra ChillTec Silver CPU Cooler - LGA 775/1366, AM2/AM2+/AM3

Power Supply: Ultra X4 750-Watt Modular Power Supply - 135mm Fan, ATX, Lifetime Warranty w/ Registration, 80+ Bronze, NVIDIA SLI & ATI Crossfire Certifications, Vibration Dampener Included

 

[itzdanielp]

What I would suggest doing is heading on over to newegg, going to the Motherboards section.

Choose intel
Select socket LGA-1155
and selecting any other criteria that you are looking for.

I would highly recommend Asus, EVGA, and Gigabyte as far as manufacturer's.

Then once you have it narrowed down a bit ask more specifically which one is better. There are way too many out there with a huge price and ( I know it's crazy, but...) style range.

Look for something that seems to do what you want, and ask back for specifics.

 

[kivarocket]

Thank you for the suggestion!

Based on what I want, the 3 highest rated mobos are:

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157229

MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130574

ASUS P8P67 DELUXE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131701

What I would suggest doing is heading on over to newegg, going to the Motherboards section.

Choose intel
Select socket LGA-1155
and selecting any other criteria that you are looking for.

I would highly recommend Asus, EVGA, and Gigabyte as far as manufacturer's.

Then once you have it narrowed down a bit ask more specifically which one is better. There are way too many out there with a huge price and ( I know it's crazy, but...) style range.

Look for something that seems to do what you want, and ask back for specifics.

 

[itzdanielp]

There we go

I personally ( and a lot of people here will agree) would stay away from ASRock. They tend to have a bunch of problems, and just don't tend to be a great brand.

MSI I have had issues with in the past, but from what I have heard the newer ones people have had a lot of good luck with them, but I'm still Wary.

Asus is what I have gotten the last 4 times, and have been super happy with them. No issues, solid boards, I have also heard (although I haven't needed to use them) that their CS dept is really good.

 

[kivarocket]

Best answer selected by kivarocket.