Hi guys,

I need help from you guys on my new desktop setup. Pls help me think of which motherboard and PSU. The rest of the items listed I have already gathered are through recent purchases. I don't intend to overclock, prefer Intel i7 3770 and micro-ATX form factor. My main use is for photo editing, web surf, office & content creation.

CPU: i7 3770
Mobo: ?
HSF: Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO
Ram: Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3 1600mhz 4Gb x2
SSD: Crucial Micron M4 128Gb
HDD: Samsung F4 2Tb
ODD: HP 24x DVDRW
GFX: HD4000, will upgrade later.
PSU: Seasonic X-560
Case: Silverstone TJ08-E
OS: Windows 7 Premium 64-bit

I am open to suggestions and comment. Pls free feel to give them. Thanks a lot!

If you prefer to stick with Gigabyte the GA-Z77MX-D3H is a fully featured board. While they have improved, Gigabyte's fan controls are still not in the same league as other brands, particularly Asus. The Asus fan controls enable you to set a Silent mode or alternatively you can really fine-tune your fans using the free Asus Fan Xpert software. If you want to go this route, then the Asus P8Z77-M PRO might be worth looking at.

Not bad. Personally I am partial to Intel SSDs for reliability factors.

Why not select an SPCR recommended heatsink:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_Heatsinks

The Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO is the latest version of the Hyper 212 Plus which is on the recommended list.

Yes I agree about the fan control, Asus did a good job.

Here are some motherboards that I have shortlisted.

ASUS P8Z77-M Pro
Gigabyte GA-Z77MX-D3H
MSI Z77MA-G45

I picked these 3 models because they have side entry SATA ports. Gigabyte one has a better sound chip compared to the rest. I'm not sure how Lucid Virtu MVP software will help in improving gaming. I read that it doesn't improve at all but only improve at benchmarks. If I moved away from m-atx choice, I'll pick a ATX motherboard and case then.

I vote Samsung 830 for SSD. It seems to be very reliable, fast, indifferent to data type (compressed, uncompressed). The speed is very good in multiple situations in normal desktop usage.

PSU: Kingwin/Spureflower Platinum+ 550W. It is totally fanless with power levels less than 400W. Very good quality PSU.

I'd go with the Asus board over the others - great fan control, easy underclocking.

Also, I'd go with the Realtek audio (Asus and MSI) over Via (on the Gigabyte mobo) - I think Realtek will do a better job with firmware updates as needed.

+1 on the Kingwin PSU.

Crucial m4 or the Samsung.

i7 is overkill for photo editing...unless you are batching a LOT of Lightroom tasks. The i5-3570K would do the job as would the i5-3550 (no overclocking, has HD2500 vs the HD4000).

I am also considering should I get the TJ08-E.

I wonder have anyone tried Xigmatek Midgard II?

After some research, I will go ahead with this config.

CPU: i7 3770 non-k
Mobo: Asus P8H77-M PRO
HSF: Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO
Ram: Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3 1600mhz 4Gb x2
SSD: Crucial Micron M4 128Gb
ODD: HP 24x DVDRW
GFX: HD4000 - may add a graphics card later if HD4000 exceeds my usage
PSU: Seasonic X-560
Case: Silverstone TJ08-E
OS: Windows 7 Premium 64-bit

I have the HSF, Rams, SSD, ODD and OS already. I am getting a non-k cpu and H77 chipset motherboard (instead of Z77) since I'm not overclocking. Prefer the i7 for HT for CAD rendering, photo edit in Lr 4 and video edit/encoding. Hope to have a quiet & stable system.

I am thinking of doing this exact same build. My only concern is the reliability of the ASUS P8H77-M PRO MB. See this review on amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1Y01BFSDBUXXF/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R1Y01BFSDBUXXF

It is this bit that worries me the most...


Also there are quite a few reports on the web from people having problems getting this MB to run 1600mhz RAM at 1600mhz. They have only been able to get it to 1333mhz.

Please keep this thread updated with the results of your build. I am very keen to find out how it turns out.

I just completed my new build last Saturday. I decided to move away from Asus. As I don't intend to overclock, nor heavy gaming and attempt any SLi/Crossfire configurations, I want to keep my desktop to be silent, simple, speedy and stable. I don't need my parts to look good or have particular colour scheme, since I'll eventually shut the lids. The fact is that Asus has plenty of good features and priced slightly higher than other brands. I had good experience with Gigabyte motherboards so far. Stable and fuss free. The after sales support here in my location (Singapore) has been very well. The older motherboard used was for AMD setup. And I can justify as much I want for the selection of the parts. Ultimately, you should ask yourself what do you really want/need.

Here is my final build. Not much changes, except the motherboard.

Intel Core i7-3770 + CM Hyper 212 Evo
Gigabyte H77M-D3H
Intel HD Graphics 4000
Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3 1600mhz 4Gb x2
Crucial Micron M4 128Gb
HP dvd1260
Silverstone Temjin TJ08-E
Seasonic X-560
VIA VT2021 + Audioengine A5
Dell U2412M
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Cheers

Mine worked with no problems. 1600mhz there it is in my bios reading.

One review shouldn't be taken very seriously, in production while you have to comply with certain standards, there will always be defects that go through, thus the DOAs or fails. Now if a lot of mobos are getting the same problem then its a design/production problem. But for now 1 review, would make me want to find more user reviews, but wouldnt steer me away from the mobo that has all the features i like.

I totally agree, but it was not the single review that concerned me. It was the relayed comments of the ASUS tech rep, which appeared to be based on the distillation of many reports, together with an implication that the P8 class MB failure rates were sufficiently higher than normal to trigger the rep to make the comment to an end user.

That's great to hear, but I presume you are talking about the gigabyte MB rather than the ASUS MB that I was talking about?

you are right!