Wow! I finally get time to sit down and continue writing. Can not wait for the holidays to get over! This is one of the few Saturday's I've had to work and I did not like it one bit. Anyways let's attempt to put the work week behind us shall we? This post I will be talking about the world of Intel motherboards. In line with powerful Intel CPUs, Intel based motherboards also have some really powerful options. As usual I will be mentioning boards that have caught my eye and I feel are good buys. We will start of with LGA1366 then move to LGA1155 finally ending with Intel's newest, LGA2011.
LGA1366
The motherboard, next to the cpu is the most important component of the build as it will determine which and how many video cards will you be putting in your system, how much ram will you be able to install, how many usb ports will you have, how many hard drives/optical drives can you have in your system. Get a good motherboard and it will reward you with stable performance and more enjoyment out of your build. Some good companies to note are Asus, msi, Gigabyte, ASRock and EVGA.
ASRock X58 Extreme 3
The multiple award winning Extreme 3 is a very solid choice for people who want a very good motherboard within a reasonable budget. Currently selling for $169.99, this board supports ATI CrossFireX, 3-Way CrossFireX, Quad CrossFireX, NVIDIA SLI and Quad SLI. You can install a maximum of 24GB Ram in Triple Channel. It has 2 PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots, 1 PCI-E x16 slot, 1 PCI-E x1 and two PCI slots. For storage devices it still has a PATA connector which lets you connect 2 IDE devices. On the Sata side it has 6 SATA 3Gb/s connectors which support Raid 0, Raid 1, Raid 10, Raid 5 and Intel Matrix Storage and 2 SATA 6Gb/s connectors which support Raid 0 & 1. It has support for both USB 3.0 and USB 2.0. Head on over to either the ASRock website link I have proivded or the NewEgg one for complete specifications. If you have any other questions about any Computer products, I will always be glad to help with more detail. One thing I will mention is the size. This is a ATX form factor board with Dimensions of 12.0" x 9.6" inches (304.8mm x 243.84mm.) Knowing the size of the motherboard is very important to ensure that it will fit inside your case.
ASUS Rampage III Formula
ASUS is a company you will become well acquainted with as you dwelve deeper into the world of PC Building. They are a very big player in motherboards and video cards and you cannot go wrong with nearly any ASUS product. The Rampage III is a overclockers dream come true. It is from their ROG (Republic of Gamers) line which uses creates ASUS idea of the best possible products. It also has a SoundBlaster SupremeFX X-Fi 2 built into the motherboard to provide you with amazing sound. Features 3 PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots, 24GB Triple Channel RAM (which can be overclocked to DDR3 2200!), 6 SATA 3Gb/s and 2 SATA 6GB/s. 2 Rear Panel USB 3.0 and 7 USB 2.0/1.1 slots with an additional 2 USB connectors to give you 4 more USB 2.0 ports. One of the best boards you can buy which will let you overclock with ease. Selling for $275.99, it is a ATX form factor with Dimensions of 12.0"x 9.6" inches (304.8mm x 243.84mm.) Asus also has a microATX Rampage III Gene and a Rampage III Black Edition which is an Extended ATX Form Factor (E-ATX.)
Another good option from ASUS is the Sabertooth X58 which has cermaic coating for better cooling and system stability. Selling for $194.99.
Other interesting boards are the Gigabyte G1.Assassin which is a very good gaming board selling for $379.99, EVGA 141-GT-E770-A1 which is an E-ATX offering from EVGA and also the EVGA X58 FTW3. The 141 GT is selling for $329.99 while the FTW3 comes for $249.99.
For my money I would go with the Rampage III. Asus has the reputation for making some of the best motherboards and they always love to push the envelope with their ROG series. Price wise it falls somewhere in the middle which also a very good thing.
But hey tell me something..... do you have money to burn? I mean lots of money? Then try this motherboard, the EVGA Classified SR-2. Has slots for two (YES TWO!!) Intel Xeon CPUs along with 7 (SEVEN Dude SEVEN!) PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots and up to 48GB of RAM. Selling for $579.99.
I would go on with LGA 1155 and LGA 2011 motherboard but I am very tired from today. I will make sure to complete this post tomorrow at the earliest.
Till then Good Night everybody. (YAWN!.....zzzzz)
Sleepy Kiyoshi signs out.....
LGA1366
The motherboard, next to the cpu is the most important component of the build as it will determine which and how many video cards will you be putting in your system, how much ram will you be able to install, how many usb ports will you have, how many hard drives/optical drives can you have in your system. Get a good motherboard and it will reward you with stable performance and more enjoyment out of your build. Some good companies to note are Asus, msi, Gigabyte, ASRock and EVGA.
ASRock X58 Extreme 3
The multiple award winning Extreme 3 is a very solid choice for people who want a very good motherboard within a reasonable budget. Currently selling for $169.99, this board supports ATI CrossFireX, 3-Way CrossFireX, Quad CrossFireX, NVIDIA SLI and Quad SLI. You can install a maximum of 24GB Ram in Triple Channel. It has 2 PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots, 1 PCI-E x16 slot, 1 PCI-E x1 and two PCI slots. For storage devices it still has a PATA connector which lets you connect 2 IDE devices. On the Sata side it has 6 SATA 3Gb/s connectors which support Raid 0, Raid 1, Raid 10, Raid 5 and Intel Matrix Storage and 2 SATA 6Gb/s connectors which support Raid 0 & 1. It has support for both USB 3.0 and USB 2.0. Head on over to either the ASRock website link I have proivded or the NewEgg one for complete specifications. If you have any other questions about any Computer products, I will always be glad to help with more detail. One thing I will mention is the size. This is a ATX form factor board with Dimensions of 12.0" x 9.6" inches (304.8mm x 243.84mm.) Knowing the size of the motherboard is very important to ensure that it will fit inside your case.
ASUS Rampage III Formula
ASUS is a company you will become well acquainted with as you dwelve deeper into the world of PC Building. They are a very big player in motherboards and video cards and you cannot go wrong with nearly any ASUS product. The Rampage III is a overclockers dream come true. It is from their ROG (Republic of Gamers) line which uses creates ASUS idea of the best possible products. It also has a SoundBlaster SupremeFX X-Fi 2 built into the motherboard to provide you with amazing sound. Features 3 PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots, 24GB Triple Channel RAM (which can be overclocked to DDR3 2200!), 6 SATA 3Gb/s and 2 SATA 6GB/s. 2 Rear Panel USB 3.0 and 7 USB 2.0/1.1 slots with an additional 2 USB connectors to give you 4 more USB 2.0 ports. One of the best boards you can buy which will let you overclock with ease. Selling for $275.99, it is a ATX form factor with Dimensions of 12.0"x 9.6" inches (304.8mm x 243.84mm.) Asus also has a microATX Rampage III Gene and a Rampage III Black Edition which is an Extended ATX Form Factor (E-ATX.)
Another good option from ASUS is the Sabertooth X58 which has cermaic coating for better cooling and system stability. Selling for $194.99.
Other interesting boards are the Gigabyte G1.Assassin which is a very good gaming board selling for $379.99, EVGA 141-GT-E770-A1 which is an E-ATX offering from EVGA and also the EVGA X58 FTW3. The 141 GT is selling for $329.99 while the FTW3 comes for $249.99.
For my money I would go with the Rampage III. Asus has the reputation for making some of the best motherboards and they always love to push the envelope with their ROG series. Price wise it falls somewhere in the middle which also a very good thing.
But hey tell me something..... do you have money to burn? I mean lots of money? Then try this motherboard, the EVGA Classified SR-2. Has slots for two (YES TWO!!) Intel Xeon CPUs along with 7 (SEVEN Dude SEVEN!) PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots and up to 48GB of RAM. Selling for $579.99.
I would go on with LGA 1155 and LGA 2011 motherboard but I am very tired from today. I will make sure to complete this post tomorrow at the earliest.
Till then Good Night everybody. (YAWN!.....zzzzz)
Sleepy Kiyoshi signs out.....
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