Which motherboard?

[Pooky]

I'm wanting to buy a CM Silencio case and go for an M-ATX setup so I can add a soundcard (currently have mitx).

Which budget motherboard i.e less that R1000 should I go for?

Has to support an i5-2500 CPU.

 

[Rickster]

Is it for gaming?

 

[Pooky]

Is it for gaming?

Yes. Casual gaming with a gtx 660

 

[NomNom]

There's two that I have singled out:

ASROCK H71M-DGS - R556
4x SATA6G

MSI B75MA-E33 - R704
3x SATA3G + 1x SATA6G
4x USB3.0
1x PCI Slot
Can take faster RAM (given that the CPU supports it)

The Asrock isn't a bad board, if you can live without the USB 3.0 and the sound card you are going to get doesn't use a PCI slot.

Personally I would go for a sound card that uses a PCI-E slot because more and more boards are coming out without PCI slots.

 

[Pooky]

Thanks. I could go for a PCI E soundcard. I thought motherboards only came with one PCI e for the GPU.

Does the chip set matter very much?

 

[EmileS]

Thanks. I could go for a PCI E soundcard. I thought motherboards only came with one PCI e for the GPU.

Does the chip set matter very much?

There are 2 types of PCI-e. Without going in too much detail: the small one would be for your soundcard and the larger (usually has a color) is for your GPU. Those 2 mobos NomNom mentioned would be perfect.

 

[Pooky]

Great those are cheaper than expected! I was budgeting around R1100

 

[Rickster]

Yes. Casual gaming with a gtx 660

To be dead honest, if it is used for gaming i would recommend a mobo with a Z77 chipset which would cost R1800.

Asus P8Z77-M

 

[Pooky]

To be dead honest, if it is used for gaming i would recommend a mobo with a Z77 chipset which would cost R1800.

Asus P8Z77-M

What about an H77?

They are around my price range.

 

[Rickster]

What about an H77?

They are around my price range.

You cant OC with a H77 nor will it allow SLI

 

[Pooky]

You cant OC with a H77 nor will it allow SLI

I don't want to do either of those things.

 

[DTBA]

+1 for the msi
You should really need more then that

 

[Pooky]

Does the MSI have 2 fan controller thingies?

 

[Rickster]

I don't want to do either of those things.

Sure you dont want to now, but what about the future? PC upgrading is all about future proofing, the longer you can make your PC last in terms of being obsolete the better.

 

[RaptorSA]

I can vouch for that MSI Board. Definitely a good buy.
I used the Mini ITX version of it in my Media Center and it's a really nice piece of kit. Getting insane bootup time on that thing.

 

[Rickster]

Am I the only one that thinks MSI products are kuk?

 

[Fox1]

Am I the only one that thinks MSI products are kuk?

Yes.

 

[NomNom]

Does the MSI have 2 fan controller thingies?

Having a quick look at the board it does have 2x4 pin slots for case fans.

Internal I/O Connectors
- ATX 24-Pin power connector
- 4-pin ATX 12V power connector
- CPU x 1 / System x 2 FAN connectors
- 1 x Clear CMOS jumper
- 3 x Serial ATAII connectors
- 1 x Serial ATAIII connector
- 2 x USB 2.0 connectors
- 1 x USB 3.0 connector
- 1 x Serial port connector
- 1 x Parallel port connector
- 1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header
- 1 x Front Panel Audio connector
- 1 x Front Panel connector
- 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector

I can vouch for that MSI Board. Definitely a good buy.
I used the Mini ITX version of it in my Media Center and it's a really nice piece of kit. Getting insane bootup time on that thing.

Haha yeah agreed, I've never seen a Pc boot so fast with a spinner.

 

[RaptorSA]

Am I the only one that thinks MSI products are kuk?

Don't know man. This was my first MSI board (I'm a die hard Asus fan) but I have to say I'm quite impressed by it.
I'll definitely go for MSI again if the price is that good. Asus has steadily being getting too expensive for my taste.

 

[NomNom]

Thanks. I could go for a PCI E soundcard. I thought motherboards only came with one PCI e for the GPU.

Does the chip set matter very much?

You get PCI-E x16 slots (the long ones) and you get PCI-E x1 slots the very short ones, you can put a PCI-E x1 card in a x16 slot.

http://computertroublesolver.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/PCI_slots.jpg


The chipset defines what features the motherboard has, here is a good overview of the different chipsets and their features for the 1155 socket:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_1155