B75 or a Z77 motherboard?

[Denis54]

I want to upgrade my computer from my old C2D. I am retired and I use my computer 2 - 4 hours a day to surf the web, read emails and do some simple Word and Excel work. My needs are pretty basic but I want a FAST machine.

Should I get a B75 or a Z77 motherboard? My priorities are stability and reliability board. I want USB 3 and SATA 3.I do not plan to overclock. CPU will be an i3-3225.

I have a preference for ASUS and Gigabyte.

 

[Bat123Man]

Either will work for you, but the B75 is probably a better match. It has little to no overclocking features, but you don't need that. It is a chipset geared at office workers who need stability. Speedwise, you won't see a difference since you don't plan to OC. So save yourself some money and get a B75. Asus or Gigabyte, either is a fine choice.

 

[dmoney1980]

buy the cheaper b75 motherboard, and use the money you save to buy a 64GB solid state drive for your OS installation. Trust me, once you experience Windows on an SSD you'll never got back to a spindle drive

 

[Denis54]

I have been using a Vertex 2 with my C2D for the last 2 years and I agree the difference is night and day.

I have a separate post in the storage forum where I ask whether I should move my Vertex 2 to my new build or get a new SSD. Would a new drive make a difference in speed or reliability?

 

[dmoney1980]

If you can afford it, grab a new SSD. Something from Samsung, Crucial or Intel. OCZ uses sandforce controllers which slow down over time as you fill them up (over 50%), and are not know to be very reliable. Plus, OCZ if in a lot of financial trouble, so I wouldn't risk buying one of their products right now

 

[Remobz]

If you can afford it, grab a new SSD. Something from Samsung, Crucial or Intel. OCZ uses sandforce controllers which slow down over time as you fill them up (over 50%), and are not know to be very reliable. Plus, OCZ if in a lot of financial trouble, so I wouldn't risk buying one of their products right now

Are the Intel 520 series faster than the Crucial M4 series?

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

The Z77 chipset is really about the performance chipset so if you are going to be using the any of the unlocked processor this is the chipset that you would like to use.

 

[dmoney1980]

Are the Intel 520 series faster than the Crucial M4 series?

real world you won't notice a difference. i have an m4 and I love it. The m4 is known to be one of the fastest to boot into windows if that means anything to you

 

[CA19100]

You might also consider an H77 motherboard. It offers many of the advantages of the Z77, but isn't overclockable (and costs quite a bit less). It also supports the Intel Smart Response SSD caching (the B75 doesn't), which I found to be a nice way to speed up my machine by adding a cheap, small SSD. As SSD prices drop, that'll be less of an issue, but something to consider.

 

[Denithor]

B75 or H77 chipset, either will be suitable for you.

I'd suggest an ASRock board, they have some of the fastest boot times available.

And for SSD, I would actually recommend upgrading, you can search in the Hot Deals forum for specifics but I have recently seen good 120-128GB drives (Intel 330, Samsung 830) going for $70-80 or even lower. At those prices there's really no good reason not to upgrade to a faster drive. Might as well take advantage of those shiny new 6Gbps SATA3 ports.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I want to upgrade my computer from my old C2D. I am retired and I use my computer 2 - 4 hours a day to surf the web, read emails and do some simple Word and Excel work. My needs are pretty basic but I want a FAST machine.

When everything configured properly, C2D is still plenty fast for these tasks, even today. Unless of course, it's clocked low and you can't overclock.

I'd wait for Haswell ;-p

 

[johny12]

If you can afford it, grab a new SSD. Something from Samsung, Crucial or Intel. OCZ uses sandforce controllers which slow down over time as you fill them up (over 50%), and are not know to be very reliable. Plus, OCZ if in a lot of financial trouble, so I wouldn't risk buying one of their products right now

Avoid OCZ because irrespective of the controller their products end up in garbage. Too many quality issues. Sandforce controllers are not bad - Intel uses them a lot

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Should I get a B75 or a Z77 motherboard? My priorities are stability and reliability board. I want USB 3 and SATA 3.I do not plan to overclock. CPU will be an i3-3225.

Get this. Unless you need the extra SATA3 port and SRT, then this would be a better fit...

Since the i3 can't be overclocked anyway, you are wasting money going with a Z77...

About the SSD go either Samsung or Intel if you value reliability.

my 2c...

 

[lehtv]

Agreed with Magic Carpet. For web, mail and MS office, C2D is as good as any.

 

[djw39]

When everything configured properly, C2D is still plenty fast for these tasks, even today. Unless of course, it's clocked low and you can't overclock.

I'd wait for Haswell ;-p

Yeah I am on LGA775, just upgraded from E2200 to E8600 & got the SSD. I don't have SATA3 but can probably stick work with this until at least Haswell.