Advice on picking a Motherboard?

[PredawnBelial]

Hello all, I posted a question about a specific motherboard recently and decided to go another approach.
Instead I was hoping to get advice on a few motherboards that would best serve my purpose.
I will probably be running;

• Intel i7 processor
• gtx580 Graphics
• Needs to have very good quality output (BenQ monitor)
• Primarily Gaming but also music software
• DDR3 Ram
• my tower has 2 x usb 3.0 and 4 x usb 2.0 and I would like more 2.0 in the back

Thanks to anyone who gives suggestions and I am open to any advice if anything I listed clashes with one another as I am doing my first build.

 

[DesiPower]

Practically any motherboard out there can do what you want... Get a reputed brand name like Asus or Asrock and you will be good.

Here is a random recommendation...

For more specific recommendation please tell us you budget, what type of games you want to play, are you planning to over clock, are you looking to upgrade in future, if so how soon...

 

[Cerb]

gtx580 Graphics
Needs to have very good quality output (BenQ monitor)

N/A. A GTX 580 will have whatever it has for outputs, and they'll either be compatible with the monitor, or you'll need a new video card. The motherboard is pretty much irrelevant.

my tower has 2 x usb 3.0 and 4 x usb 2.0 and I would like more 2.0 in the back

H97, Z97, and/or a card using an Asmedia or Renesas chip (don't cheap out with a VIA chipset card). H81 will give you 2 on the back only, B85 2 on the back and 2 on the front, and H97 or Z97 4 on the back and 2 on the front.

 

[PredawnBelial]

For more specific recommendation please tell us you budget, what type of games you want to play, are you planning to over clock, are you looking to upgrade in future, if so how soon...

My plan was for a $200 Mobo but I don't really know if that is way too much or good for keeping up in the future
The games I'll be frequently playing are Arma 3 and the like, to stuff like Alien Isolation or Evolve (I like eyegasming basically)
I don't really know enough to even think about OCing but I don't think I will in the future.
I was hoping to get this build to be a good starter and last at least 3-5 years before I need to upgrade anything.

 

[Cerb]

A $60 motherboard will perform 99% as well as a $200 motherboard. $200 is crazy, unless you're going crazy with everything else, or trying to cram 10 gallons of **** into a MiniITX case .

Some motherboard performance differences:
http://techreport.com/review/27181/asrock-z97-extreme6-motherboard-reviewed/3

It's very little, and there isn't necessarily a clear, "this one is best," even checking over the itty bitty differences, unless you go by power consumption.

 

[master_shake_]

hold it by the sides

 

[PredawnBelial]

My main concern with it would be that I want it to run a ASUS GTX580 DirectCU II graphics card as I was gifted it (I would think everything would pretty much run it) and I was hoping to get an i7 processor, so I am assuming the 1150 CPU slot would be needed..

It is nice to hear that 200 is way too expensive. I'm getting all my advice from someone who spends too much so he wont have to upgrade, which is nice but it's just my first build and the mobo isn't going to affect my gaming much from what I understand.
Thanks everyone for the help, btw

 

[PredawnBelial]

hold it by the sides

Lol, love that one. Appreciate it though since this is about my first build.

I ended up getting this one if anyone was curious; http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-695-_-Product

 

[DesiPower]

Its a good board, enjoy

What made you choose that one?

 

[PredawnBelial]

I realized I didn't need the price tag to get the things I was looking for (thanks to you guys). And MSi is an alright brand (I'm a little ASUS biased), on sale, great reviews compared to most.

 

[lukart]

I realized I didn't need the price tag to get the things I was looking for (thanks to you guys). And MSi is an alright brand (I'm a little ASUS biased), on sale, great reviews compared to most.

If I had to choose betwen the too, I would definitly go for Asus. You might pay a small premium but its worth it.

 

[eton975]

If I had to choose betwen the too, I would definitly go for Asus. You might pay a small premium but its worth it.

Why?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Why?

Even for enthusiasts, it's easy to "get behind" and "hard to keep up." Once you find a real winner board maker with a great model-line of boards for a reasonably recent processor and chipset, you start assuming that the next generation of boards or the one thereafter will still be "tops."

It's a very competitive industry, and they're all trying to outdo each other. ASUS is still good. I would have balked at AsRock a few years back, but it looks like they also try hard.

This is what I call a low-end motherboard, but I call it that because of the price. Usually the price reflects more in terms of included features than quality. They have to produce them so that they work! Otherwise, they lose sales and their reputation.

I bought some $85 mATX gigabyte boards for some of the fam-damn-ily's machines back in 2008. One of them is still working fine in every respect. I think the other (same model) was dumped for some other reason than failure.