[Atomic_Sheep]

Hi guys, I'm looking at getting a new computer and I've decided that I'm going i7 930 and plan to over-clock it to hopefully 4Ghz. I'm not prepared to splurge top dollar for a top shelf motherboard but the fact that I'm preparing to over-clock it, means that I'm obviously probably in need of something a bit more advanced than the cheapies. Don't know whether I care what brand to get. Asus/Gigabyte? Don't know if one is better than the other? I think EVGA are a bit more expensive?

But essentially I want a balanced system (performance and price wise) so yer hope that was descriptive enough. Might as well mention the other stuff I'm planning on getting... don't think I'll get more than 6 gigs of ram (at least for now). Maybe get water cooling for the CPU. Just one GPU (prob 275 or 285 gtx... maaaaybe 295 (if I find one second hand for a price I like). But I definitely prefer a roomy motherboard so there's no issues with ram not fitting alongside the CPU if I don't go water cooling way and get a massive after-market thermal fan thingy. Memory wise I think I'm pretty set on corsair so that means that if I go for more than 6 gigs after a while (I think there is a good possibility of this) then I imagine I'll be installing those corsair fans which is why I mentioned the roomy part.

[TimoneX]

Welcome to the forum.

I have both Asus & Gigabyte skt 1366 motherboards on hand and I have a firm preference for the Gigabyte offerings. Specifically the GA-EX58a-UD3R is a relatively inexpensive($200ish) yet feature rich board that I'd recommend looking into.

[Atomic_Sheep]

Whats the difference between the UD3 and the UD5? Is the UD5 worth the extra money? (I think I read in the description that the UD5 supports the new 32nm processors and since I'm probably not going to get a different processor until this computer becomes so obsolete that I'll eventually just throw it away, that means that I want a motherboard that supports just 45). Also what makes you prefer Gigabyte over Asus? What is the equivalent Asus board to the Gigabyte UD3 and the UD5. There seem to be a few Asus boards in the same price range so I'm a bit confused which ones are pitted up against the Gigabyte ones.

[TimoneX]

There are alot of x58 boards out from both Asus & Gigabyte...though last I checked Giga only had 3 that were x58A (with support for sata III & USB 3.0) and Asus only had one. I haven't looked for new products in a couple weeks though. There are few differences between the GA-EX58A-UD3R & the GA-EX58A-UD5. The later has an additional lan port, slightly better chipset cooling, and a theoretically better power regulation circuit. It is not worth the premium IMO, but obviously YMMV.

[psionic98]

Also note, the ud3 will support 32nm chips with a bios update.. the 5 just comes default with the bios updated accordingly

evga has a nice lineup, probably are a little overpriced though.. you won't find a 200ish board unless you wanted matx like I have.. and i can say i am not even remotely disappointed in this matx board!

hopefully you are getting that 930 for the same price as a 920.. if not, get the 920.. the extra unlocked multi does nearly nothing for overclockability of the chip.. they will both achieve the same speeds pretty much..

[Atomic_Sheep]

Thanks for the tips guys. Some interesting points. A BIOS update is done the same way as updating a program i.e. via installation? i.e. I don't have to rip out some chip from the board and stick on another one? And I just want to make sure that I'm not a total fool and double check that in the case of the UD5 (as the BIOS is already 32nm ready) means that I can get the 920 and when I decide that it's too slow I can get the new architecture chip without needing to get a new MB?

In fact... I'm a bit confused now because I thought all 1366 pin processors are 45nm? and I thought that the new i7s that are 1366 are also coming out with 45nm architecture? The only 1366 that I've seen with 32nm is the 980X, or have the new 32nm 1366's simply not out yet?

[wingman99]

+1 GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128423

[Atomic_Sheep]

Yer I think I'm leaning UD3R way now. Read some stuff about Asus fudging figures for their motherboards and considering Intel is a bit pricey and so is EVGA, really the only solution is Gigabyte.

[psionic98]

the i7 line except for the 980x is all 45nm.. the new chips coming out will be 32 and most 1366 mobos will support the 32s with bios updates

and bios updates are kind of like software updates yes..

[Atomic_Sheep]

Ok thanks... might not be a bad idea to have the possibility to have a mobo that supports 32nm after all. Might end up being too lazy to ove-rclock in which case I'll upgrade to a better cpu later on. We shall see.