Need Help Choosing LGA1155 Motherboard

[super_coo]

I want to upgrade my 3700+ system to a Intel i3-2100 and 2x2GB DDR3
but am having a hard time deciding on the best budget/value motherboard.

I will be using the onboard video and sound.

I've narrowed it down to the MSI MSI H67MA-E35 or the J&W H67M-USB3 H67.

The J&W board looks nice but I can't find any info or reviews at all... never heard the name before.

Any thoughts or advice/opinions?

Thanks!

[neojjjk]

please answer the below queries
budget?
any plans for cpu upgrade in future?
planning to overclock?

I ll give you links of some vfm onboard video supporting boards


Newegg.ca - MSI H67MA-E35 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.ca - ASRock H67M (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

[super_coo]

Budget - As cheap as possible but if it's worth a little extra then so be it.
I'd like to stay below $250cnd not including taxes and shipping.

More than likely upgrade cpu in the future if I had to. But I ran a 3700+
for 4 years and made out ok. And not planning on overclocking. I just want
something decently fast than runs cool and the low power is a bonus also.

Also I'm in Canada so can't shop at the .com Newegg.

[Borg]

I'm thinking going this route, too, with similar/same budget. No higher than $300, probably.

I was thinking of memory. Most of these boards have just the two slots. If I went with 8GB, the boards are limited to the speed compatibility and O.C., right?

Second question, how come most are 4-pin connectors instead of 8. Does that make any difference?

I hope these questions are ok, super_coo. Are they of any interest to you?

[boris_37]

Originally Posted by super_coo

Also I'm in Canada so can't shop at the .com Newegg.

THat's the he linked you newegg.ca :S It very rare someone on a canadian forums tells someone to buy from a US website

Personally i would just go with the MSI. All the budget boards are pretty much the same, come with very little features(if thats what you want) and do the exact same job. If the price difference is $5, would be worth going with a more recognized brand.

Originally Posted by Borg

I'm thinking going this route, too, with similar/same budget. No higher than $300, probably.

I was thinking of memory. Most of these boards have just the two slots. If I went with 8GB, the boards are limited to the speed compatibility and O.C., right?

Second question, how come most are 4-pin connectors instead of 8. Does that make any difference?

I hope these questions are ok, super_coo. Are they of any interest to you?

Most of the budget boards(H67 in particular) do not overclock. You don't need very fast memory at all. I would pick the cheapest stuff you can find. Honestly you shouldn't even need 8gb. 4GB would be more than enough if you are going budget.

The only difference between 4 to 8 pin is power requirements. If you have a lower power requirement you don't need an 8pin connector.

[Borg]

Originally Posted by boris_37

Most of the budget boards(H67 in particular) do not overclock. You don't need very fast memory at all. I would pick the cheapest stuff you can find. Honestly you shouldn't even need 8gb. 4GB would be more than enough if you are going budget.

The only difference between 4 to 8 pin is power requirements. If you have a lower power requirement you don't need an 8pin connector.

Thanks for the info. I'd like the 8GB of RAM because I plan on using virtualization (Virtualbox).

I noted that many of the H67 boards aren't much cheaper than lower end P67 boards. But, I am still trying to decide on a mobo. I don't like the design or layout of most cheap boards (big surprise?). Not sure what to do. I'd like the four RAM slots but if I get 8GB, I probably don't need the four. However, I would like the right-angle SATA port layout that some boards have but not enough are utilizing that! Especially, the cheapo boards. My case sucks for cable management and I thought that would help plus I like that design.

Gigabyte, Asus and MSI have boards with that design but they're over $100 (range from $110 to $145) and I was hoping to go closer to $100 since I would need a cpu and DDR3 RAM (obviously) as well.

[super_coo]

I think I'll go with the MSI H67MA-E35 a lot of people seem to recommend that one.

[ipaine]

Here are what I think I would choose for that budget build.

Newegg.ca - Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz 2 x 256KB L2 Cache 3MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I32100

Newegg.ca - MSI H67MA-E35 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.ca - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model F3-8500CL7D-8GBRL

Motherboard - $90
CPU - $120
Memory - $76

Total - $286

Now chances are you might be able to price match some of that so you may get it cheaper. Otherwise the one thing to do would be to go with 4GB Ram instead of 8GB.

Use this for ram instead of the 8GB
Newegg.ca - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

That would be $39 and bring the total down to $249

[Dwayne]

Originally Posted by super_coo

I want to upgrade my 3700+ system to a Intel i3-2100 and 2x2GB DDR3
but am having a hard time deciding on the best budget/value motherboard.

I will be using the onboard video and sound.

I've narrowed it down to the MSI MSI H67MA-E35 or the J&W H67M-USB3 H67.

The J&W board looks nice but I can't find any info or reviews at all... never heard the name before.

Any thoughts or advice/opinions?

Thanks!

I bought the Gigabyte MB and I am very happy with it so far. As much as you want to save a few dollars I would try and spend the little bit more for quality companies. If you are that constrained, I would stick with something you can find info on, like the MSI MB.

Here is a link to Direct Canada for their H67 MB. The MB linked is $116 with a $10 MIR, so it isn't that much.

Gigabyte H67MA-UD2H-B3 mATX LGA1155 H67 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 CrossFireX SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard - DirectCanada

DC has some i3 2100s on a bit of a sale too:

Intel Core i3 2100 Dual Core Hyperthreading Processor LGA1155 3.1GHZ Sandy Bridge 3MB - DirectCanada

I did find that for some reason the i3 2100 pumped out awesome Blu-Ray video but it didn't handle the upscaling of older DVDs as well. I have move to a Sapphire HD 6670 for my video out and I am very happy with the ability to use MPC HC and affect the 480 output of standard DVDs. This was running mkv files that I created using Handbrake.