Hello I am making a custom built pc but I am unsure which motherboard to choose
What are the differences / advantages / disadvantages
I'm looking to get a i7 3.4ghz quad
8 or 16gb of ram and again unsure what sound card and graphics card but at the main time I'm mainly looking for people's advice on the motherboard so I would be grateful to hear back from you experts :)
Regards Paul
ASUS Maximus V Formula/Assassins C3 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard with Gaming Bundle - Newegg.com
This would be my personal pick excluding the non-custom built systems I have run I have always had an asus mother board, the price is a little bit high on this particular model but now here's what makes it worth it for me It has the brand new Z77 chip set, supports on board graphics if you should find yourself with a failed video card. 3 PCIe slots so plent of room for more video cards or NIC cards or what ever expansions you might want, the board supports up to 32gb of ram so there isn't much worry about your ram situation with it. It also comes with built in wireless, which I find a nice feature especially when moving the computer if you don't have a long enough lan cable but you have a wireless router you need not worry about it.
paulpp that is a very good question. This is where the fun of research comes in. You have obviously been looking and that is good. What kind of money range are we looking at? I chose Asus when I built my system but their have been many changes sense then. Maybe this will help you; my methods.
After choosing my CPU and printed out all the specs I looked through many brands of mother board read many reviews to shorten the list. Then I once again printed out specs of the motherboards still on the list. Using the printed out lists of specs and prices I started compared the features of each and decided the features I wanted and was willing to pay for. You will get it down to 3 or 4 on the list. Now with that list you worked so hard to create post it and we surly will be able to better help you.
Happy hunting.
First you should pick the Socket, then what ''features'' you want in your motherboard, XFIRE/SLI/both, how many sata ports you will need, how much ram, how many CPU fans you might need, check if you will perform overclocking, etc..etc...
Picking the motherboard is probably the hardest decision. One wrong decision can make your whole upgrade path a destruction. So basically whatever you choose, do NOT cheap out on the motherboard.
Are you still setting an £600 budget?
I'm not sure that I'd recommend an I7 for that. An I5-3570k (quad core, but without hyperthreading) is significantly less expensive, but it's considered a very high-end CPU for most purposes.
At www.amazon,co.uk, £165.
One possible motherboard:
AsRock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard (Socket 1155, Intel Z77, Up to 32GB DDR3, ATX, 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s, Supports NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX, Premium Gold Caps): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories
(£102)
Graphics card:
Sapphire 11200-16-20G HD7850 GDDR5 Graphics Card (1GB): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories
(£137)
RAM, there are dozens of choices, but here's one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/G-Skill-Ripj...0985778&sr=1-1
(8GB kit. More than adequate for most users.) £44.5
CPU heatsink/fan:
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (120mm): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories
(£25).
For the PSU, I'd suggest as a minimum:
Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supply Unit: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories
(£55)
Without a case, we're at about £530. You still need a hard drive, an optical drive (DVD burner), and an SSD for the OS and applications if you want to get a significant boost in common operations. I wouldn't bother with a soundcard, unless you have some special requirements; onboard is good enough these days.
This isn't a budget build, although it's not a cost-no-object one either.
Don't treat it as an ideal, but I hope that it's a reasonable starting point.
paulpp I have been looking at your other threads.
1. Are you buying ram?
2. Are buying another computer?
3. Are you building a new computer?
Can you tell us which one of those three threads has priority. What have you decided to do?
Hello I have decided to go With getting a custom build pc
Please allow me to show you so far what I have chosen
In Stock Computer Case X-Blade Black
In Stock CPU Intel i7 3770 - (4 x 3.4 GHZ) - Ivy Bridge - (Free Majesty 2 Game)
In Stock CPU Heatsink Intel Heatsink & Fan - Low Noise
In Stock Memory 16 GB 1333 MHZ (4x4GB) - (DDR3)
In Stock Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 - 1 GB - (GAINWARD) - (PCI-E) (FREE ASSASSINS CREED III & £50 Game Credit)
In Stock Motherboard Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H (Intel B75) - VGA/DVI/HDMI
In Stock Sound Card Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 5.1 (PCI)
In Stock Networking Wireless LAN 150Mbps (USB)
In Stock Power Supply 700W PSU
In Stock Hard Drive #1 1 TB (1000 GB) SATA-II HDD 7200 RPM 32MB
In Stock Optical Drive #1 Samsung 24x DVD/CD Re-Writer/Reader - Black - (SATA)
In Stock Security Software FREE - Webroot AntiVirus 2013 (1 Year - 1 PC License) - FREE FOR ORDERS PLACED BEFORE 17/2/13
In Stock Free Gift FREE - 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive
In Stock Monitor Cables & Adapters FREE - DVI Port to VGA Monitor Port Adapter
In Stock DVD Playback Software FREE - CyberLink PowerDVD 10
In Stock DVD/CD Burning Software FREE - Nero V10 Essentials Suite 2
In Stock CPU Compound Standard CPU Compound Supplied With Heatsink
In Stock Case Fans Fans Included With Case
I would be grateful for any feedback
Regards Paul
If you could post the websites of your chosen parts would help.
Just a look what you put in your post. Example: It saves a lot of time on my end.
Professional Series
Your case is to small and with 80mm fans will be very poor in the cooling department. You would be hard pressed to get all that hardware in the case.
Your power supply of 750W is okay if it is a quality brand like Seasonic or Corsair. We need to know the brand.
You can leave out all the free stuff it just clutters up the post.
***Once again we need to know how much money you are willing to spend in U.S. dollars.
***Lets work on the case and power supply before we go any farther.
Okay my apologies for that
In US dollars I'm looking to spend $1000 which is roughly £650
The power supply which I have listed is not a well known brand such as the one which you have listed
Is there any special tools which I will need in order to construct the pc myself rather than having someone else do it for me ?
Just a normal toolkit is needed. I chose this mobo for my rebuild of an older Dell: ASRock Z77 Extreme6 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com
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