Which cheap mobo to go for?

[raoufsb]

If you had to choose between the Asus h81m-k and the MSI B85m-e33 which one would you take? Both are the same price and have similar features but the MSI board has pcie 3.0 so should I go with that one ?
Also are there any known problems with either board and which brand has the better bios?
The rest of my build consists of :
-CM n200 case
-Corsair VS450 PSU
-Intel i3 4150
-Asus gtx 960 strix
-1x8GB of Corsair vengeance LP ram.
-1 TB 7200 rpm WD HDD and a second 320 GB 5400 rpm WD Green HDD from my old PC.

 

[NormH]

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/asus-motherboard-h81mdplus%2Casus-motherboard-z87anfcexpressedition%2Cgigabyte-motherboard-gah81ms2h/


here are 3 options 2 without crossfire/SLI and one with crossfire/SLI the more expensive asus is a great mobo and by far the best choice but the other 2 are cheap options

hope this helps

 

[TechyInAZ]

MSI B85 is better because the B85 chipset is more advanced than the h81 chipset. You get more usb ports and sata ports.

 

[raoufsb]

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/asus-motherboard-h81mdplus%2Casus-motherboard-z87anfcexpressedition%2Cgigabyte-motherboard-gah81ms2h/


here are 3 options 2 without crossfire/SLI and one with crossfire/SLI the more expensive asus is a great mobo and by far the best choice but the other 2 are cheap options

hope this helps

Unfortunately the 2 boards I mentioned are the only ones availabe in my local store that fit my budget so I have to pick one of them.

 

[NormH]

techyinaz is incorrect the b85 is a business focused chipset and has less options like sli or crossfire h81 is better for gaming than b85

 

[TechyInAZ]

techyinaz is incorrect the b85 is a business focused chipset and has less options like sli or crossfire h81 is better for gaming than b85

The motherboard does not matter when it comes to gaming. Gaming specific motherboards are only for feature sets. That's why you can game just as well with a B85 or H81 motherboard vs a Z97 motherboard.

Only differences I could find is that the MSI b85m has more usb ports, but the H81M has one more PCIE x1 slot but those PCIE slots are rarely used anyways.

 

[NormH]

here is a side by side of those 2 motherboards..... one has 2 sata 3 ports and 2 sata 6 ports.... the other has 0 sata 3 ports and 4 sata 6 ports plus can handle up to 32gb ram vs the 16 on the other and i really doubt you are using 32 gb ram. so since the sata 6 is backwards compatible with sata 3 really the boards are the same in all other areas as far as basics go....get whichever is cheaper.

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/asus-motherboard-h81mk%2Cmsi-motherboard-b85me33/

 

[NormH]

techyinaz is incorrect the b85 is a business focused chipset and has less options like sli or crossfire h81 is better for gaming than b85

The motherboard does not matter when it comes to gaming. Gaming specific motherboards are only for feature sets. That's why you can game just as well with a B85 or H81 motherboard vs a Z97 motherboard.

Only differences I could find is that the MSI b85m has more usb ports, but the H81M has one more PCIE x1 slot but those PCIE slots are rarely used anyways.

what i meant by better for gaming is the ability to support dual graphics cards which the b85 does not have

 

[TechyInAZ]

here is a side by side of those 2 motherboards..... one has 2 sata 3 ports and 2 sata 6 ports.... the other has 0 sata 3 ports and 4 sata 6 ports plus can handle up to 32gb ram vs the 16 on the other and i really doubt you are using 32 gb ram. so since the sata 6 is backwards compatible with sata 3 really the boards are the same in all other areas as far as basics go....get whichever is cheaper.

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/asus-motherboard-h81mk%2Cmsi-motherboard-b85me33/

Ok, they both seem equal now. I thought one had more sata ports.

How can h81 or b85 use twin GPUs? Because they can't. That's only a H97/Z97 feature.

 

[NormH]

the one he listed can not but there are some that support crossfire or SLI

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/asrock-motherboard-h81m%2Cecs-motherboard-h81h3a3/

both offer crossfire and are h81

 

[TechyInAZ]

the one he listed can not but there are some that support crossfire or SLI

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/asrock-motherboard-h81m%2Cecs-motherboard-h81h3a3/

both offer crossfire and are h81

Interesting, thx for the correction. But since the mobos were talking about now don't have that capability, B85 in my opinion still wins because it has more usb ports.

OP, any thoughts?

 

[NormH]

if 6 usb's vs 4 usb's is the breakpoint for your system and that means you can not function with out the 2 extra slots and you do not have the standard extra 2-4 slots that come on most cases then yes the b85 has 2 extra slots.... other than that they are very similar....the only true bump to give the asus is that is has gpu boost for gaming.... the msi has OS boost for system loading. so it depends on what the system is primarily used for.

 

[raoufsb]

Thank you guys both for your help, I think I'm gonna go with the Asus just because the black and gold color scheme looks better imo.

 

[TechyInAZ]

if 6 usb's vs 4 usb's is the breakpoint for your system and that means you can not function with out the 2 extra slots and you do not have the standard extra 2-4 slots that come on most cases then yes the b85 has 2 extra slots.... other than that they are very similar....the only true bump to give the asus is that is has gpu boost for gaming.... the msi has OS boost for system loading. so it depends on what the system is primarily used for.

Thank you guys both for your help, I think I'm gonna go with the Asus just because the black and gold color scheme looks better imo.

Good choice. Another feature I also forgot that the H81M has is the AI suite 3. Very good software that allows you to adjust your fans and do some other optimization stuff.