SOLVED Need a mobo for 2500k....new to the Dark Side ;) Please Help.

[kayan]

Hey guys (and any gals).

I was all set with my new 990fx board for Bulldozer and am seriously disappointed (like everyone else), but alas I decided to build my first Intel based machine that I've used since my first store bought PC back in the Celeron 1.1ghz eMachine days.....

I have no idea what to look for when it comes to Intel stuff (cuz I've been using AMD for so long), can you please help me?

I've got an i5-2500k, paired with a 6950 (x2 later, possibly), a 240gb SSD, and 16 gbs of http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226199. I need a mobo, that will support this as a beginner overclocker, and give me room to grow in the future.

One thing I've read about these 1155 boards is that they require 1.5v RAM...will I run into problems with my current memory?

Thanks for your help in advance. I know nothing of Intel tech/cpus & mobos, so thanks.

I prefer to not use Asus, for personal reasons :-D

Thanks again!

 

[johan851]

You probably want a board with a Z68 chipset. If you're avoiding Asus then I'd look at Gigabyte and ASRock. The Gigabyte UD3 boards are quite good, and the UD4 boards are a little better. The UD4 probably have some more hardcore overclocking features that you wouldn't need, even if you get really into it.

I'm probably going to get an ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 in the next couple of days.

 

[kayan]

I completely forgot to say that I had already seen that I should go with a z68 board, and also that my budget is around 200-ish (a little more if absolutely needed).

Does anyone have any specific board recommendations?

Thanks again.

 

[johan851]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128506
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128507

 

[Mordachai]

I'll just throw in my 2c and say I've had great luck with MSI, ASUS, and solid luck with Gigabyte and ASRock.

The boards johan linked all look great to me. If it were me, I'd go with the $165.00 Gigabyte. The more expensive ones are more if you want bragging rights, and have money to burn, rather than really seriously offering you real capacity.

Edit: Welcome to the dark side. I used to be into AMD, until they fell behind in performance. You'll likely be amazed at how ridiculously easy it is to OC your new i5-2500K! They're awesome. I think my current system is the most stable PC I've yet owned, and I'm running at a nice phat 33% OC 24/7.

 

[wingman99]

I would purchase the GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P.

 

[sp33dball]

You probably want a board with a Z68 chipset. If you're avoiding Asus then I'd look at Gigabyte and ASRock. The Gigabyte UD3 boards are quite good, and the UD4 boards are a little better. The UD4 probably have some more hardcore overclocking features that you wouldn't need, even if you get really into it.

I'm probably going to get an ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 in the next couple of days.

Why do you suggest the Z68 chipset? Because it's a newer technology or something to do with being able to take advantage of the built-in Intel HD graphics?

 

[johan851]

All those reasons work. It's newer technology, which is always nice. It's supposed to have Ivy Bridge support, and newer Z68 boards have PCIe 3.0 support, which Ivy Bridge will be utilizing in the feature. That gives you a longer GPU upgrade path.

It can take advantage of the HD Graphics which is handy for debugging a bad video card, and it also allows you to run video encoding operations through the onboard GPU.

Z68 also has support for the Intel SSD caching feature, which lets you use an SSD as a read/write cache for a spinning hard drive.

I don't think it's a huge upgrade over P67 unless you *really* need one of those features for some reason. It makes sense to get if you're in the market for a new board, since it's not that much more expensive than previous generation boards. You could always find a deal on a last-gen board if money is a concern.

 

[sp33dball]

Thanks for the explanation!