$150 mobo for i5 2500

R

riley454

New Member
What are the most important factors for buying a MB?

I'm building a midrange machine with limited gaming/video but expecting some expandability and am set on the i5 2500/2500K chip. I can get the ASUS P8P67 Pro mobo for around $150 but there are others within 10-20 bucks(more or less) and I'm not sure what specs should add them to my list or completely remove them as possible options.

I expect to have 1 HDD, 1 optical drive, 4G RAM and a PCIe vid card and most extras running through USB but no doubt there will be some upgrades and extras required sometime in the next couple of years.

Should I look at Z chipset over the P with less SATA options?

So many options and its a bit daunting for a newb like me, so what should I be focusing my priorities on?
 
R

riley454

New Member
Thanks for the advice. I can't find that exact board in Australia for that price but if I stick with ASUS or Gigabyte Z68 chipset for around $150 I should be pretty safe shouldn't I?

Is it only the outputs and expansion slots that are likely to affect the variation in price or are there other factors I need to weigh up?
 
Benny Boy

Benny Boy

Active Member
riley454 said:
Is it only the outputs and expansion slots that are likely to affect the variation in price?
Click to expand...
One of the things that affect price is the throughput of the PCI 2.0 or 2.1 slots.
A board that runs 1 slot (vc)@ x16 and a second vc @ x4, (x16/x4) costs less but isn't quite as good at running 2 v cards at the same time as x8/x8 or x16/x16, which cost more respectivley. The GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 suggested will run 2 cards @ x8/x8 which is plenty good for 2 v cards. Expansion cards will work in a second PCIE 2.0/2.1(2.0&2.1 are compatible) it doesn't have to be a second gpu. As far as Sata 6/ USB 3.0/ plentiful usb ports/esata, most newer in the 100-110 usd and up will have it.

I'm sure there's other mb components that are in some ways better as you pay more, but I couldn't say what those differences are. A top brand like Gigabyte or Asus make good boards that will run 1 vc @ x16 for around 120 USD.
 
Last edited:
R

riley454

New Member
I can't any likelihood of me running 2 gpus for a while. All our gaming is pretty much done on PS3 so by the time kids expect more vid performance it will probably be time for a whole new system anyway.

You've confirmed most of what I was thinking. I am narrowing mobos down now and I'm not expecting too many extras internally to be added over the life of the machine so as long as I've got a couple each of SATA2/3 and 4 PCIe slots I should be covered I think. Should I make eSATA an important inclusion(& why) and is there any need for PCI slots anymore?
 
jonnyp11

jonnyp11

New Member
for what you want i'd say go for the z68's, along with ssd caching, it allows the use of the i5's intel hd 3000 gpu which is powerful enough for anything other than gaming and 3d modeling pretty much.
 
R

riley454

New Member
Ok thanks. I was going to allow up to $50 for a 1G video card anyway. Will the card over-ride the onboard graphics or will they both work together giving even better performance when required? Or is that a silly question? LOL:confused:
 
R

riley454

New Member
I'm down to 7 mobos that fit for price and appear to have most things I think I need, and all within $20 of each other, but I'm not sure how to cull the list a bit more as the differences appear to be what expansion slots vs USB vs Internal/External connectors(i think thats all thats different)

All I "know" I'll be using expansion slots for at the moment is a PCIe x16 for a 1G vid card, but I want to make sure there is some extra for something that may come up in future. Am I ever likely to need a PCI slot? How many extra and what speed PCIe slots am I likely to need considering I can only think of needing 1 at the moment unless theres a component I have forgotten about.

As far as connectors, audio will be simple plug in desktop stereo speakers, I can't see any use for serial/parallel ports and I'm not sure what others are ever likely to be important considering this isn't a high end graphics or audio machine.

Any advice how to decide what connections are a must either for now or that may be needed later?
 
D

daisymtc

Active Member
Are you hooking it to TV?
I don't really see the need of $50 video card if you use Z68 mobo.

While for PCI or PCI-E x1 slot. I suggest you get a mobo with both. sound card/ wireless card/ TV turner are still using PCI
If you unlikely to use them, you can go for cheape micro-atx mobo

If you in AU, you can take ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 into consideration with under $150. That is good value for money.
 
R

riley454

New Member
TV on the PC is only an extra bonus when the other TVs in the house are busy and occasionally for recording . But I have a USB DTV stick that fills that role so no expansion slots are required there. I'm assuming from what you said that the onboard graphics will handle TV without a vidcard.

The more I read, the more I feel I don't need a separate vidcard if I get a Z68 mobo. But without knowing what might change with growing kids, is it better to play safe and have a balance of PCIe AND PCI just in case?

And what outputs am I likely to need now and maybe in the next few years? HDMI/D-Sub/DVI-D/optical etc etc?

Mostly from what I can tell in the range I've limited myself to, its a weight off between PCIe/PCI/USB2&3/outlets all around similar prices, I'm just trying to find the best value combination that suits me.
 
D

daisymtc

Active Member
riley454 said:
TV on the PC is only an extra bonus when the other TVs in the house are busy and occasionally for recording . But I have a USB DTV stick that fills that role so no expansion slots are required there. I'm assuming from what you said that the onboard graphics will handle TV without a vidcard.

The more I read, the more I feel I don't need a separate vidcard if I get a Z68 mobo. But without knowing what might change with growing kids, is it better to play safe and have a balance of PCIe AND PCI just in case?

And what outputs am I likely to need now and maybe in the next few years? HDMI/D-Sub/DVI-D/optical etc etc?

Mostly from what I can tell in the range I've limited myself to, its a weight off between PCIe/PCI/USB2&3/outlets all around similar prices, I'm just trying to find the best value combination that suits me.
Click to expand...

You can always add a video card later if you few onboard insufficent as far as your psu could support. I would say go for good 500W, such that this can handle upgrade without any problem.
 
Benny Boy

Benny Boy

Active Member
daisymtc said:
You can always add a video card later if you few onboard insufficent as far as your psu could support. I would say go for good 500W, such that this can handle upgrade without any problem.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a plan.

Instead of alotting amounts for each component, try stating the total amount you want to spend. Or, I'm thinking the total cost for this set-up won't be a big issue.
Then total build suggestions could be made and that would shorten your list and make it more manageable.

The motherboard is important as far as quality, features, etc etc. You want it to last as long as posible and be ready for future use//upgrades - so it doesnt have to be replaced in order to keep up with demands. Moreso if your going to use Wndows 7 OEM for the os (most do) becuase if/when the motherboard is changed to a diff model, your OEM 7 won't want to play on the new mb, meaning you'll probly have to buy the os again.

Knowing the budget if there is one, allows for distributing the money on the components to best suit your needs/wants.
 
Last edited:
BurningSkyline

BurningSkyline

New Member
daisymtc said:
...ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 into consideration with under $150. That is good value for money.
Click to expand...

My intention here is not to steal this thread, but I was curious if this motherboard could overclock at all? If I don't go bulldozer I was considering this motherboard due to the price.
 
R

raone32

New Member
I expect to have 1 HDD, 1 optical drive, 4G RAM and a PCIe vid card and most extras running through USB but no doubt there will be some upgrades and extras required sometime in the next couple of years.



roofing materials
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top