USB 3.0 Support?

SyntaxSocialist

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I've been reading up on chipsets and motherboards and whatnot in order to try and narrow down my choices for the motherboard that will go into my first build. I'm planning to get an i5-3350P or 3570.

According to Wikipedia, "Integrated USB 3.0 support is present in the Z75, Z77, H77, Q75, Q77 and B75 chipsets intended for Ivy Bridge CPUs." Does that mean that a mobo without one of these chipsets won't have USB 3.0 support (i.e.: no USB 3.0 ports or 20-pin connectors)?
 
Solution
No,
On those boards it's about the Intel chipset with USB 3.0 support. On other boards third party controllers are present (Asmedia, Via a.s.o). AMD boards also have USB 3.0 support.
Older boards might support though only USB 2.0
No,
On those boards it's about the Intel chipset with USB 3.0 support. On other boards third party controllers are present (Asmedia, Via a.s.o). AMD boards also have USB 3.0 support.
Older boards might support though only USB 2.0
 
Solution


1155 Z77 is the gamers choice. The chipset and features are generally aimed at the gamer.

When spending at least $800 on a gaming PC it should look something like this:
- CPU, i5-3570K
- motherboard, 1155/Z77 (Asrock/MSI/Gigabyte/Asus)
- 8GB (2x4GB) of DDR3 1600MHz (higher frequency isn't that important)
- HD7850 2GB (or greater up to an HD7970 or GTX680)
- 550W or 650W PSU (quality with suitable 6-pin/8-pin for graphics card)
- Windows 8 64-bit OEM + Stardock's Start8
 

SyntaxSocialist

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Hey, thanks photon! I'll keep that in mind! A lot of those recommendations I had already planned to implement. I was thinking Windows 7, though.

Does this (below) sound like a computer that would benefit from the Z77?

- I'm working on a budget of about $1000 (hopefully less) before monitor and peripherals.
- I want to use the system for fairly high-end gaming. Crysis 3, Bioshock Infinite, and Witcher 3 are among my list of future game purchases (I am looking at buying a Radeon HD 7800 series or 7900 series video card).
- I don't think I need SLI or Crossfire, but I wouldn't mind if I had it. My thinking is that my usage will tolerate a single high-quality video card just fine, and if I decide I really want SLI or Crossfire, I can include them in a future build.
- I don't intend to overclock (at least not for a few years).
- 8GB of RAM should be plenty