Help Choosing a Motherboard

[Kanzo1]

Thanks in advance, but I am building a new rig for FFXIV and beyond. It will mainly be used for gaming and just your usual internet browsing. I have i7 930 and a gtx 480 already, just having trouble deciding on a MB. I plan on doing some mild overclocking in the future, once I decide to research it a little more. I have been looking at these two MB's :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188049

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131641

I am trying to stay under $300 and have considered open box stuff, but still makes me a little nervous. I am open to suggestions for MB's since I am as knowledgeable as a river rock on this subject. Looking for my best bang for buck for what I am plan on using the rig for. Thanks again

[Olo401]

That EVGA board is a pretty solid choice - it's probably the board I'll get when I make the jump to Core i7. ASRock has also started to improve their quality and developed a reputation for solid overclocking, so take a look at their X58 Extreme board as well.

[Boyiee]

I like the EVGA board as well... You seem to have a lot of money to spend, but don't let that drive you... sure the higher end boards may help with overclocking somewhat but you are new to it and the 100-200$ range will fit you fine.

If you want money to drive you... is there a newer i7 compatable rampage board on the market? lol

[Kanzo1]

I have been heavily leaning to the EVGA board, so I will most likely go with that. Thanks again

[Binkie]

Keep note if you want to SLI but the pci-e listing for the evga is:

PCI Express 2.0 x16:
4 (@ x16/x8/x4/x8 )

and the Asus:

PCI Express 2.0 x16
3 (@ x16/x8/x8 or x16/x16/x1)

Maybe the evga works like the asus but doesn't list it.

[SaviorSelf]

I've had nothing but problems with the EVGA one...First one was RMA, second one it worked fine at first, removed the GPU and got the same problem as the first one (flashing blue light, actually made a thread about it on here) but turned out it was one of the wires from the front USB ports. As soon as that was unplugged from the motherboard, it would work again. It's great when it does work though.

Asus seems a bit more future proof to the USB3 and what not.