Best motherboard for my build?

[mclonghorn215]

[FONT=Arial]Hey guys, first of all this is my first post on this site and I appreciate anything you guys can help me with. I'm building a computer for the first time and I have the most of the components I want selected. However, I'm a little lost when it comes to which motherboard to choose. Anyways here is a quick rundown of the stuff I have or am planning on buying.

Case: Corsair Carbide 500R
CPU: Intel i7 3770K
Video Card: Radeon HD7970 (eventually 2 of these)
Sound Card: ASUS Xonar Phoebus ROG Sound Card
Cooling: Corsair H100 Liquid Cooling and all the fan slots on the case
Harddrives: Crucial M4 128gb SSD and a Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB drive
PSU: Not sure on wattage but it will be the corsair AX in whatever wattage I need
Memory: 16GB Corsair Vengeance RAM (Eventually 32GB)
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate or Windows 8 if that is out by the time I start building this

Anyways based on what I have listed what do you guys think is the best motherboard for this stuff. For price range I'm willing to spend some money if I need to so anything in the range of $150-$400 is an option, although preferably I would like it to be less than $250.

Also if there are any issues with any of the parts I've listed that you guys can see let me know since I really don't know a ton about building computers. Thanks for any help you guys can provide![/FONT]

 

[MrBlkfx1]

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Anyways based on what I have listed what do you guys think is the best motherboard for this stuff. For price range I'm willing to spend some money if I need to so anything in the range of $150-$400 is an option, although preferably I would like it to be less than $250.

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[FONT=Arial]This board is $180 and will satisfy all your current and future needs. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157295[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Also if there are any issues with any of the parts I've listed that you guys can see let me know since I really don't know a ton about building computers. Thanks for any help you guys can provide![/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]In regards to PSU. I recommend getting something 700W or greater if you intend to crossfire. Corsair is a reputable name and I trust pretty much all of their PSU's except the builder series. [/FONT]

Why so much RAM? I ask because It's pretty tough to fully utilize 16GB of ram let alone 32GB.

Other then what I pointed out. It looks good. I am not sure how well crucial SSD's are. I haven't heard much on them, which isn't necessarily bad.

Good luck with the build!

 

[mclonghorn215]

Why so much RAM? I ask because It's pretty tough to fully utilize 16GB of ram let alone 32GB.

For gaming I know 8gb would be plenty and 16gb is overkill, but I work online and am always branching out into new areas and I just never know when I will need it. I'd rather spend the extra money on something I don't need then not have it when I do need it.

And I was considering the AX850W from Corsair, do you guys think that is too much?

 

[MrBlkfx1]

And I was considering the AX850W from Corsair, do you guys think that is too much?

Nope, If your going to run two GPU's 850 is nice wattage. It will power them both well with some to spare.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

I have a few recommendations:

• This motherboard is what I'd recommend; great price (free shipping too),top-notch features and very good quality to boot.
• I'd recommend this HDD over the WD Caviar Black.
• While the AX850W is a high-quality PSU, it's a little overpriced. I'd recommend this one instead as the best price-vs-performance pick. Quality is on-par with the Corsair too, IMHO.

 

[mclonghorn215]

This motherboard is what I'd recommend; great price (free shipping too),top-notch features and very good quality to boot.

Thanks for the reply; I'll be sure to take a look at that PSU. However, the motherboard link takes you to the same Samsung HDD as the one you recommended, if you see this would you mind posting which motherboard you meant? Also on the PSU it mentions only Sandy Bridge. This is going to be an Ivy Bridge build, do you think that PSU will work?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

I've fixed the link.

The platform is independent of the PSU; it will work for anything, as long as the case adheres to the ATX spec, which all mainstream cases do.

 

[mclonghorn215]

Also I plan on over clocking, so do you think those motherboards will be good or should I use something out of the Maximus line from ASUS or something similar.

 

[dividebyzero]

If you're OC'ing on air or water it doesn't really matter regarding board choice for mainstream pricing or better. The Gigabyte boards are decent. If you are planning on running a few drives then an Asus would make better appeal since two of the Gigabyte's SATA connections are eSATA. The Gigabyte's onboard sound is a better codec, but since you're opting for a discrete sound card then it makes no difference. I would note that the UD3H you linked to has no heatsink over the top MOSFET's which may become a factor depending on the amount of voltage you're pushing and/or chassis cooling.

As for PSU, the OCZ ZX units I've used/installed seem to present a reasonably high rate of coil whine- seems not to be an isolated occurance. I've been much more impressed by Seasonics X series (quiet, 7 yr warranty, very stable), and am now using the X-1050 in my own system.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Coil whine seems to be an issue on the 1kW+ models. No reports of it happening on others, AFAIK. In any case, the OP can still go for the Corsair; it's internally identical to the Seasonic X series IIRC.

Cooling shouldn't be an issue, since the OP plans to utilize all the fan slots on the case.