Budget Z68 Board?

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ddan49

ddan49

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Mar 13, 2012
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Hello forums,

I'm looking for a rather cheap Z68 mobo for this setup:

CPU: i5-2500k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115072

GPU: Radeon Sapphire 6870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102948

PSU: Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371016

DVD-RW: Samsung 22x DVD burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151244

Case: CoolerMaster HAF 912
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119233

RAM/Memory: PNY Optima 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820178333

Hard Drive: Crucial SSD 256 GB (Don't remember any more about it)

I don't have a lot of cash to spend. I would prefer some 3.0 ports, but if it's $50 more, then don't bother. Thanks!
 
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sosofm

sosofm

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Feb 25, 2009
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GIGABYTE GA-Z68AP-D3(R2.0) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128538 100$
ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157279 105$
BIOSTAR TZ68A+ LGA 1155 Intel Z68 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138319 110$
BIOSTAR TZ68K+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138344 125$ and 110$ after MIR.
And this support Crossfire ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 130$
 
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ddan49

ddan49

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Mar 13, 2012
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I already had the SSD. Yeah, I know it's expensive, but I included it for specs :D

Thanks to the rest of you! Any specific one you would recommend, sosofm? (By the way, this is your build mostly. Thanks for that)
 
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HostileDonut

HostileDonut

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Aug 29, 2010
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I strongly suggest the ASROCK Extreme3 Gen3. I own one and love it; for a budget board, you cannot go wrong. It has great overclocking features, a great color scheme, room for multi-GPUs, support for the upcoming ivy bridge, PCI-E 3.0, and much more. I love it. With a decent cooler you can push that CPU pretty far as long as you have a good PSU too.

I have the same amount of RAM, same CPU, and a GTX 460 1gb overclocked pretty far, so my system would be comparable to yours, and it performs very well. If you are on a budget, you cannot go wrong with this board.
 
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Suave145

Suave145

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Jan 20, 2012
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GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3Goes perfect with the 2500k an has everything you need. Great black pcb as well. Wouldnt recommend the asrock cause of lots of reviews i herd that the extreme gen3 has lot of failures and the board breaks down pretty quick; no offense to hostile

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128498

I like the haf912; i myself have the haf922. But if you care any about color the Antec Gaming Series is pretty damn good and I think it'll be a bit quieter than the haf912 Plus its cheaper + has front usb3 that has the internal header

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129181
 
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HostileDonut

HostileDonut

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Hm. That's weird. Everywhere I have looked the board got great reviews and on Newegg it has very good reviews. There is a flaw with the mouse being inverted in the BIOS that some people have, but a BIOS update fixes that. Also, if you use the middle USB port on the back the board will not post for a while, but that is every bad I have ever heard about it.
 
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ddan49

ddan49

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Mar 13, 2012
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Huh. Thanks, guys. I guess ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 it is. Seems like all of you really like it. Suave, I'm gonna say you're outvoted on the mobo issue (I looked at the reviews too, and it says it's a little bit flimsy. Seeing as how I'll probably take it out once every three years or so, and I'm not gonna go to any LAN parties, flimsy is okay for now). With the case, HAF has gotten many good reviews on the temperature of the machine, and the one you suggested (while nice) isn't as cool (literally) as the HAF. I don't care about color at all :)

EDIT: Oh, woops. Forgot about something. Would you guys recommend overclocking as a way to prolong the system usability? My point is that in a few years (say, four) when a 4gHZ stock chip is the norm and necessary to run games, instead of buying a new chip, I could OC mine for another six months-a year before HAVING to upgrade. Also, is it possible (and a good idea) to overclock GPUs? I've heard of people doing it, but it doesn't seem to receive as much attention. Is the Sapphire 6870 okay for this? Lastly, out of personal curiosity... why would you ever overclock RAM? :eek:
 
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Suave145

Suave145

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k. You are right about the HAF, very true. I was just suggesting if you actually cared about the quietness.

I don't think you get much of a performance improvement if you O.C a gpu thats why. I'd actually notice it more on a lower card like a 5850 vs a 6850
 
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