Mobo Reccomendation

[chris2341]

I am looking at building a new rig and I have everything pretty well set as to what I am going to get except the mobo and CPU. The CPU will be either 2500k or 2600k I'll decide before I buy if the hundred is worth it. I am looking for a motherboard for one of thes LGA1155, so that it will be as Ivy Bridge compatible as possible. I dont mind spending 200+ on the mobo if it is worth the extra features, Currently I am looking around 150 -200 for the board.

Basically best bang for your buck lga1155 mobo, btw I'm going for a black/red theme in a haf 922 - so if it is at all possible to get these colours it would be excellent, not really stuck on the colour just a plus

Other components:
Haf 922
CM 212+
4 Sticks of DDR G. Skills Ram
Will eventually get a new GPU, I hope to have SLI compatibility

Thanks For any input

 

[sosofm]

Best bang for your buck lga1155 mobo what support SLI , Crossfire , good for overclocking , PCIE 3.0 is:
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 122$
Here some other options close by your theme:
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128498
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P LGA 1155 Intel Z68
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128506
ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z/GEN3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131806
ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264
ASRock Z68 PROFESSIONAL GEN3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157263
This is a P67 mobo : TweakTown Best Performance Award
ASRock Fatal1ty P67 PROFESSIONAL (B3)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157240

 

[a4mula]

Do you need support for 2 gpus?

Do you need support for 3 gpus?

Do you need internal usb 3 headers (for usb 3.0 case)

These are really the only three questions anyone ever needs to ask themselves about Z68. I guess you could make a case for pci-e 3.0 support.. but not really at least until IB is here.

Every Z68 board supports SRT, Quicksync, 2x SATA 6Gb/s, virtually equal overclocking. Keep in mind that if you jump to P67 you lose SRT and Quicksync along with the ability to use your IGP.

If you want an x8/x8 pci-e 3.0 ready (IB required), with internal usb 3.0 headers I'd recommend the Asus Maximus IV Gene $179.99, it even matches your colors.

If you need something that's going to support 3 gpus, you'll need to look at the NF200 offerings such as the Asrock Extreme7 $279.99

If you don't care about usb 3.0 or x8/x8 dual gpu support then you can literally pick the cheapest motherboard of the lot.

 

[chris2341]

I really like that Asus MicroAtx board that both of you recommend but I'm not completely sold on using mATX, especially with a cm 212+ and lots of ram.

I would like pci-e 3.0 and support for atleast 2 GPU's, I wont be using these features for a little bit but I will eventually.

As I understand it it is best to go with LGA1155 Z68 to "future proof" for atleast a few quarters....?

I have only ever dealt with ASUS boards in the past are gigabyte and ASrock reputable companies?

 

[a4mula]

Personally I stay away from Gigabyte when I can. With that being said they are a premium motherboard manufacturer and along with Asus represent the two most trusted names in motherboards. Asrock is more of a newcomer to the scene and while they had QC issues in the past they've really positioned themselves at this point in time as a not only a reputable brand, but one that packs a ton of value in their boards. While I've never owned one of their boards, I'd have no problem at all purchasing one.

Something to keep in mind here. Once you start getting up around that $200 price tag for Z68 motherboards it really starts to encroach upon X79 territory, especially if you're considering a 2600K. If these two things appear to be the case then you might consider taking a look at LGA2011 and the 3820.

 

[chris2341]

I am really considering LGA 2011, hopefully it will be supported for sometime to come, I know that LGA 1155 is going to be good for a little while and the current CPU's are half the price of LGA 2011.

I found an interesting comparison of the 3820 to the other intel processors here:

http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i73820-QuadCore-Sandy-BridgeE-CPU-Review/?page=8

It's worth a read but compares the 3820 to the 2700k which I believe is slightly faster than the 2600k?

Going to the X79 boards also seems to up the price for Quad Channel ram, is it faster than Dual Channel or worth the money?

So A setup with the 3820 $285 - when it is released, any ideas how soon that will be?

A cheaper x79 mobo : - Nice bundle with USB 3.0 front panel
ASRock X79 Extreme6 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157289

And an extra 35 for ram would end up being 570 plus tax

Compared to an i7 2600k for 320

And a middle of the road z68 mobo - 195
ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=hxbo0em2lori

Would come to $515 plus tax

Sorry for the lengthy reply but basically for me it comes down to:
Will LGA2011 be supported for long enough and are the features that much of a benefit over LGA 1155 boards/CPUs and is the Ram any faster so that it is worth spending the $55?

As well mATX vs ATX what are you thoughts?

 

[a4mula]

1155 is the mainstream socket. It'll support at least Ivy Bridge which means it's got a minimum shelf life of about a year. There is no indication either way as to if 22nm Haswell will be supported. You also should keep in mind that when IB ships the new Z77 chipset will replace Z68. Not a huge deal as the only thing Z77 adds is native Intel usb 3.0 support, well that and thuderbolt support.

2011 on the other hand is only guaranteed through SB-e. There is speculation that it will support IB-e, but that is just guessing at this point. If I had to guess, based on the past history with 1366 I'd say it will, but Intel doesn't take its cues from me, so who knows. Either way, you're looking at about a year of 2011 being king of the hill.

As far as future-proofing today, there's no comparison between Z68 and X79. X79 wins hands down. It's a full fledged pci-e 3.0 chipset that is supported by current 2011 cpus. No need to wait for Ivy Bridge. It also doubles the pci-e ondie lanes, going from 20 to 40. All told X79 has quadruple the pci-e bandwidth over Z68.

Does any of it matter? Honestly it's tough to say. From a pure gaming standpoint the 7970 has shown only very minor (1-3%) degradation using pci-2.0 x8 lanes. What we are seeing though is the computation power of the new AMD gpus is direcly bottlenecked by pci-e 2.0. We also know that SATA 6Gb/s is quickly running out of bandwidth to modern day SSDs. If SSD speeds continue to grow in a linear fashion then the extra pci-e bandwidth could quite possibly be a godsend down the road.

For a premium that's under $100 I'd say picking X79 is a pretty easy decision. That's just my opinion however.

 

[aqe040466]

I am looking at building a new rig and I have everything pretty well set as to what I am going to get except the mobo and CPU. The CPU will be either 2500k or 2600k I'll decide before I buy if the hundred is worth it. I am looking for a motherboard for one of thes LGA1155, so that it will be as Ivy Bridge compatible as possible. I dont mind spending 200+ on the mobo if it is worth the extra features, Currently I am looking around 150 -200 for the board.

Basically best bang for your buck lga1155 mobo, btw I'm going for a black/red theme in a haf 922 - so if it is at all possible to get these colours it would be excellent, not really stuck on the colour just a plus

Other components:
Haf 922
CM 212+
4 Sticks of DDR G. Skills Ram
Will eventually get a new GPU, I hope to have SLI compatibility

Thanks For any input

Well a lot of mobo out therte in the market right now, but I can't recommend any brand. Just consider the following advantages of a Z68 chipset mobo: Intel SRT, LUCID Virtu and if you want to consider using the buit in GPU of Intel i5 2500K or 2600K, a Z68 chipset mobo is a reasonable choice. I suggest this because right now I'm using intel i5 2500K overclocked at 4.7 GHZ and utilizing the built in GPU of the CPU while still saving few more bucks until summer to buy a higher end video card.

 

[chris2341]

Best answer selected by chris2341.