- Joined
- Nov 14, 2006
- Location
- Warsaw/Poland
TL;DR: Not a drama queen, battle-ready heavy-duty no-nonsense mobo that is obedient and does not have surprising quirky features, and the manufacture is very conscientious about support. Intel vs AMD would be based on which CPU architecture & RAM interface is better for my work needs (multiple file mills milling at the same time, moderate average intensity with potential for high intensity in rare random peak situations that will nonetheless be bound to happen) as long as it doesn't impair my gaming too much. Focus on compatibility, durability, cable management, room for large CPU coolers and long GFX cards.
LONGER VERSION:
I need:
Compatibility to not worry about adding or removing RAM especially but also other components. This includes especially adding RAM that wasn't even out at the time the manufacturer was designing the RAM-mobo compatibility/support list. Ideally I would have a mobo that supported any DDR4 RAM without bitching about it, especially high-end fancy gaming RAM with funny heatsinks that costs a fortune. This probably also requires a manufacturer that's really conscientious about providing support, not just a couple of BIOS updates for a year or two and then a middle finger like Asus with P5Q-E. Default settings should be capable of working with all sorts of normal hardware in normal use at spec values.
Stability and durability to be very unlikely to die on me without a warning and especially kill other equipment, like a hard drive needed for work or an expensive GFX card. Capacitors need to be able to survive 24/7 operation with serious loads during a hot summer, also 4-5 years after purchasing the mobo. Ideally the board would have very sturdy power circuitry, NB, SB, mosfets and all that jazz, which I understand comes at a price, but I would feel more comfortable specifically buying it as a design/specification feature that the manufacturer charges money for and stakes its own reputation on (along with risk of lawsuits). Preferably with the ability to mount aftermarket heatsinks if necessary, and a fan, on such components, especially for northbridge (if Intel).
No-nonsense OC. Absolutely no unwanted OC, especially none that I wouldn't be able to switch off. No other quirky features, especially no features that are hard to disable and/or identify/understand. And preferably not too many settings to have to think about.
Smart placement of RAM, NB, SB, mosfets, power circuitry etc., especially for cooling purposes. I need these parts to not be dependent on the CPU cooler for cooling, to not obstruct the airflow, to not prevent me from using large tower heatsinks, and to not require me to use shorter graphics cards. Ideally, aftermarket heatsinks would be possible, but I've already mentioned this. RAM shouldn't restrict GFX card length or block/restrict airflow for the CPU cooler.
Suitability for a wide range of CPU coolers. Can't be designed for box, horizontal or orb coolers, but ideally wouldn't require a tower cooler either. There needs to be enough room for huge heatsinks that start low and go up high.
Good integrated LAN card with cable socket. I'd rather not have limited bandwidth because of something when my ISP upgrades the network, which it often does.
Room for upgrade, especially CPU. I understand the board won't be coming with DDR5, SATA4 or PCIE4, but I would prefer not to be limited by connectors or buses in the future, as far as possible, especially if it simply involves putting a couple more bucks in the mobo. The same refers to the CPU socket; I probably won't be buying an expensive CPU, but I'd appreciate being able to replace it with some really powerful processors when they become cheaper and/or when new processors come out that are compatible with the same socket. I am open to recommendations of less than newest sockets, though, if they make much more sense financially. BUT:
No unproven and expensive absolute newest tech, please. Don't want to be a beta tester for untested technology or pay the marketing premium for new stuff. I need proven tech and also a manufacturer that's conscientious about providing support, known for a good RMA record etc. This probably rules out Asus and Gigabyte.
Mobo absolutely needs to be compatible with low-rotation fans (lots of connectors too). I'll be using low-rotation fans wherever possible. I need the mobo to not cry murder when I use 800 rpm on an overclocked CPU. Rotation control needs to be based on temperature reads only, no silly preconceptions about rpm. Ideally, fan control should be able to entirely shut down fans that aren't necessary at any given time.
Mobo shouldn't requre a floppy drive/have BIOS issues when there's no floppy drive in the system. I know this is hard to know and I wouldn't ask you to check it for me (I'll be following up and doing deep research on the recommendations anyway), but if you do know that the mobo has some such issues, then please mention them in your recommendation.
Any sophisticated power supply features need to work in Europe and in old buildings. In other words, the mobo shouldn't be a drama queen about European power plugs (low-voltage directive and whatever) or bad power grids in old buildings. Especially no shutdowns, BIOS resets, refusals to boot etc. because of such typical power problems. Warning yes (very welcome), hard block nope. I need to be able to override any such settings. UPS support (if there is such a thing for mobos) would be a bonus. Protection from electricity problems would be great (voltage fluctuations, surges, sudden outages, e.g. when fuses go out in the apartment).
PCIE slot for discrete soundcard, even with a 3-slot GFX card. I have a discrete x-fi titanium, which I'll be using for as long as it remains better than onboard soundcards (please let me know if the mobo already has a better soundcard onboard). I often end up using 3-slot GFX cards (perhaps even 4-slot).
No interference with GFX card length. I might end up using one that's longer than 30 cm. Can't have RAM there or NB or SB, anything tall.
Smart placement of CPU-section power plug and other plugs to facilitate cable management.
Typical usage (this probably affects Intel vs AMD choice): Work and gaming, 16/24/7 with many all-nighters.
Work: Heavy-duty text editing, sometimes of very large files in bilingual layouts, with very large bilingual memory files attached (I'm translator). Autosaving the translated document every 5 minutes, updating the memory files constantly on the fly, as well as constantly checking for similarities between the translated file and the translations saved in the memory. I would welcome the ability to continue to work normally (including the autosaving) when Windows or something else is downloading its updates or when scans are run by Windows or anti-virus software. It would be great if I could also have a permanent kind of auto-backup solution frequently backing up my work directories, preferably without slowing me down too much. Ideally this would mean not even typing lag. Definitely nothing that could cause the system to stop responding due to the load pile.
In some situations I could have up to (at the same time): a very large file opened in a bilingual layout (e.g. 500-page manual or corporate document with a complicated layout, pictures etc.), with a huge memory attached for constant scanning. Perhaps another such project opened but not actively worked on. In the background Windows does its updating, COMODO does its scanning, Steam and/or a game may be patching, sometimes there's a defrag or something else like that going on, and also an autosave or backup, and I can have like 5 Chrome windows with 10 tabs in each, searching online databases, googling for helpful sources etc. (some of which are large PDF files served by slow servers). And I would love to be doing all this without experiencing a slowdown, not even typing lag, and definitely without crashing the system with the processes.
I don't do rendering, movies or bitcoins or anything else of the sort.
Of other important things, MS Office 2013 is very resource-hungry and works much more slowly than LibreOffice. It works too slowly on my e8600 with 8 GB DDR2/800 RAM, and produces typing lag in moderate-sized documents. I don't know how this affects the Intel vs AMD choice, but I wouldn't be surprised if it mattered. My guess is that singlecore performance will matter a lot because of this.
OS is Windows, as my software won't work under Linux.
I would ideally choose my CPU on the basis of this, but also taking some account of:
Gaming: CPU-intense strategies that aren't specifically optimized for multicore (or even dual core), so the CPU would need to know how to step in and divide the workload on its own. Such strategies also often involve a lot of data files for constant checks of a million variables. Also RPGs (which I tend to play for like 10+ hours per session) and car racers. Usually not other genres, although some of the RPGs are close to normal FPS. Often multiplayer. I'm really serious about ladder when I do play Starcraft 2 or something else like that, which is part of the reason why I need stability etc. to avoid crashes or disconnects and ideally also lag spikes etc.
A CPU and/or RAM recommendation (DDR4 for RAM) would be welcome while at it, though I'm focusing on the mobo right now. If I spend a lot of money on the mobo, I'll need to get a budget CPU, but I don't really mind upgrading it later.
Cost: Preferably below $300 unless there are special reasons to exceed this budget, in which case preferably not over $400. Please consider CPU cost too.
If you recommend an Intel board, please propose an AMD alternative if you can feel confident recommending one, and vice versa. This is largely because if I go for an AMD GFX card (choosing one right now), I'll probably want an AMD CPU with it as well.
If you recommend a hard-to-find manufacturer/board please try to recommend a more mainstream alternative too.
If this affects RAM choice because of Intel vs AMD differences, please let me know which RAM parameters I should focus on.
LONGER VERSION:
I need:
Compatibility to not worry about adding or removing RAM especially but also other components. This includes especially adding RAM that wasn't even out at the time the manufacturer was designing the RAM-mobo compatibility/support list. Ideally I would have a mobo that supported any DDR4 RAM without bitching about it, especially high-end fancy gaming RAM with funny heatsinks that costs a fortune. This probably also requires a manufacturer that's really conscientious about providing support, not just a couple of BIOS updates for a year or two and then a middle finger like Asus with P5Q-E. Default settings should be capable of working with all sorts of normal hardware in normal use at spec values.
Stability and durability to be very unlikely to die on me without a warning and especially kill other equipment, like a hard drive needed for work or an expensive GFX card. Capacitors need to be able to survive 24/7 operation with serious loads during a hot summer, also 4-5 years after purchasing the mobo. Ideally the board would have very sturdy power circuitry, NB, SB, mosfets and all that jazz, which I understand comes at a price, but I would feel more comfortable specifically buying it as a design/specification feature that the manufacturer charges money for and stakes its own reputation on (along with risk of lawsuits). Preferably with the ability to mount aftermarket heatsinks if necessary, and a fan, on such components, especially for northbridge (if Intel).
No-nonsense OC. Absolutely no unwanted OC, especially none that I wouldn't be able to switch off. No other quirky features, especially no features that are hard to disable and/or identify/understand. And preferably not too many settings to have to think about.
Smart placement of RAM, NB, SB, mosfets, power circuitry etc., especially for cooling purposes. I need these parts to not be dependent on the CPU cooler for cooling, to not obstruct the airflow, to not prevent me from using large tower heatsinks, and to not require me to use shorter graphics cards. Ideally, aftermarket heatsinks would be possible, but I've already mentioned this. RAM shouldn't restrict GFX card length or block/restrict airflow for the CPU cooler.
Suitability for a wide range of CPU coolers. Can't be designed for box, horizontal or orb coolers, but ideally wouldn't require a tower cooler either. There needs to be enough room for huge heatsinks that start low and go up high.
Good integrated LAN card with cable socket. I'd rather not have limited bandwidth because of something when my ISP upgrades the network, which it often does.
Room for upgrade, especially CPU. I understand the board won't be coming with DDR5, SATA4 or PCIE4, but I would prefer not to be limited by connectors or buses in the future, as far as possible, especially if it simply involves putting a couple more bucks in the mobo. The same refers to the CPU socket; I probably won't be buying an expensive CPU, but I'd appreciate being able to replace it with some really powerful processors when they become cheaper and/or when new processors come out that are compatible with the same socket. I am open to recommendations of less than newest sockets, though, if they make much more sense financially. BUT:
No unproven and expensive absolute newest tech, please. Don't want to be a beta tester for untested technology or pay the marketing premium for new stuff. I need proven tech and also a manufacturer that's conscientious about providing support, known for a good RMA record etc. This probably rules out Asus and Gigabyte.
Mobo absolutely needs to be compatible with low-rotation fans (lots of connectors too). I'll be using low-rotation fans wherever possible. I need the mobo to not cry murder when I use 800 rpm on an overclocked CPU. Rotation control needs to be based on temperature reads only, no silly preconceptions about rpm. Ideally, fan control should be able to entirely shut down fans that aren't necessary at any given time.
Mobo shouldn't requre a floppy drive/have BIOS issues when there's no floppy drive in the system. I know this is hard to know and I wouldn't ask you to check it for me (I'll be following up and doing deep research on the recommendations anyway), but if you do know that the mobo has some such issues, then please mention them in your recommendation.
Any sophisticated power supply features need to work in Europe and in old buildings. In other words, the mobo shouldn't be a drama queen about European power plugs (low-voltage directive and whatever) or bad power grids in old buildings. Especially no shutdowns, BIOS resets, refusals to boot etc. because of such typical power problems. Warning yes (very welcome), hard block nope. I need to be able to override any such settings. UPS support (if there is such a thing for mobos) would be a bonus. Protection from electricity problems would be great (voltage fluctuations, surges, sudden outages, e.g. when fuses go out in the apartment).
PCIE slot for discrete soundcard, even with a 3-slot GFX card. I have a discrete x-fi titanium, which I'll be using for as long as it remains better than onboard soundcards (please let me know if the mobo already has a better soundcard onboard). I often end up using 3-slot GFX cards (perhaps even 4-slot).
No interference with GFX card length. I might end up using one that's longer than 30 cm. Can't have RAM there or NB or SB, anything tall.
Smart placement of CPU-section power plug and other plugs to facilitate cable management.
Typical usage (this probably affects Intel vs AMD choice): Work and gaming, 16/24/7 with many all-nighters.
Work: Heavy-duty text editing, sometimes of very large files in bilingual layouts, with very large bilingual memory files attached (I'm translator). Autosaving the translated document every 5 minutes, updating the memory files constantly on the fly, as well as constantly checking for similarities between the translated file and the translations saved in the memory. I would welcome the ability to continue to work normally (including the autosaving) when Windows or something else is downloading its updates or when scans are run by Windows or anti-virus software. It would be great if I could also have a permanent kind of auto-backup solution frequently backing up my work directories, preferably without slowing me down too much. Ideally this would mean not even typing lag. Definitely nothing that could cause the system to stop responding due to the load pile.
In some situations I could have up to (at the same time): a very large file opened in a bilingual layout (e.g. 500-page manual or corporate document with a complicated layout, pictures etc.), with a huge memory attached for constant scanning. Perhaps another such project opened but not actively worked on. In the background Windows does its updating, COMODO does its scanning, Steam and/or a game may be patching, sometimes there's a defrag or something else like that going on, and also an autosave or backup, and I can have like 5 Chrome windows with 10 tabs in each, searching online databases, googling for helpful sources etc. (some of which are large PDF files served by slow servers). And I would love to be doing all this without experiencing a slowdown, not even typing lag, and definitely without crashing the system with the processes.
I don't do rendering, movies or bitcoins or anything else of the sort.
Of other important things, MS Office 2013 is very resource-hungry and works much more slowly than LibreOffice. It works too slowly on my e8600 with 8 GB DDR2/800 RAM, and produces typing lag in moderate-sized documents. I don't know how this affects the Intel vs AMD choice, but I wouldn't be surprised if it mattered. My guess is that singlecore performance will matter a lot because of this.
OS is Windows, as my software won't work under Linux.
I would ideally choose my CPU on the basis of this, but also taking some account of:
Gaming: CPU-intense strategies that aren't specifically optimized for multicore (or even dual core), so the CPU would need to know how to step in and divide the workload on its own. Such strategies also often involve a lot of data files for constant checks of a million variables. Also RPGs (which I tend to play for like 10+ hours per session) and car racers. Usually not other genres, although some of the RPGs are close to normal FPS. Often multiplayer. I'm really serious about ladder when I do play Starcraft 2 or something else like that, which is part of the reason why I need stability etc. to avoid crashes or disconnects and ideally also lag spikes etc.
A CPU and/or RAM recommendation (DDR4 for RAM) would be welcome while at it, though I'm focusing on the mobo right now. If I spend a lot of money on the mobo, I'll need to get a budget CPU, but I don't really mind upgrading it later.
Cost: Preferably below $300 unless there are special reasons to exceed this budget, in which case preferably not over $400. Please consider CPU cost too.
If you recommend an Intel board, please propose an AMD alternative if you can feel confident recommending one, and vice versa. This is largely because if I go for an AMD GFX card (choosing one right now), I'll probably want an AMD CPU with it as well.
If you recommend a hard-to-find manufacturer/board please try to recommend a more mainstream alternative too.
If this affects RAM choice because of Intel vs AMD differences, please let me know which RAM parameters I should focus on.
