Choose a Motherboard for this Setup

kigrax

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Oct 26, 2011
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18,510
AMD Phenom II X4 945 Quad Core 3.0ghz, GTS450 1GB, OCZ Fatal1ty 550w PSU, 4GB DDR3 1600 G.SKILL, 500GB 7200rpm SATA 3GB/s Samsung Spinpoint F3, 1680x1050 IN WIN Griffin mid case

Needs to support 125w processors. Turbo boost/unlocking are bonuses. Should support a 560ti for future upgrades but I do not plan on upgrading the cpu any time soon.

Suggestions thus far:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157176
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157195
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130590I'm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128504

I'm leaning towards a Micro ATX for airflow and ease of install. Wont be doing SLI aaanytime soon and I only need 2 sticks of RAM.

Edit: It also doesn't need to have SATAGb/s or USB 3.0, I won't have the Spinpoint for a few months and my current HDD isn't SATA6gb, not to mention no HDD can even take advantage of it. Thanks
 

kigrax

Distinguished
Oct 26, 2011
24
0
18,510
I don't have any problems with any of these boards, I just don't know how to choose between them. This is my first build. I know they'll all do the job, but why buy one over another?
 
Price. warranty. I'm waiting on a board from biostar right now. I change boards often, and this was a relatively minor problem. But they've honored their rma program in the past, and pay their rebates if you remind them, so I'm using their boards. I bought a used asus board yesterday and sold it today; decided not to use it, but didn't take a loss. Just got to try it out for one day. Asus is the best about bios updates; some folks will only use asus, but I've used msi, biostar, and even foxconn. Foxconn is the notorious company where folks have commited suicide recently; must be worked to death, but their boards are ok. And dell uses alot of their boards, if you like dells.
 
You say you prefer micro atx for ease of installation. I agree on that point; your third link isn't specific; it lists several boards (I have the same problem when posting multiple links). So I'll recommend the 4th board; the gigabyte unless you want my board. Newegg has it back in stock. My board is $55 after rebate if your vender has it. The gigabyte board is simple, has a dual bios (good for bad bios flashes, which can happen), and am3+ support for bulldozer cpus. The castrated bulldozer cpus (with some cores disabled) may be an option at some point in your future. So go with it.
 
Core unlocking is not guaranteed, and the four and six core phenoms aren't that expensive. The turbo boost option may work for Intel, but I wouldn't use it for amd cpus. Download the manual for any boards you're interested in and check the bios options if your features aren't listed. Just use newegg's manufacturer's link on the right side in the details column.