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Thread: Ivy Bridge motherboard advice

  1. #1
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    Ivy Bridge motherboard advice

    Folks,

    Been a bit out of touch with PC hardware for a while so getting back up to speed before I build a new one in a couple of months time. I'm looking to get a Core i5 3570 (possibly the K model), probably a GeForce GTX 560-Ti 448-core, and 8GB RAM. The box will mainly be used for gaming but also some media/HTPC duties, I have a couple of PCI cards (sound and TV tuner) I'd prefer not to have to replace so I'd like to have a couple of PCI slots on the motherboard.

    I spotted this Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H board on Scan for about £82 which seems pretty reasonable. It has 2 PCI slots so that would seem to fit the bill for a good price. Question is, what am I missing out on by not buying one of the £200+ Z77 boards? Obviously I wouldn't get the PCI slots (haven't seen those on any other Z77 board) but what would I be paying all the extra cash for? Keen to keep costs down as I'm saving for our wedding but don't want to buy a cheap board now then discover 12 months from now that it's missing something really useful.

    Also, I've not seen any IDE connectors on the Z77 boards I've looked at so far. Am I going to have to either replace my DVD drive and/or get an adaptor for it?
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    Re: Ivy Bridge motherboard advice

    My £185 Z77 board comes with a floppy port.... Lol!

    Anyway, the extra money is for features that the manufactures say we need but in most cases we don't. It's the same as buying a car, the basic model will get you from A to B and then the top model will still get you from A to B just with more bells and whistles, what you need to do is side-by-side the board you've been looking at against the others, see what other features are on offer and then ask yourself if these features are something your going to need and use.

    Rookie

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    Re: Ivy Bridge motherboard advice

    The main feature you miss out on is SLi or crossfire.
    The cheaper boards offer either no dual configuration or restricted buses.

    e.g.
    1 card = 16x PCIe 3.0
    2 cards = 16x PCIe 3.0 & 4x PCIe 2.0

    The more expensive boards will offer etc etc
    2 cards = 16x PCIe 3.0 & 8x PCIe 2.0

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    Re: Ivy Bridge motherboard advice

    Quote Originally Posted by Rookie1986 View Post
    My £185 Z77 board comes with a floppy port.... Lol!

    Anyway, the extra money is for features that the manufactures say we need but in most cases we don't. It's the same as buying a car, the basic model will get you from A to B and then the top model will still get you from A to B just with more bells and whistles, what you need to do is side-by-side the board you've been looking at against the others, see what other features are on offer and then ask yourself if these features are something your going to need and use.

    Rookie
    Spot on. Still buying the MSI GD65 Z77 despite the fact I probably wont use half the extras. Having said that the attraction of SLI/Crossfire does give it some bang for bucks. Why not go half way and have a look at the MSI GD55 Z77 it can be had for £119 and gives you some nice features.
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    Re: Ivy Bridge motherboard advice

    Quote Originally Posted by Rookie1986 View Post
    My £185 Z77 board comes with a floppy port.... Lol!
    Rookie
    Really? my MOBO doesnt have firewire connection (Asus deluxe)

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    Re: Ivy Bridge motherboard advice

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigab...dvi-d-hdmi-atx
    That will give you SLI option for a few extra quid, just got 1 myself, dual boot, dead easy to set up especially with Win 7.
    You're a good example of why some animals eat their young

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    Re: Ivy Bridge motherboard advice

    Th CustomPC magazine did an extensive review of the new Z77 motherboards in the most recent issue, and did recommend the Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H, however only if you're on a tight budget. They were in most favour of the Micro-ATX case 'Asus Maximus V Gene' motherboard, which can be seen at around £150. If you are like myself and prefer a bigger ATX motherboard, then you would choose their next favourite, the 'Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H', also for a similar price as the Asus.

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    Re: Ivy Bridge motherboard advice

    Quote Originally Posted by rustedzeke View Post
    Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H
    just done a build with one of these - really stable boards and a nice UEFI

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    Re: Ivy Bridge motherboard advice

    Quote Originally Posted by Spank View Post
    Really? my MOBO doesnt have firewire connection (Asus deluxe)
    Or PS2 connection

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    Re: Ivy Bridge motherboard advice

    I managed to get a brand new Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 board for £55 off ebay. It's Z68 but Ivy Bridge compatible. A lot of the older boards have gone down now that Ivy Bridge has been released so it's worth looking around. This board has a lot of the features of a premium Z77 board as well.

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