help finding a MB

[Dekoth-E-]

Ok so someone recently took pity on me and gifted me an Intel i5 LGA 1150. All I gotta do is get a MB since everything else I have moves over just fine. That said, I guess I'm more out of touch than I realized and finding a board is proving more challenging than I anticipated.

So what I'm looking for.

MSI/Asus/Gigabyte are my preferred boards.
I would like to drop less than $200 if possible, I'm not doing tons of overclocking right now and I just need something that is solid and performs.
As many usb 3.0 ports as possible
Preferably decent audio as my audio card bit the dust and I can't afford a new one right this moment.
ATX standard and not a super cheap featureless board.

Sounds easy right? Well I do have one additional requirement that I thought was a given, but evidently I was wrong. I don't want any integrated video on the board. I use high end video cards and really don't want the additional ports/performance drain associated with that unneeded garbage. I go to newegg/amazon and it just seems like every damn board has video tacked on. Honestly I'm at a complete loss for why as last time I built that was never an issue. You only saw that garbage on low end super budget boards meant for resellers pushing garbage pre-builts. I have no clue why there are boards labled "Gaming, performance, OCing" with crap integrated video.

 

[BillR]

I've been having a blast with the Asus Z97-A. Tuneable as hell, right price $150.00 or less.

Yes, it does have the video ports BUT they detract nothing from the board, just don't use them or load the drivers.

Lot's of USB 2.0 and 3.0, brand new BIIOS just released and ASUS always has all the drivers. Oh, analog or digital sound that actually sounds good.

 

[MrGreg62]

What you have to realize is that the graphics chip as such is in the processor itself not the board. The board gives you access to it but it is there regardless. Just don't enable in bios or load drivers as mentioned. And damn it can sure come in handy for trouble shooting or keeping your system up if the discrete card craps out.

 

[Dekoth-E-]

I have spare Gpu's. I don't need or want integrated video. Perhaps it is a bit of the old school coming out in me, but integrated graphics on the board always basically meant crap board.

 

[Shotglass01]

I don't think I've yet seen a 1150 board without the ports. Would be educational if I did.

 

[Dekoth-E-]

Well that blows.

Meh, Now I don't even know if this cpu is going to be enough of an upgrade to warrant the hassle or if I should just wait until I can afford to buy something new.

 

[Shotglass01]

Well, I was with you as well when I bought in to X58. Last platform I got that had no video ports at all. Not sure what you're coming up from but might be worth it. There's virtually no penalty at all in moving to Z87 or Z97. Just do not turn on the video options and, poof, on-board video does not exist. Hasn't been any issue for me running SLI.