Need Help with Choosing A Motherboard

[captkirk]

A friend of mine has asked me to look into building a new computer for him. He wants to go with a SB i7 2600K as the processor. I'm having some trouble picking out a motherboard for him. There are too many choices. I've kinda been looking at the Z68 chipset boards as a possibility.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[3dfxrain]

AsRock Z68 Extreme4 seems pretty good, so i've been told, you may want to research it some more, or maybe there's another one.

[captkirk]

I have been looking at this one the last few days.

[3dfxrain]

Yeah, however it's not really what I call a full Z68 motherboard, lacks video output to use integrated graphics and lucid tech, seems it's has too many shortcomings. Probably better off with something else as far as I know.

[captkirk]

Yeah, however it's not really what I call a full Z68 motherboard, lacks video output to use integrated graphics and lucid tech, seems it's has too many shortcomings. Probably better off with something else as far as I know.

My friend was planning on installing a discrete video card on the board, probably a GTX 580 or GTX 570. I did not think that not having the integrated graphics was that much of a problem, or have I missed something?

[3dfxrain]

It's only a problem if wanting switching graphics and higher performance from the CPU's graphics, i've been told about other issues about it although, whatever seems most appropriate for you seems ok. I'm not really one to upgrade to the latest tech quickly, takes me some time to decide. I kinda hope Asus brings out more extreme design series motherboards.

[captkirk]

It's only a problem if wanting switching graphics and higher performance from the CPU's graphics, i've been told about other issues about it although, whatever seems most appropriate for you seems ok. I'm not really one to upgrade to the latest tech quickly, takes me some time to decide. I kinda hope Asus brings out more extreme design series motherboards.

Ahhh.....I see. Thank you for your advice, 3dfxrain. Appreciate it.

[guskline]

I have the ASrock Z68 Extreme 4 MB with a 2500k and it is a solid full featured MB.
MB ASRock Z68 Extreme 4
CPU Intel 2500k@4400
HS CoolerMaster Hyper212+
Ram Gskill DDR3 1600 8gs
Vid 2-Radeon 5850s in Crossfire
HDD Crucial 300 64g SSD SataIII (OS); WDB 500g SataIII (Data and games)
PSU Antec TP II 750W
Case CoolerMaster HAF912
Monitor Hanns G HH241
OS Win7-64 Home Premium

Honestly, this is an incredible system. The Asrock MB is loaded with extras and overclocks well. As to switching from the discrete to integrated video, ASRock includes a licensed copy Lucidlogig Virtu software that automatically uses both with no overhead. Incredible deal.

[3dfxrain]

To be honest if I were upgrading today. I'd go with the AsRock mobo that was mentioned previously in this thread and see how it goes.