Narrowed down to 3 Z68 mobos

[Paynus]

I'm purchasing this week, Microcenter is running a combo deal with the i5 2500k.
I'm wanting to game, virtual box, & possibly edit movies in the future. All 3 of these boards seem to be the same but I thought I'd ask the experts here before I purchased.

GA-Z68AP-D3 = 35.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128538

GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 = 60.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128495

AsRock Z68 pro3-M = 55.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157252&Tpk=pro3-m

Thank you for looking.

 

[xtremegamer2da-max]

get a asrock z68 extreme3

 

[Darth415]

I think the micro atx gigabyte offers the most features. Only problem is... You need to be careful with those upward facing sata ports. If you put a long graphics card in the second port, it could block some of the sata ports. However, if you put one in the first, and one on the bottom, you will not have this problem. Of course, you will only have to think about this if you do sli/crossfire.

 

[Paynus]

Thank you for your responses. I'm leaning towards the Giga that is full ATX so I would have all of the PCI options just in case. I know Giga is still using the lame bios but I don't plan on spending eons with the bios. I'll overclock and that's it.

Just want to bounce it off of you guys to make sure I'm thinking correctly.
One more thing: I don't plan on crossfire, however is there any cards/purpose with that other pci-express slot? I'm not sure if people still use physx cards but if I were to add a physx card to the other pci-express slot will it dumb down the other pci-express slot (slowing my graphics card)?

 

[Paynus]

Best answer selected by Paynus.

 

[barflydc]

I think the micro atx gigabyte offers the most features. Only problem is... You need to be careful with those upward facing sata ports. If you put a long graphics card in the second port, it could block some of the sata ports. However, if you put one in the first, and one on the bottom, you will not have this problem. Of course, you will only have to think about this if you do sli/crossfire.

I just built a system with this board and the sata ports are not that big a problem. You have to install the ram and the sata cables before the gpu and you shouldn't have any problem.

 

[Darth415]

I just built a system with this board and the sata ports are not that big a problem. You have to install the ram and the sata cables before the gpu and you shouldn't have any problem.

Cool. Your board is obviously better than my friends then. Even if he tries 90 degree flat cables they still hit. He can only use 2 sata ports lol!

P.s. his board is not any of the boards mentioned above. It is an amd.

 

[Darth415]

Thank you for your responses. I'm leaning towards the Giga that is full ATX so I would have all of the PCI options just in case. I know Giga is still using the lame bios but I don't plan on spending eons with the bios. I'll overclock and that's it.

Just want to bounce it off of you guys to make sure I'm thinking correctly.
One more thing: I don't plan on crossfire, however is there any cards/purpose with that other pci-express slot? I'm not sure if people still use physx cards but if I were to add a physx card to the other pci-express slot will it dumb down the other pci-express slot (slowing my graphics card)?

The only thing that will use that other slot is a graphics card, or EXTREMELY expensive solid state drives that are VERY fast.

A physx card shouldn't slow your first slot very much(if at all). Even gtx 580 cards show minimal bottlenecking when plugged into a x16 slot operating at x8, so I wouldn't worry about it a bit.