What Motherboard should I get?

Xboxliver2012

Honorable
Oct 19, 2013
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10,510
I was looking at a couple motherboards for a new gaming PC, but they all were $200-300 and I am on a budget. I REALLY don't want to spend any more than I should, but I don't want my motherboard to bottleneck any other computer parts (if that's possible). Let's say I have an i5 3570K that I want to possibly overclock in the near future but not right when I get it. For GPU: Powercolor's 7870 MYST Edition, for RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair Vengeance 1600mHz DDR3 240-Pin SDRAM Dual Channel, a PSU that supplies enough power and a 1TB Hard Drive. Thanks in advance.
 
Solution
oc'ing ability is mainly dependent on four things:
1. Luck of the draw (not all cpus, even those from the same production batch, overclock the same
2. Whether you have allowed enoughheadroom in your PSU wattage......oc'ing draws more power
3. How good the motherboard's BIOS is (or add-on suites)
4. How well the cpu (or whatever you are wanting to oc) is cooled. (can't oc with stock cooler, will need an aftermarket one, either HSF or AIO water cooler)

edit: all the motherboards I referenced earlier are socket 1155 (z77)

As far as whether z77's oc as well as z87's, the point is moot.....the cpu you specified is a socket 1155 which will use the z77 chipset, the z87's are socket 1150, so not compatible with your cpu

animal

Distinguished
For a quality gaming/oc'ing motherboard, you are correct in assuming a $200 and up price point. However, here are a few alternatives:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135308
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130686

These are but a few that can be had for less than $200.

Just remember to get a chipset capable of overclocking (which all of the above have)

Another thing to consider is if you have a Micro Center near you, you can really get some bang for your buck by getting your cpu and mobo together, would allow you to get a higher quality/better features motherboard.
 

animal

Distinguished
oc'ing ability is mainly dependent on four things:
1. Luck of the draw (not all cpus, even those from the same production batch, overclock the same
2. Whether you have allowed enoughheadroom in your PSU wattage......oc'ing draws more power
3. How good the motherboard's BIOS is (or add-on suites)
4. How well the cpu (or whatever you are wanting to oc) is cooled. (can't oc with stock cooler, will need an aftermarket one, either HSF or AIO water cooler)

edit: all the motherboards I referenced earlier are socket 1155 (z77)

As far as whether z77's oc as well as z87's, the point is moot.....the cpu you specified is a socket 1155 which will use the z77 chipset, the z87's are socket 1150, so not compatible with your cpu

 
Solution