Good ATX motherboard?

[shaunw50]

Hey

So I'm looking for a good atx motherboard that doesn't cost a lot.

Has to have Sata 3 ports for ssd, atleast 2 pci 3.0 slots and a good overclocker.

Any thoughts

 

[malbluff]

Probably the cheapest, decent quality board, that gives good OC, and full crossfire/SLi support is Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H. The ASRock Extreme 3, is an alternative, budget option.

 

[shaunw50]

Probably the cheapest, decent quality board, that gives good OC, and full crossfire/SLi support is Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H. The ASRock Extreme 3, is an alternative, budget option.

What about this?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asrock-z77-extreme-4-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-(x16)-d-sub-dvi-d-hdmi-a

Will be using ivy bridge cpu with water coolor

 

[barter]

What about this?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asrock-z77-extreme-4-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-(x16)-d-sub-dvi-d-hdmi-a

Will be using ivy bridge cpu with water coolor

£25 cheaper but unsure about water cooling tbh

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-z77a-g45-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-(x16)-d-sub-dvi-d-hdmi-atx

 

[shaunw50]

£25 cheaper but unsure about water cooling tbh

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-z77a-g45-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-(x16)-d-sub-dvi-d-hdmi-atx

Is this MSI board good?

 

[Guest]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77-express-ivy-bridge-benchmark,3254-26.html

Review of that MSi board.

 

[shaunw50]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77-express-ivy-bridge-benchmark,3254-26.html

Review of that MSi board.

So the asrock board is better according to that

 

[barter]

i read that review when i was picking parts but the review says...

For another $5, ASRock’s Z77 Extreme4 adds an extra pair of USB 3.0 ports and an extra pair of SATA 6Gb/s connectors. It does not support a third graphics card, but the chipset these boards use can’t do that properly anyway. We can’t concede value leadership to ASRock’s extra controllers though, because the board also gives up the TruStudio Pro suite that’s probably about as valuable as one of those two extra on-board chips. That makes the Z77 Extreme4 a value match to the TZ77XE3, with user preference determining the true winner.

MSI’s Z77A-G45 comes with huge heat sinks that enable the low voltage regulator temperatures we crave. But looking past that slight thermal advantage, the board is otherwise equipped similarly to the TZ77XE3. MSI gives up the Port 80 diagnostics display, but gives back a row of handy voltage detection points along the board’s front edge. Showing similar worth from the hardware side, MSI’s $10 higher price makes the value argument much more difficult. And that’s before we consider that the board doesn’t include Virtu MVP software to make better use of Intel’s integrated GPUs.

but on that review the ASrock board was cheaper but here in the UK the MSI is £30 cheaper which is about 25%...for me the MSI was best value(so that was the one i bought and i'm happy)

 

[shaunw50]

i read that review when i was picking parts but the review says...

For another $5, ASRock’s Z77 Extreme4 adds an extra pair of USB 3.0 ports and an extra pair of SATA 6Gb/s connectors. It does not support a third graphics card, but the chipset these boards use can’t do that properly anyway. We can’t concede value leadership to ASRock’s extra controllers though, because the board also gives up the TruStudio Pro suite that’s probably about as valuable as one of those two extra on-board chips. That makes the Z77 Extreme4 a value match to the TZ77XE3, with user preference determining the true winner.

MSI’s Z77A-G45 comes with huge heat sinks that enable the low voltage regulator temperatures we crave. But looking past that slight thermal advantage, the board is otherwise equipped similarly to the TZ77XE3. MSI gives up the Port 80 diagnostics display, but gives back a row of handy voltage detection points along the board’s front edge. Showing similar worth from the hardware side, MSI’s $10 higher price makes the value argument much more difficult. And that’s before we consider that the board doesn’t include Virtu MVP software to make better use of Intel’s integrated GPUs.

but on that review the ASrock board was cheaper but here in the UK the MSI is £30 cheaper which is about 25%...for me the MSI was best value(so that was the one i bought and i'm happy)

Alright, thanks for your help!

 

[wr6133]

I would avoid the ASRock due to this, as you plan watercooling and I assume then decent overclcoks you dont want question marks like this

http://www.overclock.net/t/1271002/asrock-z77-vrm-phase-cooling-badly-needed

I would use this as malbluff suggested

http://www.cclonline.com/product/78337/GA-Z77X-D3H/Motherboards/Gigabyte-GA-Z77X-D3H-Motherboard/MBD0356/

or if you can fork out an extra 23 quid this

http://www.cclonline.com/product/78336/GA-Z77X-UD3H/Motherboards/Gigabyte-GA-Z77X-UD3H-Motherboard/MBD0355/

I use the second one I linked you can get some meaty OC's on it (any Ultra Durable from Gbyte has always given me good OC's)

 

[shaunw50]

I would avoid the ASRock due to this, as you plan watercooling and I assume then decent overclcoks you dont want question marks like this

http://www.overclock.net/t/1271002/asrock-z77-vrm-phase-cooling-badly-needed

I would use this as malbluff suggested

http://www.cclonline.com/product/78337/GA-Z77X-D3H/Motherboards/Gigabyte-GA-Z77X-D3H-Motherboard/MBD0356/

or if you can fork out an extra 23 quid this

http://www.cclonline.com/product/78336/GA-Z77X-UD3H/Motherboards/Gigabyte-GA-Z77X-UD3H-Motherboard/MBD0355/

I use the second one I linked you can get some meaty OC's on it (any Ultra Durable from Gbyte has always given me good OC's)

I was thinking this

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-z77-mpower-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-raid-pcie-30-dport-hdmi-atx

It been tested at overclock at 4.6ghz with water cooling in a hot environment and it lives!

 

[wr6133]

Just have to hope it isn't DOA .... the MSI way

It does seem to be reviewed well though, personally I'll stick using Gigabytes but I cant find any reliable negative reviews or information on that MSI board. I will say 4.6 is not an extreme clock its about the accepted peak for IB without shutting off features or using very serious cooling.

 

[shaunw50]

Just have to hope it isn't DOA .... the MSI way

It does seem to be reviewed well though, personally I'll stick using Gigabytes but I cant find any reliable negative reviews or information on that MSI board. I will say 4.6 is not an extreme clock its about the accepted peak for IB without shutting off features or using very serious cooling.

Well I will be getting a corsair h100 water cooler, I am really stuck which motherboard to get there so many....

I want a motherboard that works, good at overclocking and has a good reputation and won't break in 1 years time? any thoughts.

 

[wr6133]

I always recommend Gigabyte both my main machines in my home use Gigabyte boards my Intel rig uses the GA-Z77X-UD3H http://www.cclonline.com/product/78336/GA-Z77X-UD3H/Motherboards/Gigabyte-GA-Z77X-UD3H-Motherboard/MBD0355/ my AMD uses the equivalent UD3 board for AMD.

I manage stable overclocks on both (using air) and the boards are reasonably well featured (though I'm not a lover of the BIOS in the Intel board but thats because I like old fashioned type BIOS screens).

I actually gave my father an old machine in early 2010 that used a 2009 vintage 770-UD3 board from gigabyte its still running fine now after having had a hefty OC run on it since I first built the thing.

 

[shaunw50]

I always recommend Gigabyte both my main machines in my home use Gigabyte boards my Intel rig uses the GA-Z77X-UD3H http://www.cclonline.com/product/78336/GA-Z77X-UD3H/Motherboards/Gigabyte-GA-Z77X-UD3H-Motherboard/MBD0355/ my AMD uses the equivalent UD3 board for AMD.

I manage stable overclocks on both (using air) and the boards are reasonably well featured (though I'm not a lover of the BIOS in the Intel board but thats because I like old fashioned type BIOS screens).

I actually gave my father an old machine in early 2010 that used a 2009 vintage 770-UD3 board from gigabyte its still running fine now after having had a hefty OC run on it since I first built the thing.

Do that board go with the new intel ivy bridge and also will the corsair h100 fit on it?

 

[wr6133]

Yes and Yes

Z77 boards are the chipset for Ivybridge. The h100 will fit the board fine. Make sure you get a case you can mount the radiator on nicely with the h100 though

 

[shaunw50]

Yes and Yes

Z77 boards are the chipset for Ivybridge. The h100 will fit the board fine. Make sure you get a case you can mount the radiator on nicely with the h100 though

Yes.

Other problem I have now is the GPU, which gtx 670 was thinking this one.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-evga-gtx-670-ftw-signature-ii-28nm-pcie-30-(x16)-6208mhz-gddr5-gpu-1006mhz-cores-1344-dp-dvi-hdm

Also do you think £1000 or little less is worth it for a gaming pc

 

[wr6133]

Calculating if its worth it is down to who you ask. I say yes if you can afford £1000 for a gaming PC and PC gaming is something you enjoy and want to pursue then its great value. That £1000 PC you build is going to give you many thousands of hours of gaming.

You wont go wrong with a GTX670 using a single 1080p screen it'll max out anything you play

 

[shaunw50]

Calculating if its worth it is down to who you ask. I say yes if you can afford £1000 for a gaming PC and PC gaming is something you enjoy and want to pursue then its great value. That £1000 PC you build is going to give you many thousands of hours of gaming.

You wont go wrong with a GTX670 using a single 1080p screen it'll max out anything you play

Would you say this
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-evga-gtx-670-ftw-signature-ii-28nm-pcie-30-(x16)-6208mhz-gddr5-gpu-1006mhz-cores-1344-dp-dvi-hdm

Is a good gtx 670?

 

[malbluff]

There was a good article on Tom's, at the end of June, testing 7 versions of the GTX670.

 

[shaunw50]

There was a good article on Tom's, at the end of June, testing 7 versions of the GTX670.

Any chance you know the link?

 

[malbluff]

No but if you Google "best gtx670" it should give that tom's article (among others)

 

[shaunw50]

No but if you Google "best gtx670" it should give that tom's article (among others)

Found it! http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-670-test-review,3217-2.html

So which do you like best?

 

[wr6133]

Whichever you find that costs the least...... the performance figures are close enough tht really its not worth spending alot more on 1 than an another (especially as they all have decent cooling so you can easily increase the overclocks yourself)

 

[malbluff]

If budget will stretch, and you have the patience to wait for one, the Asus TOP is outstanding. I tried to get one recently, and gave up. As I understand it, they are having problems getting adequate quality components (don't know how true that is, or when that may ease). Other than that I'd have no argument with Tom's vote for the Gigabyte. Good quality, runs reasonable cool, and should overclock well. Evga are OK, and have good rep for after sales service, but not sure performance is all that special. Up until very recently, I would have said MSI Power Edition, but there are one or two concerns as to how they are achieving its performance, that have yet to be satisfactorily resolved.