Need Help Finding The Right Motherboard

[Hatton]

Hey guys,

I've been using Overclockers a lot to buy my PC equipment in the past. I used to be hot on all the parts and what was what, nowadays I really am confused with what is considered good and what new technology I should use for my new PC build.

What I will be using my new PC for:

- Gaming (BF3, MW3 etc.)
- Adobe Media Software (Movie Editing, Photo Retouching etc.)

My Budget: £1130 (Already purchased monitor)

I want to start building my new PC from the motherboard up. I'm trying to find a motherboard that is compatible with all the latest tech, like the 6 core processors I hear about.

It has to be spacious to allow room for my graphics card (Radeon 6870). My current motherboard didn't have enough room to fit the card which is why i'm having to upgrade!

Oh and I want the motherboard to support me well in to the future so I can add RAM or more Graphics Cards as I need to. (Saves me having to get another motherboard down the line)

I'd be grateful for any help you guys can give me

Cheers,

Hatton

 

[Rooster212]

Well starting with the basic requirement of 6 cores, that would be the 1366 socket core i7's or the AM3 processors i believe.

So basically you want to be looking here for Intel or here for the AMD processors. There are so many choices when it comes to your build as for your budget you could get a reasonably high end system, and seeing as you already know you want

• a spacious motherboard (room for 2x Radeon 6870)
• Crossfire compatibility (for later expansion)

you can look through the boards and see what you like. There are lots of choices that are compatible with your needs!

If you get a core i7 board for example, I would get a memory kit with 3x 4gb RAM sticks so that you can add another Tri-channel kit at a later date, but have room to move for the moment. But thats just me

 

[Hatton]

Thanks for the reply.

I've been looking through some of the motherboards and I have a few questions.

What's the "Form Factor" spec?
What's the "Network Interface" spec?

What is the difference between this board: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-399-AS and this board: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-395-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1692

The cheaper board seems to have the same chipset, support for i7 1366 sockets, SLI and Crossfire support, USB 3.0, DDR3 memory, 6.0Gb/s transfer ... yet the other board is a lot higher in price!? Is there something I am missing here?

 

[Surveyor]

May I make a suggestion?

Make a "spec. me" thread in General Hardware specifying exactly what you want to use the PC for, what your budget is, what components you already have and whether or not you require things like, monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, operating system etc.

You'll get a lot more answers and lots of suggestions on the way to go.

Just for your information Form Factor is the motherboard size:

ATX

Most boards are Standard ATX or microATX.

Network Interface:

Network interface controller

Used for connecting to a network or some internet connections and routers.

 

[sk82jack]

The cheaper board seems to have the same chipset, support for i7 1366 sockets, SLI and Crossfire support, USB 3.0, DDR3 memory, 6.0Gb/s transfer ... yet the other board is a lot higher in price!? Is there something I am missing here?

The Rampage III

• Three-way CF/SLI
• 11 USB ports
• 9 SATA ports and 1 External SATA port
• 4 PCIe x16, 1 PCIe x4 (x4,x16 is the speed)
• 1 PCI

The P8X58D-E

• Two-way CF/SLI
• 10 USB ports
• 8 SATA ports and no External SATA ports
• 3 PCIe x16, no PCIe x4, 1 PCIe x1
• 2 PCI

 

[DennisMenace]

I'd be looking at an i7-2600K with P67/Z68. Not 6 cores, but close to the performance at half the price. Spend the cash saved on some nice SATA3 SSD's and a GPU.

Or wait for Bulldozer, or wait for IvyBridge....

But if I had £1000 to buy a system today, definitely 2500K/2600K.

 

[Hatton]

Surveyor, thanks for the reply, I wanted to build my PC from the motherboard up and figured this was the right forum. I'll post my situation as you said and see what feedback I get.

The Rampage III

• Three-way CF/SLI
• 11 USB ports
• 9 SATA ports and 1 External SATA port
• 4 PCIe x16, 1 PCIe x4 (x4,x16 is the speed)
• 1 PCI

The P8X58D-E

• Two-way CF/SLI
• 10 USB ports
• 8 SATA ports and no External SATA ports
• 3 PCIe x16, no PCIe x4, 1 PCIe x1
• 2 PCI

sk82jack, thanks for the reply.

What is the difference between Two-way and Three-way CF/SLI?

Can you recommend some motherboards for gaming?

DennisMenace, thanks for the reply.

I haven't looked that much into the CPU yet but I definitely want an i7 series, they are the new ones right? Also what is P67/Z68, im guessing they are motherboards?

I really want to make sure I get 6 cores, heck maybe 8 cores (are they out yet?) as I feel quad cores are getting slightly dated and I want this PC to see me through some of the future high end games.

As for the SSD's, I don't really see why people need them on a desktop? My knowledge is that they are the new type of hard drive that doesn't use any "moving parts". They seem to have a high price tag for little memory compared to the standard HDD.

I've already purchased my graphics card a while back, it's a Radeon HD 6870 which can support crossfire.

Also, what is the "Bulldozer"/"IvyBridge" you speak of?

Thanks for all the replies guys, I appreciate you having to put up with me asking so many basic questions!

 

[Stoner81]

Also what is P67/Z68, im guessing they are motherboards?

It refers to the type of motherboard and the chipset they use, P67 boards don't have on board graphics whereas most of the Z68 series do. As you have a video card already it does not make any difference to you

I really want to make sure I get 6 cores, heck maybe 8 cores (are they out yet?) as I feel quad cores are getting slightly dated and I want this PC to see me through some of the future high end games.

8 core CPU's are not out yet that is what Bulldozer (AMD) is for and later Ivy Bridge (Intel). Quad cores are far from dated in my honest opinion, a friend of mine has recently bought a hex core CPU and there is some difference on things but it cost him £450 to do it which frankly to me is pointless. Technology is progressing so fast that software vendors and game developers can't keep up with the sheer amount of power a PC can now have.

As for the SSD's, I don't really see why people need them on a desktop? My knowledge is that they are the new type of hard drive that doesn't use any "moving parts". They seem to have a high price tag for little memory compared to the standard HDD.

SSD's are insanely quick! Z68 boards can use a SSD as cache for your most used applications etc to speed things up a lot.

Also, what is the "Bulldozer"/"IvyBridge" you speak of?

They are new chipsets for CPU's which are being released by AMD and Intel (respectively).

Thanks for all the replies guys, I appreciate you having to put up with me asking so many basic questions!

The only stupid question is the one which isn't asked

Back to the original topic though make a thread in the General Hardware section as already suggested and clearly state the following (it will help people spec you something up);

1. What parts you need OR what parts you don't need.
2. What the system is going to be used for.
3. Your total budget for everything.

Stoner81.

 

[Hatton]

Ok nice one, thanks. I'll go post that thread now.