Intel Motherboard 2

Hi everyone!

I will now briefly return to the world of Intel Motherboards as I had left the post incomplete last time. Today we will be talking about the LGA2011 socket and the LGA1155 (which contains both the Ivy Bridge and the Sandy Bridge.)

LGA2011


The LGA2011 is Intel's Enthusiast Extreme line of CPUs which represent what the Intel platform is truly capable of. The 2011 is also quad channel ram compatible and also supports PCI-E 3.0.

ASRock X79 Extreme6

One of ASRock's best selling 2011 motherboards, the Extreme6 comes with a host of good options and a very nifty color scheme. Supporting a maximum of 64GB Ram in a Quad Channel Setup, The Extreme6 also has 3 PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots. 5 Sata III connectors and 4 USB 3.0 connectors. Selling for $249.99.









Other Good ASRock Motherboards are :
Fatal1ty X79 Champion
X79 Extreme9



Gigabyte G1.Assassin2



The G1 series is Gigabyte's gaming motherboard series and as such is good at overclocking and also features a Creative CA20K2 chip which provides support for X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity and EAX Advanced HD 5.0 Supports a maximum of 32GB Ram with 3 PCI-E 3.0 x16 connectors, 4 Sata III and 2 USB3.0 connectors. Selling for $349.99.







ASUS Rampage IV Extreme

Another great motherboard from ASUS. Supports 64GB of Ram and 5 PCI-E 3.0 x 16 slots, 4 SATA III connectors and 4 USB3.0 connectors. You can never go wrong with ASUS! Selling for $429.99.













LGA1155


For a while now, one of the main complaints against Intel was that they would change their cpu socket with every new release which in turn prompted people to buy new motherboards thereby increasing their expenditure. Intel listened this and when it introduced the 3rd Generation of Intel CPUs, it kept them on the same socket type (LGA1155.)

ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional

The Fatal1ty Professional is a rock solid motherboard which supports 32GB of Ram in Dual Channel mode, 2 PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots, 1 PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot, 6 SataIII connectors and 6 USB3.0 connectors. Retailing for $229.99.











Other good boards from ASRock are
Z77 Extreme9
Z77 Pro4-M (A Micro-ATX Board)



Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H

A good budget option from Gigabyte it supports 32GB of Ram, 1 PCI-E 3.0 x16 slot, 1 PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot, 2 Sata III Connectors and 4 USB3.0 connectors. Retailing for $119.99










Other good boards from Gigabyte are
G1.Sniper 3
GA-Z77X-UD5H-WB WiFi


ASUS Maximus V Gene

An amazing Micro ATX gaming board offering from ASUS. Supports 32GB Ram, 2 PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots , 4 SATA III connectors and 4 USB3.0 connectors. It also boasts a SupremeFX III audio chipset. Retailing for $209.99










Other good boards from ASUS are
P8Z77 WS
P8Z77-V LE
Sabertooth Z77

And there you have it folks! The latest, and in my view great motherboards for Intel. Next post I will talk about the 3rd Generation Intel Processors but until then,

Kiyoshi Out! ^_^

AMD Motherboards

Hi Folks,

Well today I will be reviewing the AMD side of the story.

AM3


IF you went with the AM3 socket CPU's you can take a look at the AM3 motherboards.
Some good ones are as follows

ASUS M4N98TD EVO which is retailing currently for $129.99

MSi 890GXM-G65 which is retailing for $121.99

AM3+


The AM3+ is the new AMD line of processors. There are quite a few good motherboards out there that you can find and they are also very reasonably priced. The ones that I liked are as follows

ASUS Sabertooth 990FX

Retailing for $184.99, the Sabertooth boasts a large area for heat dissipation and is very good at keeping temperatures low. It has 3  PCI -E 2.0 x16 slots which will come in very handy should you decide to go the Nvidia SLI route or the AMD CrossfireX route.






ASRock 970 Extreme4

Selling for $99.99, The 970 is a very good motherboard for those who are on a smaller budget. It still gives you Three PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots and 5 SATA 6Gb/s connectors and used with care, it should give you years of satisfaction.




Now knowing that I have already bought the FX-8120, you know I was going to get a AM3+ board. Out of all the options I looked at, there was one particular board which caught my eye right of the bat and no matter what I compared it too, I just could not see myself changing my opinion.

ASUS Crosshair V Formula

The Crosshair V is from ASUS's Republic of Gamers line and as such comes with a huge host of options. It has a wide array of ROG overclocking tools and an advanced UEFI BIOS as well. (To learn more about UEFI you can click here.)  It also has an  Intel Gigabit LAN port for very fast network connections and it has a lot of power saving options as well. The Crosshair also comes with Creative's SupremeFX X-Fi-2 built right in to the motherboard which gives you amazing sound for gaming and music. It is retailing at Newegg for $219.99.

Next blog I will be talking about Video Cards.

Till then,
Adios Amigos
Kiyoshi out!

Intel Motherboards

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.....