Looking for a new mobo

[Coxey]

Hey there folks.

I'm in the process of upgrading my machine and haven't decided on a motherboard yet. Any suggestions that come to mind after reading the rest of this thread are welcome.

I've got a 4770k ready to go and a second 7970 lightning (sat in a cupboard atm)- I'm just looking for a motherboard that would suit my needs.

I was looking at the MSI z87 MPOWER SP, but when I think about it, I don't want to go mad on overclocking the CPU, would that make the whole point of that motherboard a little bit redundant?

Some of my limitations / needs:
Max Budget £150
FF: ATX
Crossfire Support (not bothered about SLI)
A couple of 6GB/s SATA ports
Aesthetics: Not overly fussed but I would like it looking neat.

Just because my budget is £150, I don't necessarily want to spend that.

Also what is the main difference in general between boards that are around the £100-115 mark vs £140-160 boards - high quality? More gimmicks?

Thanks in advance.

 

[NeverBackDown]

FYI if a motherboard supports SLI then Xfire is also supported.

The difference with z87 boards and price is all about features and looks. Any z87 board will get your CPU to its limits before itself does.

I would look into MSI GD65, Gigabyte UD3H, Gigabyte G1 Sniper.. all 3 have different looks so worth checking them all out.

 

[Coxey]

I see, thanks.

Out of those 3 I'd lean towards the GD65, yet for literately an extra few quid, should I just get the MPOWER SP? It would match my graphics cards and also give me support for big overclocks in the future if I do decide to go down that route.

 

[NeverBackDown]

Any Haswell CPU will hit its limits before the motherboard does. So its up to you tbh.

 

[Excalabur50]

I like the GD65 it's a good pick it's what i'd get myself

 

[JR23]

For another £4 I would get the one which matches your graphics cards. A red board, blue lights and yellow accents wouldn't look all that great, a cheaper blue board would be better looking even. I don't think there's going to be a significant enough difference in performance or features that you will actually use to influence your choice and its really just the physical layout and aesthetics you are paying for.

JR

 

[Coxey]

Thanks for all the input guys!

I went ahead and picked up the MSI z87 MPOWER SP - it's what I had my sights set on all this time.

Working brilliantly, yet to fiddle with overclocks but loving the new system.

 

[Excalabur50]

A nice board too none the less BTW Coxey change your sig color as you can't read it dude