Best gaming motherboard for i5-3570k

[Ynkeeblood9]

So i am trying to build the most bad ass gaming rig i can get for around $2200 and i am really confused with all the different motherboard options on the market, i am going with the ivy bridge i5 3570k CPU and would really like to know which mobo matches best with this cpu in terms of best gaming performance? After the research i had originally done i had it down to either the Maximus V formula or extreme.


THanks in advance!

 

[idroid]

The best Z77 motherboard: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-p8z77vpremium


The best bang/buck motherboard: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz77xud3h

My recommendation given your budget: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z77extreme6

 

[FinneousPJ]

The cheapest one that has all the connectors you need.

 

[idroid]

The cheapest one that has all the connectors you need.

BS, for this budget he can have a nice motherboard with a big and high quality power phases with a PLX chip.

 

[CaptainTom]

BS, for this budget he can have a nice motherboard with a big and high quality power phases with a PLX chip.

And this will get him what for more than double the price?

 

[FinneousPJ]

Sure but that doesn't affect performance in a meaningful way, it's just marketing. "Big power phases" for example are only useful for extreme overclocking which is a hobby and does not add value - quite on the contrary.

 

[vitornob]

BS, for this budget he can have a nice motherboard with a big and high quality power phases with a PLX chip.

I do agree with the high quality power phases, but a PLX chip? A PLX chip that maybe he won't ever use? I know his budget is $2200, but maybe he doesn't need to spend it all.
I doesn't remember to see considerable performance dif. using a PLX chip

 

[geofelt]

The cheapest one that has all the connectors you need.

And this will get him what for more than double the price?

Sure but that doesn't affect performance in a meaningful way, it's just marketing. "Big power phases" for example are only useful for extreme overclocking which is a hobby and does not add value - quite on the contrary.

I go with these quotes.

The 3570K at stock will drive any single graphics card very well. It will OC to about 4.3 with any Z77 based motherboard.

You will pay more, as much as $300 more than for a simple M-ATX motherboard with a single pci-e X16 slot.
Spend the savings on a better graphics card. Does one ever need more graphics power than a $1000 GTX690?
I think not, unless you are looking at triple monitor gaming.

 

[vitornob]

So i am trying to build the most bad ass gaming rig i can get for around $2200 and i am really confused with all the different motherboard options on the market, i am going with the ivy bridge i5 3570k CPU and would really like to know which mobo matches best with this cpu in terms of best gaming performance? After the research i had originally done i had it down to either the Maximus V formula or extreme.


THanks in advance!

What do you need to buy with this money?
All components + case + monitor + mouse + keyboard + etc?

 

[DeadRam]

I built a PC using the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H and the 3570 processor and I love it. I haven't had a single problem but I haven't run any benchmarks.

 

[Ynkeeblood9]

sorry i should have added my other components in here,
CM storm stryker
intel ivy bridge i5 3570k
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3
2 SLI ASUS GTX670-DC2-2GD5 GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
2TB WD HDD
not sure yet about the power supply or mobo

 

[Ynkeeblood9]

already have a keyboard and monitor and mouse

 

[redeemer]

And this will get him what for more than double the price?

2 more fps in BF3 lol

 

[redeemer]

sorry i should have added my other components in here,
CM storm stryker
intel ivy bridge i5 3570k
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3
2 SLI ASUS GTX670-DC2-2GD5 GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
2TB WD HDD
not sure yet about the power supply or mobo

Honestly a ud3h is enough, unless you want tri sli/xifre and heavy overlocking with tons of connectors.

 

[sherlockwing]

Not sure you really need a "Gaming Board" like ASUS ROG/Gigabyte Sniper/ASRock Fata1ity, these don't offer any more useful feature compared to the main stream Z77 board other maybe a better Nic but the benefit of that limited by your internet provider.

You want:
1.Good VRM for efficient Overclock
2.3 Slots between your two 8X PCIE3.0 slots for easier SLI/CLX cooling, espically with custom cooler cards.

Everything else is mostly gravy, depend on if you want Wifi+Fan control (ASUS),extra USB3.0 & dual NIC (Gigabyte), or better audio chip(ALC898 instead of ALC892->ASRock Extreme 4/6)

I personally like ASUS P8Z77V/V-Pro over the Extreme 6 because ASRock fan control is not real-time adjustable(you can only give a target temp where it goes 100%, no fan curve option) and Extreme 6 only have 2 4 pin fan header compared to ASUS/Gigabyte's 5/6 on their V/UD5H models(meaning you can use more PWN fan for best Temp/Silence balance, I like the ASUS automatic fan control(Fan Xpert2) more but you should be fine with either:

ASUS P8Z77V/V-Pro
or
Gigabyte UD5H or UD3H

 

[geofelt]

sorry i should have added my other components in here,
CM storm stryker
intel ivy bridge i5 3570k
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3
2 SLI ASUS GTX670-DC2-2GD5 GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
2TB WD HDD
not sure yet about the power supply or mobo

You are planning on two $400 GTX670 cards.

Instead, why not consider a $1000 GTX690? Yes, it costs $200 more.

But..
You will not need a expensive $300 sli capable motherboard. A $100 Z77 motherboard will do.
You would not need a 750+ w psu, a 620w psu would do.
With one great card you would have less cooling issues.
You will get 4gb of vram vs 2 on each GTX670.

 

[sherlockwing]

You are planning on two $400 GTX670 cards.

Instead, why not consider a $1000 GTX690? Yes, it costs $200 more.

But..
You will not need a expensive $300 sli capable motherboard. A $100 Z77 motherboard will do.
You would not need a 750+ w psu, a 620w psu would do.
With one great card you would have less cooling issues.
You will get 4gb of vram vs 2 on each GTX670.

What? SLI capable Mobos are very cheap, ASRock Extreme 4 is a Tom's award winner and cost $134.99, not $300. Most of the mainstream $160-220 range board all can SLI or even TriSLI, you don't need a $300+ROG or Sniper to SLI.

Also,quoting from Tom's own GTX 690 review:

Although Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 690 doesn’t fare particularly well overall, it is the second-most power-friendly solution amongst the dual-GPU configurations, just behind two GeForce GTX 680s in SLI.

650W and 750W PSUs don't differ greatly in price anyway, no justification for a $200-$250 more expensive card.


A Good airflow case will cool any of these easily, so cooling is only a concern if you are say a 550D/R4 without fan mods.

 

[idroid]

You are planning on two $400 GTX670 cards.

Instead, why not consider a $1000 GTX690? Yes, it costs $200 more.

But..
You will not need a expensive $300 sli capable motherboard. A $100 Z77 motherboard will do.
You would not need a 750+ w psu, a 620w psu would do.
With one great card you would have less cooling issues.
You will get 4gb of vram vs 2 on each GTX670.

Bullshit!

*The GTX670s can be greatly overclocked to achive a greater performance than SLI GTX680s

*300$ SLI motherboard?? WTF? a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H ($129.99) can easily handle both cards and who dafuq will spend 1000$ on a GPU and get a cheap ~80$ motherboard with no sli/crossfire support??????

*Power consumption is BS, they both consume a little amount of power, a QUALITY 750w cost about 70$ (Antec TP-750)

*Cooling issues? not if you have the right case and the GTX670 runs VERY cool.

*You do know that the GTX690 only has 2GB of VRAM, right?? 2GB on each GPU, and VRAM memory doesn't increases with multiple GPUs.

Not sure if you've already purchased your 690 or not but I will say my share anyway.

I was in the same situation as you. So I went ahead and ordered both. I had a 690 and a pair of 680s in my house. In the end I stuck with the 680s SLI. A few reasons as to why.

1. Heat. Many people think you'd get less heat with 1 card vs two. In this case you don't. The 690 gets pretty hot. As does 680 SLI. Big difference between the two? How the heat is moved. With the 690 heat will exhaust inside of your case. Your case will get very hot. Temps raised inside my case by about 10C with a 690. All because it was exhausting all that heat inside of the case. Sure, my pc could handle it. But either way it's not good for everything inside. That alone was enough to make me not want to keep the 690.

2. Future proof. In the end it's cheaper t buy two 680's and enjoy them for all they are worth. Once it's time to upgrade. Throwing another one in shouldn't be a problem. I don't have to fork out another 1k. I'm sure by then. Whatever knew card were coming would most likely make the 690 feel dated or at least not worth another one.

3. Resale Value. There is going to become a time where I don't game as much. Or maybe I'll end up seeing SLI as overkill. With 680SLI I will be able to sell one of the cards and keep the other inside my case. So I'll still have a GPU if I need it and not lose everything. Also, people are willing to spend less when used. Not more. So it's going to become a lot harder to sell a 690 in the future.

4. What If A Card Breaks? Lucky me. If I had two I could use one while the other gets fixed. 690 craps out. You'll be waiting a while for the fix and be out of a GPU.

In this case the positives just don't out weigh the negs. Is the 690 the sexiest case to date? You bet! Does it have pros!? Sure. Less power and 1 PCI slot. Also it runs on PCI 3.0 even if your running a SBE.

But it also isn't as fast as 680 SLI. Pay the same for less speed? The power difference isn't huge. I'm willing to bet anyone spending that much on a GPU would have a decent GPU to begin with. 680 SLI has more connections. Looks sexier in a case. Fills it up more vs 1 card.

In short. I'll say this. Get a 690 only if you plan to buy another one in the future. IMO that's its only selling point. You'll be running quad SLI with only two slots taken. If you only plan to run 1 690 then I see no point in getting one. As 680/670 will work better and keep your case cooler.

Hope that helps.

P.S- With the 690 you must have the connections in a certain order to be able to use all 3 monitors and max 3D performance. I wanted to use all DVI ports on the 690 for 3 monitors. What they don't tell you. In order to max your performance on a 690 you must use the display port. I just spend 1000K on a GPU. Didn't like the idea of being forced to buy an adapter just to enjoy it.

 

[Ynkeeblood9]

Ok that helps a lot, lots of info to take in and consider but im pretty sure im going to stick with the SLI gtx 670's but im still not too sure on the mobo, i am interested in OC but i dont know how to as of yet, i just want a future proof gaming PC and although price isnt a huge issue, i also dont want to spend double the price for additional performance that i wont even notice.

 

[sherlockwing]

Ok that helps a lot, lots of info to take in and consider but im pretty sure im going to stick with the SLI gtx 670's but im still not too sure on the mobo, i am interested in OC but i dont know how to as of yet, i just want a future proof gaming PC and although price isnt a huge issue, i also dont want to spend double the price for additional performance that i wont even notice.

Most of the mainstream Z77 can handle OC to a 4.5Ghz(from 3.6Ghz 4 core max boost of a i5-3570K without OC) when you need to with an acceptable voltage, it is when you go to the 4.7-4.8 range when boards with good VRM(Voltage Regulator Modules) might allow you to reach the same OC with less voltage thus a cooler CPU. If extreme OC(push you chip as far as temperature &voltage would allow) is not your thing then you don't have to worry about that.

At any rate, any of the mainstream ASUS/Gigabyte boards(Z77-LK/V/V-pro/d3h/ud3h/ud5h) should be good enough for you, I prefer the ASUS boards because their fan control program allow a full fan curve graphic card style. If you don't mind the 2 speed(1 cruise speed and full throttle speed) fan control and lack of 4 pin headers(2 vs 5/6), the ASRock Z77 Extreme 4/6 are pretty good too.

 

[Ynkeeblood9]

Ok so bottom line then between the Asrock z77 extreme6, ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE, and the Maximus v Formula? and would it be worth the extra money for the Rampage iv formula or extreme? thanks a lot

 

[idroid]

Ok so bottom line then between the Asrock z77 extreme6, ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE, and the Maximus v Formula? and would it be worth the extra money for the Rampage iv formula or extreme? thanks a lot

No, the Rampage motherboards are ROG certified, they're kinda expensive and offer low bang for the buck, stick with the Extreme 6.

 

[Ynkeeblood9]

ok thanks for all the help i appreciate it, is a 800w power supply good enough for all the specs im looking at? and typically when do new mobos come out because i will be building it around february

 

[idroid]

ok thanks for all the help i appreciate it, is a 800w power supply good enough for all the specs im looking at? and typically when do new mobos come out because i will be building it around february

FEBRAURY???? wait until april because haswell is going to be released around that date.

 

[Ynkeeblood9]

yeah i was going to buy parts gradually or because i dont know when new parts typically come out, not sure what haswell is