Which 1155 chipset?

I believe a H67 chipset will be enough for you but I'm not sure since I don't remember how many SATA and USB ports it has. If it's not enough try either a P67 or a Z68.
The Z68 is the top stuff so that should do it

the x68 and z77 chipset are the ones for both sandy and ivy bridge right now. the x68 has third party controllers for usb 3.0 the z77 has them built in. msi/gigbyte/asus are three top mb makers look online at there mb as each chipset has 3 or 4 mb to hit certain price points. (frills or more for high end gaming). The boards that are in your pice range are going to be micro atx.
there going to have only two slots for ram and one pci slot for video card. asrock/biostar/ecs would be poor mans mb or realy low end system. in not that there mb are bad it just who wants to get a doa new mb?? every vendor has had runs of bad parts or mb but the top ones give you the best warranty and try to use the best parts.

As you do not have the processor for OCing and no need for Virtu, you can do with either a H67 or a P67.
Smorizio is making a suggestion for an overbuild which costs more but gives no advantage to your current rig. An H67 is the least costly and probably the best suited to your needs.

Here's a list to consider: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submi...

I assumed series 7 has some kind of a performance advantage over 6, but H67 indeed seems to have all the features I want so I will probably settle on that one. However I decided to wait for Ivy Bridge launch, just not sure yet if I will take advantage of a cheaper 2400 or get a 3450. Would picking the 3450 change your recommendation?

If you're going to the 3450, I'd take the ASRock Z68 Extreme3Gen3

When it comes down to Intel® chipsets there really is 5 chipsets to look at.
-H61 is the entry level chipset. Boards with this chipset are going to be the lowest cost as they do support the IGP (Integrated Graphics on Processor) and don’t have any type of on board RAID support. Some of these boards may not support a PCI-e 16x slot and none of them support overclocking on the chipset of any type.
-H67 is a general purpose chipset. These boards are designed to be a main stream board that most people would use in their media or general purpose computer. In most cases these board will support RAID, a PCI-E 16x slot, and they do not support overclocking.
-Q67 is a business designed board. The business environment has found its board in the Q67 as this board will have the longest lifespan and supports features remove access and management features on this chipset. These boards do not support overclocking but may have a PCI-E 16x slot and support RAID features off the board.
-P67 is a performance designed board. These boards are going to be designed for a performance user and will not support the IGP at all. This is one of the 2 “6” series boards that do support overclocking of the unlocked “K” processors. These boards will have a PCI-E 16x slot and should support RAID off the board.
-Z68 is the newest of the “6” series boards and can do everything that the P67 chipset does but has 3 additional features in the Intel SRT (Smart Response Technology), in most cases support for IGP, and the first board to come with the Intel SATA III controller.

Now there are some “7” series boards are starting to roll out but they are designed to be used around our 3rd generation Intel Core™ processors.


Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

Thanks Christian.
That's the best chipset summary I've seen on here.

Wouldn't a Z68 chipset best support the i5-3450 if he's not going Z77?
It would at least provide a more future proof solution, if anything.