What's the best 1156 mobo for i7-860?

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dat722

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
412
I want to build a new rig. Help me with opinions and recommendations!
 
While I can't say what board IS the best, I can vouch for the best I've owned.

I've owned 4 boards so far (will be 5 when I get my Intel DP55WG in the mail).
  • ASRock P55 Extreme
  • EVGA P55 SLI (132-LF-E655-KR)
  • Asus P7P55D-E Deluxe
  • MSI P55-GD85

My least favorite was the ASRock. Decent overclocker but once the VRMs overheated, my processor would downclock. Had no vDroop which was surprising.

The EVGA board had some features that I liked such as a temperature display, onboard power/reset buttons, and great slot layout. However, I hated the fact that it would double power cycle upon boot-up. If you didn't go above 200 BCLK, you could disable the feature in the BIOS. I also couldn't get my G.Skill PI 2200 at their rated timings.

The Asus board was rather interesting. It was simplistic, but packaged a punch. Had USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s (which I never seemed to use but was nice to have) and plenty of CPU phases to help with overclocking. I was able to get a slightly better overclock compared to the EVGA P55 SLI with lower voltages. The BIOS was easier to understand as well.

My current board, MSI GD85, is similar to the Asus in regards that it overclocks nearly the same but I like the voltage measuring points and slot layout. The one thing that drove me nuts is the BIOS. I hate it - too convoluted. It took me a while to figure out how to setup the basic settings. Luckily the manual helps provide some input on what some of the overclocking settings mean.

Wall of text, I know. Just want to let you know that sometimes you get what you pay for. I've heard that some of the Gigabyte P55 boards overclock extremely well. You're best bet is set a budget and work from there. While I mentioned that you get what you pay for, that necessarily isn't always true. The EVGA board overclocked much easier than the ASRock and both cost about the same.
 
I really like the new MSI line. They seem to be getting reviewed very well. Gigabyte and Asus are usually safe bets as well.

Ill also 2nd the concern about the ASRock. Mine has been great and has worked perfectly from the first moment I fired it up. That is as long as its running stock speed. Its a lousy overclocker. My Athlon II is getting 3.7+ overclocks in reviews but I couldnt for the life of me get passed 3.4. When I replaced my PC Power 500 watt power supply with my current beloved Corsair 750 watt unit, I was finally able to get 3.5 stable under Prime95 for several hours but nothing above that. I gotta think its the motherboard.

My next one will likely be an MSI if for no other reason than all the cool stuff theyve been giving away here on [H] lately!
 
Im running that asrock mobo right now, and there is def vdroop control in the bios - were you running the latest version?

Anyways, ive got my i3 running on it @ 4.2ghz stable, with 3way sli going, not too shabby for a newegg openbox.
 
after the review on it [H]ere I picked up an open box MSI P55 GD80 for less than $130 shipped, I just have my fingers crossed that it comes with the I/O shield, that's the only accessory I really need out of all the shit that comes with it, of course I would JIMP if all the accessories came with it, but I guess I'll find out in a little less than a week, hopefully Friday or Saturday...

I can't wait, this chip (i5 750) is already putting my last rig to shame on a stock-stuck board (Intel DH55HC) by bettering the SuperPI score by 6 seconds at 3.2GHz right now, it also is running way cooler (about 20-25°C cooler) with the coolIT ECO ALC I also bought, my guess would be because of the low voltage, either way I'm very pleased right now, but will absolutely shuffle some knuckles when the GD80 comes...

are there any MSI reps here I can get with to steer me towards a place that sells MSI accessories since their own online store doesn't...?
 
wol-va-rine said:
after the review on it [H]ere I picked up an open box MSI P55 GD80 for less than $130 shipped, I just have my fingers crossed that it comes with the I/O shield, that's the only accessory I really need out of all the shit that comes with it, of course I would JIMP if all the accessories came with it, but I guess I'll find out in a little less than a week, hopefully Friday or Saturday...

I can't wait, this chip (i5 750) is already putting my last rig to shame on a stock-stuck board (Intel DH55HC) by bettering the SuperPI score by 6 seconds at 3.2GHz right now, it also is running way cooler (about 20-25°C cooler) with the coolIT ECO ALC I also bought, my guess would be because of the low voltage, either way I'm very pleased right now, but will absolutely shuffle some knuckles when the GD80 comes...

are there any MSI reps here I can get with to steer me towards a place that sells MSI accessories since their own online store doesn't...?
Click to expand...

I got the open box gd80 a month and a half ago. Like you I had my fingers crossed that the I/0 shield would come included. Not only did it come with an i/o shield, it came with everything in the retail package including box. All the accessories, (and yes there is alot). The coolest accesory was the esata expansion slot card that has a 4 prong power plug. I can now hot plug regular 3.5" harddrives from outside of the case. The board has been rock solid so far. My guess is the gd85 is probably even better.
 
I'll shoot out another vote for the MSI P55-GD80. Great board, stellar performance, and beastly cooling and power delivery. I was able to easily push my i5-750 up to 4ghz stable, though I pushed it down a bit for everyday usage. Overclocking on this board is very straightforward. It looks super badass too.
 
Oscar Meyer said:
I got the open box gd80 a month and a half ago. Like you I had my fingers crossed that the I/0 shield would come included. Not only did it come with an i/o shield, it came with everything in the retail package including box. All the accessories, (and yes there is alot). The coolest accesory was the esata expansion slot card that has a 4 prong power plug. I can now hot plug regular 3.5" harddrives from outside of the case. The board has been rock solid so far. My guess is the gd85 is probably even better.
Click to expand...

wol-va-rine likes this, he also asks that you cross your fingers for him as well, maybe even sacrifice your first born to teh 'egg Gods so this accessorization comes to pass...

I'm not teh uberOCer like many here, and the ease of the OC Genie has me intrigued, I'm not inept, I've pushed a Q6600 B3 to 3.0GHz, but have no clue when it comes to OCing the i-series chips...

thanks for the info and congrats on getting everything, good to see some on [H]ere getting lucky...
 
dat722 said:
Thanks guys i'm going to look it up!
Click to expand...

just so you know, the retail on teh 'egg is around $205 shipped (it's the cheapest price on the interwebz or at least within a few dollars), while the open box is a less than $130 shipped, it was a no brainer for me, accessories be damned, basically 33% off...
 
Can you tell me, does your Asus P7P55D-E Deluxe have the TurboMode 1-Core, 2-Core, 3-Core, 4-Core Ratio Offset options in the BIOS? I too have an i7-875k for a new build; I know the Asus P7P55D-E Premium has them, but don't want to spring extra for it, if I don't have too, thanks
 
and the GD80 arrived today, every single freaking accessory was in the box, FUCK YEAH, it's the board I'm running while typing this, had to call Microsoft to use the automated activation but it went smooth so I'm straight, especially since this board is a beast, once I got it up and running I ran superPI again, this time it took another two seconds off my previous score with my old Q6600 setup...

Q6600 setup ---> i5 750 with Intel DH55HC (-7 seconds on superPI score) ---> i5 750 with MSI P55 GD80 (-2 more seconds on superPI score)...

basically I paid roughly $130 shipped for a $205 retail board...hahahaha...

open box FTW...!!!

also the layout of the board is much better, my memory cooler was literally 1 or 2 millimeters away from the PCB of the video card with the DH55HC, now there is plenty of clearance since the first slot on the GD80 is a PCI-e x1 slot...
 
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DarkStryke said:
Open box is the lotto, often you don't get jack. Grats on this success :)
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thanks, I had to look up what was supposed to actually come with it because I got so much I thought I got some extra stuff, but you get a lot of stuff with this board...

also, miraculously a video card I bought [H]ere and was having trouble with and was thinking about RMAing to XFX is now running like a champ (fingers crossed) for four hours now without issue after not being able to run for even a half hour on the DH55HC I had...I got a magic open box...!!! lol...

EDIT: instead of four hours, we are now four DAYS into the magic open box GD80 era...

not one issue with the 4890 since sticking it in this board, not one white screen, gray screen, or BSOD...

best upgrade ever...
 
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