Help me choose motherboard

[execut1ve]

Hello all,

This is a continuation of http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/329634-33-right-amount-memory-1920x1200]

This is the basic build I'm considering:

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Antec Twelve Hundred V3 Black Steel ATX Full Tower Case

Crucial Ballistix Tracer 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory

EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 01G-P3-1561-KR Video Card

I'm having trouble picking the motherboard. I'd like to stick with Asus if possible, I've had excellent experience with their boards. I'm a bit fuzzy on the P67 vs Z68 chipset, not sure which would be better for me. It also seems that the cheaper boards aren't really set up for SLI while the more expensive ones can run dual x8 graphics card slots. Beyond that I honestly don't see enough difference in hardware to justify the price differences, what am I missing?

 

[rolli59]

This is a very popular P67 board, probably one of the most recommended boards prior to Z68 release http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131771

 

[beenthere]

I do not recommend Asus mobos based on my 20 years of building PCs. I would recommend Gigabyte mobos for performance and reliability as I find the Asus mobos to be RAM sensitive and poorly supported IME.

 

[execut1ve]

I've never had a problem with mine, call me lucky. But I"ll stick with them unless I have a strong financial reason not to

 

[rolli59]

There are a lot of personal opinions on the different hardware manufacturers on every site you go to.
I personally buy what is cheapest at the time with the features I want from a reputable manufacturer. Currently my pool of motherboard makers is Asus, Gigabyte, MSI and Asrock. More often than not I have in the past ended up with MSI (writing this on a MSI nforce4 ultra socket 939 machine vintage 2005) but I have had boards from all the others and not one of them has let me down!

 

[execut1ve]

in the spirit of the cheapest then, is there any reason I shouldn't just go with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131781

the only obvious thing to me is lack of SLI, but would the more expensive boards have stuff I would need for overclocking or something?

 

[rolli59]

Although the power phases will not let you squeeze the last 0.2-0.3 GHz out of your overclocked CPU I would consider it a good buy.

 

[execut1ve]

I am not familiar with power phases. noob I know lol. how much more would I have to shell out to get a board with the proper power phases? and where on the board's specs can I read that info?

 

[sceen311]

Antec 1200 is overkill, a 300 would suffice but if you want extra room the 900 is a sweetspot.

 

[rolli59]

http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z68V/#specifications
You will find it low on the specs

 

[execut1ve]

little late on the case, I've had it since early this year and I wouldn't go back to a mid tower if you paid me

ASUS Digital Power Design :
- Industry leading Digital 16 Phase Power Design
(12 -phase for CPU, 4 -phase for iGPU)

This what you are talking about rolli?

 

[rolli59]

Yes. It will allow for a higher stable overclock Newegg link http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131729

 

[execut1ve]

all right, now all that remains is to decide between Z68 and P67

 

[k1114]

P67 pro vs z68-v? The only difference is p67 has $10 MIR and 2 more sata3 ports and z68 can use igpu/quicksync. Performance wise, they're pretty much identical.

 

[execut1ve]

Best answer selected by Execut1ve.