Mini-ITX Overclockable board at Decent Price?

Moothead2 · 25 Sep 2012 at 17:04

Hi,

I have a 2500k and have the urge to downscale my rig to a smaller case which means getting a Mini-ITX board. My problem is most of the decently priced Mini-ITX boards are unable to overclock the 2500k which makes it rather useless being unlocked and all other similarly capable locked processors are actually more than I paid for this CPU so makes changing CPU redundant.

Does anyone know of a reasonably priced mini-ITX board that will allow me to fiddle with the 2500ks unlocked multiplier?

Thanks

.

stulid · 25 Sep 2012 at 17:30

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-417-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2071

Z77 chipset so you get the full multiplier control.

And unlike the Asrock ITX board, it doesnt have a mSATA slot on the rear which I have seen a few people moan about as they cant fit some cooler back plates.

Bones · 25 Sep 2012 at 17:51

perfect, wanted to know exactly the same thing!

Marine-RX179 · 25 Sep 2012 at 19:00

Also judging from the CPU 12v is only 4pin rather than 8, I would imagine the power phasing is not as high as the more expensive Asrock or Asus that uses 8pin instead of 4 and may somewhat limit the overclocking potential. Also the VRM looks quite skinny comparing to the ASRock and Asus with a heatsink on it.

Personally, if I don't want to spend £150 on the Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe, I would at least spend £117 on getting the ASRock Z77E-ITX.

stulid · 25 Sep 2012 at 19:11

The SniperM3 only has a 4pin CPU connector to, never seen that struggle for overclocking.

tamzzy · 25 Sep 2012 at 20:36

stulid said:
And unlike the Asrock ITX board, it doesnt have a mSATA slot on the rear which I have seen a few people moan about as they cant fit some cooler back plates.

nothing that a simple dremmel cant solve though xD

Pirata · 25 Sep 2012 at 22:06

tamzzy said:
nothing that a simple dremmel cant solve though xD

You just made me spill some tea....

Tute · 25 Sep 2012 at 22:29

For Sandy/Ivy Bridge mITX overclocking, you want to be looking at either the Gigabyte above, the Asrock Z77E-ITX, or the Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe, depending on the features you want/need.

Theres also the EVGA Z77 Stinger coming soon, that should be up there with the rest.

Orcvader · 26 Sep 2012 at 11:09

stulid said:
The SniperM3 only has a 4pin CPU connector to, never seen that struggle for overclocking.

This. If I remember correctly the only difference between the 4 pin and 8 pin is just to distribute the power more evenly.

The Gigabyte looks good but the socket is a bit too close to the PCI-E slot for my liking if you're planning to add a discrete card as it could get in the way of a big CPU cooler. The ASRock seems to suffer the same problem as well. The Asus one seems to have more space though.

Maybe go for an all-in-one water cooler?

Bones · 26 Sep 2012 at 11:20

I went for the Asrock, found it for the same price as the unreleased gigabyte board. Plan on using my old H50 cooler hopefully it will fit with minimal issues!

gropingmantis · 26 Sep 2012 at 23:00

Tute said:
For Sandy/Ivy Bridge mITX overclocking, you want to be looking at either the Gigabyte above, the Asrock Z77E-ITX, or the Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe, depending on the features you want/need.

Theres also the EVGA Z77 Stinger coming soon, that should be up there with the rest.

Im sure I read somewhere that the EVGA is going to be priced stupidly. Like £200 area!!