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

i5 2500k choosing a motherboard

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

XPurEsDR

Registered
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
so finally after many threads/posts and asking about, i have decided to upgrade both my motherboard and cpu, it seems from the hours of researching that i would be best off buying an i5 2500k.
so my question is: what motherboard would be suitable to go with the 2500k. i am planning to overclock although it has to be within £120.
thank you.

edit: didn't know whether to post in motherboards or cpu, please can a moderator move this post to the respected area.
 
1. asus p8z68-v/gen3 maybe a little bit over your budget
2. gigabyte z68x-ud3h-b3...within your budget

these 2 were my finalist for my i7 after many research. both have good review for overclock.

gigabyte was my first choice of the two because it was $50 CAD cheaper. although it doesn't have UEFI, features and performance are similar to P8Z68-V from asus.

at the end, i chose the asus because i was able to get it cheaper and the price difference between the 2 were only $25 CAD (16 BP) after the discount on the asus.

with the P8Z68-V/gen3, i am able to push my i7 2700k to 4.76ghz @ v1.35 untest yet.
 
Gigabyte UD3H
Asrock Z68 Extreme 3

Just remember the Gene-Z is a m-atx board. Meaning you have limiting expandability if you want to Xfire/SLI, add a sound card, etc. I currently use an older generation Gene II (X58); and I run a triple-slot GPU with a sound card covering half of the GPU's fan intake.. It's rather cramped. But if you stick to single cards; (dual or tri-slot), and have no plans for Xfire/SLI or to add a sound card; you'll be fine. Otherwise; grab a Dual slot card + expansion card, or a tri-slot card with no expansion/sound card.

I only say this because; although the GPU I use runs cool; I believe it would definitely benefit more from not having a sound card sitting in front of it..
 
Guys! please respond quick!
one of the motherboards mention'd above is £56 off. im wondering if this is worth buying
http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-1155-P...3UWW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1326393721&sr=8-3

Meh. I wouldn't buy it personally. No one really buys P67 boards anymore. I would buy the Asrock Extreme 3 Gen 3 before that. (Also in my last post I posted a UD3H. But that's Rev 1.0. Forget that now :p. Doesn't support Ivy Bridge should you desire it.)

I would buy the Asrock Extreme 3 myself.
 
Gigabyte UD3H
Asrock Z68 Extreme 3

Just remember the Gene-Z is a m-atx board. Meaning you have limiting expandability if you want to Xfire/SLI, add a sound card, etc. I currently use an older generation Gene II (X58); and I run a triple-slot GPU with a sound card covering half of the GPU's fan intake.. It's rather cramped. But if you stick to single cards; (dual or tri-slot), and have no plans for Xfire/SLI or to add a sound card; you'll be fine. Otherwise; grab a Dual slot card + expansion card, or a tri-slot card with no expansion/sound card.

I only say this because; although the GPU I use runs cool; I believe it would definitely benefit more from not having a sound card sitting in front of it..

I have three gene-z's and this is all true. If you're seriously planning on going SLI/Xfire I'd either buy a standard ATX 3-4 pcie x16 slot board in order to have an empty one between GPUs, or if you go mATX make sure and buy a case with a side fan that blows directly between the cards for top GPU intake air. The latter is what I have modded the sig rig 1 case to be in case I use SLI later
 
Meh. I wouldn't buy it personally. No one really buys P67 boards anymore. I would buy the Asrock Extreme 3 Gen 3 before that. (Also in my last post I posted a UD3H. But that's Rev 1.0. Forget that now :p. Doesn't support Ivy Bridge should you desire it.)

I would buy the Asrock Extreme 3 myself.

so is the asrock extreme 3 deffently the best out of all motherboards mentioned? why is it better than the asus evo? even though it is cheaper.
 
I generally avoid any of Asus's lower end boards that have LE or Evo at the end. They're usually more limited than their higher-end counterparts.. But I'm basing this opinion on older motherboards.. I'm not sure how the new models fair up.. But I believe most Z68 boards are made well enough to OC a 2500K/2600K to at least 4.5ghz. So it's really up to you. The Asrock gives room for SLI/XFire though. The Asus does not. So keep that in mind.

The Asrock Extreme Z68 board series give a lot of features for a low price point that other boards don't offer.. (but, honestly, at the same time motherboards don't need to be as high-end as they used to be.. Sandy bridge allows you to cheap out on the motherboard.. And still get fantastic results..) I run a X58 Nehalem system.. At the time, my Rampage Gene II board was one of the top boards out (despite being M-ATX).. Before Sandy Bridge; boards mattered a lot more. Now, you can buy a sub-150 board and get the same performance and features it used to cost 300+ to get for older generations of CPUs...
 
so i were to find abit extra money and went and bought a i7 2700k what chipset would be best for that?
 
I wouldn't bother with a 2700K. This is for a gaming machine right? 2500K is more than enough. 2600k/2700K are really only for those who know they need it. If you're not sure if you need it; you don't.

Chipset? Z68..? Lol. If you are referring to motherboard, you can still hit 4.5ghz easily on either of the boards here in question if you wanted with the 2700K. The motherboard really doesn't matter as much as long as you know what you're buying and what your uses are.. The high-end boards are really only for those who are running 3-4 GPU's or are benching, etc. Gamers don't need to spend anymore than 200 bucks on motherboards.. though in this case <150 is perfectly fine.
 
I second the Asus mobo...my brand of choice ever since I got my PIV Prescott -my first real build after my noobish intel mobo PIII 600B - voodoo 3 3500agp xD- Never had an issue with them.
I'm considering the P8Z68 v pro cause I'd rather use the igp and the SSD caching features.
Plus, here at least, the Asrock extreme 3 is as expensive as the P8z68 which is odd.
The budget minded might check the Tz68k+ perhaps, don't know what you guys think about that one. Seemed pretty solid...
My 2 cents.
 
i would go with asus p8z68-v/gen3...
i am very satisify with it after using it for a week

I have the exact same mobo and my i5 2500K is at 4.5GHz (45x100) rock-solid stable. This board is pretty advanced and you need to read the manual and find others with same board what the best perameters are.

BCLK: 100
Turbo Ratio: By all cores
Multiplier: 45
PLL Overvoltage: Auto
OC Tuner: Cancel
CPU Ratio: Auto
Speedstep: Enabled
Turbo: Enable

You'll love this mobo once you figure it out.:drool:
 
Back