£150 motherboard for Core i7-2600K

andy06shake

Posts: 506   +162
Im about to buy a Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor, can anyone recomend a good mainboard for around £150 to pair with this CPU? I need the board be compatable with my Corsair TX650 PSU and fit in my Antec 900 case.
 
Any LGA1155 board (server aside) will be compatible with the chassis and the PSU.
Depending upon what level of connectivity and build quality you want, £150 covers just about every mainstream offering.
Asus P67 Sabertooth . Practically bulletproof. 5 year warranty
Asus P8Z68-V PRO : If you like the idea of being able to run integrated graphics (handy if you need to sell your graphics card before upgrading to a new one).
To be honest, unless you're planning on cramming the chassis with every peripheral known to man, then you need not spend ~£150 .
MSI P67A-GD53 (B3 -£104. Offers just about everything with the exception of eSATA and a USB3.0 header ( which the Antec doesn't use in any case). It still offers USB3.0 through the rear I/O. If you want the USB3.0 header for a future chassis that supports it then the MSI P67A-GD55 (B3) is £120.
 
I'm liking the look of the Asus P67 Sabertooth(£147), can you recommend some good DDR3 memory to go with the Sabertooth? Im looking to install 6Gb or 8Gb. Also is the Sabertooth 100% Compatable with my Corsair TX650W PSU? I will be keeping my GTX 570 Superclocked GFX card and am wondering if my PSU will be able to handle the extra load of a new main board, I7 CPU and my current GTX570.
 
Im looking to install 6Gb or 8Gb.
Sandy Bridge is dual channel- so make it 8Gb.
8Gb (2x4Gb) Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600C9 for £70
8Gb (2x4Gb) Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1866C9 for £84
Corsair are pretty good at strictly binning their modules. The 1600 kit wont be able to be pushed much past 1800 -i.e. lower than the next board memory divider, which is 1866. If you're overclocking, the 1866 kit might be a better investment
so is the Sabertooth 100% Compatable with my Corsair TX650W PSU?
Yes. All P67 boards are going to be within a few watts of each other in power draw.
I will be keeping my GTX 570 Superclocked GFX card and am wondering if my PSU will be able to handle the extra load of a new main board, I7 CPU and my current GTX570.
You will be fine. The only determining factor for the power usage is if you intend to further overclock the graphics card AND start pushing an unreasonable 24/7 voltage through the CPU (say ~1.5v) searching for 5+GHz stable.
 
Thank you very much dividebyzero, you have been most helpfull! Think ile go with the 8Gb (2x4Gb) Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1866C9 for £84. One last thing can you recomend an aftermarket cooler(Air) for the I7 Cpu?
 
For air cooling it probably depends on how much overclocking you plan to do, to how effective the cooler is likely to be. If you plan on ~4.7GHz+ then you'll need to spend on a good cooler.
Taking into account the height of the Corsair memory modules and that you will probably want to expel air through the top chassis fan, I would look at something like the Thermaltake Frio (£40). The other alternative being an all-in-one sealed watercooler like the Corsair H50 (£50).
If your budget is more constrained then you might look at Corsair's A50 at £24 -still a capable cooler.
 
Thank you very much dividebyzero, you have been most helpfull! Think ile go with the 8Gb (2x4Gb) Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1866C9 for £84. One last thing can you recomend an aftermarket cooler(Air) for the I7 Cpu?

Why 8GB of RAM? 4GB of RAM are more than enough.
 
Why 8Gb because im just trying to future proof the rig im building so ile get 3-4 years from it instead of 1-2 years.
 
Dividebyzero, If i go with the Corsair H50 do i need any other parts. Reason i ask is i haven't ever installed water cooling before. Is it any different from installing an air cooling aftermarket fan? Also will the Corsair H50 fit on the Asus P67 Sabertooth mainboard and be compatable with my Antec 900 case(there are holes at the back for water cooling)?
 
Dividebyzero, If i go with the Corsair H50 do i need any other parts.
No. The kit is complete
Reason i ask is i haven't ever installed water cooling before. Is it any different from installing an air cooling aftermarket fan?
Not really. Here's a video to show you what's involved
Also will the Corsair H50 fit on the Asus P67 Sabertooth mainboard and be compatable with my Antec 900 case(there are holes at the back for water cooling)?
Yes (motherboard)
Yes (chassis). The H50 sits where your rear 120mm fan normally sits. You an choose to have the fan/radiator inside or outside the case.
 
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