Source
r/buildapc•
TooHighPi

[Build Help] Need help choosing a motherboard that will be able to handle a long hours of gaming and wont break the bank.

So basically just that. I'm in the process of building a gaming rig and have just been completly stumped by which motherboard to buy. I'm operating in about the $120-$180 range but am willling to pay more if deemed necessary. I want to play BF3 on very high settings and don't have much pc buildng experience so I'm very open to suggestions. I've been buying most of my parts from Newegg but am afraid to buy the motherboard from them because after reading several reviews it appears that they seem to ship an unusually high number of defectivew boards. So reddit, any suggestions on what I should get?

edit- I forgot to mention that I will be building into this case if it helps

Posted Mar 25, 2012, 12:48 PM UTC · edited

326
Namell•

I think r/buildpc almost always suggests way too expensive MB:s. You need good quality one but you should only pay for features that you will actually use.

Anyways you really need to list parts you are going to use before anyone can make any sensible recommendations.

4
HARRRR•

Not relevant, but your username reminds me of this..

3
clupean•

Socket?

2
TooHighPiOP•

Please forgive my ignorance but I'm not quite sure what your asking?

1
Namell•

Socket is where processor is installed. Different processors use different socket.

3
TooHighPiOP•

Well I'm planning on going with this

1
NhcNymo•

Get this one instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072&Tpk=2500k

Much better performance and really overclocking friendly. This is the CPU everyone recommends for gaming.

2
I_Eat_Death•

What is the socket type of the CPU you're planning to use? ex an i5 2500k uses the LGA 1155 socket

2
clupean•

Do you have a little idea of what you want?

Example: Intel or AMD; one, two or more video cards; are you going to overclock or maybe just like to keep the option to overclock for later; ...

2
TooHighPiOP•

Well I guess the best way to describe what I want is a performance gaming rig. I'm thinking I will go with an Intel for the cpu and am hoping to buy most parts in the $100-$200 range. I want to also eventually get my hands on a gtx 680 but dunno how thats gonna go..

1
clupean•

It sounds good. Lowest to Highest price: ASRock Z68 Extreme 3 Gen 3, Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3, Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P and Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 are four models users are generally happy with. The ASRock and Asus in particular have pci-e x16 3.0 slots that the GTX680 uses but to enable them you need the new generation of Intel processors (release date supposedly sometime in April).

0
Marricks•

Might suggest an ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA. It's good quality, and a bit cheaper since it's micro atx-- just don't choose this if you plan to use two graphics cards though ;-)

2
TooHighPiOP•

I was actually looking at this ond this morning, thanks for the suggestion. Quick q though.. Do you think a good gaming pc needs only one solid graphics card? Because I was thinking about biting the bullet and just saving up for a gtx 680. I figure with that there would be no need for a second right?

1
Marricks•

What's the resolution of your monitor? If it's the standard 1900 by 1080 or 1200 (basically any sub $250 monitor) the 680 would absolutely kill, and work for a helluva long time.

(you could also buy a much cheaper nvidia 570 or a radeon 7870 and still run at max settings... for the next couple years)

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TooHighPiOP•

Yea its a 1900 by 1080 and I'm really, really hoping I can get a 680 but have no problems going cheaper (this is my first build after all). I'm a huuuge battlefield nut and am just absolutely giddy for the day I can finally enjoy 64 player matches and graphic settings that blow away the 360's... Soon.

1
Marricks•

Then go for the 680 and be happy for a very very very very long time :-)

1
NhcNymo•

There are many games that the GTX570 can't run on maxed out settings now, like BF3 and Metro2033. Don't go for this, wait for the GTX670 if the GTX680 is too expensive.

1
NhcNymo•

Go for one single 680. Running two cards at the same time is often unstable, and you may get problems like microstuttering. Going for a 680 vil definitely give you tons of performance for the price.

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NhcNymo•

To sum it up, this should be what people would recomend for a gaming rig: Processor: Intel I5-2500k Motherboard: A LGA 1155 board with the z68 chipset Like this. Graphicscard: The GTX680 is deffinetely the way to go, or you could wait for GTX670 or GTX660. Storage: Get a SSD (expensive) for your operative system, or a fast harddrive like this (cheap). RAM: 8GB of DDR3 RAM like this. PSU: Something around 700w. And then you need to pick a case and a cheap dvd-rom.

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TooHighPiOP•

Thank you so much! This helps me out so much :D

1
NhcNymo•

Anytime, just ask if you need something else! ;)

1