What used motherboard for 2500K?

[Towermax]

I recently picked up a 2500K on Craigslist for a ridiculously low price. I have everything I need to build a system with this CPU except the motherboard. I'm in no hurry and will watch sales here, on eBay, Craigslist, etc. until something good comes along.

From reading posts here, I'm somewhat familiar with the popular chipsets and boards that were commonly discussed when the 2500K was hot. After reviewing the posts once more, it looks like a Z68 chipset would do the trick, and they're getting old enough that they may start showing up used at reasonable prices.

But what specific boards should I be watching for? I'm not a serious gamer--don't need crossfire/SLI or anything gaming-oriented. Mainly I'd like quality, reliability and the ability to do some mild overclocking. SATA 6G is a must, and USB 3.0 would be nice (but not necessary).

So, if you've got any specific recommendations, I'd appreciate them.

 

[Sleepingforest]

What's your budget? If you want USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s, you'll probably want to go Z77, which is more likely to have those features because it's a more modern chipset.

 

[LagunaX]

Asrock p67, z68, and even z77 pro3 boards are pretty cheap on eBay.

 

[Jimzz]

Yea you can get Z77 boards for less than $100 now.

That will allow overclocking, 6GB sata, native usb3.0, etc...

 

[Charlie98]

I have a bottom-tier Gigabyte Z68 board (in sig) and it does everything I want it to, needs very similar to what you state, but I agree with the others that a Z77 board is probably the way to go because of the native USB 3.0. Getting a Z77 board would allow an upgrade to an Ivy Bridge chip if that becomes necessary (although my Z68 board has an available BIOS flash for IB chip upgrade.) I would think the difference in a lower-end Z68 vs Z77 board would only be $10-20... in my mind well worth the extra money.

 

[piasabird]

Get a decent H77 or Z77 motherboard while you can still find them. Once the new socket motherboards come out I think all or most of them will disappear within 6 months. Some motherboards may let you use faster RAM. Then there is the price of RAM. I predict a quick move to DDR4 after the new Haswell Motherboards comes out.

 

[Towermax]

OK, thanks for all the input. I'll start watching for both Z68 and Z77. USB 3 is really not that important to me, and I've found that many Z68 motherboards support Ivy Bridge. I suspect that after Haswell comes out, there will be even more used boards available.

In the meantime, the 2500K goes into an ECS H61H2-M2 board that I got on sale a couple of months ago.