Motherboards Motherboard confusion

Hi there,

As seen in my other post Im currently putting together a spec list for my home gaming/CAD/music desktop and have stumbled for the first time into the world of motherbroards and was wondering you you chaps could asnwer me a couple of quick questions....cheers in advance...

1. I'd like to spend between 80-150 on a MB but am a total noob when it comes to brand reputation, which companies should I look out for and which ones to avoid?

2. Im probably going to do a bit of overclocking and was thinking of a Z68 board, any reccomendations?

3. I'd also like to future proof my build as much as I can and would like to get a board that is PCI Express 3.0 compatible but cant find any definitive information on which boards will be compatible, anyone got any ideas?

Cheers chaps.

C

 

HI Aikidochris.

Big boys are: Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, you will find people who either love or hate all of these there, but in the end in your price range these are the ones to look at.
For me go for either an ASUS 1155 P8P67-M PRO @ £150 or if you need extra expansion slots go for an ASUS 1155 P8P67 @ £110 (I’m an Asus fan).

Re PCI 3.0 unless you expect to be buying a £600 graphics card next year, then I don’t think it would benefit you

 

Thanks for the heads up, I'm also liking the look of the Asus boards and the ASUS P8P67 PRO (rev. 3.1) is currently in Pixmania for £118 which seems like a good deal.

 

Re 3 - whilst i doubt it'll be cheap, i'm currently waiting on the Asus P8Z68 Deluxe Gen3 boards to come into stock over here...

(similarly i normally buy Asus after poor previous experience - though that was going back 10 years or more - of other brands)

...though the Pro version is ~£160 & the standard ~£135.