Choosing the right Motherboard and Video Card

[Kieee]

Video cards:
I've decided on the gtx 670 GPU
Im stuck between:
MSI N670 PE 2GD5/OC
http://uk.msi.com/product/vga/N670-PE-2GD5-OC.html

and

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X NVIDIA

http://goo.gl/AyR6Ir

Which would you recommend and why?

I'm also stuck for a motherboard,
Its gonna be running either of them cards with an i5 3570k and 8gb corsair ram.

I beleive the z77 chipsets the best for in ivy bridge cpu but dont know which to get.

hoping to save a bit of money on the mobo, dont want a extreme edition but want one that will do a good job at as low price as possible.

£60-90. 100 at a push.

 

[houldendub]

I would say go for the MSI version, but that's purely because of it's factory overclocked speeds. To be honest though, they're really just as good as each other, and you won't be unhappy with either purchase. They're great cards, and both the Windforce cooler and MSI's TF cooler are brilliant, and both are made of high quality gubbins.

For a motherboard, you wouldn't go wrong with one of these:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-z77a-g43-gaming-lga-1155-intel-z77-hdmi-sata-6gb-s-usb-30-atx-intel-motherboard-killer-e2200-m

Scan have a couple of other boards just under that price range, but that board has a good all-round build quality, looks the part and gives enough options for upgrade. I'm speaking not from personal experience, but I have helped a friend build his computer with one of these in and it looked damned fine.

 

[Kieee]

I would say go for the MSI version, but that's purely because of it's factory overclocked speeds. To be honest though, they're really just as good as each other, and you won't be unhappy with either purchase. They're great cards, and both the Windforce cooler and MSI's TF cooler are brilliant, and both are made of high quality gubbins.

For a motherboard, you wouldn't go wrong with one of these:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-z77a-g43-gaming-lga-1155-intel-z77-hdmi-sata-6gb-s-usb-30-atx-intel-motherboard-killer-e2200-m

Scan have a couple of other boards just under that price range, but that board has a good all-round build quality, looks the part and gives enough options for upgrade. I'm speaking not from personal experience, but I have helped a friend build his computer with one of these in and it looked damned fine.

That board is one of the sexiest Ive seen, dont know if im getting a window case yet, so the aesthetics arent that important (yet?)

 

[houldendub]

Some companies just decide to make their boards look really nice, honestly, most boards will perform the same within price brackets. Aesthetics are just an aside really, a board can look like crap but work a charm while a board that looks nice can be absolutely pants!

Here's a couple more from that price range, I don't want to go too low as the quality of the parts on the boards gets lower and lower, as well as options on the board (such as USB slots, SATA ports, expansion slots etc etc)

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigabyte-ga-z77-d3h-usb-30-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-d-sub-dvi-d-hdmi-a

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-z77a-g45-intel-z77-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-%28x16%29-d-sub-dvi-d-hdmi-atx

Ideally, it's about getting a board that fits your needs. For instance, I needed a board which has 2 PCI-E slots that would allow me to use two graphics cards, but I also needed a normal PCI slot for my wireless card. The board I have (in my description) fit the bill, it wasn't overly expensive, has good components, and had just the right sockets and ports I need. It's all well and good me or anyone else recommending a motherboard, but if it's not right for you, we might be wasting your money!