2600k build up to $1300, need help on mobo!

[mtal]

Hello,

I could really use some help on deciding which motherboard to get. Do I get one with firewire or get a firewire PCI card?

Mainly will be doing video editing of hd stuff, using Sony Vegas. Also Photoshop. And generally want a badass computer to last me a while.
I would like firewire to be able to hook up older camcorders.

I'm essentially trying to decide between:
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157271
(plus external Rosewill 2+1 Port Firewire/1394a Low-Profile PCI Card (Cable Bundle) Model RC-501 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6815265002


or $80 more for ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131790
because it already has firewire on it, although I would need to buy an adapter for the case.

or GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128512 is also an option.



The rest of my build is starting to look like this:

Still need a case.

Core i7-2600k

SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817151096

Intel 320 Series SSDSA2CW080G310 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820167049

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231315

Probably SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152185

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835103099

LITE-ON Black 12X Blu-ray Burner with Blu Ray 3D Feature SATA IHBS112-04 - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827106369

I will add a gpu at a later point. Probably SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity or an NVIDIA card because it supports CUDA

Thanks for your input!

 

[rvilkman]

I am assuming you intend to overclock according to what you have selected, so i would leave out the Asrock board because of that.
The Asus board is a much better overclocker. It also comes with better warranty.

The gigabyte is a good board, I actually use one in my i5 2500k system, but the problem is that it doesn't support PCIe Gen3 so it's lacking some future proofing.

That being said, since you don't really intend to do gaming you will probably do fine with a PCIe Gen2 board. And generally the PCIe Gen2 16x will be quite sufficient for handling the level of graphics you intend to install.

So either of the options is fine, just don't get the asrock.

As for case:
depends what you are looking for in it and what your budget is, but you can get good basics at about $50-60
like Rosewill Challenger U3, Antec One, Cooler Master HAF912

Then at about $100 you get to the next level of goodness and like Lian Li aluminum cases, Cooler Master HAF 922

The when looking at $130-150 you get to ones like Cooler Master HAF 932, NZXT Phantom, Corsair Carbide 500R, Rosewill Thor

All good cases , but just depends on budget and what you are looking for: Looks, Connectivity, Cooling, Sound profile, Expandability etc.

SSD: Unless you are going for the highest possible reliability, you should probably look at SataIII and sandforce based drives or Crucial M4 or Samsung 830
You should be able to get a either a faster 64GB model or up to 120GB model which would still be faster than the 80GB Intel drive.

 

[mtal]

rvilkman, thanks for you advice. i'll probably go with the asus board for future proofability. budget case is fine...not really interested in looks.

regarding the ssd, i had already bought the 80gb sataII drive for about $80 with a rebate. I might have to sell it as I can't return it since i already got the rebate on it. i'll look into it.

thanks again for your advice.

 

[pacioli]

The intel 320 series tops the chart for reliability. Not so much for speed...

 

[rvilkman]

It still beats a HDD for boot times and app launching, so it's not too bad. I use the 120GB version at work and it's cool.

 

[mtal]

Best answer selected by mtal.