Motherboard for xeon e3 1230v2?

simsma · 20 Apr 2013 at 13:22

Hi I am going to buy a Xeon e3 1230v2 for rendering and a bit of gaming and also streaming movies to TV.
What z77 motherboard do I need that supports PCI e 3.
Also do I really need ecc ram?
I was hoping a mainstream motherboard will do for about £150 (+ or - £30)

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

snips86x · 20 Apr 2013 at 13:44

I wouldn't recommend a budget board for that, maybe one of these:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Z77A-GD65 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x MSI Z77A-GD55 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99
Total : £354.97 (includes shipping : £10.00).

All these boards are well recommended and spec'd here on the Forum, should be fine paired with some decent RAM. All Z77 boards suppoer PCI-e 3.0. and are backwards compatible. Gigabyte would be the better choice, you get UK RMA as well as a host of Overclocking features (if required) and are rock steady.

simsma · 20 Apr 2013 at 17:44

Thanks for the response.
Would the Asus p8z77 v or v pro offer any advantages to the above 3 suggested motherboards with respect to 3d rendering and also streaming films to a smart TV?
Has anyone any experience of using Xeon e3 1230 v2 with a consumer level motherboard?

Thanks in advance

snips86x · 20 Apr 2013 at 20:22

simsma said:
Thanks for the response.
Would the Asus p8z77 v or v pro offer any advantages to the above 3 suggested motherboards with respect to 3d rendering and also streaming films to a smart TV?
Has anyone any experience of using Xeon e3 1230 v2 with a consumer level motherboard?

Thanks in advance

The difference between the 2 boards will along the lines of additional USB 3 ports, BIOS settings and I think the I/O shield is anti-static.

Sorry, cannot help with the motherboard question, try Google is all I can think of ATM!