Buying first board please help!

[Nitehawk2705]

So I am working on my first build and am having a hard time picking a motherboard! After reading all of the reviews I see that ASUS and Gigabyte are the top 2 names to pick between. I have purchased a intel core i7 2600k processor so I know I will need the LGA1155 input but I see a wide variety of price ranges and have no clue what I am getting extra for spending more money. I have no immediate plans to over clock the CPU and my budget is between 100 and 180 range preferably. I see people complain about lack of connectors for extra fans mainly? What kind of connectors should I look at in the mobo specs for running any extra cooling? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rockhardxl]

Take a look at this board: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/SABERTOOTH_Z77/

I currently am running the AMD Sabertooth 990Fx in a Antec D-85 Dark Fleet Tower. I have plenty connection to run all the fans in the case with I believe two connection to spare. It will also give the option to go water cooled down the road. Sorry this isn't a super techy answer of pro's and con's but through my own research its pretty descent board for the money with out breaking the bank or going into the big boy gaming boards. I signed up for newegg and tigerdirects emails and about ever 2 to 3 weeks they will send out email with there higher in boards on sale with 30 to 50 dollars off. If you got time to wait, and you recive few more replies, write down all the boards and see what goes on sale. Since I started rebuilding my computer last month, I've saved about 300 dollars so far by waiting a few weeks to buy my parts. If you get a chance I would add in what you plan on using your computer for...

 

[Nitehawk2705]

Sorry should of said this will be a computer for gaming. I do not plan on over clocking anything as this is my first project and I am learning still. I just don't want a cheap board nor do I want overkill.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Really one of the best value and feature rich boards right now in this space is the ASRock Z68 Extreme3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271&Tpk=ASRock%20Z68%20Extreme3 . ASRock is a spin off of Asus but they are doing a good job of building their reputation on their own. After this board you are really looking at something like the Asus P8Z68-V/Gen3 which is at the top end of your build. The real difference between these boards comes down to quality and the you may be able to get a higher overclock out of the Asus P8Z68-V/Gen3.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team