Need a mobo recommendation

[NukaCola]

I'm slowly inching towards finally getting a computer upgrade (hoping Cyber Sunday/Monday will have some good deals).

I was originally looking into getting this Gigabyte Z68 motherboard but I'm having second thoughts after reading some reviews, such as SATA port placement issues in addition to the actual mobo being smaller than a standard ATX.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128502

I'm looking for a motherboard that's around the same price range but doesn't have the issues described. I currently have an ASUS P5Q Pro that's served me well, aside from an IDE controller that doesn't really work. Overclock ability is welcome.

If necessary, these are the other components I'm looking to getting:
XFX Radeon HD 6950 2GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150550
Intel i5 2500KLGA 1155 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115072
G.SKILL Ripjaws 8GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231311

On a side note: i7 isn't worth the extra $100 if I'm using this mostly for gaming, right? And is 8GB good enough or should I be ridiculous and go for 16GB?

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

I resently built a system for my cousin with the Asus P8Z68M Pro and I liked it a lot, but it is a Micro-ATX. Since you are looking for something in ATX and in the same price range as the Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 that would leave you with something like the Asus P8Z68V LX.

For gaming the Intel® Core™ i5-2500K is just about perfect. Also if you are going to do any overclocking you are really going to have to pick up a good 3rd party HSF (heatsink/fan) to deal with the increased temperatures. Go with 8GB of RAM but make sure it is DDR 3 1033/1333, you can even get away with 1600 but don't go over the 1.5v ±5%.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[Puppies04]

I resently built a system for my cousin with the Asus P8Z68M Pro and I liked it a lot, but it is a Micro-ATX. Since you are looking for something in ATX and in the same price range as the Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 that would leave you with something like the Asus P8Z68V LX.

For gaming the Intel® Core™ i5-2500K is just about perfect. Also if you are going to do any overclocking you are really going to have to pick up a good 3rd party HSF (heatsink/fan) to deal with the increased temperatures. Go with 8GB of RAM but make sure it is DDR 3 1033/1333, you can even get away with 1600 but don't go over the 1.5v ±5%.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

This +1

 

[NukaCola]

Thanks. I can't seem to find the LX version of Newegg though. There's the non-LX one though. One reviewer said something about slow boot times though:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo

 

[Aso]

Here is the LX version - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131781

I would personally get the base P8Z68 board since the LE and LX has downgraded power circuits from what I have read. The P8Z68 board has the same power circuits as the Pro and Deluxe boards. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131729

 

[NukaCola]

Hmm, I noticed that Crossfire isn't supported on this motherboard. Part of me would like to have that option in the future just in case. Is CrossFire and SLI better than it was a few years back?

 

[vshah]

crossfire and sli are both supported:
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z68V/#specifications

improvements have definitely been made in the past few years.