• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Motherboard recommendation?

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Petrey

Registered
Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Hello, I am new here, started getting parts for my build and I'm about to get the last few parts needed within a few days. I'm very new at this, and I want to be sure that what ever I get is compatible.

So far I have:

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R

Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W

Antec Three Hundred Illusion

Things I still need:

CPU (was going to get i5-750, but in another thread someone recommended the i5-760 since it's almost the same price)

Heatsink (was thinking Scythe SCMG-2100 based on these reviews.)

GPU (Was thinking MSI R5850 Twin Frozr II, based on the advice on another thread)

Motherboard (Need advice here)

Ram (Need advice here too)

Now, for the motherboard I read on another thread people recommend these three: Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R, MSI P55-GD65, ASUS P7P55D (Note: I don't have to limit myself to only these three motherboards)

Now the GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 attracts me the most, since it's significantly cheaper, just not sure if I'd be sacrificing anything over the other options. Would all of these be compatible with my setup?

I would be using this PC for gaming, mainly FFXIV.

I want to keep the option open for SLI/XFire for a future upgrade.

I do want to overclock.

So which motherboard should I go for?

And what about memory, another thread recommended 2x2GB, but didn't mention any brands or model numbers.

Also, if there's anything I haven't gotten yet that I said I was considering, feel free to recommend something else if you think there's a better alternative.

I would like to spend conservatively, but at the same time if something is considerable better for only about 10-15% more, I think it's perfectly acceptable.

Thanks so much, in advance, your advice is much appreciated. =D
 
Last edited:
the asus p7p55d is going to be your best choice out of those.

Thanks for the reply Evilsizer! Btw, I don't have to limit myself to those three motherboards I mentioned. (I'll make note of that in the original post)

i dont see anything else i would change, other then the cooler. though it seems like you have a budget in mind..

What cooler(s) would you recommend?

Thanks again!
 
Last edited:
Don't forget to mail in your rebates!!! :p (The newegg Antec EA750 + Three Hundred promotion "got me" too ;) )...

FWIW I just bought a TRUE Black "Rev A" for $39 from Performance PC's! I believe it actually came with a LGA1366 bracket, but nothing for LGA1156 - you'd need a bracket for 1156...

:cool:
 
i would prolly get one of these coolers

Thanks, I'll look into these and compare them with the Scythe SCMG-2100.

Don't forget to mail in your rebates!!! :p (The newegg Antec EA750 + Three Hundred promotion "got me" too ;) )...

FWIW I just bought a TRUE Black "Rev A" for $39 from Performance PC's! I believe it actually came with a LGA1366 bracket, but nothing for LGA1156 - you'd need a bracket for 1156...

:cool:

Haha, yeah I was going to go with a Corsair PSU, but the combo deal was too good to pass up! Thanks for the tip, also, I'll look into the TRUE Black "Rev A". I think I might still get the Scythe tho, just cause I've read so many good reviews, and such few (if any) negative reviews.
 
Last edited:
They are both great coolers. I'm an admitted ThermalRight TRUE fanboy :p (I think I have 3x TRUE's, 2x Ultra-120's, an AXP-140, an XP-120, and a Ven-X!)

:cool:
 
They are both great coolers. I'm an admitted ThermalRight TRUE fanboy :p (I think I have 3x TRUE's, 2x Ultra-120's, an AXP-140, an XP-120, and a Ven-X!)

:cool:

Actually, a ThermalRight was my 2nd choice, specifically Thermalright's Cogage TRUE Spirit. It got a great review from here. I read more personal reviews on the Scythe tho, only con I've read is that it's big, but I've read it fits okay in the Antec 300. Regardless, I'll keep my options open, I have a few days to make up my mind. :3 The TRUE Spirit is actually cheaper than the Scythe, too. $33 from Amazon.

One question: I read that LGA1156 work best with three 8mm heatpipe rods in the base, or four 6mm rods... However I can't find this information when I'm looking at the heatsink details. I've read that the TRUE Spirit has four 6mm heatpipes, so maybe this would be a better match, unless the scythe is also three 8mm or four 6mm. (BTW, read that the TRUE Black "Rev A" is six 6mm)
 
Last edited:
Keep in mind you'll need brackets for the Cogage to work on LGA1156 IIRC (add $10 or so).

OT - The only thing I don't like about the EA750 installed in the Three-Hundred is the wires end up exiting on the "wrong side" of the PSU (exit closest to the removeable side panel). I put the EA750 in another Antec case with the PSU on top (SLK-3000BK) and swapped a PC P&C 610Watt Silencer PSU in my Three-Hundred. I was much happier with the wire management even though the EA750 was quasi-modular and the PC P&C was hard-wired!!! I'm not sure if mounting the EA750 upside-down has any adverse effects on its cooling - but it just didn't feel right to me (it really wants to be on top with the fan facing down IMO).

Enjoy! Let's hope we get our rebates in a timely maner :p

:cool:
 
Any other thoughts on another motherboard? So far it looks like it's going to be the ASUS P7P55D Deluxe, unless someone can recommend another cheaper one of equal/better quality that fits my qualifications. This one ends up being $145 after MIB, so it's not a bad price.

Is the main advantage of the Pro version of the ASUS P7P55D-E the USB 3.0?
 
The Power Sections are also somewhat different between the two. I went with the P7P55D-E Pro as I wanted onboard USB3 support w/o adding a PCIe card down the road. Overclocks like a monster!

FWIW - You can compare the different versions at Asus' website...

:cool:
 
Thanks, compared them on the Asus website, guess I will get the P7P55D-E PRO, I like the eSATA and USB 3.0.

How about between the two G.SKILL memory that Evilsizer recommended, is there any advantage to getting the more expensive one? I looked over the specs on both, but I'm not tech savy enough to really understand the difference =/
 
nothing wrong with either of them, the eco is for tring to use the lowest possible power. still a good choice for under $100 since it is only 1.35v, should be able to do DDR3-2000 with same cas timings or cas [email protected]. if you are looking to oc the ram as well the other kit would be the better way to go...
 
I see, okay... Thank you! =D

I'll start reading up on overclocking ram, not sure if that's something I would wanna do.
 

Ok, one last question (I think!)

I read that the LGA1156 CPUs all work best with three 8mm heatpipe rods in the base, or four 6mm rods. If this is true, I noticed none of the coolers you listed are either of the two. I'm actually not sure the Scythe SCMG-2100 falls under this criteria either, actually.

So what do you think?

Thanks again for all the help.

BTW, Going to stick with the G.SKILL ECO Series.
 
The TRUE & Venomus-x use 6x 6mm pipes and both are capable of more-than-adequate air cooling for i7 IMO ;) They are my personal fave's with a nice high-pressure 120x38mm Panaflo fan like this (not too loud) or this (pretty quiet).

Regardless, I believe we're talking a few degrees at most under real-world conditions...

:cool:
 
Last edited:
i never heard that, where did you read that? any way the core of the cpu is attached to a heatspreader. the more heatpipes the higher the TDP the hs can handle so the more the better, in most regards.
 
i never heard that, where did you read that? any way the core of the cpu is attached to a heatspreader. the more heatpipes the higher the TDP the hs can handle so the more the better, in most regards.

Dunno how reliable it is, but I read that from here.

I can quote the specific part:

"When choosing a HDT-based cooler, the older LGA775 and even the newer LGA1156 CPUs all work best with three 8mm heatpipe rods in the base, or four 6mm rods. Larger Nehalem-based LGA1366 Core-i7 processors with the 263mm2 die are large enough to use four 8mm heatpipe rods in the base, and five 8mm rods (such as those in the IceAge Prima Boss-II or Tuniq Tower-120 Extreme) just barely make full contact. They key here is to choose a cooler with enough heatpipes to saturate the base, but not too few that they are overloaded."

The TRUE & Venomus-x use 6x 6mm pipes and both are capable of more-than-adequate air cooling for i7 IMO ;)

My rig is gonna be an i5-760, just in case it matters, don't think so tho. =3
 
Back