I'm looking at upgrading to an i5 2500k soon and I'm completely stuck on my motherboard choice... this stuff is really confusing for someone who hasn't paid attention in a few years! After doing a bunch of research, the two main contenders are the Asus P8Z68-V or the Asus Gene-Z z68. I would likely get the GEN3 versions of these boards when they are released soon.
I'm definitely planning on overclocking, and although I won't be running SLI or Crossfire, I will be using a 2nd (older) Nvidia GT9800 card to drive my 2nd and 3rd monitors. I currently have no other PCI cards (and no plans to add any)
PC is used for both productivity and some pretty heavy gaming.
The micro-ATX form factor of the Gene-Z appeals to me mainly because when I eventually replace this build in a few years, I may end up wanting to demote it to my HTPC (which also does quite a bit of gaming) and I need a micro-ATX board to fit that case. However, I don't want to give up too many features, or wind up with spacing or heat issues, etc... I also know that micro-ATX boards are generally of lower quality, although the Gene-Z is pretty highly regarded.
Both boards are likely going to sell in the $200 range, which honestly is a bit above my $150ish budget for this... but that's probably OK. I've looked into some of the cheaper ASUS p8z68 boards as well as offerings from Gigabyte, MSI and ASRock in the <$150 range... but they seem to be slightly less quality boards, with less robust power delivery systems (less phases, etc..) I'm not sure how much any of that matters in real world performance and but probably worth the extra $$ to me to get something that will give me the best chance of a problem free overclock. Of course, I'm TOTALLY open to suggestions in the <$150 space.
So... I'm hoping to get some opinions. Is there any reason to not go with a micro-ATX? Is one of these two boards clearly "the way to go"? Is there something lower in the price range that I should be taking a closer look at that won't result in sacrificing too many features or overall build quality?
I'm definitely planning on overclocking, and although I won't be running SLI or Crossfire, I will be using a 2nd (older) Nvidia GT9800 card to drive my 2nd and 3rd monitors. I currently have no other PCI cards (and no plans to add any)
PC is used for both productivity and some pretty heavy gaming.
The micro-ATX form factor of the Gene-Z appeals to me mainly because when I eventually replace this build in a few years, I may end up wanting to demote it to my HTPC (which also does quite a bit of gaming) and I need a micro-ATX board to fit that case. However, I don't want to give up too many features, or wind up with spacing or heat issues, etc... I also know that micro-ATX boards are generally of lower quality, although the Gene-Z is pretty highly regarded.
Both boards are likely going to sell in the $200 range, which honestly is a bit above my $150ish budget for this... but that's probably OK. I've looked into some of the cheaper ASUS p8z68 boards as well as offerings from Gigabyte, MSI and ASRock in the <$150 range... but they seem to be slightly less quality boards, with less robust power delivery systems (less phases, etc..) I'm not sure how much any of that matters in real world performance and but probably worth the extra $$ to me to get something that will give me the best chance of a problem free overclock. Of course, I'm TOTALLY open to suggestions in the <$150 space.
So... I'm hoping to get some opinions. Is there any reason to not go with a micro-ATX? Is one of these two boards clearly "the way to go"? Is there something lower in the price range that I should be taking a closer look at that won't result in sacrificing too many features or overall build quality?
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram