choosing a Z77 board

[Aexl]

Hey there, just wondered out of these boards you think would be best, I plan on overlocking a i7 3770k and 7870 I'd like crossfire to be an option for the future but it's not a deal breaker.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigab...b-dvi-d-hdmi-a

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-z...dvi-d-hdmi-atx

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-z...dvi-d-hdmi-atx

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asroc...dvi-d-hdmi-atx

thanks for any help!

[Agent]

The Gigabyte board is excellent. Done a couple of installs with it now.

[Aexl]

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...i-d-sub-atx-us

Is also an option, pretty much dropped the notion of crossfire in the future as I can't stretch my budget for a gd55 or similar.

Thanks for the reply, agent it's definitely between the asus and gigabyte boards.

It seems to be more features vs slightly better performance/lower power use.

[Willzzz]

All the boards will be basically the same in terms of performance < 1% difference.

The main difference between boards is features, know what you need and don't pay for things you don't need.

Between the two boards you are looking at it really makes no difference, flip a coin if you can't decide.

[jim]

Yeah, looks at which features you want (for instance, how many USB3 ports, how many SATA ports, how many SATA3 ports). Don't pay for features you don't need, don't skimp out where you might want the capability in the future.

Also take a look at the warranties, that might make the difference.

Performance is really unlikely to be an issue, as Willzzz said. Maybe if you were going for overclocking records

I wouldn't worry too much about dropping crossfire. Wait a year or two, and instead of buying a second 7870, you can flog it, and buy yourself a 7970 instead, or whatever's on the market then.

[Aexl]

All the boards will be basically the same in terms of performance < 1% difference.

The main difference between boards is features, know what you need and don't pay for things you don't need.

Between the two boards you are looking at it really makes no difference, flip a coin if you can't decide.

Thanks I pretty much did that by picking the blue gigabyte board which will look way better in my black Nzxt Phantom 410 with blue LED fans

Althought http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-GA-.../dp/B007KZQFEI is rather tempting at sub £100 >_>

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H is probably the motherboard I would get in the £70 to £80 range. The Gigabyte Z77X-D3H increases the amount of VRM phases and adds symmetrical Crossfire and SLI capability.

[Aexl]

Fairly sure this will be my final build, any additions or changes anyone would like to make are welcomed.

Case: Nzxt Phantom 410 Black

CPU i7 3770k

GPU: Gigabyte HD 7870 1100 clock

Ram: 16gb Corsair LP Vengeance (2x8gb)

PSU: XFX P1-650S-UKB9 Pro Series Core Edition 650W Power Supply

Optical: LG Dvd r/w

HDD: 1TB Seagate barracuda

SSD: 120GB OCZ Vertex 3

Motherboard: Gigabyte SKT-1155 Z77X-D3H

Cooling: Corsair h60i (maybe a h80i)

Coming in at around £ 930

[apex40000]

Hi Aexl

If you can give some more feedback on the Gigabyte Mob and once you get it that would be great as I was also hoping to get this MOB some time next month and it would be good to know if its as good as it sounds :-)

Many thanks

apex40000

[Aexl]

Hi Aexl

If you can give some more feedback on the Gigabyte Mob and once you get it that would be great as I was also hoping to get this MOB some time next month and it would be good to know if its as good as it sounds :-)

Many thanks

apex40000

Sure, I just ordered everything an hour ago I'll let you know how it goes.

[KeyboardDemon]

I'm going to add another vote for the Gigabyte, I've built a PC using one of these quite recently and I was really impressed with the build quality, also the UEFI BIOS was nice, but it took a bit of getting used to and Gigabyte offer UK based support should things go wrong.

[Zerox]

I am metaphorically splitting hairs here, however instead of the OCZ Vertex 3 for £79.34 you could get one of these instead.

Sandisk Extreme 120GB - £70.97

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-SDSS...6729890&sr=1-1

Slightly cheaper, and would I be right in thinking that Sandisk is quite a reputable brand and therefore worthy of your money?

Edit: Wording!

[Agent]

If you must go with a Sandforce drive, the Sandisk is one of the better ones in terms of reliability. No way in a million years would I touch the Vertex 3 again.

[Willzzz]

The Extreme version is a very good sandforce drive.

[Aexl]

I actually decided to wait to buy an ssd, I have no problem re installing an os at a later date and for what I'd allocated as the ssd budget wasn't honestly enough, better to wait a bit and get an 840 or something along those lines.

I also said bye bye to the barracuda, I've been bitten a few times by the ST series so just went for the good old Caviar Black.

[Agent]

You don't need to reinstall going from HDD -> SSD. It's a trivial transfer with minimal fuss, as long as your data fits on the new SSD