Motherboard and memory compatibility

[Bzoucha]

ok so i'm looking at this motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138352

for my new i5 3470, does the motherboard look descent at least? and as for the ram, it says (1866 (OC), 1600), so does that mean i can buy and install 1866 ram or just overclock the 1600 ram to 1866?

thanks!

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

for my new i5 3470, does the motherboard look descent at least? and as for the ram, it says (1866 (OC), 1600), so does that mean i can buy and install 1866 ram or just overclock the 1600 ram to 1866?

It's not great, but it'll do, and to your RAM question, if you want 1866 RAM, buy 1866 RAM. I wouldn't worry with trying to overclock 1600 RAM to 1866.

That said, there's no real reason to get 1866 RAM over 1600 (or trying to OC 1600 RAM to 1866). There's virtually zero performance difference between them. Only able to be seen in benchmarks, and even then, it's really not that impressive.

 

[Bzoucha]

ok thanks! and the reason i like the biostar is because the amount of features it has for only $80, even app control. anyway in the long run which one of these would be best for my system?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138352

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157297

 

[Hazle]

rarely heard a lot of people recommending a Biostar board, though Asrock however is a different story. build quality may not be top notch, common complaint being most of their cheap boards are thinner than others, but it does sell with some good customer review so that's something.

as for the board's memory compatibility, no other way to know than their product website;

http://www.biostar-usa.com/app/en-us/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=579

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.us.asp?cat=Memory&Model=Z77%20Pro3

while i have no doubt that some RAM model/serials that are not listed here may work, it's better safe than sorry. also double check it's CPU compatibility. some boards don't support certain CPUs without a BIOS update.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

ok thanks! and the reason i like the biostar is because the amount of features it has for only $80, even app control. anyway in the long run which one of these would be best for my system?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138352

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157297

Since you can't really overclock much with the 3470, either board would be OK. The Biostar board is the best of the two for overclocking (barely), but the ASRock board is the better board overall.