Motherboard for OC

[ehume]

Later this year I am going to build an i7 3770k rig. Cooling will be air, so I would like to keep the Vcore as low as possible. I don't game, so I don't need any fancy gpu-related stuff. I just want to run my system as fast as possible so routine software tasks will move quickly. So which motherboard to get?

Back in 2009 I got an i7 860 on a GA-P55M-UD2 with uncooled PWM. It runs stock. In 2010 I got an i7 860 on a GA-P55A-UD4P with PWM cooling. It runs 4GHz, above which the i7 860 wants crazy Voltage. With an NH-D14 it runs in the low 70's on Linpack. In 2011 I got an i7 875k and put it on an As.s P7P55D-E Pro. Now I distrust As.s.

Ready for a new system now. Getting the pieces slowly. I have my copy of Win7 and a Samsung 840 Pro 512GB SSD to put it on.The CPU will be the silicon lottery, but by waiting this late I hoped I could get a reasonably good chip. The memory will likely be the Samsung low-Voltage ultra-low profile RAM. My major concern will be which motherboard to get.

In looking at various reviews it seems that the ASRock Z77 Extreme6 and Extreme4 are nice bets because they have fewer controllers to initialize than, say, an As.s. So they boot faster. But do they have enough power phases, and are they cooled well enough for sustained overclocking?

I can't tell what flavor of Gigabyte to consider these days. Their product line is a tad confusing. And I have no understanding of MSI boards. Do they have fan controls, for example?

Really, it comes down to minimal features but getting the highest OC for the lowest Vcore. Any suggestions?

 

[Kenmitch]

I think both of those Asrock boards have a 8+4 power phase which is plenty these days. As long as you have decent airflow in your case there shouldn't be any issues with the motherboard cooling. Depending on ones overclocking goal it's most likely overkill these days as Ivy's overclocks are pretty much thermally limited anyways.

You can just disable things like 3rd party sata controllers, firewire, etc in uEFI if not needed on other boards anyways.

 

[ehume]

I think both of those Asrock boards have a 8+4 power phase which is plenty these days. As long as you have decent airflow in your case there shouldn't be any issues with the motherboard cooling. Depending on ones overclocking goal it's most likely overkill these days as Ivy's overclocks are pretty much thermally limited anyways.

You can just disable things like 3rd party sata controllers, firewire, etc in uEFI if not needed on other boards anyways.

Thanks!