New motherboard for my rig

[1Scotty1]

Hey folks,

so a few days back I bought a SSD (Kingston HyperX 3k)... but my motherboard doesnt have SataIII... so I am looking at some motherboards, that would be good for me. Just a "little" problem is, that my old mobo is a socket 1156 and they dont make those anymore, so I have to buy a new CPU, too.. the CPU would be a simple Intel i5-3350P (I dont overclock or anything, so sufficient for me).

As for the motherboard question - I have one looked up (MSI Z77A-G45), just need your final opinion or tips for other in the price range of 100€ + - . I would love something in black/blue to match my setup. Thanks ;)

[Guest]

You may want to look into the Asus P8Z77 boards but also seeing as you're not overclocking you could also go for a H77 board such as the Asus P8H77-M Pro.

[Wats]

The Z77A-G45 has ThunderBolt.

If you don't need ThunderBolt you could get the Z77A-G41, doesn't have much OCing features either which seems like what you need.

I'd say keep looking and save some money.

[Protoss]

This is one of the most popular Z77 boards out there, pretty reliable, it's Asus so cant complain:

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=71114&vpn=P8Z77-V%20LK&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1270

[killerx525]

Alternatively you could get a separate Sata card which has sata 3 ports.

[1Scotty1]

Alternatively you could get a separate Sata card which has sata 3 ports.

I bought one for 20€ the other day, and guess what... It didnt work... I did all possible actions, reinstalled OS three times, each time differently, updated all kinds of drivers, and all I got were speeds SLOWER than those of SataII on motherboard... so... thanks, but no thanks :D

[killerx525]

Try a higher end card and see how it goes.

[1Scotty1]

Try a higher end card and see how it goes.

After this experience I rather not try this again... and this was a PCIe card with 2xSataIII... only better available are the same with additional 2xIDE ports (for RAID or w/e)... but thanks for your idea too. I guess it was just my bad luck or something, but a new mobo would be less risky.

[killerx525]

Hm, i suppose if availability is a problem then a new motherboard is the way to go.

[Powderer]

The AsRock Z77 lineup is also pretty good and reliable, and cheap.

[ProKoN]

One feature I would not overlook Is a board that is Windows8 certified. The reason is the boot times. For a windows8 certified board I do believe the board has to completely post in under 6 seconds. I went from a asus p8p67-pro to a msi-z77 mpower. The asus board took 4 minutes to boot into the OS, the msi board takes 8 seconds if you enable fast boot. I am running windows7 and it still boots super fast. Whether its a cold boot or simple restart I really like the fast boot feature. I am using a kingston hyperX 3k 240GB boot drive. other than that read reviews and just make sure the board has all the I\O and features you need.

[everaldo153]

hi im front Honduras i have a msi z77g43 it cost 100$ i think its nice if you dont overclock im just need the have basic things like usb 3.0 or sata III, of 100$ price point im think is one of the best whit the z77g45

[1Scotty1]

Thanks for everybodys help. Yesterday I ordered and the final decision was MSI Z77A-G43, I had a few €€ to spare, as my old mobo and CPU got sold the next day I posted them for sale on one site :D again, thanks everyone ;)

[Salmiakbal]

I would just hook it up to Sata 2, it's not like you'll encounter any performance decrease in everyday usage.

Oh I see you already bought one. Well have fun with it :D