Asus P8H77-V LE vs Gigabyte H77M-D3H

[Goi]

Hi,

I'm thinking of building a basic machine for my wife, re-using some parts from her current PC. I'm looking at just getting the motherboard, CPU, memory, SSD and OS.

Since I won't be overclocking, I'm deciding between the Asus P8H77-V LE and the Gigabyte H77M-D3H. The Gigabyte is slightly cheaper, but I'm not sure if quality wise it's comparable to the Asus?

Intended usage is just normal web browsing, MS Office, Flash games, watching videos (YouTube and AVI).

CPU will probably be either the i3-3220 or the i5-3470. Still deciding if the i5 is worth the extra money.

Any thoughts on the motherboard?

Thanks!

 

[tweakboy]

This may start a war as I don't wan't one. In 1998 I got a ASUS P2B scsi built in and 9GB cheetah lol That mobo was really nice at that time and it lasted and never died and no problems with the onboard scsi or the cheetah 9GB either. Ever since then Im a ASUS guy. There are some that are Gigabyte guys. I would say equal.

I will pay more or do whatever it takes to make sure Im on a ASUS mobo.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Hi,

I'm thinking of building a basic machine for my wife, re-using some parts from her current PC. I'm looking at just getting the motherboard, CPU, memory, SSD and OS.

Since I won't be overclocking, I'm deciding between the Asus P8H77-V LE and the Gigabyte H77M-D3H. The Gigabyte is slightly cheaper, but I'm not sure if quality wise it's comparable to the Asus?

Intended usage is just normal web browsing, MS Office, Flash games, watching videos (YouTube and AVI).

CPU will probably be either the i3-3220 or the i5-3470. Still deciding if the i5 is worth the extra money.

Any thoughts on the motherboard?

Thanks!

2 points...

CPU: For this kind of very light workload the i3-3220 may actually be a significant overkill. Why not look at the significantly cheaper Pentium Gxxx. She would probably never notice the difference in performance if you hook it up with an SSD. I have a small "toy" with a Celeron G465 (1,9GHz single core with HT) with a small SSD. Its perfectly usable to do basic web browsing and media playback. It even handles 1080p flash video, provided you do not multi task...

Motherboard: If you are not going to over clock anyway why not save a bit and get a board based on the B75 chipset. Don't let the business label fool you, it works just as well as "regular" desktop chipset like the H77 or Z77...

 

[Dstoop]

From a quality standpoint, ASUS and Gigabyte both make excellent products.

That being said, for what she's going to use it for I honestly don't see a reason beyond price to pick one over the other. The motherboard may be the "most important" part for a system aside from the PSU, but from a performance standpoint it's very rare to see a tangible difference outside of an enthusiast setting.

IMO buy whichever one is cheaper.

 

[Andle Riddum]

I'd go with Gigabyte, both have lots in common except the smaller form factor and the dual bios.

 

[Goi]

Thanks for all the replies.

Tweakboy, I've had ASUS and Gigabyte motherboards before myself, but somehow the ASUS brand appeals to me more. However, given a limited budget and a baby girl on the way, I might have to scrimp a little if there are no tangible differences.

Insert_Nickname, I fully understand this. However, the wife previously had a bad experience with a Lenovo laptop that was basically a lemon - random reboots and slowdowns, so she doesn't want bargain basement stuff. I'm actually already having trouble convincing her the i3 is just as good as the i5 for basic usage lol. I think I'll have to go with at least the i3 I'll look into the B75 boards though, are there any good ones you'd recommend? Or just something from ASUS/Gigabyte?

Dstoop/Andle Riddum, thanks

 

[nxttruong]

You are welcome!

 

[TechBoy101]

Thanks for all the replies.

Tweakboy, I've had ASUS and Gigabyte motherboards before myself, but somehow the ASUS brand appeals to me more. However, given a limited budget and a baby girl on the way, I might have to scrimp a little if there are no tangible differences.

Insert_Nickname, I fully understand this. However, the wife previously had a bad experience with a Lenovo laptop that was basically a lemon - random reboots and slowdowns, so she doesn't want bargain basement stuff. I'm actually already having trouble convincing her the i3 is just as good as the i5 for basic usage lol. I think I'll have to go with at least the i3 I'll look into the B75 boards though, are there any good ones you'd recommend? Or just something from ASUS/Gigabyte?

Dstoop/Andle Riddum, thanks

Hi Goi,

I'd recommend if you are going with a B series chipset possibly something with HDMI will be of more use to you as you can take the computer and hook it up to a tv or larger screen.

In regards to GIGABYTE boards that use the B series chipset this would isolate it to the following two: GA-B75M-D3H and GA-B75M-D3P. Now if you're trying to save some cash and don't feel the use of the DisplayPort I would go with the GA-B75M-D3H.

Also be aware that the D3P model has 2 Extra SATAIII connectors, however from your post you said it would only be for "normal web browsing, MS Office, Flash games, watching videos (YouTube and AVI)" then it shouldn't make that much difference.

Okay hope that helped you a bit, let me know if you have any other questions. I'd be happy to help!

 

[Insert_Nickname]

In regards to GIGABYTE boards that use the B series chipset this would isolate it to the following two: GA-B75M-D3H and GA-B75M-D3P. Now if you're trying to save some cash and don't feel the use of the DisplayPort I would go with the GA-B75M-D3H.

The U3H only support 1920x1200 via both the DVI and HDMI port (only single link, is this correct?). I would personally prefer a board that has a displayport, just in case I need to drive a high resolution display from the board. You never know...

I would also prefer saving a little on the CPU, rather then the mainboard. The various versions of Celeron/Pentium are rather similar anyway. The difference in frequency is ~ 3% per model, not what I would call significant from a performance perspective. If task takes ~ 3% longer, no one is going to notice...

Also the price difference between them is minimal... at least where I live...

my 2c...:whiste:

 

[Goi]

Thanks guys! Ended up getting the Gigabyte B75M-D3V with the i3-3220.

 

[FreeAtLast2012]

Looks great for $200. Unless you need high computations the i3 will be fine.

 

[Goi]

The wife is loving the zippiness compared to her old PC. However, there are times when the PC lags...for example when she's doing some photo editing using pixlr.com. The smudge tool in particular causes some lag.