MSI Z77A-GD65 or GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H?

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setzer715

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Mar 6, 2012
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I'm seeking a new motherboard. I'm over my ASRock P67 E4 G3. It has had nothing but USB3.0 issues since the day I got it and ASRock can't seem to get it fixed. Something about Etron controllers just suck. I transfer quite a bit of data to and from flashdrives and external HDD's. Anyway, moving on I'm in the market for a new one and I've narrowed it down to the 2 in the title.

I have no experience with either brand so I'm looking for input on which would be best. I'm planing to OC (I'm new to it and still reading/learning) so that is a factor. I currently only have 1 GPU but may add a second one day. System build is below.

If anyone has any suggestions that would be great. Or if you can suggest a different board in the ~$200 range that would be cool too. I'm a little scared of ASUS as the reviews are riddle with bent pin horror stories (including one my own, bought a z68 from frys and it had bent pins but was fortunately able to return it due it not posting once the pins were fixed by their tech).

CPU: i5-2500K
MOBO: ASRock Extreme4 Gen3 (Replacing)
RAM: 4 x 4GB G.Skill Raptor X DDR3 1600
GPU: MSI Twin Frozr 560 TI OC/2GB Edition
SSD: Corsair ForceGT 120GB
HDD: Seagate 2TB Green Drive
PSU: Silverstone 750W
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS20LQ Water Cooler
Cooling: 5 B-Gears 120mm B-Blaster (110CFM) fans connected to Rheosmart controller (adjusts fan speed based off CPU PWM reading). 3 intake 2 out (couldn't fit 6th fan with new zalman water cooler).
 

setzer715

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Mar 6, 2012
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10,510


It's funny that you mention the P8Z77-V Pro. I went to fry's and picked that one up because I was too impatient to wait for shipping on the Gigabyte. It worked fine with everything but fan control. No matter how I set it up in the BIOS the fans would not properly ramp up and down depending on CPU temp. Also I could sit there and watch my case fans start spinning, then stop, then start etc. I tried the fan controller software included but it even worse.

That software actually does NOT utilize CPU temp, it uses some other temp sensor. While playing with it I set it up to start increasing fan speed when CPU hits 50C. I had RealTemp loaded and that software and started Prime95. RealTemp was giving me CPU temp readings around 55C (stock voltage). I could watch the temp reading start to rise on the fan software and the fan RPM's increase and then it would just drop back down to idle temps while RealTemp showed 55C and Prime95 running.

Anyways, after 6 hours of messing with fan controlling I ended up returning it. I bought an ASRock z77 Extreme4 board and couldn't be happier. OC'd to 4.4GHz running at about 63C and fans control perfectly. Also the USB3.0 works great now that they use Intel's chip set.
 
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