Help with new MOBO for new PC: What's the difference between these?

[Rawan AbuSalman]

Hey guys...

I will be building a new PC soon... I'm currently looking at motherboards...and while I have a fairly good technical understanding of PC stuff, there just is too much jargon here I'm not very familiar with.

My choices are the following, and I'm not quite sure what the differences between are/the benefit of one over the other.

Intel® Desktop Board DH67CL

Intel® Desktop Board DH67GD

Intel® Desktop Board DZ77SL-50K

Intel® Desktop Board DP67BG

The first 2 (DH67CL and DH67GD) are priced similarly. The DZ77SL is around $30 more, while the DP67BG is around $80 more.

I'm looking for value for money mainly. I do occasionally game (COD, Battlefield, Fifa 13 etc...). Won't be overclocking...

My CPU will probably be i5 3570 (wanted to go for i7 3770 but, based on my understanding, it's not worth around $100 more)

My first pick was the DH67CL, but I'm curious to know what the difference is between that and the DZ77SL and DP67BG, and if it's worth the extra money.

Your help is appreciated

Rawan

 

[PP Mguire]

Difference between all of them are chipset. The first 2 are H67 chipset geared more towards Sandy Bridge CPUs (compatible with Ivy Bridge via bios update), the 3rd is Z77 chipset (latest), and the last is a P67 board but it's one of their "better" models.

The best board out of the 3 is the Z77, but honestly they are ALL junk. Please don't buy an Intel branded board. Take my word for it, look at my sig. They suck. If you want to buy a new board head on over to Newegg (or equivalent etailer if you don't live in the US) and grab an ASRock H77 board.

The difference between H77 and Z77 is you can't overclock on the H chipsets. Since you don't plan on doing that no harm done and H77 boards come at a cheaper price. If you want to game it is better to upgrade your GPU more than your CPU.

 

[Rawan AbuSalman]

Difference between all of them are chipset. The first 2 are H67 chipset geared more towards Sandy Bridge CPUs (compatible with Ivy Bridge via bios update), the 3rd is Z77 chipset (latest), and the last is a P67 board but it's one of their "better" models.

The best board out of the 3 is the Z77, but honestly they are ALL junk. Please don't buy an Intel branded board. Take my word for it, look at my sig. They suck. If you want to buy a new board head on over to Newegg (or equivalent etailer if you don't live in the US) and grab an ASRock H77 board.

The difference between H77 and Z77 is you can't overclock on the H chipsets. Since you don't plan on doing that no harm done and H77 boards come at a cheaper price. If you want to game it is better to upgrade your GPU more than your CPU.

Thank you for your reply...

I'm not sure ASRock boards are available where I'm at, but I shall look for non-Intel boards. In the event that I do not find, though, I guess Intel is my only option.

Can I ask; in real terms, what exactly is the practical difference between a motherboard chipset and the other? [You say the chipsets are better; what benefit does that give me?]

MY GPU is the Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6850 btw. While it's surely not the best out there, I think it's pretty respectable

Thanks again

 

[PP Mguire]

If you can't find an ASRock board in your area then I'm sure you can find an Asus board as they are all over. Either would be way better than getting an Intel board.

H61/67 are intended for HTPC/Media server setups with Sandy Bridge CPUs. They do not have native support for SATA3 and USB3.

P67 boards originally did not come with native support for SATA3 and USB3, but they had a massive recall. Every single P67 board minus a few that were sold instantly were recalled and replaced with P67a boards to fix a bug. While doing this they gave high end boards native support.

At the same time, Z68 boards came out. Most of these had native support for USB3 and SATA3 but also included the ports for IGP support. P67 boards do not have this, but H61/67 boards do.

Z77/75 came out with the release for Ivy Brdige chips (like the 3770k, 3570k, ect) and brought forth full native support for SATA3, USB3, and the release of PCI-E 3. They obviously had native support, but since all chipsets are on the same socket bios releases came out for previous chipset boards as well. H77 boards were released a little bit later and are practically the same thing without overclocking ability.

H series boards do not support overclocking like the P and Z series. P series does not have ports for the use of IGP. H series boards also don't support over dual card setups so no tri/quad SLI or tri/quad Crossfire.

Those are the major differences, and to see the minor differences you'll have to go to their site and read up their change log. The minor differences are kind of like the differences between P43/45 boards or X38/48, 945/955/965/975 chipsets ect. Just bring new features to the board.

In terms of modern gaming the 6850 is getting a little lax now. It'll get the job done, but for any kind of high end gaming you will need something better. If not, don't worry about it.

 

[Rawan AbuSalman]

If you can't find an ASRock board in your area then I'm sure you can find an Asus board as they are all over. Either would be way better than getting an Intel board.

H61/67 are intended for HTPC/Media server setups with Sandy Bridge CPUs. They do not have native support for SATA3 and USB3.

P67 boards originally did not come with native support for SATA3 and USB3, but they had a massive recall. Every single P67 board minus a few that were sold instantly were recalled and replaced with P67a boards to fix a bug. While doing this they gave high end boards native support.

At the same time, Z68 boards came out. Most of these had native support for USB3 and SATA3 but also included the ports for IGP support. P67 boards do not have this, but H61/67 boards do.

Z77/75 came out with the release for Ivy Brdige chips (like the 3770k, 3570k, ect) and brought forth full native support for SATA3, USB3, and the release of PCI-E 3. They obviously had native support, but since all chipsets are on the same socket bios releases came out for previous chipset boards as well. H77 boards were released a little bit later and are practically the same thing without overclocking ability.

H series boards do not support overclocking like the P and Z series. P series does not have ports for the use of IGP. H series boards also don't support over dual card setups so no tri/quad SLI or tri/quad Crossfire.

Those are the major differences, and to see the minor differences you'll have to go to their site and read up their change log. The minor differences are kind of like the differences between P43/45 boards or X38/48, 945/955/965/975 chipsets ect. Just bring new features to the board.

In terms of modern gaming the 6850 is getting a little lax now. It'll get the job done, but for any kind of high end gaming you will need something better. If not, don't worry about it.

Wow. Thanks. Your detailed reply is appreciated. So what I understood that "if" I'm to go with Intel boards, I could go with the H, as I don't need overclocking to go with the Z and P. I'd have to do a BIOS upgrade for USB 3 and SATA .

On another note, I found the following Asus and Gigabyte boards that fall within the budget I have in mind. Would appreciate your opinion on them. (Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but I see that the Asus and Gigabyte boards are also based on the Intel chipset. Why/how are they still better than the Intel boards?)

GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1155 - GA-P61-USB3P (rev. 1.0)

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8H61USB3/ (doubt I'll go with this one)

ASUS - Motherboards- ASUS P8B75-V (around $40 more than the previous 2)

[Is it me or is it weird that they still have PS/2 connectors?]

Thanks again!

 

[PP Mguire]

USB3 and SATA3 are available on almost all of these boards via a 3rd party controller and don't need a bios update. They just aren't native on the southbridge. H61/67 and most P67/Z68 boards need a bios update to use the newer Ivy Bridge CPUs.

Out of those boards I would go with the last one due to the B75 having native support for all things you might want and the most plug and play compatibility.

It isn't weird. PS/2 can still be used for debugging or those die hard people who think a PS/2 connector is better for response than USB.

 

[Rawan AbuSalman]

I was almost settled on this ASUS - Motherboards- ASUS P8B75-V, till I saw these 2 boards below.

ASUS - Motherboards- ASUS P8Z77-V LX

PURE Platinum Z77K (PT-CI7Z77K)

Both Z77 chipset, and both around $50 more expensive than the Asus P8B75.

So my question is; is it worth the extra $50? While I'm not too keen on spending an extra $50, I would if it is worth it. Value for money is what I usually look for. That, and a purchase that would be smart in the "long run"

PS: I'm not sure just how "bad" Intel boards are... The Intel® Desktop Board DZ77SL-50K is also based on Z77 chipset, but around $50 cheaper than the Asus and Saphire ones. (Priced the same as the Asus B75 one).

Your thoughts on the matter are appreciated, and my apologies for the incessant questions.

 

[PP Mguire]

Really, it all depends entirely on what you plan to do. The biggest advantage with the Z77 boards is the PCI-E 3.0. That is only needed if you plan to SLI 2 680s or Crossfire 2 7970s. Reason being, is no other set of cards can really take the bandwidth as PCI-E 2 16x and 8x is fine for lower end cards.

If you plan to run a single card and not overclock then really there is no point in getting the more expensive boards.

 

[Rawan AbuSalman]

Nopes. No plans to run multiple cards. So just to recap; between the Asus B75 and Intel Z77, you would recommend the B75? (Both cost exactly the same)

 

[PP Mguire]

If we are going between an Asus B75 and Intel Z77 then yes I would go with the B75.

Reasons:
Intel boards can be unstable at times or finicky
Asus are pretty good plug and play boards
Intel boards typically need a bios update to run more solid
Asus has a decent RMA department
I hate Intel boards.