which motherboard is best to go with?

[wolfman81]

which motherboard is best to go with

P8Z77-V PREMIUM
OR
asus maximus v formula

you opinion please.

[Willzzz]

Well this is down to you really, it depends which features you prefer.

They really have quite different feature sets and only you can make that choice.

What do you need from your motherboard?
What are you putting in it?

[wolfman81]

i am putting in an i5 2500k and 16gb kingston hyperx
i play all my games on the pc aswel as some downloading films/games

[Willzzz]

What sort of overclock?
Graphics card(s)? SLI/CF?

[wolfman81]

im not overclocking @ the moment but would like to in the future and will CF in the future too as i only have funds for motherboard and gpu.

2GB XFX Radeon HD 7870 Double Dissipation Edition or XFX AMD Radeon HD 7950 Graphics Card 3GB

[Willzzz]

OK, get this one then:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...dvi-d-hdmi-atx

Have you already bought the 2500k?
You'd probably be better off with Ivy Bridge or even Haswell which comes out very soon.

And if you want a 7950 I'd get this model:
http://www.dabs.com/products/gigabyt...?q=7950&src=16

[wolfman81]

i have had the i5 for a while now, isnt the 2 motherboards i mentioned worth getting ?

[Willzzz]

Well the premium has an inbuilt cache SSD and thunderbolt, but with the money you save you can buy a proper SSD.

You didn't mention that you need thunderbolt and if you do you can get it on a much cheaper board.

The Maximus Formula is again vastly more expensive. It does have a few extra features, like slightly better audio, watercooling options, but if you are low on funds you can't afford to waste your money on such luxuries. I mean I take it you aren't planning on a custom water cooling loop?

[wolfman81]

no im not planning on doing a custom water cooling loop but i do have an H80

[Willzzz]

I'd stick with one I recommended, the others are way too expensive unless you have a really good reason for choosing them.

What is your total budget for Motherboard and GPU?

[wolfman81]

around the £500 mark

[Willzzz]

Well on the bright side, you could trade up to a 7970 and still have £50 left over:

http://www.dabs.com/products/gigabyt...m_content=Q200

Or stick with the 7950 and have £120 left. Oh and then spend the £120 on an SSD, that's what I'd do

[wolfman81]

thanks for your advise.