Which motherboard would you choose? New Ivy build...

[Route44]

Okay, I have narrowed my motherboard selection for my new Ivy Bridge build to the following:

1. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544

2. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128546 (thanks to DividedbyZero for pointing this one out)

3. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

* I'll be running one video card. Gaming, some video rendering, 2010 Office, internet gaming, streaming, email, etc.

* I doubt I will be overclocking and have no need of all the "bells and whistles."

* Let me know what you think. Thanks.

 

[hood6558]

I am also preparing to build a Z77 system, so I read a LOT of MB reviews. Like you, I want the cheapest board that has the features I need, as long as it has no issues. After reading the NewEgg reviews on every Asrock Z77 board, I came to the conclusion that Asrock quality control sucks, their designs are iffy, and I will never buy a board from them. About half of the reviews are negative, with a full 25% D.O.A. Every manufacturer ships a certain percentage of DOA boards but 25% is ridiculous. As for the rest of the negative reviews, most pertain to inherent design flaws and boards that die after a week or a month. To me it looks like Asus has the best track record, with Gigabyte a close second. The only real difference in the Gigabyte boards is that the UD3H has 2 PCI-e 3.0 x 16 slots instead of 1, so I'd go with that board for the extra 5 bucks in case you ever want to try an SLI or Crossfire setup with 2 video cards.