Does it matter which mobo you pick ?

[jfri 42]

I intend to build a new computer based on a haswell CPU. I wonder if it matters which motherboard you get ? If so what should you look for.

What do you think about this one claimed to be a 'good card for step in and in the performance segment'

http://www.dustinhome.se/product/5010744960/asus-z87-c-z87-s-1150-atx/

[HugoStiglitz 5]

You need to make sure your CPU socket fits the one with the MOBO. For example, I have a 1155 socket on my i5 so my MOBO supports that. I see your MOBO is the 1155 socket, whats your CPU?

[Ben Cap 89]

I've always liked Asus motherboards due to their reliability and customer support. 

[alainneedle1 97]

Yes it does, will you overclock, if not low to mid range mobo will do?

 

If you are thinking about overclocking the crap out of your CPU make sure you get a good one, by that I mean that the board was tested for high overclock (reviews) http://www.hardocp.com/reviews/motherboards_chipsets/

 

Also make sure the board is rated for high memory speed if you are thinking about dropping some fast one in it (2600Mhz and up).

 

Good luck.

[jfri 42]

 

 

Yes it does, will you overclock, if not low to mid range mobo will do?

If you are thinking about overclocking the crap out of your CPU make sure you get a good one, by that I mean that the board was tested for high overclock (reviews) http://www.hardocp.c...oards_chipsets/

 

My intention is to overclock to at least 4.3 GHz since FSX needs that after what I have been told. Does not all mobo support overclocking ?

[alainneedle1 97]

My intention is to overclock to at least 4.3 GHz since FSX needs that after what I have been told. Does not all mobo support overclocking ?

 

Yes they usually do but you will achieve a better overclock (easier and more stable) with a good motherboard, you pay for what you get, 4.3Ghz should not be a problem on mid-range motherboard, if you want higher Ghz I suggest you get a good one, remember that Haswell is another kind of beast overclocking wise.

[Spartan0536 49]

4 Things you never want to skimp on when building a PC....

 

1. Chassis/Case/Tower - this will be with you probably longer than your PSU and Motherboard if you choose one that is constructed well and has many capabilities that will allow future upgrades to combine seamlessly or with very little effort.

 

2. Motherboard - This the the core of your system, any and ALL future upgrades will run through this part of your machine, a cheap knockoff here can lead to many frustrating problems and a major decrease in total performance.

 

3. Power Supply Unit (PSU) - DO NOT EVER SKIMP ON THIS, I can not state this enough, I have repaired & overhauled many machines that have suffered from under voltage or short circuiting and none of them were cheap repairs. Give your machine at least 200W of head room to accommodate for future upgrades and capacitor aging. Also take a real strong look at your +12V rails, many PSU's undersell this and what may initially look like a great deal may end up costing you dearly.

 

4. Hard Drive - This really needs no introduction, there is nothing wrong with using a 7200 RPM Western Digital Caviar Black or a Seagate Barracuda of the same spec, just don't go for the lesser brands to save some money as they can leave you with a bad warranty, and a dead drive with all your nice work being nothing short of magnetic waste. This is also the case for Solid State Drives, do your research here, a good HDD/SSD will last you years and most of the good ones will also cover you for many years as they stand behind the quality of their work.

[Anderscn 0]

Hi,

If OC' ing, please get an MB with at least 8 phase supply for the CPU.

Asrock, Asus, Gigabyte etc. is a matter of taste.

 

BR,

Anders

[Rocky_53 1,566]

Another thing which I have realised is absolutely essential to ANY rig, and that's a separate HD for backup. Get yourself a backup software such as Acronis, or similar, and then you can enjoy the insurance and good nights' sleep it gives!

[Charlatan 68]

Another thing which I have realised is absolutely essential to ANY rig, and that's a separate HD for backup. Get yourself a backup software such as Acronis, or similar, and then you can enjoy the insurance and good nights' sleep it gives!

 

Completely agree, Acronis True Image is a great piece of kit and saved me many headaches not reinstalling

[jfri 42]

Yes they usually do but you will achieve a better overclock (easier and more stable) with a good motherboard, you pay for what you get, 4.3Ghz should not be a problem on mid-range motherboard, if you want higher Ghz I suggest you get a good one, remember that Haswell is another kind of beast overclocking wise.

 

Why ? Does not the stability depend on the CPU and its cooling. Also when I looked at and compared my intended mobo with more expensive ones I could only notice differences like more ports and PCI express slots and in some cases wireless network functions. But nowhere in the product descriptions anything that suggest better over clocking.

BTW what is a good motherboard ? Can I pick a M-ATX or MINI-ITX ? If not why not ?

[outlaw2001it 0]

If you're are planning on overclocking (which you are) get a motherboard with the Z77 chipset. The Haswell processor will be coming out soon, so that is going to using the Z87 chipset. Difference: Major thing that I could see between Z87/Z77 (besides using the Haswell CPU) is the default clock speed of the memory...1600 MHZ - Z87, 1333 MHZ - Z77. Other things under the belt most people wouldn't know/care about. When it comes to size of the motherboard, I prefer nothing smaller than an Micro-ATX. More room to move around, and easier to get things inside such as huge graphics cards. So bottom line is do you want to build now, or wait for the Haswell processor/Z87 chipset??? A little better performance than the I7/Z77 processor/chipset, but most likely will be upgradeable for future CPU's. If you're not going to wait, then get a motherboard with the Z77 chipset for overclocking. When it comes to motherboards I prefer ASUS/ASROCK, but others use other companies. You'll mostly get conflicting reports on this from different people...it's all what you want out of the motherboard. Nothing smaller than an Micro-ATX, for larger video cards, and for moving around inside the case.

[alainneedle1 97]

Why ? Does not the stability depend on the CPU and its cooling. Also when I looked at and compared my intended mobo with more expensive ones I could only notice differences like more ports and PCI express slots and in some cases wireless network functions. But nowhere in the product descriptions anything that suggest better over clocking.

BTW what is a good motherboard ? Can I pick a M-ATX or MINI-ITX ? If not why not ?

 

Yes but not only that, voltage regulation from your PSU can make a difference in overclocking stability, ram speed and their timing, motherboard bios optimization (what's in it), what are the approved component (memory) to be use with it ++++, you have to do your home work before you pick up a board to know why and what you can do with it, my choice would be Asus, just because they inserted the CPU STRAP back into their bios (big difference for stability and high overclock).

 

PS: Brand new motherboard do not generally have a mature bios...

[Jim Young 2,356]

I just bought the ASUS Z87 Deluxe MB and the Haswell 4770K.  From the reviews I saw it is one of the best for the new Haswell.  I just overclocked on the fly from my desktop using the ASUS Suite III program to 4.2.  So far very stable but will continue testing before going higher.  It's all done automatically.  Like cool!!  I used the Noctra D14 CPU air-cooling system from my previous ASUS P67 Deluxe MB and it works well.  ASUS controls the fans for you too!  Like cool!  It's a little expensive though but you might find some deals out there.

 

Best regards,

Jim

[JimmiG 244]

When overclocking, you need to make sure the board has the options you need (specifically the ability to adjust multipliers, VCore, VRIn, VRing etc.) and that it can supply enough juice to the CPU at overclocked speeds (higher speed and voltage = higher power consumption).

 

The second point is not as much an issue with Haswell unless you're planning to de-lid and use extreme cooling. This is because the CPU runs so hot you will run into thermal limits long before even a mid-range board runs out of steam. One easy way to judge the quality of the power delivery is to simply look at how "empty" the area around the CPU socket is. For example, compare the number of MOSFETs and capacitors between these two:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z87%20Pro3/

http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/Z87PRO/

 

The Asus Z87-A, Gigabyte Z87X-(U)D3H and similar should be fine.