Good Motherboard for £100-£120

[Oxo]

I'm upgrading my system currently but need some advice on a good motherboard.

The processor I'm looking to get is..http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Sandy...1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1308227258&sr=1-1

I don't know what options there are with m/board, but i wouldn't mind the capability for dual graphics cards, although that's not too important, also what requirements does a SSD have? I have two Sata's currently but may be looking to upgrade in the near future.

Is there anything else which would benefit me on a board in the future.

I wouldn't mind paying that bit extra for more of an investment motherboard.

cheers

 

[sheroo]

What case do you intend to put it in? If you are prepared to spend a little more the Asus Sandy Bridge P67 Sabertooth comes in at around the £150 mark.

 

[Oxo]

thanks for the response, it says 2 x USB 3.0, 6 x USB 2.0. Is that quite standard? i always presumed if it said usb 3, they all were?

Would this support SSD, are they still connected via SATA?

I can only see 2 PCIE slots, would that mean i couldn't have dual graphics? (presuming i put my soundcard in)

Sorry for all the questions, i just really don't know anything about m/boards

Thanks

 

[Ya93sin]

I opted for the ASUS P8Z68 V-Pro, Sabertooth is also a very good buy. All of the mobos will support SSDs.

 

[-warheart-]

msi gd -53 is sli compatible and fairly cheap...

 

[Oxo]

Thanks for the responses. Overall I'm looking to spend under 350ish for processor, ram and m/board, with 8gb ram the processor and the sabortooth m/board its £386 @ amazon.

If i bought 4gb of ram would it still be worth the system, or is it better to get the better ram and save on the m/board?

thanks

EDIT: on the sabertooth, in the tech section it says 1600 (OC) for ram, i'm presuming that means i would need to overclock something for it to work properly?

 

[sheroo]

If this is a gaming rig then 4gb is fine. If you are video editing then you may want 8gb. If you're ram can run @ 1600 the sabertooth can handle it fine. The motherboard is the heart of your system, so its best to get the best you can. You can always upgrade the memory later if you want to add more.

Have you thought about cooling the cpu?

Most boards come with a mixture of sata 3, sata 2, usb 2 & usb 3. DVD drives, hard drives & ssd's all use the sata interface as standard. Sata 3 is backwardly compatible with sata 2. Sata 3 ssd's & hdd's will become the standard before long...

 

[Oxo]

thanks sheroo thats really helpfull,

in terms of cooling i was looking at something like this...http://www.amazon.co.uk/ZALMAN-CNPS...1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1308245203&sr=1-1

 

[sheroo]

thanks sheroo thats really helpfull,

in terms of cooling i was looking at something like this...http://www.amazon.co.uk/ZALMAN-CNPS...1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1308245203&sr=1-1

Have you had a look at the Coolermaster Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler it comes in cheaper, and I've seen it used on one of Tom's budget builds.

Did you know that you also qualify for free shipping from Aria if you have over 50 posts & have been registered for more than 28 days, just PM RawZ on the Aria Customer Care Forums.

 

[Judderman]

Thanks for the responses. Overall I'm looking to spend under 350ish for processor, ram and m/board, with 8gb ram the processor and the sabortooth m/board its £386 @ amazon.

If i bought 4gb of ram would it still be worth the system, or is it better to get the better ram and save on the m/board?

thanks

EDIT: on the sabertooth, in the tech section it says 1600 (OC) for ram, i'm presuming that means i would need to overclock something for it to work properly?

Have you thought about buying one of the Aria bundles?.....at least that way they come pre-tested and you know all the parts are compatiable and you also get a decent overclock at a good price. The one below may suit your needs

http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Bundl...K+4.50GHz+Overclocked+Bundle+?productId=44083

Personnally thou I would go for 8gb of RAM that way it gives you headroom to upgrade to 16gb in the future. If you put 4gb in your system then you can upgrade to 8gb but anything over that and you will have to replace all your modules. For an extra £40 you can get 8gb with an option to upgrade to 16gb hence future proofing your purchase!