1st Build Motherboard Recommendation

Hello again. Today I come again with yet another noob question from a beginning enthusiast. I am about to get a new system (my 1st build). It will mainly be used as a gaming machine, with some video editing (family stuff mainly though planning on adding tv tuner and playing with that some and use when the big screen TV is dominated by the family), and the typical surfing/downloading. I play at 1920x1200 at 25inch. I will be overclocking; not extreme. This will be also kinda my toy to get experienced with overclocking, running benchmarks, etc. as I am finally able to afford to play around some to get the experience as I treed deeper into the enthusiast waters.

My setup from my research thus far:
i7 920 (want to get 3.8ish since it will be onair)
6gb 1600 DDR3 Mushkin Redline triple channel(want to run higher than base speed to prep for future builds and yet to read anything negative about them not sure on overclocking my RAM yet still researching that subject)
ATI 5770 crossfire xfx (planning on ocing them as well want to play around and get comfortable before the 6xxx series comes out with no massive heat worries and benchmarking with crossfire/sli)
2x 1TB samsung hd sata 2 in a raid 0 format (yes my 1st raid as well)
Corsair HX 1k psu (debating with the AntecTPQ-1200 to future proof later addons like ATI/Nvidia's next line, watercooling, etc.)
Prolimatech Megahalems w/ push pull set up using 2 Scythe S-Flex 120mm (in the future will want to add a watercooling, but want to get use to benchmarking, overclocking and such 1st)
Haf X (seems to be great future proof and has met with good reviews)
Asus Xonar DX soundcard (from my research good gaming card)
Razer Lycosa
Razer Death Adder (Left handed edition TY RAZER!!!)
Will be adding TV tuner card either internal or external undecided.
Windows 7 64bit Home Premium
Blueray combo and DVD/CD burner drives (sorry if too much info here)

However with Mobo, I can freely admit I do not know enough to know what I need. Yes the Rampage 3, EVGA E760 classified series, and Gigabyte UD7 all seem very impressive; but I am thinking they are for OCers pushing harder than I will with more advanced systems. I have looked at the Asus Rampage 2 both the extreme and gene, Gigabyte UD5 and 3r, Asus PX58D line, Asus P6T line, and the EVGA E759 and E758. I am so confused with all these "special features" like gigabyte's smart 6, asus's mem ok, turbo features, and such to name just a few; I am lost. I am not using a SSD with this build maybe future builds, so SATA 3 is not important. I basically want a solid Mobo that will allow me moderate overclocking and stability. Price is not important, but I also do not want to waste money on lets say a Rampage 3 if a Rampage 2 will allow me to play around with my above build just fine. That said if the Rampage 3 would be the best for me then I would have no problem going that direction as well (just an example not leaning Rampage's way or any mobo for that matter). I have read soo many reviews, forums, and such that honestly I do not know what is too much for me or if too much is still not enough.

Though I am mainly here for motherboard help, if there is something in my build listen that does scream out WTH! I am open to suggestions/feedback.

Those are all great boards with the reputations to warrant their high prices, but I hear what your saying. In my opinion, unless your going to be running Ln2 or Dice you really don't need a motherboard that extreme. Reason being that your going to have heat issues with your CPU long before your motherboard runs out of steam if you are air cooling...or even mild (non chilled) water cooling. Don't get me wrong, they are all nice, but I think you can get the same performance for probably half the price.

That said, the motherboard is the foundation for your entire system, so you don't want to skimp. When I'm evaluating motherboards by specs the only things I really concern myself with (other than is it the right socket and such) is the chipset I want, rated RAM speeds of the motherboard, and if it has solid capacitors. If it supports fast RAM and has good capacitors it will probably overclock pretty well. Make sure it's got the PCIe setup you want, enough SATA ports...etc. I dig around to find diamonds in the rough, read what others have done with other boards. Some of the fastest motherboards I've owned were not the most expensive. I went out and bought an eVga 780i when they came out, it was quick, but then a bit later I bought a Gigabyte ep45-ud3p that ran absolute circles around that thing, and it cost half as much.

As to special features, I personally don't pay any attention to any of it. It's all garbage. The best overclocks have and will always be by tweaking the BIOS. Some of those little features are handy, but at the end of the day, CPUz, HWmontor, the BIOS, and a few benchmarks are whats going to get things done.

Now the other side of things for me is support. I spend my money where I feel it (and I) is appreciated. Evga, high price, great service. Asus, high price, worst service on the planet. Gigabyte, high price, second worse service on the planet. Biostar, low priced, great service. I can't really speak on any other manufactures cause I have not owned anything they made in many years. As of today I only buy eVga and Biostar, maybe I'm a fanboy, or maybe I just like not being treated like crap after shelling out my money, lol.

Of course these are all my opinions. I'm sure some people have had the opposite experienced, but these have been mine. I know first hand the Classified is a monster, and so is the T-Power X58a. I've ran them both, the Classy is $400, the T-Power is $220.

Your build looks great though...only thing I might change if it was me is the sound card. Unless you're just a complete audiophile most modern onboard sound will do. Soundcards used to be a requirement on a gaming system...but that is when we only had single core CPUs. I'm sure your i7 can manage the audio with one of it's twelve threads, lol.

I can only agree Asus highest price, worst service on the planet.

Gigabyte makes nice boards, and I hear their service is not that good either.

EVGA has the best service and the best Forum help as well as the best online help and phone help.

EVGA also has by far the most options for overclocking.

Exactly my concern with the heating. Good service is nice, but from my experience in-gaming and life other people (like reliable forums wow i feel horrible for that pathetic suckup, well not really) can easily outweigh a company-line.
Not to derail my own thread as I need more help/advice/perspective with my mobo choice, but can you by chance point me in the right direction concerning capacitors. Though I have seen mention of them on some of the mobo sites, I have yet to read much on thier importance and actual functions; much less how to know what is the good-the bad-and the ugly.

TJB21 said:

Exactly my concern with the heating. Good service is nice, but from my experience in-gaming and life other people (like reliable forums wow i feel horrible for that pathetic suckup, well not really) can easily outweigh a company-line.
Not to derail my own thread as I need more help/advice/perspective with my mobo choice, but can you by chance point me in the right direction concerning capacitors. Though I have seen mention of them on some of the mobo sites, I have yet to read much on thier importance and actual functions; much less how to know what is the good-the bad-and the ugly.

Click to expand...

Solid state capacitors is, in theory, will last longer. The problem with the electrolytic capacitors is that the electrolyte "fluid" tends to dry up over time, causing them to fail. This process is can be encouraged by high voltage overclocking. All of the motherboards we have been discussing will be solid state.

The truth about capacitors is their ability to provide "clean" power. Capacitors reduce ripples in the power used. Also the higher the capacitors storage capacity, the less likely it is to fall on its nose during high output power. I would recommend looking into a 24-Phase Motherboard if this is a concern.

As Xokeman also pointed out is their ability to withstand punishment. These particular boards are all about on par capacitor wise, while some manufacturers like Gigabyte have started to beef up their 2nd Rev. Boards with more Capacitors.