Good motherboard for i7 2600K?

[haveyoutriedturningitoffandonagain]

Hi
Im thinking of upgrading to an i7 soon (phenom ii x4 at the minute) and i was just wondering what motherboard will be good, i am thinking of overclocking but thats not too important at the moment also it needs to be under £250, Anyone know the best mobo's for that price range?
Thanks in advance

 

[nikorr]

Hi there, u don't need to go quite that high with the price.

This one will do great....
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-IV-Battlefield-Motherboard-PCI-Express/dp/B006DU398G/ref=sr_1_12?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1330469117&sr=1-12

 

[nikorr]

Also this one is great for the price @ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-P8Z68-V-PRO-GEN3-Motherboard/dp/B005T3TLM6

 

[haveyoutriedturningitoffandonagain]

oh crap sorry i meant to put £150 not £250 And that second asus looks pretty good ive also been looking at this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-SKT-1155-Z68X-UD4-B3-Motherboard-Rev/dp/B004WLN5BY/ref=sr_1_9?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1330469542&sr=1-9

 

[nikorr]

Its old one (Rev 1.0).

 

[fb39ca4]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Z68-Extreme3-Motherboard-PCI-Express-ASRock/dp/B005FGQLQQ/
This is another good motherboard, there is also an Extreme4 model with a few more features for £144, but you prolly won't need them.

 

[haveyoutriedturningitoffandonagain]

Oh so what are 'rev's? are they like versions so i should be looking for rev2 or 3?

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

I think I would go with something like this ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 board http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASRock-Z68-Extreme4-Motherboard-Technology/dp/B005FE52X6/ref=sr_1_9?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1330469977&sr=1-9

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[nikorr]

Yes, 1.0 is the very first edition 2.0 have probably some bugs fixed and it is maybe more updated with newer components.

 

[nikorr]

Oh so what are 'rev's? are they like versions so i should be looking for rev2 or 3?

I like to recommend extreme3 or 4 too, they are great boards with tons of features.

Easily OC'able to 4.5GHz, plenty of PCIE slots, but the only thing that bugs me, a little, is 2 years of the warranty vs 3 with the others.

But it has ASUS DNA, so it is made with good quality components.

 

[haveyoutriedturningitoffandonagain]

oh ok thaks nikorr and i have an asrock now and im not really that impressed (very slow boot,few crashes/bsods) it maybe because its a pretty cheap board so i might look around to see if anyones had any problems with this board but so far all reviews look good!

 

[nikorr]

oh ok thaks nikorr and i have an asrock now and im not really that impressed (very slow boot,few crashes/bsods) it maybe because its a pretty cheap board so i might look around to see if anyones had any problems with this board but so far all reviews look good!

OK, whats the specs for the old one, because the Z68 is fast , I build 2 PC with the mobos and no complains from anyone : )

 

[nikorr]

(very slow boot,few crashes/bsods)

If u have W7, quality PSU, quality mobo (meaning if they updates the drivers) fast 2600K quality components... no problems.

I cant imagine slow anything with 2600K : ))

Only if u would have some virus or other pest in the system.

 

[haveyoutriedturningitoffandonagain]

Aah and the one i have now is an m3n78d (http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?model=m3n78d) its a pretty value oriented board. and its not anything in the system because it crashed when i was installing w7 when i first got all my components seems to have been fine since then apart from the odd bsod which of course might be more to do with the os rather than the hardware but the boot is still very slow to get past post which again is probably because it was a cheap board

 

[nikorr]

Aah and the one i have now is an m3n78d (http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?model=m3n78d) its a pretty value oriented board. and its not anything in the system because it crashed when i was installing w7 when i first got all my components seems to have been fine since then apart from the odd bsod which of course might be more to do with the os rather than the hardware but the boot is still very slow to get past post which again is probably because it was a cheap board

The install BSOD's is mostly related to the RAM. Could be the medium, could be the user error, bad PSU, bad mobo or it just needs to get reset the BIOS : )

Could be anything. Lots of people comes here with similar problems and are happy campers after they leave : ))

 

[haveyoutriedturningitoffandonagain]

it could have actually been the psu as the first one i got was pretty cheap too but now i have an ocz installed and its been fine ever since, guess it serves me right for trying to get away with cheap parts D: anyway ill have another look around for boards similar to the asrock as well as more reviews as im not sure when ill be getting the new cpu anyway but 1 last question im thinking of oc'ing to 4ghz would it be best to go for water cooling or stay on air for 4ghz with this cpu? and which cooler should i get?
Thanks for all your help

 

[nikorr]

Get low profile RAM and stay on the air, with 2600K is safe to go 4.5GHz on the air.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

And if u get an after market CPU cooler, u can OC to past 4.5GHz with ease : )
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

 

[haveyoutriedturningitoffandonagain]

wow 4.5 on air?! i would expect it to need water-cooling over 4! also is it necessary to get low profile ram? i have 4gb ddr3 2000mhz now so shouldnt that be ok or will i getting low profile ram help with overclocking the cpu?

 

[nikorr]

Great deal and decent mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130622

Read some reviews
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/z68xp-ud3-dz68db,review-32228-10.html

 

[nikorr]

wow 4.5 on air?! i would expect it to need water-cooling over 4! also is it necessary to get low profile ram? i have 4gb ddr3 2000mhz now so shouldnt that be ok or will i getting low profile ram help with overclocking the cpu?

I have mine 2600K @ 4.5GHz on air, and I edit videos and 3D and audio, it is a great CPU.

 

[nikorr]

wow 4.5 on air?! i would expect it to need water-cooling over 4! also is it necessary to get low profile ram? i have 4gb ddr3 2000mhz now so shouldnt that be ok or will i getting low profile ram help with overclocking the cpu?

What is the voltage?

2600K don't like to go more than 1.5V.

 

[haveyoutriedturningitoffandonagain]

My rams voltage is 1.5, also ive checked some of the reviews for that board and one said that he had trouble fitting a cm 212 cooler which you reccomended into it? also some have reported a few major problems which i guess you can always expect 1 or 2 dud boards out off many working ones

 

[nikorr]

Is the RAM XMP?

 

[haveyoutriedturningitoffandonagain]

What is xmp?

 

[nikorr]

Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (Intel® XMP) is a performance-packed expansion of the standard DDR3 memory specification.

It enables a robust, overclocking solution designed to take advantage of the mega-gaming features built into Intel® technology-based PCs.

If you like to overclock and squeeze every possible ounce of performance from your PC, then memory based on Intel XMP is the solution you need to fully dominate–without breaking a sweat.