Best LGA 1155 motherboard?

[thunderwest]

not going to overclock
I do like gigbyte boards but looks like there boot loop thing is stoping me

 

[raybay]

There are probably 21 bests... just wade through the recent reviews, and avoid getting one that is too new... as it seems like to many manufacturers and retailers us us folks as their testers...

Wait until your list of good boards has had time to be reported and evaluates on the various sites...

New Egg is not a bad site for getting a good first look at motherboard reviews...

ALL motherboards we have ever seen have a few failures and limitations

You probably don't need the latest thing, and they are the most suspect anyway.

 

[cliffordcooley]

not going to overclock
I do like gigabyte boards but looks like there boot loop thing is stoping me

Speaking of Boot Loop, I had that with my MSI until I configured my RAM settings in the BIOS. I'm not sure why the auto settings didn't work in slots 1 and 3 where slots 2 and 4 did work. After making the manual adjustments in the BIOS, all slots work fine.

If you are reading consumer reviews about Gigabyte motherboards causing boot loops, I'm not sure I would let that bother me as they are probably not configuring things to work correctly. Keep in mind this is the first time I have had to specifically change settings in the BIOS from auto so it did catch me off guard as I am sure it is doing with the other reviewers.

 

[dividebyzero]

If you are reading consumer reviews about Gigabyte motherboards causing boot loops, I'm not sure I would let that bother me as they are probably not configuring things to work correctly.

Might be true in some instances, but I can attest to (Z68X/XP) UD3, UD3H, UD3R, UD4P, UD5 and (P67A/Z68X) UD7 boards all having ongoing boot loop problems regardless of timings, voltage and BIOS revision.
The infuriating part of the whole deal is that affected boards will often only exhibit the reboot tendancy on an occasional basis, and many boards I've used are clear of the problem entirely- but unfortunately the problem is widespread enough to ensure that even if the affected board is RMA'ed, it's replacement can (usually less frequently) show the same problem.

I'm a Gigabyte board owner myself (X58 and P45) based almost entirely upon the strength, stability and build quality of their P45/X48/X58/P55 offerings. P67/Z68 isn't Gigabyte's finest hour. If you're prepared to put up with the occasional reboot then it's not an overly big deal -although I would also note that the Gigabyte secondary SATA controller leaves something to be desired, and the ongoing (at least until the UEFI X79's) problem of non-recognition of some USB powered gaming keyboards until the OS loads-regardless of whether USB KB is selected in the BIOS.

 

[captaincranky]

So where do we go from here, Asustek....?

 

[dividebyzero]

I did.
The P8Z68 range are probably the most finished articles. Asus seem to have gotten their act together -once Gigabyte applied the pressure and upped the ante for features-per-$. Gigabyte gained heavily from not emulating Asus' support policy, and withdrawing from the Nvidia chipset boards after getting stung by late Intel's voltage regulation revision for Yorkfield quadcore (which rendered their "Yorkfield compatible" N680SLI-DQ6 flagship board a masterpiece of false advertising)...Asus or course went on to tarnish its name by releasing probably the worst motherboard ever made...the infamous P5N-T Deluxe. Since 2007 I'd say that Gigabyte boards have generally been the better product...QA/QC slipped with P67 and Z68, and while the X79 boards are an improvement, Gigabyte maybe suffers -along with other mobo makers- in not having the model range/market segmentation that Asus can field.

Having said that, Z68 is now yesterdays news, so we'll see how the Z77 shapes up. Unless our OP is desperate for a board, I'd suggest waiting a month or so, and either grab a Z77 or a (probably) discounted higher-specced Z68 board such as the P8Z68 Deluxe/Gen 3 or Maximus IV Extreme-Z