Motherboard For a Gaming Rig

[rhodesgamer]

Hey there everyone. I've recently acquired a Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160), which is a huge step up from my mid tower. So because of this I've been looking to upgrade my micro-ATX board to something bigger with more "oomph". I currently have an i5-3570k, so we'll be looking for LGA 1155, coupled with a Sapphire Radeon HD 7850. I also have a 620W PSU so power is not an issue. What I'm really looking for is space. I would like to have the ability to crossfire or SLI in the future, and I would also like to have plenty of PCIe slots that aren't covered by the graphics cards in case I want to add stuff. A lot of SATA ports would be nice as well so I can have multiple drives. From my case you can see that space isn't really an issue, but I don't won't a monster that I can't control and will eventually eat me while I'm sleeping. As far as pricing goes I'd like to keep it under $150 but if your suggestions warrant the extra money I wouldn't have any problem dishing out a little more. I think that about covers it, thank you!

 

[sosofm]

GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H LGA 1155 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544

 

[rvilkman]

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H $149 would let you do the SLI/Crossfire in the future, but it only comes with the standard 2x 6Gb/s sata and 4x 3Gb/s sata.Additional usb 3.0 ports.

Asus P8Z77-V Pro $189 with some rebate as well, does provide the same SLI/Crossfire but adds two 6Gb/s sata ports. Additional usb 3.0 ports.
Wifi support.

Asus P8Z77-V $179 with some rebate. SLI/Crossfire with the same 4 and 4 sata port config. Wifi support.

Asrock Z77 Extreme 6 $153
SLI/Crossfire support, 4 and 4 sata port config. Firewire support.

So from the above probably featurewise the best is the Asrock, it has the sli support with the extra sata ports for least amount of money. And if you happen to need the Wifi for example then the Asus boards come on top.

Basically all of them are quite good, just compare them and see what features you want and take your pick.

 

[rhodesgamer]

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H $149 would let you do the SLI/Crossfire in the future, but it only comes with the standard 2x 6Gb/s sata and 4x 3Gb/s sata.Additional usb 3.0 ports.

Asus P8Z77-V Pro $189 with some rebate as well, does provide the same SLI/Crossfire but adds two 6Gb/s sata ports. Additional usb 3.0 ports.
Wifi support.

Asus P8Z77-V $179 with some rebate. SLI/Crossfire with the same 4 and 4 sata port config. Wifi support.

Asrock Z77 Extreme 6 $153
SLI/Crossfire support, 4 and 4 sata port config. Firewire support.

So from the above probably featurewise the best is the Asrock, it has the sli support with the extra sata ports for least amount of money. And if you happen to need the Wifi for example then the Asus boards come on top.

Basically all of them are quite good, just compare them and see what features you want and take your pick.

Quick question. That Asus P8Z77 has a PCIe 2.0 x 16 on the bottom, which I've noticed on a lot of boards. What exactly is the purpose of that thing? Can you run Crossfire with one of the GPU's plugged into that? Or does the 2.0 and 3.0 combination not work?

 

[rvilkman]

It's only mechanically that, it is actually only run in PCIe 2.0 x4 mode. But yes you could run a GPU there if you must, but in practice you run SLI/Crossfire in the PCIe 3.0 slots. So there really is no limitation to prevent that combination from working, it is just generally not fast enough for SLI and 3-fire is rarely done.

 

[rhodesgamer]

It's only mechanically that, it is actually only run in PCIe 2.0 x4 mode. But yes you could run a GPU there if you must, but in practice you run SLI/Crossfire in the PCIe 3.0 slots. So there really is no limitation to prevent that combination from working, it is just generally not fast enough for SLI and 3-fire is rarely done.

Ah, alright that makes sense. I was just wondering because what I tend to find on motherboards is that if you run Crossfire or SLI, then that cuts the amount of PCIe x 1 slots you can use by like 80%. In some cases you're down to only being able to use one. So being able to use that bottom x16 would theoretically solve that problem.

 

[rhodesgamer]

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H $149 would let you do the SLI/Crossfire in the future, but it only comes with the standard 2x 6Gb/s sata and 4x 3Gb/s sata.Additional usb 3.0 ports.

Asus P8Z77-V Pro $189 with some rebate as well, does provide the same SLI/Crossfire but adds two 6Gb/s sata ports. Additional usb 3.0 ports.
Wifi support.

Asus P8Z77-V $179 with some rebate. SLI/Crossfire with the same 4 and 4 sata port config. Wifi support.

Asrock Z77 Extreme 6 $153
SLI/Crossfire support, 4 and 4 sata port config. Firewire support.

So from the above probably featurewise the best is the Asrock, it has the sli support with the extra sata ports for least amount of money. And if you happen to need the Wifi for example then the Asus boards come on top.

Basically all of them are quite good, just compare them and see what features you want and take your pick.

Ok, so I'm down to the Asus -v and Asus -v Pro. I'm having a really hard time deciding which one to get because the differences seem really miniscule. Is the extra $10 for the Pro worth it?

 

[rvilkman]

The pro generally has more stable power delivery, extra fan header and an extra usb3 controller and an eSata bracket.

 

[rhodesgamer]

The pro generally has more stable power delivery, extra fan header and an extra usb3 controller and an eSata bracket.

Then I guess getting the Pro would be worth the extra investment then?

 

[rvilkman]

Yeah you get enough to warrant the cost difference.

 

[rhodesgamer]

Yeah you get enough to warrant the cost difference.

Alright, thank you very much for the help my friend.