You + 5 minutes of help = me love you long time. ASRock e3g3

[Bulooka]

I currently use my computer mainly for gaming and sound design. I do not do any video converting, 3D rendering, or cinematic production.

2 Years ago, when I bought the rig, I purchased these components (and will still be using them minus the CPU and mobo):

1 - Biostar T5XE Mobo
1 - i3 540 Clarksdale
1 - HIS Radeon HD 4670
2 - 2gb Corsair 1333
1 - 2TB Samsung HDD
1 - HT Omega Claro Sound Card
1 - Hyper tx3 Coolermaster CPU Cooler
1 - 22" Monitor

I still plan on gaming and producing music. I'm looking for a CPU & Mobo combination that will be reliable and generally won't cause any bottlenecks (I'm prepared for my graphics card and HDD to do the bottlenecking during games - these will be upgraded further down the road).

Now, I've seen reviews of the ASRock e3g3 board - both good and bad. The board is Ivy-ready, has 3.0 pci-e for upgrade-ability, is in my budget, and looks shiny. However, my concerns reside in the graphics card.

I'm still planning on squeezing the last bit of use out of my Radeon HD 4670, but I've heard that there's a LOT of issues with video card drivers and the e3g3 board. Is this necessarily true? And if so, what precautions can I take in order to dodge any issues? I don't want to give ASRock 40 lashes for selling me a supposed kick-butt board.

 

[Dogsnake]

What is your budget for new cpu and mb?

 

[Bulooka]

Well right now it's around 315$. With the i5 2400 in mind and the ASRock e3g3, that puts me in a pretty good spot. I guess I should have been more clear in that I've been keeping me eye on this combination because it features performance, upgrade-ability, and reliability at a low price.

My main question in this post was how much trouble I'm going to see with the e3g3 and the video/sound card drivers etc.

I'll be using that radeon HD 4670 and an add-on sound card.

 

[Dogsnake]

Here are 3 boards that you could consider with their rebates (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627%204017%20600158412&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=280|13-138-320^13-138-320-TS%2C13-131-781^13-131-781-TS%2C13-138-344^13-138-344-TS) add a 2500k (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072) and you are at about $335 (110=225). If you can afford the extra cost you will be at a very solid point for cpu and mb.

 

[Bulooka]

The only issue I can see with the boards is that they don't support 3.0 pci-e for upgrade-ability.

I'm glad to see that these are z68 and can potentially support ivybridge. Is biostar reliable?

 

[Dogsnake]

I would not worry about 3.0 pci. The Biostar are reliable as is the Asus (my fav. brand of MB). Nothing is future proof as it always seems that just as your parts arrive a new standard or version is announced. Such is the world we builders live in. From my point of view, it is to get the best for your budget today. Have a system that will run what you want and the way you want. With the 2000k and a z68 board you can upgrade the gpu to anything you want, add ram to the limit of the OS, connect all the devices you need and have a stable board to over clock the K. The system will run everything you need it to for a relatively long time.