Looking for a recommendation

[Syrah]

Hi folks. I'm planning on building a new rig and need some advice choosing a mobo.

Looking for a board that will support the following and do it for around $150.

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 ...

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

2x MSI R6870 Twin Frozr II Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

COOLER MASTER V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler

Any insight into what board would work well with this setup would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[jaquith]

Welcome to Tom's Forum!

The cheapest I recommend is the $159.99 ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.1) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131771 otherwise if you want a Z68 then the $189.99 ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792

Both offer 12 Phases to the CPU and have proven abilities to OC at the lowest possible vCore.

/edit here's a side by side link of the typical LGA 1155 MOBOs I often recommend - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006519%2050001315%2040000280%20600093976&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=280%7C13-131-790%5E13-131-790-TS%2C13-131-792%5E13-131-792-TS%2C13-188-098%5E13-188-098-TS%2C13-131-771%5E13-131-771-TS

 

[Syrah]

Welcome to Tom's Forum!

The cheapest I recommend is the $159.99 ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.1) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131771 otherwise if you want a Z68 then the $189.99 ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792

Both offer 12 Phases to the CPU and have proven abilities to OC at the lowest possible vCore.

/edit here's a side by side link of the typical LGA 1155 MOBOs I often recommend - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006519%2050001315%2040000280%20600093976&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=280%7C13-131-790%5E13-131-790-TS%2C13-131-792%5E13-131-792-TS%2C13-188-098%5E13-188-098-TS%2C13-131-771%5E13-131-771-TS

Thank you for the reply. I was hoping to stay away from ASUS due to the reviews I've been reading about their customer service. But the board you recommended has all the things I'm looking for.

Thanks again.

 

[jaquith]

The primary issue with the ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.1), if that's what you're referring to, is 9/10 shipping BIOS. On any LGA 1155 the very first thing to do is update the BIOS using EZ Flash 2. There are so many ASUS P8P67 PRO sold that you need to keep in mind: 1000 ASUS P8P67 PRO sold (20 complaints) 100 Gigabyte sold (5 complaints), obviously more ASUS complaints as a Total but not as a percentage.

ASUS owns ASRock and the only differences are cheaper components BUT less of them on the ASRock i.e. less to break down. Gigabyte and ASUS there's no differences from a service point of view, RMA 20 days from the day you mail it in to the day it's in hand unless you can use Cross Ship (RMA) which can be as little as 5~7 days or less.

Gigabyte, the only LGA 1155 that I recommend are their UD5 or UD7 series. Mysteriously, they quit making them -- from my seat too many issues. That leaves the others like MSI and it get worst after that. Which brings me back to ASUS.

Feedback in general, most of the feedback of problems (not all) is clearly 'User Error' and in conjunction with noobs using poorly selected components. Anytime I see 2+ DOA then I KNOW the user kill the MOBO and 9/10 with a bad PSU. In reality, the failure rate of ASUS, Gigabyte, you name it is <2%~3%; the data came from an independent study.

Overall service, no question EVGA is the best, but it blows your budget and the one I linked is an EATX.

Perfect MOBO -- maybe in heaven not while you're living.

 

[jaquith]

I should add the following, if the MOBO is going to fail it's going to fail 98% of the time from day 1 through day 4 and some might take <30 days.

NewEgg is BY FAR, again BY F-A-R, the best to deal with and they offer Expedited RMA and my experience is 1-2 working days you have the replacement!!! The only 'catch' is they will charge you the full cost of the component and credit it back within 5~7 days after they receive it from you. The company is so GOOD that I cannot stress enough 'how good they truly are to deal with!'