New boards for i7 how in the world are you suppose to decide?

[DonnieT]

So I am glad I waited since the great anand says the new i7 processors are so much better but then when I go to newegg and look at all the motherboards it's ridiculous. Multiple ones even from the same company. And of course since they are so new the comments for each one are nonexistant. I like to looks at hardware sites like this one but i just don't have the time to read every review. Is it basically a chevy vs ford thing and it really doesn't matter which one I get? I was planning to get the i7 860 processor.

 

[masteryoda34]

If you dont know what you want, then what I would do is set yourself a price range, and then pick from several popular manufacturers.

 

[DonnieT]

choosing the cheaper price range drops my total choices from 33 to 21 heh.

 

[Isura]

Really not much difference except SLI and better power regulation for overclocking.

 

[Isura]

Found these comparison charts.

Gigabyte
http://i29.tinypic.com/2eas9d0.png

EVGA
http://i31.tinypic.com/219ypte.png

Asus
http://promos.asus.com/US/p55/index.htm

I'm deciding between Asus P7P55D PRO and Gigabyte UD4P.

 

[Sylvanas]

Recently I was doing the same thing with the 1366 i7 boards. What you'll find is the higher end models usually have features that you'd make very little use of and I found the Gigabyte X58 UD3R to be the best choice, it has the same BIOS as the higher models and all the circuitry is basically the same so thats what I bought and I am very pleased with my purchase. I'd get the EP55-UD3R

 

[Jumpem]

Narrow it down to Asus and go from there.

 

[gizbug]

Gigabyte before Asus.

 

[jjmIII]

Here, I'll pick one for ya.....and only $99 free shipping .

 

[Isura]

The EVGA boards look sexy. I love the all black design. They have an active support forum and known for good CS. It's my first serious OC attempt, so I'm considering paying the premium.

 

[Shmee]

get the classified. It works for the government.

 

[Zap]

The OP must have a difficult time at restaurants. :laugh:

DonnieT, what do you want in a motherboard?

Do you need Firewire? Dual NICs? Dual graphics slots? Have a tight budget? Have a preference of network or audio chipsets? Need Firewire? What size case do you have or are getting? What brands are you familiar with? Overclocking?

 

[yacoub]

I would say MSi but I've seen a couple complaints about RAM stability on one of their boards. What we need is Gary Key to complete and launch the P55 Motherboard Comparo so we can see how they all stand up to testing
I would be partial to MSi and Gigabyte.