Mobo for a 2500k/560ti build

[07tonzpau]

Hey guys, you've been great with helping me in the past and its time for me to build a new computer, so again, time to ask the experts.

My question, I'm set on a 2500k and 560ti combo, not SLI right now but sometime in the future for sure.

I'm on a bit of a budget, being a uni student and all - so i was wondering,

What semi budget (<$150) mobo you would recommend?

So the specs

i5 2500k
GTX 560ti (Future SLI)
A small boot SSD in - Probably an Agility 3 unless you all recommend something else
no ram selected yet 8Gb
no PSU selected yet

Feel free to add any advice you like =)

cheers

 

[o1die]

http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-Z68-EXTREME3-CrossFireX-Motherboard/dp/B005GK6AQC/ref=sr_1_9?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1331567432&sr=1-9. (newegg is cheaper, but the link didn't work).

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

The ASRock Z68 Extreme3 is a really nice board. I have also heard good things about the Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H and if you are looking for a smaller size you can use the Asus P8Z68-M Pro (Micro-Atx) but really a good board.


Christian Wood
Intel Enthisiast Team

 

[HostileDonut]

I would go for the Extreme3 Gen3. I own one, it costs $120 on Newegg and works really well with many features. Not to mention it has a really slick look.

It would save you about $30 from the $150 boards, so you could put it towards a better heatsink for overclocking or something if you don't have one. Great solid board for a modest price.

 

[HostileDonut]

Go with radeon they have better cards right now.

Yeah, if you bought the highest end card. He isn't gonna do that, so that won't happen. Nvidia makes great cards, so really, there is no need to go grab the biggest and the best when he already has a GTX 560.

 

[HostileDonut]

TH only recommends 560ti or 570 the Radeons are dominating they are doing very well right now. The only Nvidia I can recommend right now is the 560ti

Think about it for a moment though. Nvidia is offering its GTX 570 for lower than the hd7950, whcih makes it still a good buy. Yeah, AMD is pretty competitive and is doing great, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't go for the Nvidia that he has.

 

[HostileDonut]

Well 7950 is faster than GTX 580 and 7870 which will be out in 2 days is faster than the GTX 570 for around the same price.

Nvidia also has good driver support, and still offers a great card. He was looking at the 560 anyway, so why recommend something else? You ever said youself, the 560 is a good buy.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

IMHO the 560ti is the only Nvidia right now that offers Price/Performance Radeon has got every other place covered however if it was still the 69xx only it would be a different story but the 7950 at worst competes with the GTX 580 and cost less. Nvidia really has nothing to offer today and the drivers are great with AMD

The public is not agreeing with ya or THG. My guess is they do a little more reading and get a consensus of opinions before buying. This is what DX11 cards are hitting steam servers as of the end of February.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 ----- 10.25% (Grew 0.78% last month)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 ----- 4.37% (Grew 0.35% last month)
ATI Radeon HD 6950 ----- 3.83% (Shrank 0.25% last month)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 ----- 3.76% (Grew 0.07% last month)
ATI Radeon HD 6970 ----- 1.85% (Grew 0.06% last month)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 ----- 3.02% (Grew 0.13% last month)

In the gaming community at least, by next month given the current rate of adoption, the 560 should show twice as many cards out there than both 69xx series cards combined.

But I'll agree with ya in the below $200 segment, there's not an nVidia card I would by ..... nor would I buy the top 2 cards from either company as two mid range cards in SL / CF trounce the top two for a lot less money. Why spend $450 for a 580 when I can get 40% more performance outta two 560 Ti's for $440 ? Why spend $900 for two 580's when they only get 10% more performance than the two 560 Ti's for $440 ?

The factory OC'd 900 Mhz versions at the same price as the reference cards just have no equal .... beating the factory OC'd 6950's in CF by over 100 fps...and even beating the 6970's 37 fps. That's why they own 10+% of the market at this point.

The 570 and 6970 are a wash in single card configs (526 vs 524 fps in Guru3D game test suite) tho the 570 has a clear edge in SLI over the CF'd 6970's (873 to 825). The 580 still slightly edges the 7950 (616 to 603 fps) in single card config,.... AMD drivers need some tweaking before they can complete the test suite in CF but that will be sorted shortly I presume.

The 7950 at 603 fps in Guru3D's game test suite @ $0.80 per frame gets toasted by the following less costly choices:

Two factory OC'd 560 Ti's in SLI at 862 fps and $0.50 per frame
Two factory OC'd 6950's in CF at 759 fps and $0.63 per frame
Two factory OC'd 6870's in CF at 701 fps and $0.46 per frame
Two factory OC'd 6850's in CF at 634 fps and $0.44 per frame

NVidia is to AMD in GFX what Intel is to AMD in CPU's. AMD has the lower end of the market sewed up, Intel owns the top end. AMD had the below $200 market sewed up, nVidia wins or ties on all fronts above $200 in the 5xx versus 6xx series. What happens in the 7xxx versus 6xx remains to be seen, all we have is this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Nvidia-Kepler-GPU-GeForce-600-Series,14642.html

And only time will tell how it plays out.

 

[meagainstyou]

I have noooo idea wtf u guys are smoking.... he said he wants a 560ti...... Honestly if your budget is in that range I would wait for the 7850 to come out and get that for 250$. If you can squeeze a little more on your budget and get the 120$ mobo then get the 570 from nvidia or if you can wait for the 600 series, get the 570 then (it'll be cheaper). If you have a budget of around 200$, http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX36364 is a pretty boss mobo not to mention it has a really easy interface for OC'ing.

 

[HostileDonut]

"The public is not agreeing with ya or THG."

LOL and that has to do with what Radeon has the best cards right now price/performance and there are many fools in the world today that just simply go on what the cool kids are fashioning like sheep LOL. Plus I didn't know Steam has a survey out that includes the latest 7xxx series cards from Radeon.PS also Steam survey states that almost 60% of people are on old DX10 cards not new radeons so all that reflects is that most people have not bought a new card in years.

Nvidia still offers great cards! The new AMD 7xxx series is nice, but still has a high price tag. GTX 570s are a great alternative and cost less. Also, Nvidia has CUDA and you can overclock the shaders, which is kinda nice. I am not saying Nvidia is better, but he wants his 560, so let him have it. Great card, and there is no other AMD that competes. So please, just let him get his GPU....

 

[HostileDonut]

I never understand how "CUDA" helps with gaming when that's what these cards are for.

Well, it doesn't help so much for gaming, but just other things that the user may want to do.

Look, I have owned Nvidia and AMD cards. Same performance cards. (hd6850, GTX 460 1gb, and a low end GT 240)

The Nvidias? Never had any trouble driver wise, performance wise, or anything. Just plugged it in, ramped up the clocks, and it ran how it was supposed to.

My AMD card? Oh yeah! Had to return it because it was artifacting, got my new one, and while playing games it would show little green/purple circles for nothing. Not to mention driver support was a mess.

Don't get me wrong, I love AMD and generally they have good cards, but the Nvidias just seem to be a little bit more, high quality, if you know what I mean. Also, the Nvidia OCed like a beast.

 

[HostileDonut]

I have owned over 20 GPUS since 06 from both camps and never had any problems

Good! I am glad!

He has his 560 picked out, though. Let him get it.

 

[HostileDonut]

I don't see the harm in recommending a better card for the money do you ????

I am pretty sure he has the GTX 560 already. If he doesn't, I guess there would be a hd6870, but I would rather have the GTX 560 as it overclocks very well plus he can OC those shaders.

 

[HostileDonut]

Well 7850 is faster faster faster same price as 560ti as well only takes a 6pin for power too boot.

Well if he doesn't have a 560, then that would be a good alternative when it comes out. Look, if he doesn't have a card, don't just wait for AMD, wait for kepler which is right around the corner. THEN make a decision. Maybe kepler won't be as good (but I would bet money it's gonna be great), but then it will most likely lower the current 5xx series prices and bring some new cards to the table.

 

[HostileDonut]

See the 78xx are out in two days LOL

Great, Kepler should be out on the 23rd. Wait a little while, then compare. It is called buying smart, not being a fan boy.

 

[HostileDonut]

I heard that it was coming on the 23rd. We will have to see.

If he doesn't have the GTX 560 yet, then the hd7850 would be good if it doesn't have a crazy price. Wouldn't be surprised if it costed $300+ because the 7950 costs $450+, which means the GTX 560 is still a great buy.

 

[HostileDonut]

Kelper is all based on Speculation Nvidia has released next to nothing solid as far as release dates maybe April tho one rumor says. I want Nvidia to do whats right a Price drop and die shrink is what is needed but really for me it's all about efficiency and low noise and heat while maintaining a high performance for the dollar.

I don't know, Kepler is lookin' pretty good to me. http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Kepler-Samaritan-GeForce-GK104-gpu,14927.html#xtor=RSS-998

 

[HostileDonut]

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/22867/nvidia_kepler_gk104_cards_coming_on_march_23/index.html

http://www.overclock.net/t/1223516/softpedia-release-date-of-nvidia-kepler-gk-104-march-23

 

[HostileDonut]

UMM Propaganda Kelper will perform well in TWIMTBP titles but be underwhelming everywhere else in other words Kelper will have peaky performance just a prediction but heed these words.

Yes, you are right. Kepler isn't out yet, so it may not be as good as it looks. The hd7850 isn't out yet either.

 

[HostileDonut]

78xx series was already tested by Toms and many other big time publications the scores are in and 7850 is better than 560ti and 7870 is better than 570 and even comes close to 580 at times. PS I am trying hard real hard to not look like a fanboy but Nvidia is really not looking to good right now price/performance wise.

Okay, okay. Just wait and see. Only time will tell. My point is, don't make your decisions too quickly. It will backfire on you.

 

[aqe040466]

Hey guys, you've been great with helping me in the past and its time for me to build a new computer, so again, time to ask the experts.

My question, I'm set on a 2500k and 560ti combo, not SLI right now but sometime in the future for sure.

I'm on a bit of a budget, being a uni student and all - so i was wondering,

What semi budget (<$150) mobo you would recommend?

So the specs

i5 2500k
GTX 560ti (Future SLI)
A small boot SSD in - Probably an Agility 3 unless you all recommend something else
no ram selected yet 8Gb
no PSU selected yet

Feel free to add any advice you like =)

cheers

Take a look at this MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188097

 

[07tonzpau]

Phew, well it looks like my question kinda snowballed haha, im really grateful for all the feedback fellas!

The consensus seems to be for the ASROCK z68 Extreme3 Gen3 and since i can find it locally for $125 its locked in =D the other mobos look sweet tho, but when you're doing 5 days of unpaid intern work a week cheap and reliable is is good =D

As far as GPU's are concerned I'd love to wait for the 7850 or even for the 6xx series but as i live in Australia i doubt they'll be out for a few more weeks at least. Unfortunately tomorrow (wednesday) is now my only half day off in the week and since i'm falling way behind on my assignments tomorrow is the day to buy and become a first time builder!

Again, cheers for all the help guys. Wish me luck ahahha

 

[07tonzpau]

Best answer selected by 07tonzpau.

 

[HostileDonut]

Phew, well it looks like my question kinda snowballed haha, im really grateful for all the feedback fellas!

The consensus seems to be for the ASROCK z68 Extreme3 Gen3 and since i can find it locally for $125 its locked in =D the other mobos look sweet tho, but when you're doing 5 days of unpaid intern work a week cheap and reliable is is good =D

As far as GPU's are concerned I'd love to wait for the 7850 or even for the 6xx series but as i live in Australia i doubt they'll be out for a few more weeks at least. Unfortunately tomorrow (wednesday) is now my only half day off in the week and since i'm falling way behind on my assignments tomorrow is the day to buy and become a first time builder!

Again, cheers for all the help guys. Wish me luck ahahha

Good luck!

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar