Motherboard question...

[adenbo]

I'm upgrading to most likely an i3-2100 and GeForce 460 1GB (I think that's the best bet...?), but still have no idea which motherboard to get. There are H61s for cheap but I'm not sure they'll work for me.

I'm very budget conscious (would like a motherboard and i3-2100 combo for less than $200 if possible) but plan on adding another GeForce 460 1GB to SLI but would rather not have to upgrade the motherboard at that time so I want one that'll last me for this and possibly an upgrade to an i7 later on.

My question is which motherboard should I be looking at which would work for my SLI upgrade later? H67, P67, Z68? I'm having a hard time telling the difference between them and would rather not a) get one that won't work for my setup or b) spend way more for a motherboard that is more than I need.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[o1die]

This board will work fine and is an excellent value. Many folks prefer asus, but I've seen too many posts about ram issues with asus; never had any with biostar. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138317

 

[87ninefiveone]

H61 and H67 are best for using integrated graphics and do not support overclocking. P67 is best for discrete graphics and offer full overclocking abilities (i.e. your Geforce 460), and Z68 takes P67 and adds Solid State Drive Caching as well as the ability to use switchable graphics.

If you want SLI, H61 and H67 are out the door immediately since they don't support it (that I'm aware of). So really the question is do you need SSD caching and switchable graphics? From there it's simply picking something with the features you want that's within your budget.

The i3 lists at $125 so that doesn't leave much in the way of a budget for a MB with a $200 total target. In fact there don't appear to be any P67 MB's costing less than $90 on Newegg right now. Really, you need to wait for a really good sale or up your budget a bit to around $125 for a MB. At that price point I'd look seriously at MSI or ASRock units like these;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130571 - MSI $114

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157249 - ASRock $89

 

[o1die]

Save your money for the board I recommended. You'll be happier in the long run. Asrock can also have ram issues as the bios is similar to asus. Msi is hard to predict about reliability, but some of their boards are fine.

 

[adenbo]

Thanks a lot you two.

I'll get either the MSI or the Biostar and I'll just spend a few more bucks. It'll save me in the long run with not having to upgrade it for a while.