Socket 1155 boards

NightSt@lk3r · 3 May 2013 at 18:50

Im looking at upgrading my i3 system, its done me a good service but is bottlenecking my 7950 in a lot of new games so i am looking to upgrade to an i5 but don't know which board to get for under £90 my only requirements are must have optical audio output, crossfire and be a good overclocker.

these are 2 i like the look of but any suggestions are welcome.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Z77A-G45 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £85.99
Total : £175.98 (includes shipping : FREE).

RogerMesenseless · 3 May 2013 at 18:55

You probably need to spend a bit more for a board that supports crossfire at a decent bandwidth.
But this is one of the best value for money Z77 boards out there.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
Total : £99.89 (includes shipping : £8.25).

NightSt@lk3r · 3 May 2013 at 18:59

According to reviews and the MSI website the MSI Z77A-G45 has 2 full speed PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots though

8 Pack · 3 May 2013 at 21:36

In Crossfire at this level all slots will work 8x 8x as no board has PLX support. The Gigabyte is the best option out of these three I believe.

The ASUS and MSI do also give you the features and upgrade options too.

the1gooner · 3 May 2013 at 22:13

NightSt@lk3r said:
Im looking at upgrading my i3 system, its done me a good service but is bottlenecking my 7950 in a lot of new games so i am looking to upgrade to an i5 but don't know which board to get for under £90 my only requirements are must have optical audio output, crossfire and be a good overclocker.

You could always get an i5 760 / i7 870

I was running an i3 540 and swapped it out for an i5 760, which runs happily at 3.8ghz in the same motherboard that you have. That should be enough of a performance gain for much less money.