Motherboard help for new system build?

CelestUk

CelestUk

CelestUk

Associate
Joined
4 Oct 2011
Posts
3
Hey everyone, looking for some help with what motherboard would be suitable for the rig I'm looking to put together. :)

Items I have my eye on posted below.

Q1.
I will be going Crossfire and am unsure on where I should align on the whole 16x2 or 8x2 debate regarding the pci-e lanes on the motherboard? (I think that's what I'm trying to say?)
If I could get some recommendations for motherboards which run 16x2 and 8x2 for the crossfire below, and which you would go for, that would be great!
Note - Current case Motherboard support: Atx, Micro-Atx and Baby At (If the motherboard follows one of these types - Brilliant! :D)

Q2.
One other little thing, is the Psu below suitable for crossfire, correct pins/voltage/wattage etc. I'm not sure what I should be looking for in the tech spec section.
Any tips help you can offer I'm all ears thanks very much :)

I've noticed in lots of other threads, that it is best if you have an idea on price and purpose etc. So here goes;
Heavy gamer the whole range shooters-strat-mmo
Multi screener 2-3
Generally lots of programmes open; games + music/music creators ableton etc, chat+voice clients
The budget for the motherboard? Well browsing through the store, nothing seems to go over £300. But between £175-£250 if possible.

(Case+case fans, Hdd, OS, all that sort of stuff I'm ok with, just the main components im not sure about)

Processor - i7-2600K - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-358-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1859
Graphics - Ati 6970x2 - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-038-HS
Power supply - TX 850M V2 - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-039-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084
Motherboard - Help please as regarding above paragraphs :)
RAM - Guess i need to pick the motherboard first, so have not thought about this yet.

Any help or general tips/pointers would be amazing. Any more information required please ask away and I'll try my best to supply it.

Thank you very much for your time, and any help you can offer.



(P.S Been a while since I used the forums - my last build I believe, hope I haven't broken any posting rules on the links/thread placement.)
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

If this is a mainly gaming rig then an i5-2500K will perform just as well as the i7-2600K. The main thing it lacks is hyperthreading which isn't any use in games.

Unless you want to spend £220+ on a motherboard with an NF200 chip all Sandy Bridge boards run at x8/x8.

£320 for a HD 6970 is mental. They offer something like a 5-8% performance increase over a HD 6950 yet cost vastly more.

The Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 TOXIC has a very good chance of unlocking to the same number of shaders as a HD 6970 at the flick of a switch.

The OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply is very good at the £100 mark. Modular, gold rated and the full 850W available on the all important 12V rail. It will run two HD 6950/6970's with ease.

For RAM you get the cheapest 8GB 1600MHz kit available from a good manufacturer. RAM speed and timings make very little difference with Sandy Bridge and 8GB is pretty cheap at the moment so why not.

RAM with low profile heat spreaders, like Corsair XMS3 or Kingston HyperX, offers better compatability with large CPU coolers.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the reply!
Will look into the 6950 and have a hard think about the overclocking etc cheers.

Looks like x8/x8 might be the way to go then, any of the p67 range fairly ok then?
Thanks for the pointer on the RAM too : )!

Any other comments on motherboards would be great thanks all : )
 
Buchanan0204 said:
Just pick any decent Z68 board which has all the features you require and will use. Don't spend too much!
Click to expand...
Thanks will take a look into them now! :)

SpoonedurI said:
By the way, what case have you got at the moment? You wouldn't want to run dual gpus in a small form case...
Click to expand...
Currently the NZXT Lexa, yes a bit old, but I believe it has enough room, was hoping to get it set up then if temps./space was an issue - I would upgrade about a month after on the next pay day haha!
 
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