Intel B, H, and Z series Motherboards

[appenzell]

Hello all. I am planning a budget build and I am having a hard time deciding on a motherboard and would like your help. Very generally the system is planned as such---

CPU: i3 or i5, not sure if Ivy Bridge or Haswell
GPU: 2 GB 7850 or 7870 (or similar)
HDDs: 1 HDD to begin, adding an SSD down the line
RAM: 8 GB

The system would be used for a mix of gaming, office productivity, and GIS analysis.

I don't have any intention to overclock so I'm assuming that removes any reason for Z series right away. I also have no intention of setting up any kind of RAID with my hard drives. At most I would imagine having three hard drives total, but most likely just two.

Therefore, I'm thinking it's between the H and B series. Given my use scenario is there any reason why I should spend the extra money on an H series or will a B series be sufficient?

Thank you in advance for all your responses.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I believe that with Haswell (edit:I mean the 1150 platform in general here), all of the SATA ports are 6G, so I would go with that. One advantage of the H chipset, which it shares with the Z chipset, is SSD caching.

 

[Ketchup]

I believe that with Haswell, all of the SATA ports are 6G, so I would go with that. One advantage of the H chipset, which it shares with the Z chipset, is SSD caching.

Agree. If you are going SSD down the road, it could very well be faster enough to saturate 3G, so might as well make sure you have the headroom.