Need help choosing an Ivy Bridge motherboard for under

By Elliot B.
in Hardware Hangout

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Grand Master

Elliot B.

Posted
Posted

  • I'll likely be buying a 2500 (Sandy Bridge) or a 3350P (Ivy Bridge)
  • The motherboard must have at least 6x SATA ports and at least 6x rear USB connectors
  • I will not be overclocking my CPU
  • I will be using my 2x 4GB PC3-10660 1333 MHz RAM chips
  • I have a case that can fit an ATX motherboard
  • I have a separate video card (Radeon 7870)

The following are, from what I can gather, my choices:

post-645-0-56431200-1360527318.png

It seems the following either don't fit the above requirements or are too expensive to me: H67, P67, Z68, Z75, Z77.

Any thoughts?

Grand Master

Brandon H Supervisor

Posted
  • Supervisor
Posted

i know this is just a little over your 60 pound budget but it meets all your requirements, and I can tell you from experience I just recently got a micro ATX version of this board and it is an excellent board for its price. it's at least a look http://www.amazon.co...60527419&sr=8-1

you could probably find it cheaper somewhere else as well :)

Grand Master

Elliot B.

Posted
  • Author
Posted

i know this is just a little over your 60 pound budget but it meets all your requirements, and I can tell you from experience I just recently got a micro ATX version of this board and it is an excellent board for its price. it's at least a look http://www.amazon.co...60527419&sr=8-1

you could probably find it cheaper somewhere else as well :)

Simply too much, mate. I have to put an upper limit somewhere :/

Grand Master

Brandon H Supervisor

Posted
  • Supervisor
Posted

Simply too much, mate. I have to put an upper limit somewhere :/

true, I'll look a little more

edit: also, what sites do you prefer to get the parts from, because like i said, you could probably find better deals as amazon tends to over price these kind of things

Grand Master

Brandon H Supervisor

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  • Supervisor
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am I correct on seeing that you will only be using 2 ram sticks? if so, how does this one look http://www.amazon.co...4/ref=de_a_smtd

and like i said, if you prefer somewhere beside amazon I'd probably be able to find you a better board for cheaper since amazon tends to over price their computer components

Grand Master

Brandon H Supervisor

Posted
  • Supervisor
Posted

asrock z77 pro 3... 65USD

remember King is in the UK, that board on Amazon.co.uk is the same price as the first board i posted (was gonna post that board myself as a second option but didn't for this reason)
Grand Master

Elliot B.

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I don't think you need to upgrade just yet.

Sure going from a 1st-gen i5-750 to a 2nd-gen i5-2500 (?145) or 3rd-gen i5-3350P (?133) isn't worth it?

As you can tell from my posts, I just can't decide.

Grand Master

Elliot B.

Posted
  • Author
Posted

i'd say upgrading from the 1st gen to the 3rd gen is worth it, though that could just be me

True, but ?178 (?133 CPU, ?45 motherboard) is also a lot of money.

It's a tough call.

Mentor

Snake89

Posted
Posted

Take a look at this mobo: http://www.amazon.co...0534592&sr=1-22

here's the specs: http://www.asrock.co...=Specifications

On the Rear IO it got 4 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0, more onboard connecters in case you want to add more,

5 SATA2 3.0Gb/s

3 SATA3 6.0Gb/s

So it got everything you want an room for alot more upgrades.

Grand Master

Elliot B.

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Why not wait for the Haswell processors?

The previous-gen prices will hardly drop in price when the Haswell are out, and they will also not drop for a long while. Also, I don't buy second-hand, so that's out. And the Haswell CPUs themselves will be expensive.

Grand Master

Andre S. Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

The previous-gen prices will hardly drop in price when the Haswell are out, and they will also not drop for a long while. Also, I don't buy second-hand, so that's out. And the Haswell CPUs themselves will be expensive.

If the Sandy->Ivy Bridge transition is of any indication, Haswell shouldn't be any more expensive than the current generation.
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