Which Asus MB to get for my 3770K

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FylleTratten

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I'm just about to upgrade to Z77 and have decided to order a 3770K and put it in a Fractal Design Define R4 case.

I'm not up really up to date and am reading reviews and forums all day long trying to figure out which board to get.

Money isn't really an issue - and I'd rather pay a little extra for quality. The machine will be with me a couple of years.

I will OC just a bit in the beginning - trying to keep the noise down. But I'll probably OC more agressivly later on when I feel it's getting old and slow.

Going with a single gfx card initially, upgrading to SLI when needed.

Thunderbolt - is it hot or not? Can this be bought as an expansion card later or does the MB have to support it? I haven't got any TB peripherals yet but who knows in a year or two.

I'm gonna use my rig for gaming but also to do some video and music production.

OS on SSD and 2 x HDD in RAID0 for storage.

I was looking at both Asrock and Asus boards, but have decided to go with Asus.
However there are a couple to chose from .. argh!
 
I'm a fan of my Max V Gene. Well layed out, lots of OC features, room enough for SLI and sits at a pretty good price point. Unless you just have to have more pcie slots, it's a winner.
 
absolutely love my P8Z77-V deluxe. board does everything i need it to, and overclocks extremely well.
 
baldrik said:
I'm a fan of my Max V Gene. Well layed out, lots of OC features, room enough for SLI and sits at a pretty good price point. Unless you just have to have more pcie slots, it's a winner.
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I agree. Although, I do miss the extra spacing between the PCIe slots of my P8P67 Pro, this board has been awesome.

If you do need more expansion slots, though, definitely consider the P8Z77-V series (Pro comes to mind) as it offers a nice amount of features for the price. There is an edition of the Pro that has a Thunderbolt header but I'm still not sold on it, at least for the foreseeable future. The bigger Maximus V models are also worth a look if you like the way the Gene looks with more expansion.
 
P8Z77-V series is amazing. Also the Sabertooth is sweet if you like the more black/rugged look. But personally all I buy is the P-series boards.
 
R.O.G.

Gene is great for extreme overclocking, but too small for a gamer IMO. I'd look at either the formula or the extreme. But that's just me :p
 
Thanks! I've decided to go with ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE.
Now the hunt for the quietest CPU cooler begins (That fits into my R4 case).
 
FylleTratten said:
Thanks! I've decided to go with ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE.
Now the hunt for the quietest CPU cooler begins (That fits into my R4 case).
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If you want quiet, you can always look into the self-contained "water cooling" set ups such as the Corsair H80. It should fit in that case without issue. The H100 may fit on top but I'm not 100% sure.
 
skizzled said:
If you want quiet, you can always look into the self-contained "water cooling" set ups such as the Corsair H80. It should fit in that case without issue. The H100 may fit on top but I'm not 100% sure.
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if you want quiet, don't listen to this guy. nothing about z77 needs anything to do with water. nothing.

the only way to make air cooling quieter is to increase the heatsink surface area so the fan can be run slower. those radiators are not the biggest heatsinks you can get. not that a big heatsink is necessary with mainstream intel chips. big desktop heatsinks are good for 250W or more. good luck dissipating 100W with ivy bridge.
 
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bAMtan2 said:
if you want quiet, don't listen to this guy. nothing about z77 needs anything to do with water. nothing
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I beg to differ. I have an H60 cooler on a P8Z77V-Pro. It is cool and very quiet.
 
I think I'm gonna go with a D14, and replace the fans with some PWR ones. Any recomendations of quite pwr fans?

Edit: NH-D14 SE2011 (PWM) + Noctua NM-I3 Mounting-Kit should do the trick!
 
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bAMtan2 said:
not as quiet as a heatsink with no pump or fan.
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It really depends on your definition of quiet and what you are looking for. For me, I can stand 30dBa just fine and having Panaflo's at full speed doesn't really bother me too much. For others, that's way too loud but my environment isn't that quiet to begin with. Hell, 20dBa might be too loud.

How far can you overclock an Ivy Bridge with a passive heatsink? That would definitely be the quietest solution but the case would require a good amount of airflow which would mean you need fans regardless. If I had an Ivy Bridge and a Fractal R4, I'd certainly give it a go.

The H100 is one avenue that could be perused but certainly not the only. A few friends use the Corsair H (not sure which) units and never complain about noise. In fact, they are extremely happy with them.

OP, the NH-D14 is a very nice heatsink. I've been using one for the past year or so without issues. Thing is almost as big as my motherboard, though :p. You could always see how the sound signature is for you and then worry about getting replacement fans later if its too loud. You can even try passive if you so wish but the stock fans are pretty quiet.
 
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