Probably a bit of an open question, but I need one and I know little about the reputation of companies with what boards. I get the impression the Z77 is the one to get. I'll be using a 2500K, I know that.
There is no such thing as a most reliable chipset any more, a lot of the functionality has been moved to the CPU and there is only one chipset manufacturer for each of the two CPU brands. Plus the low end chipsets are the same as the highend ones, just with some features disabled. That said, the Z77 is the only sane choice for a 2500k. As for which Z77 mainboard? There is no real performance or reliability difference, so just choose based on size, budget, layout and colours. However the choice will be limited as both the Z77 and 2500k use the dead end socket 1155 which has been discontinued, so be careful how much you invest as it is the opposite of future proof.
Oh, well that seems a waste of money. What is good value and more future proof at <£100 for the processor and whatever for the motherboard?
Depends a bit... Do you want to oc the cpu? If yes there are only two choices in the sub £100 range, Intels G3258 which is in the £50 - 60 range and multiplier unlocked, or go AMD, however if you go AMD then you'd be looking at around £105 for the A10-7700K (anything below that is just too slow). However the G3258 is not exactly an example of blistering performance and the performance of AMD cpus varies heavily depending on software (have a look through here and here). Current Intel quadcores (i5-4430 and above) only really start at £130+ and the first multi unlocked one comes in at over £160... As for a mainboard, depends what you want, for example there is an ever increasing number of decent matx boards. Or if you want a traditional atx board, something like the Asus Z97-K would be more than good enough and costs well under £100. However on the AMD side you would have the advantage of cheaper mainboards, the Asus A88XM-PLUS can be had for under £60.
You also have the Athlon x4 860 [or even the older 760] on the AMD side... if you're using a dedicated GPU you won't miss the IGP and can spend the difference on other bits... Going FM2+ though does restrict your CPU upgrade potential as the 7700 and 860 are pretty much the top of that particular tree, anything quicker and you'll be looking at [another] new board...
Indeed, but just wanted him to keep an open mind towards the red camp as the Intel options in the desired price range are a bit ehh lets call them restrictive.
There's nothing wrong with a 2500K. You can get very good Z68/Z77 boards for a fraction of what they cost when they were new. I'd say you can pick up a Z68X-UD4 (based on recent sales on this forum) for sub-£40 which is incredibly good value for money. Z77 doesn't really offer much more for the price increase, and it's still a dead-end socket.
I've bought a 2500K already for £90. There was a couple other possible processors I could've got as soon as I bought that, but people seem to be having a lot of joy and ease overclocking the 2500K to 4.5Ghz+ levels. I've never overclocked before either so it's supposed ease and stability is important. I looked up the Z68 and the price isn't different from what I've seen now, about the same, maybe even more. Plus the Gigabyte boards seem to have a notorious 'boot loop' issue. Being my first ever build, I'm willing to spend mo' money for less problems.
I like the 1155 socket as the 2500 k series are cheap and z68 chipset boards are very very cheap and usually perform as well as the z77 stuff.
If you already got the cpu then its a no brainer, just stick with the 2500k, as I mentioned before, current Intel quad cores only start at £130+ and an unlcoked one would be even pricier, so might as well just save the money and stick with the old platform even if its a dead end for future upgrades (there isn't really any guarantees the current platform will have a long shelf life either).
