What Motherboard to pick with this setup?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

if gaming isnt the biggest part than save some money on the graphics card and get this, dead silent operation and runs cool
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

this is a much better case than the h2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I think I will stick with the graphics card, even if I don't need the power now it might come in handy very soon. Also is the EVGA card not more silent than the Asus one you suggest?

About motherboard, the one you suggested, is it this one on the ASRock site: http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.de.asp?Model=Z77%20Extreme4 ??

If it is that one, is it good for overclocking as well as media reliable or a simple general class board? Is the price range really making that much of a difference here?

Does a good board have to cost more than 200$. Happy to spend money on a good board that is future proof or at least upgradeable.

The audio card I use is the E-MU 1212m that needs two slots. I am mentioning this since I am not sure if this has importance about the size of the motherboard. It should be ATX sized I think.



What about motherboards from other makes? Is MSI any good? How about the Z77 Mpower board? But then I read the bad points about it and..

Is Asus generally loved or hated? What are people's experiences with it? Or Gigabyte?

asus cards are the quietest in the industry, and they run really cool to. the card you listed uses a stock 1 fan cooler which is really noisy and temp. inefficient.

it has good overclocking potential and its the perfect balance of price/features/performance ratio on the market. it is the most recommended motherboard right now

by good board do you mean motherboard? if so any motherboard that costs more than the extreme4 is just wasteful spending, you get things you either wont use and they just arent worth the cash you spend on them

other manufacturers do make good boards but asrock boards tend to be the best for the price. msi boards tend to be a bit less reliable. asus makes good higher end boards but asrock is better for lower-mid end solutions. you cant go wront with an extreme4

A good board will generally cost around $200, yes. I was actually in the same situation as you, and I was debating which motherboard to get. The Mpower is a solid choice, but it is not the best option because due to the lack of Vcore offset it uses much more power when overclocked (if you are planning on doing that). I would actually recommend this board as the most future proof-

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/m...

It has dual thunderbolt ports, which would help if that technology takes off, very high quality VRMs and a plethora of features. Both Asus and Gigabyte are solid, Asus prices a little higher since they have been the top manufacturer for a long time. Don't worry about it too much, that would be my advice to you.

Edit: I do agree with the above poster though, if you are in it just for the gaming then get the extreme4 or extreme6. Either is also a solid choice, the Gigabyte just offers more if you are interested in some of that stuff. If not, extreme4 or 6 are probably your best bet for the price, or perhaps the the Gigabyte UP4-TH.

i wouldnt let thunder bolt be that "killer feature" because it hasnt really taken off yet and everything made for thunder bolt is wicked expensive and not really viable

True, and that's why I said that if he just wants it for gaming, go with the extreme4. Thunderbolt isn't viable for much now, but it has lots of potential and to get the best performance out of ultra HD monitors you will need thunderbolt.

Thank you so much for your invaluable replies. In this case it is going to be an Extreme6 since that seems the one having DisplayPort.

Why does it say "For test only" on this board for example?

This then drives me to another question, what PSU to use that is most silent but delivers enough power for this setup, oh well but that in another part of the forum.

I cannot but thank you again for your help with your advice. I will try out the Extreme6 and report back once built. Is there any particular points I need to look out for when installing the Extreme6?

500w is the max power supply you need unless you plan on sli. if you are going with a graphics card that pretty much makes the display port on the board useless though sometimes it is handy to have that spare non gaming monitor. on another note, there are not a lot of monitors with display port. motherboards are pretty easy to install, you can youtube how to build a computer and this will go over it quite well

Thanks again for finally sorting out my motherboard question. Got it in the cart and off to picking more parts now. Excellent advice and what I am reading about the Extreme6 makes me happy as well.

Not sure if SLI will be needed. I guess there will still be changes to some of the parts but before that I need to read more to know if and what I might need or not.

I am so glad the motherboard has been decided since that really was the most difficult part, for me at least.

Thanks!!

motherboards are complicated, everything is connected to it so there are many many little things you have to consider. luckily asrock makes the decision easy with very well balanced products. it should all be pretty easy from here

If I plan for SLI later on I will need 720W or more or 650 W should do?

Yes I am going with the ASRock and see how it does. Will surly report back with the build and everything. Glad you say ASRock makes it easy. Glad not to have such a steep entry to all this.

For example two of this one. Does 2GB suffice as well? Surly 4GB makes a huge difference, no?

If you plan on SLI with 2 670s, I would go for a 750W supply. 2gb is plenty unless you are planning on doing some insane graphics mods on games like Skyrim, if you are then and only then should you consider 4gb.

if you can get 4gb cards for a good price then go for it. what the memory is used for is powering displays, a 4gb card is better for a multi monitor setup

I have a normal monitor for all work and the TV. Sometimes we will be watching movies from the PC on the TV. But this is just to watch movies. We are not syncing the screens or running them both at the same time. Either at the desk and working or on the sofa watching a movie. Will I need 4GB graphics card for this? I think 2GB should suffice here, since this is not a normal "multi-monitor" setup, no?

I have heard of Skyrim and watched someone play it for about 5min and then lost interest and that was a good player, so I doubt I will do an insane graphics mods on that game. What are those graphics mods actually?

On the other hand if there are mods of the upcoming Sim City or Warfighter I might as well go with it. At this stage though with the rest of the CPU and RAM in place the 670 with 2GB should be enough for those games as well no?

Again, thanks for your help. Exciting to some here and learn something new everyday. Can't wait to fill the cart with the right items and start building..

Thanks