OC motherboard suggestions, betw $150-225

[schadenfreude333]

Hey all. First build for this newb. Parts so far 2600K, corsair 850AX pro, 600t mesh, Asus 7870, 8 g low profile vengeance, 120 g SSD, 500 g 7800 Spinpoint & a Thermalright Silver Arrow. Motherboards are confusing the F out of me. Can't seem to find any that most agree THIS is a good value for $150 or 175 or 200 or 225. I had a Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P that I bought for $180, but then I read that it was poor for OCing, which kind of defeats the purpose. Please give me some candidates to consider. Don't think I will be going to dual cards, and never 3. Haven't bought a monitor yet (using an old 19" anchor for now), but will be looking for a 24" 1920x1080.

Opinions?

 

[sharkbyte5150]

My board (ASUS P8Z68-V Pro/Gen3 $210
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790&Tpk=P8Z68-V%20Pro

*For $30 less, the non Pro version is exactly the same, except for 2 less SATA 6G ports

ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 $122
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

ASUS Maximumus IV GeneZ $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131806

These 3 boards are very popular among OC'ers.

 

[Chaz21]

see if this helps:
http://www.squidoo.com/best-1155-motherboards#module151154901

 

[schadenfreude333]

I got such a sweet deal on the 2600k from microcenter, I am thinking of putting that money toward a Z77. It would be nice to have a board I won't feel compelled to upgrade for a good while. Looking forward to some more reviews and comparisons in the next couple of weeks.

 

[Chaz21]

This "beast" ought to last you quite a while:
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/SABERTOOTH_Z77/
from here of course:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0388088

 

[schadenfreude333]

I was thinking more along the lines of this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157295&Tpk=ASRock%20z77%20extreme%206

I have the lunch box sized Thermalright Silver Arrow to consider, and I am not sure what to make of the plastic armor of that Asus board. If the heat issues of the IB chips are real, perhaps many will look to put a SB cpu on
an ivy board.

 

[Chaz21]

I was thinking more along the lines of this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157295&Tpk=ASRock%20z77%20extreme%206

I have the lunch box sized Thermalright Silver Arrow to consider, and I am not sure what to make of the plastic armor of that Asus board. If the heat issues of the IB chips are real, perhaps many will look to put a SB cpu on
an ivy board.

The boards are identical in size but I agree with the whole "armor" thing.
The one you picked out is a good board.