Need help picking Motherboard for i5 2500K

[machatzi]

I'm between the below 4 motherboards

p8z68 -v/gen3 . Heard a lot about this mobo.. probably best for the value and it fills my needs (Not going for the PRO for that little extra that i dont need)... I m sure i can't go wrong with this one. Problem is that it doesnt support 3rd gen CPUs
price: 180 euro

p8z77 -v LE .. New .. can support 3rd gen cpus but still im scared because its NEW. It has only one PCI 3.0 while p8z77 -v has two of them.
Im holding back thinking that there will be many bugs.. failures coming up from this motherboard as its fairly new.
price: 168 euro

p8z77 -v A bit more expensive than the above one. Still im scared for the failures that might follow.
price: 196 euro

AsRock Extreme4 GEN3 z68. I'm not sure if its better or worst than the Asus p8z68 -v/gen3. Any thoughts?
price: 160 euro


After having little discussion with the technician of the store he told me that ASUS is taking long time to replace a bad piece (about 2 months) while AsRock can instantly replace it. Of course, he said, Asus is much better when it comes to overclocking.

Having in mind that my budget cant go more than 200 euro (still would rather save 20-30 out of them and invest them on a better cpu cooler)
1. How usefull would it be to pick a z77 chip for the 3rd gen CPU support? For future upgrades? Should i risk to buy this piece for that?
2. If (1) is yes, should i go for the two PCI 3.0 slots (p8z77 -v LE) or one is enough (p8z77 -v)? I have graphics card msi gtx570 which is 2.0.. so i was thinking.. in case i want to SLI i dont really need 2x PCI 3.0
3. If (1) is no, should i go for the Asus or AsRock? How easy is for ASUS to fail?

And something else.. might be stupid what im asking but...
Is LucidLogix Virtu Vs LucidLogix virtu MVP the same thing? I see in ASUS site that z77 is described with 'MVP' while z68 is without 'MVP'


Thanks

 

[jaquith]

Based upon the MOBO's you listed I would recommend the ASUS P8Z77-V. I see no point going for the older Z68 chipset. The ASUS P8Z77-V LE isn't my top pick with a SB (K) CPU. If you want ASRock then consider the other components and chipsets which are often either missing or of cheaper quality - example Intel NIC vs Broadcom. Maybe the ASRock Z77 Extreme6.

As far as ASUS's RMA turnaround, it depends on the options you choose, worst case is 30-40 days if you mail the MOBO for a regular RMA, but if you choose cross-shipping 14 days or less. Only purchase from a retailer that offers a 30 day exchange, 90%+ of the problems are day 0-5 so I suggest that you order ALL of your parts at once a fully stress test for 24 hours (or longer) with something like AIDA64 Extreme.

One of these - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627%2050001944%20600093976%20600315497&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=280%7C13-131-820%5E13-131-820-TS%2C13-131-819%5E13-131-819-TS%2C13-131-821%5E13-131-821-TS%2C13-157-295%5E13-157-295-TS

 

[THE UNKNOWN]

ASRock Z77 Extreme4

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293