Advice on budget Mb for i5 2500 {biostar.... half decent?}

[lubomir]

Hi there all . New to the forums. Im looking for advice on a motherboard.

Basically i really want to go for an i5 2500 and im hoping i can skimp a good bit on the motherboard as ive just got a 6850 too.

I think its possibly the cheapest 1155 mobo you can get, but hoping its not tooo cheap.

The mobo is question is the Biostar H61MGC Socket 1155

Biostar H61MGC Socket 1155
http://www.ebuyer.com/274290-biostar-h61mgc-socket-1155-vga-dvi-6-channel-audio-matx-motherboard-h61mgc

A whoppin £40 lol

And i suppose i could stretch the budget that little bit and go for this next one up in price...

Biostar H61ML H61 Socket 1155
http://www.ebuyer.com/259267-biostar-h61ml-h61-socket-1155-6-channel-hd-audio-matx-motherboard-h61ml

Biostar, bit of a naff name, Hope the boards arent so crap aswell But the first one i linked is disgusting to look at is it not. Im still not really convinced its not made of lego :lol:

But tbh im not after a fancy one. Its just for general gaming and browsing, thats all the pc gets used for. Also i dont plan on oc'ing the cpu {hence the 2500}. But perhaps the GPU further down the line. {Does the mobo come into play when oc'ing a graphics card at all ?}

Also, does a cheap mobo tend to have a shorter life, possibly damage components? Maybe tend to make components overheat even more or use any extra psu power etc etc ? Just throwing things out here i can think of. Is there anything i should take into consideration when going for a cheap motherboard such as these?

If this will suit my needs, excellent!.. as im about to get the ball rolling and the wallet emptied and get this built...... {by someone else ofc }

Great forum btw. Done most of my research for my new parts here.

Thanks for reading and any advice. Im off to keep doing some research in the meantime.

 

[chesteracorgi]

I started my 1155 build with the Biostar TH67+ and it worked well until I upgraded to a ASRock P67. The Biostar is very stable, but sometimes I had some random boot errors. However, it would always boot on a second try. This was infrequent (less than 1X per week) and was only a monor annoyance.

 

[clutchc]

If you want to keep the price down and start enjoying gaming @ near max/max settings and eye candy, go for the first motherboard you listed. It has Gigabit Ethernet, the 2nd board doesn't. If you have high-speed broadband, it will make any internet use faster.
One can get a dead board in any brand. I just returned a high end Gigabyte board due to faulty PCIE slots. On the otherhand, my 2nd machine has a less expensive Biostar TZ68A+ board that has been 100% (so far). If you are an overclocker, you may want to look for solid Japan capacitors as they are more durable. If you aren't, it doesn't really matter.
The Biostar isn't exactly a "cheap" board. Just doesn't have all the 'bling'. It's a good name. I'm sure there are those that will disagree and say differently, but that's opinion. OCing the card should have no effect on the board.
Btw, the HD 6850 is a great little card for the price. I was so impressed with it in my #2 machine, I bought 2 for XFire in my #1 machine (x16 x16).

 

[lubomir]

Thanks for the replies and the info guys.

@Clutchc

''It has Gigabit Ethernet, the 2nd board doesn't. If you have high-speed broadband, it will make any internet use faster''

Ahh, the ethernet port mate. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
I totaly overlooked that.
Yeah that is an important part for me. Will be playing shooters online etc.

Ive found this gigabyte one for almost the same price as i was willing to pay for the 2nd link one.

This one is a Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2-B3
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigabyte-ga-h61m-s2-b3-intel-h61-s-1155-ddr3-sata-ii-3gb-s-pcie-20-%28x16%29-vga-on-board-micro-atx#ProductFeatures

Although im not sure what im looking for, I have had a look at the specs to check the ethernet port on this one, but cant tell if this has a 'gigabit' ethernet. All i can see which i think is relevant to the ethernet question is it says ''1 x 10/100/1000 (LAN)''. Does that mean its a gigabit ?
I see from the spec of the first one it has ''1 x 10/100/1000'' also, whereas the 2nd biostar one only has ''10/100 Controller''. So am i right in thinking the /1000 means gigabit ?

If im correct, does it now come down to either this Gigabyte one or the biostar one from the first link i posted.

Go with the [strike]gigabit [/strike], Gigabyte board then?

Thanks again. Much appreiciated.

 

[clutchc]

Yes, 1000 means Gigabit Ethernet. If you have a gigabit router, you can get full benefit of the speed. If your router is just 100Mbs speed, not so much. But it still will ensure you get the full speed of the old router.

Tough decision on the two boards. Normally, Gigabyte boards rank a little more favorably than Biostar. The Gigabyte board you listed has a DVI port as opposed to just a Sub-D VGA port if you ever have a need to use on-board video. The Gigabyte board also will leave you with a couple free PCIEx1 slots after you cover one with the graphics card. It also has all solid capacitors. I can't tell for sure on the Biostar, but it appears to be a mix.

Check out the manufacturer's website for the respective boards for a more thorough comparison:
Gigabyte Board: http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3917#ov
Biostar Board: http://206.108.48.60/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=547&tab=6

Check which has the best selection of memory on their QVC (qualified vendor's list). I always try to use a recommended memory if possible. Chances are, it's not manditory though if you don't plan on taking the memory to its max by overclocking. Without having read those pages, I would lean towards the Gigabyte...

 

[lubomir]

Thanks once again mate. Im thinking of going with the gigabyte out of the two ....
bavent made a purchase just yet though as i think i can strecth my budegt a little more. So not off the drawing board yet. But thanks for the info.

 

[clutchc]

Correction: I stated that the Gigabyte board you are looking at had a DVI port. I was mistaken. It too only has a VGA port. But that shouldn't be an issue if you are planning on using a discrete graphics card.
Just wanted to clear that up...

Btw, stay with the person building the machine for you if possible. Once you see how easy it is, you'll want to build your own next time.