New Build - So many motherboards!!

[raptor137]

Hello all,

I've done my fair bit of research, and most of the way I know what I want. What I would really like to know if what I want will be a good computer! There are a few things here and there that I'm not to sure about which are commented in. Any light that you guys can shed on those issues would be really appreciated! So here goes! =D

Approximate Purchase Date: Latest date will be 31/08/2012

Budget Range: £700

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Digital Media Production (meaning most of Adobe CS apps), Gaming.

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Hard Drives, GPU (HD4870)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: www.scan.co.uk, www.overclockers.co.uk.

Country: United Kingdom

Parts Preferences:
Processor: Intel i5 3570k - I would love a i7 but I really don't see the benefit of that jump in price for the 3770K, yes I do video editing but I can have an extra cup of tea or two in that rendering time. =) From a gaming point of view, I've heard it's overkill anyway. Amarite guys? Don't you make me want that 3770K!
Cooling: Corsair Hydro H100 - Good for overclocking from the reviews I've read, I like how neat it is to not have a gargantuan dissipater bang in the middle of my case.
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V PRO, Asus Sabertooth Z77, Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H, MSI Z77A-GD65 - this was the whole reason I came here in the first place, I've read all the reviews and roundups, but I just can't make my mind up. My primary consideration here is CPU overclocking, beyond that I'm really not fussed how many USB 3.0 ports it has or how many SATA III ports, whatever they have will be sufficient for my needs. I want performance, not bells and whistles. =)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 500R - it's clean, it's black, if there's anything equal discrete with better airflow I'm open to suggestions!
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Jet Black 16GB DDR3 1600 MHz - This 2x8GB kit allows me to buy another kit in the future to double up, I really don't know much about RAM, so if there's anything out there that's better, please let me know as I've really just gone for looks here. =P
PSU: 650W OCZ ZT - as far as I can tell, this will be sufficient for my needs, running max 3 HDD's and a 4870, by the end of the year that will be 3 HDD's, an SSD and a GTX660Ti or equivalent, will 650W be enough? I don't ever plan on SLI or anything above that £250~ GPU bracket.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: No, not even in the future.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I think I've written pretty much everything I had to say in line. Counting the Asus P8Z77-V PRO as my motherboard (the one I'm currently leaning towards) this current build on Scan.co.uk is running up to £674.20, just under my £700 budget. Also, the reason I'm keeping the 4870 for now is that I really wont have time to game on it until end of the year, but I have a few projects going on and I definitely need a rig to work on. Keeping the old banger of a GPU will stop me from procrastinating and give me a nice upgrade to look forward to. So once I get paid for those projects, I'll get the rest of the kit I want, an SSD, RAM double up, GPU.

Can't wait to hear your recommendations guys!

Cheers,
Greg.

 

[Nw333]

Z77-UD3H from Gigabyte(i think) is a great mobo.

 

[raptor137]

Thanks for your input nw333, I was hoping for a slightly more in depth discussion regarding the ins and outs of those motherboards..

 

[Nw333]

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4153#sp
There, hopefully that will give you an idea of what the motherboard has instore for you.

*You already have a UD5H mobo there. Didnt notice that. Id get that instead of the UD3H. My bad.

 

[jacknhut]

The Z77V-Pro and Z77 Sabertooth is essentially identical internally. Only difference between them is the thermal armor, which does help dissipate heat a little bit but that is totally not significant enough to justify anything.

The Gigabyte Z77X UD5H is a bit cheaper than the Asus counterpart but it does have everything the Asus boards got to offer if not more. Only downside to this is the software which needs to be refreshed (Easytune). Asus boards come with a fully load of useful software such as Fan Expert and other stuff, which can potentially replace fan controller if you don't have too many fans in the case.

MSI board is good too in terms of overclocking stability and features but it is no Asus in terms of quality.

All the boards you listed are pretty much identical in terms of overclocking headroom/stability, featurewise the Gigabyte board is probably the most well-equipped (dual NIC, firewire etc..) and come cheaper than the Asus. I don't particularly have a preference between Asus and Gigabyte since they are pretty much equal in quality, just pick the one you prefer.

Edit: FYI, the Gigabyte board has a draw back in terms of DPC latency, which is fixable via a bios update (have to check with Gigabyte if/when they will release the update).

 

[raptor137]

Thanks for the link nw333, I've looked at all the numbers and charts for the mobos I've posted.
What I'm really looking for is some real world overclocking experience people have had with those mobos and any caveats I should be aware of!

 

[raptor137]

Thanks for the info jacknhut!
Exactly the kinda stuff I wanted to hear! =)
Over here the price difference between the ASUS and Gigabyte is only £5.00, so I guess it does just come down to preference.
Personally I wont benefit much from the dual NIC nor firewire.
Could you elaborate more on the software side ASUS seems to excel on?

 

[jacknhut]

Thanks for the info jacknhut!
Exactly the kinda stuff I wanted to hear! =)
Over here the price difference between the ASUS and Gigabyte is only £5.00, so I guess it does just come down to preference.
Personally I wont benefit much from the dual NIC nor firewire.
Could you elaborate more on the software side ASUS seems to excel on?

Asus UEFI Graphical Bios is extremely user friendly, easy to nagivate and adjustable. The Fan Expert software let you not only monitor RPM of each individual fans but adjust the RPM accordingly to reduce noise, which is a very valuable feature to have and it acts basically like a fan controller. Other useful softwares include Turbo Evo which let you have full control of motherboard/CPU adjustments and you can do it in real time to test the system stability without going back to Bios, Wifi streaming feature, USB 3.0 Charger to booste the charge time of your smartphone etc... Full list of featuers can be found here http://www.anandtech.com/show/5793/intel-z77-motherboard-review-with-ivy-bridge-asrock-asus-gigabyte-and-msi/5.

 

[raptor137]

Asus UEFI Graphical Bios is extremely user friendly, easy to nagivate and adjustable. The Fan Expert software let you not only monitor RPM of each individual fans but adjust the RPM accordingly to reduce noise, which is a very valuable feature to have and it acts basically like a fan controller. Other useful softwares include Turbo Evo which let you have full control of motherboard/CPU adjustments and you can do it in real time to test the system stability without going back to Bios, Wifi streaming feature, USB 3.0 Charger to booste the charge time of your smartphone etc... Full list of featuers can be found here http://www.anandtech.com/show/5793/intel-z77-motherboard-review-with-ivy-bridge-asrock-asus-gigabyte-and-msi/5.

Definitely an impressive suite of software, I'll be sticking with my initial hunch and stay with the ASUS. Thanks for informing me on that decision!
One more question for you, do you think a 650W PSU will be sufficient to power it with the planned upgrade mentioned in the comments of the original post?

 

[jacknhut]

Definitely an impressive suite of software, I'll be sticking with my initial hunch and stay with the ASUS. Thanks for informing me on that decision!
One more question for you, do you think a 650W PSU will be sufficient to power it with the planned upgrade mentioned in the comments of the original post?

Yes 650W is more than enough for any single card set up (except for the 1000 dollars dual GPU single card one which I don't think you will ever need anyway).