what's the difference between motherboards?

[Jskid]

I'm building a new computer and having trouble choosing the mother board. It needs a AM3 PGA-938 socket. It should have USB 3.0 and SATA 3 and on board audio. Since almost all boards these days have these what's the difference? Any suggestions or what companies are good?

 

[abekl]

Other people's opinions will differ, but for my money, Gigabyte and Asus are the two best motherboards around.

 

[stahlhart]

It pretty much comes down to features (port options, slot arrangements, etc.) versus what your usage requirements are, and build quality. Asus, Gigabyte and ASRock (and latecomer EVGA) are probably your best choices.

 

[StrangerGuy]

I'm building a new computer and having trouble choosing the mother board. It needs a AM3 PGA-938 socket. It should have USB 3.0 and SATA 3 and on board audio. Since almost all boards these days have these what's the difference? Any suggestions or what companies are good?

You probably want something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157195

If you can spend ~$300 for the CPU and mobo, forget AM3 and go for the 2500K. SB mobos have native SATA3 and USB3 as standard. The more you spend on an AM3 platform the more it make sense to buy 2500K.

 

[Rifter]

If you dont overclock get the cheapest board with the features you need from a top tier maker(Asus, Gigabyte, EVGA, etc)

If you do Overclock it is in your best intrest to do some more reasearch and make sure you get a board with a good power section(generally the more phases the better) and good cooling on the chipset and VRM's.

 

[dawp]

I wouldn't rule out AM3+ boards as an AM3 cpu will drop right in and will more likely have the features you want.

I have been using ASUS for years and had no issues I didn't cause myself.

What is your price point? Kind of hard to make a recommendation without knowing what you are willing to spend.

If I was going to buy an AMD board right now for myself, I'd go with a 990fx sabertooth. I've had no problems with mine for the x58.

 

[Vette73]

Yea get a cheap AM3+ 970 board. has all you want for $99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128521

 

[lau808]

asus and gigabyte are good, im not sure of the others. do u have a video card or do u need onboard graphics? u need to pick a chipset first imo. if u need onboard graphics then u need a 880g or 890gx, if u have a discrete card then u can go 890fx 990fx 990x 970 and also like someone else asked will u be oc? need to know intents and purposes of ur pc. 2 video cards or more? etc etc

 

[leandrodafontoura]

Borders differ in types of conections available. Usually:

-number of USB 2.0 in the I/O
-Presence of Firewire and/or eSata
-number of PCI-Express 16, PCI-Express 4, PCI-Express 1, PCI slots

 

[mb103051]

intel SB for sure...much faster than amd and well worth the price...
im an amd guy at heart but after building my 1366 rig [my first intel system] imo these i7 systems bury amd...when BD comes out, whenever, it may be competitive but with ivy bridge coming from intel you can be sure it will bury amd again...id love to go back to amd but not till there close .....this 1366 setup is truly amazing, and this is coming from a 955/asus setup....this 1366 rig burys amd's system...check out SB...you wont be sorry...

 

[Jskid]

intel SB for sure...much faster than amd and well worth the price...
im an amd guy at heart but after building my 1366 rig [my first intel system] imo these i7 systems bury amd...when BD comes out, whenever, it may be competitive but with ivy bridge coming from intel you can be sure it will bury amd again...id love to go back to amd but not till there close .....this 1366 setup is truly amazing, and this is coming from a 955/asus setup....this 1366 rig burys amd's system...check out SB...you wont be sorry...

what does SB stand for?

 

[veri745]

what does SB stand for?

Sandy Bridge.

If you need an AM3 socket mobo, like you say in your first post, suggesting an Intel board isn't exactly helpful.

 

[paperwastage]

Sandy Bridge.

If you need an AM3 socket mobo, like you say in your first post, suggesting an Intel board isn't exactly helpful.

well, hes building a new computer. if he has a current AM3 chip, what was he upgrading from(AM2+ mobo?)

otherwise, a Sandy Bridge build( or wait till BD comes out) would be more suitable

why SB? (go google benchmarks, you'll see a i5 2500k beats out an AMD hex core on almost everything, and power consumption is a lot lower)

P67/H67 (SB highend/midend mobos) have USB3.0, SATA6
$220 i5 2500k
$130 asus p8p67 has 4 USB headers

$350

even the puny i3 2100 ($120 or less) can hold its mark against an x4
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/15

I say wait a bit for Bulldozer to come out

 

[Jskid]

well, hes building a new computer. if he has a current AM3 chip, what was he upgrading from(AM2+ mobo?)

otherwise, a Sandy Bridge build( or wait till BD comes out) would be more suitable

why SB? (go google benchmarks, you'll see a i5 2500k beats out an AMD hex core on almost everything, and power consumption is a lot lower)

P67/H67 (SB highend/midend mobos) have USB3.0, SATA6
$220 i5 2500k
$130 asus p8p67 has 4 USB headers

$350

even the puny i3 2100 ($120 or less) can hold its mark against an x4
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/15

I say wait a bit for Bulldozer to come out

I thought AMD and Intel were neck and neck? Did Intel take the lead?

 

[paperwastage]

intel took the lead with the release of Core 2Duo

the only reason why AMD is still somewhat surviving is because they corner the lower-end market. Good price vs performance ratio(this post is more for consumer hardware... im not that familiar with the enterprise based stuff)

you can/could get an AMD quad core for $110. Dual core (with a small chance to unlock) for $80.

Cheapest dual core Intel has is around $120, but as you can see, the i3 2100 goes neck to neck with a quad core AMD...

with the release of i5 2500k, this chip rivals previous i5/i7 chips, and can hold its weight (at least in gaming and some benchmarks) against the intel hexacore 990x. Especially when Microcenter was selling it for $180. get a $100 p67 board for overclocking, and you get a beasty machine. A lot of people can get it from 3.3/3.7ghz stock to 4.5ghz, up to 5.0 if you dont mind the voltage bump from 1.2v stock to 1.4-1.5v

This is why many people like the performance of the sandy bridge system.... good price vs performance, better than an AMD Phenom II x6 build for the same price(unless you really need multi-threaded apps). and you pay less in the power bill too

of course, we're hoping that Bulldozer shows some strength against Sandy Bridge. Otherwise, AMD is at least one cycle behind Intel performance wise...

 

[Rifter]

I thought AMD and Intel were neck and neck? Did Intel take the lead?

seriously? AMD has been behind intel since core2(so 4 years ago). And the closer to now the farther they have fallen behind.

SB is the way to go if building new today.

 

[tulx]

SB is the way to go if building new today.

Damn right. I've been using AMD Athlon FX 5400 and now Phenom I 9850, which were both great. But now, 2500k is the only sensibe high-end gaming rig choice. Although I'm reluctant to make the leap, because Bulldozer, whenever the hell it comes out, could and probably will be on par with SB. And it could be cheaper. So I'm waiting.
Plus, I just hate Intel's socket policy. It's really idiotic. Having to buy a new Mobo every time a new CPU comes. On a AM2+ board you can use EVERY SINGLE AMD cpu from the last 5 years or so. Now that's great. Still - today there are no good AMD CPU's for a gamer to use.

PS - by "every single" I mean the desktop and not mobile or server CPUs, of course

 

[Jskid]

How do you know how many ports are at the front of the case? For example the ASUS P8P67 LE REV3.0 has back I/O ports and internal I/O ports but doesn't say anything about front ones.

 

[paperwastage]

ASMedia® USB 3.0 controller :
2 x USB 3.0 port(s) (2 at back panel, blue)
Intel® P67(B3) chipset :
14 x USB 2.0 port(s) (6 at back panel, , 8 at mid-board)

back panel = back I/O.... midboard = usb headers. in this case, it has 4 header slots for a total of 8 USB "expansions"

front depends on how many USB headers your case has(most likely 1-2 header cables, 2USB per header)

 

[Jskid]

back panel = back I/O.... midboard = usb headers. in this case, it has 4 header slots for a total of 8 USB "expansions"

front depends on how many USB headers your case has(most likely 1-2 header cables, 2USB per header)

What the heck so no USB 3 ports on the front panel? Why would they put them at the back instead?

 

[dawp]

there are cases the do utilize the on board headers for usb3

 

[Rifter]

What the heck so no USB 3 ports on the front panel? Why would they put them at the back instead?

because 90%+ of the cases out do not have front USB 3 Ports, thus making USB 3 headers on the board useless to 90%+ of the people buying them, and a waste of money for the mobo maker to include.

This will change over the next few years.

 

[paperwastage]

because 90%+ of the cases out do not have front USB 3 Ports, thus making USB 3 headers on the board useless to 90%+ of the people buying them, and a waste of money for the mobo maker to include.

This will change over the next few years.

not to mention that USB3.0 and SATA6 isn't actually part of the Z68/P67/H67/H61 chipset specs. Mobo manufacturers add it in 3rd party to provide more functionality, of course with the H61 skipping both features to save on $

 

[Jskid]

I'm looking for a mobo with a LGA1155 socket, USB 3 ports in the back and a couple in the mid-section. I want to spend around $150. I don't care so much about power consumption, I've got a UPS and where I'll be living I won't be baying for the electric bill

 

[sequoia464]

I'm looking for a mobo with a LGA1155 socket, USB 3 ports in the back and a couple in the mid-section. I want to spend around $150. I don't care so much about power consumption, I've got a UPS and where I'll be living I won't be baying for the electric bill

I just picked up a 2500K - also looking for a 1155 board, I have never had an Intel system so I'm not familiar with Intel boards yet, but right now I'm considering a Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD4-B3. Maybe someone can comment on this board.

Amazon Llink .. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Newegg .. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128494