i7 Build Review/Motherboard recommendation?

[sarotara]

Computer will be used mostly for gaming and the usual routine web browsing, etc. I doubt there will be a need to overclock this one soon. Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.
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Case - Lian Li PC-A17B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811112164 - $170

PSU - Corsair CMPSU-750HX 750W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139010 - $165

CPU - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115202 - $280

Video - Sapphire 100269SR Radeon HD 4890 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102830 - $210

RAM - OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820227381 - $120

CPU Cooler - Zalman CNPS9500 AT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835118003 - $40

Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136284 - $100

LCD - Already have a 24" Dell LCD.
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The one remaining part that I'm not quite sure about is the motherboard. I narrowed it down to 3 choices.

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128362 - $290

Biostar TpowerX58 LGA 1366
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813138135 - $250

ASRock X58 Deluxe LGA 1366
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813157155 - $220

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

The only brand I would trust out of those 3 is the gigabyte. I have a gigabyte 775 board and its bulletproof. I have my i7 mobo and ram on the way. I bought both off of this forum. Intel DX58SO new in box $180 and 1600 ddr3 6gb corsair dominator $120. Why are you getting a zalman heatsink?

 

[sarotara]

I've also had good experience with Gigabyte and their LGA 775 boards (I have one), but the MSI seems like a solid board as well. Same goes for the AsRock X58. Not many reviews on either one of those, however.

Getting the Zalman since it comes with a LGA 1366 adapter clip. The Zalman CNPS9900LED was an option, but slightly more expensive. I've usually found the stock CPU coolers to be inadequate.

 

[sarotara]

A small comment on the motherboards... I find that the GA-EX-58-UD5, although well liked online, is quite a bit more expensive considering that it has features that are almost identical to the ASRock and the Biostar. Additionally, the AsRock X58 Deluxe has the newer Realtek ALC890 sound chipset versus Gigabyte's ALC889. My one worry with the ASRock board is that the LGA 1366 socket is really close to the edge of the board, which might or might not cause a problem with not having enough space for a CPU fan due to the proximity of the PSU.

 

[yh125d]

I'd go for a Xigmatek cooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16835233029)

It comes with 1366 mounting hardware, and will perform a lot better than the zalman. Zalman coolers are usually... well...just not the best option

 

[sarotara]

Seems like that item was deactivated on Newegg...

 

[daw123]

Originally posted by: sarotara
Seems like that item was deactivated on Newegg...

He probably meant this with this or more likely this and this.

Edit: I would go for the GA-EX58-UD5.

 

[sarotara]

Any particular reason for the GA-EX58-UD5 over the other two motherboards?

 

[daw123]

Originally posted by: sarotara
Any particular reason for the GA-EX58-UD5 over the other two motherboards?

Because I own the Extreme. The UD5 is identical to the Extreme except for the heatpipe arrangement and NB waterblock.

It's a good MB. I haven't had any problems which were due to the MB.

 

[sarotara]

It is relatively more expensive than the other two boards for a set of similar features... I'm trying to get someone here to justify the additional cost of the GA-EX-58-UD5

 

[daw123]

To be honest it is difficult to justify one MB over another if the features on both are similar. It could be that one over-clocks better than the other, has more BIOS O/C options, better customer service, better build qualtiy / reliability. A lot of these pros / cons are subjective; It could be that one is more expensive than another simply because it has a better (or more recognisable) brand name.

It is unliklely that members have owned or used all three boards, so they can only tell you about one, not both, nor all three (so you will be advised of their experiences in isolation without any comparision to the other two).

You will have more success with review sites if you want to know the specific differences between them.

 

[sarotara]

The problem is that there are almost no reviews of the Biostar board. A few reviews of the AsRock, and a ton of reviews on the UD5.

 

[daw123]

Originally posted by: sarotara
The problem is that there are almost no reviews of the Biostar board. A few reviews of the AsRock, and a ton of reviews on the UD5.

I know what you mean. The UD5 is a popular board, but thats not to say the other two are bad (just not as popular).

 

[daw123]

Here you go.

Biostar TPower X58A:
http://www.testseek.com/comput...1aaa-b2dfdcab8632.html
http://www.insidehw.com/Review...OSTAR-TPower-X58A.html
http://wize.com/motherboards/p...lga-1366-intel-x58-atx
http://www.compusa.com/applica...pNo=4316653&CatId=4070

Asrock x58 Deluxe:
http://www.ocaholic.ch/xoops/h...d=258&sel_lang=english
http://www.overclock.net/intel...luxe-overclocking.html
http://forums.overclockers.co....wthread.php?t=18007655
(Here's one for the Supercomputer. I'm not sure what the differences are between this and the Deluxe)

And there are plenty of UD5 reviews:
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com...otherboard-review.html
http://www.testseek.com/comput...291d-70bf0161776e.html

 

[KentState]

If you are looking about the UD5, I would also consider the Asus P6T Deluxe V2. I've built many computers over the years using Asus boards and they have all went well. I've also used Gigabyte on three occasions and was very happy as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131365