When are the upper end Z77's going on sale?

[agentsmith30303]

Hey all,

I am currently in the planning stages of what will hopefully be a under $1000 Gaming build. While I understand CPU's, GPUs, RAM, and other thing, the motherboard is a little bit of a mystery for me. So I was using the Toms Hardware article ( http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77x-up5-th-z77a-gd80-z77-oc-formula,3305.html ) as a good starting to point after I decided on the intel i5 3570k.

So using that article I thought I should go with either the:
Z77 Sabertooh
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821

or

Gigabyte Z77X UP5 TH
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128559

So my question is... are the prices on either of these motherboards likely to drop in the near future (i.e. Christmas) or should I settle for a board closer to my budget range?

 

[agentsmith30303]

Anyone...?

I guess I could just rephrase the question... With the intel i5 3570k, what is the best motherboard to have for a $1000 gaming build, and WHY?

I figure I want a board that can support:
DDR3 1600 RAM
At least two Graphic Card Slots, though initially only buying one
Does not bottleneck either the GPU or two graphics cards

 

[DarkSable]

You're spending WAY too much money on a motherboard. I wouldn't worry about the motherboard BUS bottlenecking, either.

The Sabertooth is a marketing scheme, you're better off with a normal ASUS motherboard - and even then, you don't need it.

Go with either a Gigabyte UD3H (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544) or an AsRock Extreme 4 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293)

The Gigabyte will be better for dual graphics, but it's a bit more expensive.
That being said, what graphics cards are you going to be using? With a budget like that, I can almost guarantee you that spending more for a better card is a better option than crossfire/SLI of a lower end card.

 

[agentsmith30303]

You're spending WAY too much money on a motherboard. I wouldn't worry about the motherboard BUS bottlenecking, either.

The Sabertooth is a marketing scheme, you're better off with a normal ASUS motherboard - and even then, you don't need it.

Go with either a Gigabyte UD3H (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544) or an AsRock Extreme 4 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293)

The Gigabyte will be better for dual graphics, but it's a bit more expensive.
That being said, what graphics cards are you going to be using? With a budget like that, I can almost guarantee you that spending more for a better card is a better option than crossfire/SLI of a lower end card.

Thanks for the reply DarkSable!

Originally I was thinking about the AMD HD Radeon 7870s'
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/his-video-card-h787f2g2m

Though I didnt really have a brand preference.

I was also thinking of buying an SSD for this build, is it worth it with either of these motherboards?