Quick advice needed on motherboard replacement.

[Froberg]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can offer me some advice.

My Socket 1155 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 got stuck in an infinite reboot loop back in March. I sent it to the place of purchase, who sent it on to Gigabyte.

Now they've agreed to refund my money, so I need a replacement. (I'm jonesin' for some gaming!)

At any rate, I'm completely oblivious to what's moving out there.. I'm thinking I should be getting Ivy Bridge now instead?

So, anyone got experience with a specific board? I require as many S-ATA ports as possible, six as a bare minimum.
Also, are all vendors as horrible as Gigabyte when it comes to returning faulty hardware? I do not want to go through all this again anytime soon.

 

[slicedtoad]

what cpu do you have? or do you need a new one?
Yes, most vendors are pretty bad with RMAs imo.

If you don't need a cpu this is an excellent board for the price. supports ivy or sandy.:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

If you need a cpu, take advantage of microcenter's awesome deals:
asrock z77 extreme4
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0387554 $89.99

i5-3570k
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0388577 $189.99

requires in-store pickup, which is not necessarily a bad thing since it makes rma easier.

 

[Froberg]

I've got my Core i7 2600k still.. no reason to upgrade that methinks?

 

[slicedtoad]

you are correct.

 

[Froberg]

you are correct.

Great. From what I've seen and heard about ASRock boards - they seem to have a legacy of being a bit "discount" boards of a lower build quality than ASUS, Gigabyte etc.. is this no longer the case?

Been a while since I've investigated.

 

[slicedtoad]

They've improved but they are still value oriented boards. They are a spinoff of asus.

If you want to spend $200 on a board I would recommend another brand but that board is better than most $160 boards. OCs very well. Highly recommended from many reviewers and people on this site.

It's cheaper largely because they stripped off excessive usb ports and things you likely don't need.

edit:
z77 is good for up to 2 way gpu setups btw.

 

[Froberg]

What would recommend if I don't mind spending 200?

 

[slicedtoad]

this is a nice board.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821

so is:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131818
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130643

if you with z68 (larger selection, not much difference in chipset, possibility of more PCIe lanes)
i have the p67 version of this bard, very good:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188098
this one is also good:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

all in all, I wouldn't recommend spending more than the asrock extreme4 unless you have a specific need. Examples include: 3+ sli/cf, need tons of ports, you are reaching oc motherboard limits before heat limits because of water cooling (this was true in my case).
Otherwise it's just a waste of money. Spend it on gpu power, an SSD or cooling.

btw what are your system specs and what are you using the computer for?

 

[Froberg]

I've got 4x4 GB Ripjaws, an SSD, a slew of mechanical drives and the i72600k.

System is used for gaming and every-day use. My GPU is of older date, no need to update as yet.
I usually don't bother with overclocking until I've had the system for a few years. The reason I buy OC friendly motherboards with a lot of options is because I like to be able to clock if the need arises.

 

[slicedtoad]

my gpu is of older date

my opinion is that your gpu should cost about twice your mobo (or more accurately, the value should be twice as high).

If you're not rocking something above or equal to a 560ti or 6950, you should be saving money to upgrade .

 

[Froberg]

Well, I haven't suffered any graphical performance limitations, yet. It's just a 5770.

I'm looking at the Sabre at the moment.

It should be mentioned that silence during idle or low-usage is absolutely critical, as I use the system where I also sleep - and it's usually always on.

 

[slicedtoad]

the sabre is a great board but I still don't think it fits your needs... Kind of like $400 per tire on a civic. Actually that's a horrible metaphor, but you get the point.

what games do you play? If it's only games like SCII, WoW or other relatively low specs than the 5770 is fine but you can't be getting great performance from games like BF3. At least not at 1920x1080. And if you don't have a 1080p monitor then you should get one now by buying the extreme4 and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236176.

Anyway, it's your money. I just don't think the saber will do anything more than the extreme4 for you. It does look nice though.

 

[Froberg]

Actually I worry about the 35mm fans that seem to be, more or less, a requirement for it.
I was looking at the MSI - but it seems a lot of people are having issues with the placement of the DIMM slots. It's too close to the CPU socket for many after market coolers.

I play games like Sins of a Solar Empire, Hitman, Dragon Age, Mass Effect etc. I haven't got an HD monitor yet, so my thinking is that I'll upgrade my monitor when I upgrade my graphics card. But for now, I can get by.

I've all but stopped with my multiplayer gaming, haven't even played BF3. I do play a bit of Counter-Strike once in a while, still, but that's certainly not a reason to upgrade. ;-)

I may just yield and try an ASRock, since my first Gigabyte experience hasn't exactly been *awesome* and my last two ASUS boards committed suicide in a bad way.
I just don't want to make a wrong purchase for such a critical component.

 

[slicedtoad]

Mobos always have a chance of being defective. Brand doesn't make a huge difference. Mostly just the tech support quality.

The worst that can happen is you have to rma. It's very uncommon for current motherboards to destroy components.

Also, those small fans on the saber are not required. And you could make silent when the computer is idling if you wanted to.

 

[Froberg]

Alright, checked out a review of the ASRock Z77 Extreme4 and.. it seems like they have really pulled their stuff together.

Visually the board even beats the ASUS and Gigabyte offerings.. not that it matters in my windowless Corsair tower with zero LED's, but gold is always a nice indicator.
Seems like it has the ports I need, storage-wise, and since I'm getting a full rebate for my gigabyte it'll actually cost me less than what I paid for my Gigabyte board a year ago.

I could get the ASRock Z77 Extreme6 instead, but I fail to see any particular reason for it, other than adding a third graphics card - and I only plan on using one any way.

Maybe getting the Extreme4 and a hydro cooler would do nicely.. the H100 or something.

 

[slicedtoad]

Those hydro coolers aren't that great per price. The h100 performs well enough but isn't exactly silent.
If you want something quieter and better performing grab an NH-d14
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

It's the best in performance and noise. Only downside is the color. What case do you have?

If you want to stick with the corsair water loop, you could always change the fans if they prove too loud. In terms of price per performance and quietness, it's not worth it though.

 

[Froberg]

I've got a Corsair 700D. Opted for that since it's windowless and anonymous. I do not need to advertise my computer. Noise or LED wise.

I actually started checking out the D14 before reading your reply, since the reviews on the H100 complained about the noise of it.

Trying to investigate if others have mounted the D14 in a 700D with success before now, since it'd suck getting it, only to learn that it won't clear.
I think the fact that the sides don't have fans nor holes is a good thing for the clearance.

 

[slicedtoad]

this guy sticks a nh-d14 in it without complaints.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1294/5/

That's a beautiful case btw. One of these days i'll convince myself to grab an expensive case instead of spending money purely on performance.

 

[Froberg]

Thank you kindly. I was worried about airflow initially but everything is running so cool in the case. Airflow is really optimized.

I just wanted a clean, sleek case with excellent space to work in and great airflow. The 700D has all of those, and it does it without requiring fanholes everywhere and large LED diodes all over.
The one thing I could do without is actually the top-mounting area for additional fans. But then again, would be a shame wanting to mount a radiator and not have that. ;-)

I see you have a Corsair PSU as well, my PSU is easily the best one I've ever had - gotta love what Corsair do

 

[slicedtoad]

yeah I love my PSU, though in retrospect I would have gone with a lower wattage one. I played the blind sheep and bought what people told me I needed rather than calculating it myself. I could be running my whole system on 450W. 600-650 if i wanted CF. Even with my hefty oc and wc. Not a big deal though, I only lost like $25 and this is an awesome PSU.

One of these days (maybe soon) I'm going to write a real PSU calculator backed up with a database of nearly every PSU available. It will recommend or confirm compatibility based on the 12v rail(s) and the quality of the PSU rather than the misleading overall wattage. Then I can just point people to that rather than carefully explaining why they don't need an 850W PSU if they don't plan on 3+ sli/cf.
[/end rant]

 

[Froberg]

Maybe I misunderstood something, but I bought an overspecced PSU on purpose.

I believe that if you run a PSU at max load the efficiency drops and you spend more wattage. Maybe I completely misunderstood?

 

[slicedtoad]

There's nothing wrong with buying one that's too powerful on purpose. It's just that a lot of people advise that you need to get one that's too powerful.

there is a change in efficiency but it's not huge. The hx850 for example is 90% efficient at 500W and %85 at 850W. That translates into 42W of extra heat compared to if it was 90% efficient at 850W. 42W of heat is quite small when the system is producing 850W of heat already. Especially if it's a bottom mounted PSU and you're not even putting the air inside the case.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story2&reid=153

Many PSUs have even less of a change.
the tx650 changes a whole 3 percent:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story3&reid=197

I would always advice to take quality over higher wattage.

 

[wise311]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can offer me some advice.

My Socket 1155 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 got stuck in an infinite reboot loop back in March. I sent it to the place of purchase, who sent it on to Gigabyte.

Now they've agreed to refund my money, so I need a replacement. (I'm jonesin' for some gaming!)

At any rate, I'm completely oblivious to what's moving out there.. I'm thinking I should be getting Ivy Bridge now instead?

So, anyone got experience with a specific board? I require as many S-ATA ports as possible, six as a bare minimum.
Also, are all vendors as horrible as Gigabyte when it comes to returning faulty hardware? I do not want to go through all this again anytime soon.