2500k Mobo advice needed

bainbridge · 27 May 2011 at 21:37

Ok this is a bit of a novel so thanks to anyone who does take the time to read & respond...

Just sold my Q6600 & 775 hardware, buying a 2500k & getting a bit bamboozled by the large number of boards available. Here's my requirements:

1) The new board needs to accomodate a Prolimatech Super Mega Cooler. There a section on the Prolimatech site about some 1155 boards not having enough room:

http://www.prolimatech.com/en/news/detail.asp?id=862

2) I'm still unsure whether to get one with the P67 or Z68 Chipset. I'm inclined to go for Z68 as it is newer but as far as I'm aware the only benefit is SSD caching, some advice in this area would be great.

3) I want a really good overclocker. A high quaility PCB, capacitors, good cooling & a comprehensive BIOS with lots of options is what I'm after. There seems to be so many features on some boards such as bluetooth etc. I honestly don't think I'll use half of them.

4) Looking for one around the £170 mark but will go up to £200 if it's beneficial to do so.

That's about it, I'm hoping this will be my platform for the next 4 years so I want to learn from my previous experience of scrimping on the board & wasting money having to buy a better one to achieve a good stable overclock. Also having read a few bits & pieces about Sandybridge boards being sent back due to design errors etc, I'm hoping to just buy a nice board & get going with it.

I'm leaning towards one of these two:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-336-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-174-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990

Thanks for reading, I keenly await any responses (got paid today & itching to order

)

1Day · 27 May 2011 at 21:50

Z68X-UD4(or 5 if your budget can manage) will get my vote this time round. Rock solid overclocking motherboard - TeamAU use it to shoot for the WR in 3DMark2001SE so that tells you something about the board.

bainbridge · 27 May 2011 at 22:03

I can't afford the UD5, but the UD4 is on sale this week, I'm struggling to see what the difference between the UD4, UD5 & UD7 actually is (apart form the price).

Will the UD4 accommodate a Super Mega?

Dea924 · 28 May 2011 at 01:10

shouldnt all motherboards support the prolimatech?.. its not the board that needs to accomodate one, its the case and anything you put near it. if you've a big gfx card as it says on ur link then it may interfere, if youve a small case the side panel might not fit.
with my a50 cooler i had to remove one of the side panel fans so that i could put it back on the case. good shout on the ud4.

sk82jack · 28 May 2011 at 01:19

Gigabyte Z68 comparison

P67 & Z68 motherboard comparison

bainbridge · 28 May 2011 at 08:44

Ok for 160 quid the UD4 appears to tick all the boxes, looks like a good overlooker & the 1st pci express slot looks over 26mm away from the cooler mount.

Thanks guys.

Stryda09 · 28 May 2011 at 11:06

bainbridge said:
Ok for 160 quid the UD4 appears to tick all the boxes, looks like a good overlooker & the 1st pci express slot looks over 26mm away from the cooler mount.

Thanks guys.

Just installed my UD4 yesterday and I was a bit concerned the top PCI-e slot was really close to the socket and thought it would be really close to my Noctua D14. Graphics card is a good 3-4cm away from the d14 so I imagine other coolers will be fine as well.

bainbridge · 28 May 2011 at 22:11

Stryda09 said:
Just installed my UD4 yesterday and I was a bit concerned the top PCI-e slot was really close to the socket and thought it would be really close to my Noctua D14. Graphics card is a good 3-4cm away from the d14 so I imagine other coolers will be fine as well.

Nice one stryda09, fingers crossed!