Single GPU P67 Mobos

[btx]

Has anyone done a decent wrap up of the lower end sandybridge mobos? I've done some hunting around the net, and I've seen some reviews of individual boards, but I haven't seen many good suggestions or roundups about what the best options are for people (like me) who are unlikely ever to do SLI -- my assumption is that SLI/Crossfire is the primary benefit of the higher end boards...aside from scads of SATA connections and a firewire port here or there, it sure doesn't seem like I'd be giving up much going with the lower end stuff.

 

[stahlhart]

What is your price point?

I haven't seen any sort of roundup review either. I think that you're going to have to look at them individually, and make the call based on which ones seem to be the most stable or have the fewest issues. Newegg has had some lower cost MSI and Biostar boards that started to trickle out during the Cougar Point recall.

Out of the gate, P67 was primarily targeted at enthusiasts, I guess as much as it could be, given the constraints (the lack of total PCIe lanes appears to be the biggest complaint).

 

[dma0991]

If you're in the budget section then your aim would be the H67 chipset which is obvious enough as Intel separates them into H61/H67 and P67 chipsets. Since you are into H67 then there is no difference if there is additional features on the motherboard like 24 phase power because the H67 is a non OC motherboard to begin with.

I have no preference towards MSI,Asus or Gigabyte as either one of these brands works well under most conditions and of course failure is common for any brand of motherboards. That is why warranties exist.

I would say that pick the one that suits your budget the best, looks the best visually to you and meets all the feature requirements that you want.

 

[dpodblood]

I have one of these and it works great:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...-582-_-Product

 

[SolMiester]

I have just ordered the ASRock P67 Pro 3...
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16813157230

 

[btx]

Well, I'm certainly not looking at the H67 -- I use a discrete GPU, i just do not anticipate running two in SLI. I've never done so in the past, and don't anticipate doing so in the future. That doesn't mean I wouldn't want to get a K series and overclock, though. I do game, but I am also a software developer, so CPU horsepower is always appreciated. I've been looking at that ASRock board, seems to have a lot of fans. I may just go with it when the egg gets them back in stock. The $150 and under range was what I was thinking. Thanks.

 

[DaveSimmons]

You can use H61 / H67 with a discrete GPU without any problems.

With H67, you give up support for overclocking the K chips.

With H61, you give up overclocking and 6 Gb SATA ports (only useful for SSDs) and extra PCI-E lanes you might use with a RAID card.

On a tight budget and if you're not buying a 2500K, the H61 motherboards start at $60, which could give you an extra $40-70 to spend on more RAM or a better GPU.

 

[btx]

The H67 boards don't seem that much cheaper than the P67 boards, though (at least on the low end). You raise a good point, however. My last two systems were built for overclocking and then I really didn't do it...I could save some coin and go stock. I probably would want a few 6 GB SATA ports though in case I decide to add an SSD in the future.

 

[dpodblood]

Look at the MSI board I recommended, or the Asrock. Both are good boards, and you don't lose the ability to overclock.

 

[infoiltrator]

I haven't seen any $60 H61 boards with video. Not a problem if you have a card.
The Asrock board definitely appeals, lot of good features.

 

[Zap]

Besides SLI support or lack thereof, boards at different price points have different features. I'm only familiar with the lower end Asus boards, but for instance starting from the lowest end to highest end:

P8P67 LE
No SLI
No BIOS/UEFI overclocking
Realtek LAN

P8P67
No SLI
supports BIOS/UEFI overclocking
Realtek LAN

P8P67 Pro
supports SLI
supports BIOS/UEFI overclocking
Intel LAN

Besides those features, the boards seem to be pretty much the same.

If you want Intel LAN, for instance, you have to get the Pro board even if you don't need SLI. If you want BIOS/UEFI overclocking, you have to get the "vanilla" version even though it costs more than the LE.