Need help deciding on mobo/graphics

[EazyPreezy]

Hey guys hoping you could offer some insight -

Currently undecided whether to:

1. Buy a budget £78 Z68 mobo and get a standard GTX 560, upgrade to new 6xx series if necessary, provided the new series can run well just on PCI-E 2.0 mobos?

or to just jump the gun and

2. Buy the next step-up mobo wise to provide an SLI option should I need to add another GTX 560

Regardless of whether I go for 1 or 2 WHICH BRAND DO I GET ?!?! My friend is a die hard ASUS fanboy but they all seem to offer the same general features? Any particular standouts?

I don't envisage myself gaming much longer after a couple of years or so due to change in priorities so the aim is just to play BF3 medium ish at 1080p and GW2 when it comes out after which I will probably retire from all but very occasional and casual gaming :'(

Rig to be currently composes of an i5 2500k / 8 gig ram / Gigabyte GTX 560 OC.

Looking forward to hearing your opinions.

 

[yassarikhan786]

Are you going to be using the extra features of the Z68 motherboard? If the answer is no, then you're better off going for a P67 board.

 

[fcb]

Are you going to be using the extra features of the Z68 motherboard? If the answer is no, then you're better off going for a P67 board.

Yup, I totally agree. You're thinking ahead and that's great. I'd suggest planning to see if you really want all the extra functions of a Z68 or a P67 motherboard. But, in the end all motherboards have the handle the same things so which brand you prefer is really up to you.

Depending on your budget, Asus, Gigabyte or MSI offers many great motherboards to choose from. I think the Gigabyte video cards are really good, from personal experience. A GTX 560 will play many games with moderate settings at 1080P comfortably. The next step is to think about a good power supply. If you're looking to have more than one video card in the future, you may be looking at 850W and up depending on how power hungry the future cards will be.

 

[EazyPreezy]

Are you going to be using the extra features of the Z68 motherboard? If the answer is no, then you're better off going for a P67 board.

Yup, I totally agree. You're thinking ahead and that's great. I'd suggest planning to see if you really want all the extra functions of a Z68 or a P67 motherboard. But, in the end all motherboards have the handle the same things so which brand you prefer is really up to you.

Depending on your budget, Asus, Gigabyte or MSI offers many great motherboards to choose from. I think the Gigabyte video cards are really good, from personal experience. A GTX 560 will play many games with moderate settings at 1080P comfortably. The next step is to think about a good power supply. If you're looking to have more than one video card in the future, you may be looking at 850W and up depending on how power hungry the future cards will be.

Well price differences of a P67 vs Z68 seem to be negligible, with some budget Z68s being even cheaper I thought I'd go for a Z68. An SSD is definitely something I will be looking to add the smart response support may come in handy I suppose...

What do you guys think of the MSI Z68MA-G45 (B3) mATX Motherboard? Supports SLI, has a PCI-E 3.0 slot and is only £96. Reviews on newegg say they had trouble fitting both gfx cards in - would that be due to the size of the case they had?

Other options are:

1. Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 which got the toms hardware 2011 award but no PCI-E 3.0 £99

2. ASrock Z68 extreme 3 gen 3 which I've heard great things about, supports PCI-E but is obviously more expensive.

My gut tells me to stop thinking so much and just get the MSI one!

 

[SmoulderingCircuits]

Hey guys hoping you could offer some insight -

Currently undecided whether to:

1. Buy a budget £78 Z68 mobo and get a standard GTX 560, upgrade to new 6xx series if necessary, provided the new series can run well just on PCI-E 2.0 mobos?

or to just jump the gun and

2. Buy the next step-up mobo wise to provide an SLI option should I need to add another GTX 560

Regardless of whether I go for 1 or 2 WHICH BRAND DO I GET ?!?! My friend is a die hard ASUS fanboy but they all seem to offer the same general features? Any particular standouts?

I don't envisage myself gaming much longer after a couple of years or so due to change in priorities so the aim is just to play BF3 medium ish at 1080p and GW2 when it comes out after which I will probably retire from all but very occasional and casual gaming :'(

Rig to be currently composes of an i5 2500k / 8 gig ram / Gigabyte GTX 560 OC.

Looking forward to hearing your opinions.

Wait for 6xx series and get the next model up (i.e. 670) with the money you accumulate in the meantime then SLI it.

There's only two types of card you should ever buy: reference or OC edition. Anything else will be a rubbish card. Asus are a better Radeon manufacturer if you ask me, not impressed with their Nvidia cards

 

[yassarikhan786]

Well price differences of a P67 vs Z68 seem to be negligible, with some budget Z68s being even cheaper I thought I'd go for a Z68. An SSD is definitely something I will be looking to add the smart response support may come in handy I suppose...

What do you guys think of the MSI Z68MA-G45 (B3) mATX Motherboard? Supports SLI, has a PCI-E 3.0 slot and is only £96. Reviews on newegg say they had trouble fitting both gfx cards in - would that be due to the size of the case they had?

Other options are:

1. Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 which got the toms hardware 2011 award but no PCI-E 3.0 £99

2. ASrock Z68 extreme 3 gen 3 which I've heard great things about, supports PCI-E but is obviously more expensive.

My gut tells me to stop thinking so much and just get the MSI one!

MSI make very good motherboards and it would be a good choice

. I think the people complaining probably had triple slot cards, but even then the two cards would fit. I think the people complaining probably had small cases.

 

[fcb]

MSI make very good motherboards and it would be a good choice

. I think the people complaining probably had triple slot cards, but even then the two cards would fit. I think the people complaining probably had small cases.

Yup I think you may be right.

I think it would be nice to have a PCIE 3.0 ready motherboard, but it shouldn't be a hassle if it were still 2.0 based. I mean, we don't exactly know how well PCIE 3.0 video cards will perform on the 3.0 based boards, but I doubt you'll actually experience a huge leap in performance. Surely, newer video cards will bring more power to games, but I think as long as you're able to be comfortable with what you use your video card(s) for, then you'll be very happy in the end.

The MSI Z68MA-G45(B3) looks to be a good board. I think another one that may interest you in the mATX form, is the Gigabyte Z68MX-UD2H-B3. They've released a PCIE 3.0 version not long ago.

Are you planning for a smaller sized system?

 

[EazyPreezy]

MSI make very good motherboards and it would be a good choice

. I think the people complaining probably had triple slot cards, but even then the two cards would fit. I think the people complaining probably had small cases.

Yea they really seem to boast about their 'military grade' components! Quick question if you don't mind - how does your gigabyte GTX 560 OC perform in BF3 esp on 64 man servers? Undecided whether to settle for this or step up to a Ti version. Hoping to play on 1080p 22"

Yup I think you may be right.

I think it would be nice to have a PCIE 3.0 ready motherboard, but it shouldn't be a hassle if it were still 2.0 based. I mean, we don't exactly know how well PCIE 3.0 video cards will perform on the 3.0 based boards, but I doubt you'll actually experience a huge leap in performance. Surely, newer video cards will bring more power to games, but I think as long as you're able to be comfortable with what you use your video card(s) for, then you'll be very happy in the end.

The MSI Z68MA-G45(B3) looks to be a good board. I think another one that may interest you in the mATX form, is the Gigabyte Z68MX-UD2H-B3. They've released a PCIE 3.0 version not long ago.

Are you planning for a smaller sized system?

Hmm very true - I'm just going on the fact that they aren't costing an arm and a leg more may as well have that option under the belt!

Size wise nope not necessarily - will probably get the aria avenger midi tower case which is ATX. Thanks for the recommendation (and advice so far) though

 

[yassarikhan786]

Yea they really seem to boast about their 'military grade' components! Quick question if you don't mind - how does your gigabyte GTX 560 OC perform in BF3 esp on 64 man servers? Undecided whether to settle for this or step up to a Ti version. Hoping to play on 1080p 22"

My card is actually a GTX 580. On max settings at 1920 x 1200 I get an average of above 60fps. Gameplay is extremely smooth on all instances.

 

[EazyPreezy]

My card is actually a GTX 580. On max settings at 1920 x 1200 I get an average of above 60fps. Gameplay is extremely smooth on all instances.

Woops saw that you had a gigabyte gtx oc'd version got excited and clearly didn't see the 8!

 

[yassarikhan786]

Woops saw that you had a gigabyte gtx oc'd version got excited and clearly didn't see the 8!

Lol no problem mate. You should be good at 1080p on high settings. There is very little difference between high and ultra anyway.