Help me decide Z77 board

[zero koopa]

So I have gaming build that I want to make but wanted an opinion on some Z77 mobo's.

I am pretty sure I am going to go with a i5 3570 chip and a noctua nh-c14 heatsink+fans.
I was looking at the ASUS sabertooth (I think it just looks fast) but poeple have said that this board is overkill.

Two questions.

1. I wondering which board you would recommend for a gaming rig? and
2. How high a stable OC would be with a comparable board?

I know a lot of people go for the ASrock but I would rather spend a little more since I heard the quality isnt as good as an ASUS. That being said I am totally open to suggestions as long as it is backed up with facts. 100-250 budget for the board unless it is amazing.

 

[dma0991]

Unless you're referring to the Core i5 3570K, you're not going very far in terms of overclocking with the Core i5 3570. Any motherboard is capable of gaming because there was never a specific motherboard that improves your FPS, even if it does it has less impact than a better CPU or GPU. You buy a motherboard for its features and stability. Any top end motherboards will support overclocking. You're probably limited to the capability of the CPU and heatsink before you've reached the limits of the motherboard in a consumer level setup.

I don't know where you've heard that Asus > ASRock but I'd say they are on equal standings lately. The ASRock Z77 Extreme4 is as low as you should go. If you're spendthrift, you could get an ASUS board anyway. ASUS Sabertooth looks nice but the small fans are noisy and the thermal armor will be slightly hotter without airflow beneath it, not to mention that dust will accumulate beneath it too.

 

[crazymonkeyzero]

I agree with the post above that Asrock and Asus, are in fact on similar standing these days. I have boards from both manufacturers, and they are chugging along with no trouble.

The Sabertooth is bit of an overkill for a gaming rig, but not that unreasonable choice only because of the 5 year warrenty, which is great. In general, however, it's never practical to pay more than $200 for a motherboard unless you go with lga 2011, or just want to set OC records so here are some boards that I think are great all round.

I'm just going to list some known boards which are pretty good for gaming and pretty good OC potential, from lowest to highest end of the spectrum of your budget.


1 choice less than $150

IMO Asrock Z77 Extreme4 is agreat budget alternative at $135. It will yield almost similar overclocks to boards less than $200, unless you want to milk every last megahertz of the chip, where more expensive boards will be better. Also comes with 8gb ram free for a limited time haha.

3 choices less than $200

Asrock
Another alternative is Asrock z77 Extreme6. This got Toms Hardware editors choice, and Asrock makes some of the best OC boards, and is very good for any gaming system, especially at $170.


Gigabyte
If you want another board with more bells and whistles go with Gigabyte UD5H. It got the Anandtechs editors choice and is about $180. In terms of Overclocking, it should do a bit better than the extreme4, however, this really only matters on the extent you plan to OC.

Asus
Of coarse there's Asus Asus P8Z77-V. You can't really go wrong with this board. It's $190, but comes with onboard wifi, which is a nice perk.

Anything more expensive is pretty much overkill.


EDIT: Added some boards.