Best Motherboard for an i7-4930k?

Mistro11

I have a reletively tight budget to build a new system for my 3D rendering needs.

At first I was going to build a dual quad core processor Xeon machine that ran at least with a speed of 3.5GHz but I recently decided to go for an i7-4930k. This processor seems like a beast that will run anything I have to throw at it. It has 6 cores with HT (I was not really looking for HT technology but with 6 cores at the base, why not). So I decided this is the CPU for my new rig but now I want to learn how to get the best motherboard for it. My current MB is an ASUS P5QL Pro which is still working very well and I still have room to do some upgrades with it. I'm used to the oldschool MB with at least one IDE port as well as SATA, 1 GPU slot and 3-4 PCI slots that I can install various cards in (Firewire, Sound card, etc.) What I am seeing now are boards with 3-4 GPU slots and fewer ports for various cards. I do not immediately plan to use more than 1 GPU and some of the best boards I'm seeing are equipped for a minimum of 3 GPU cards. I was wondering if I missed something or if this is the new standard motherboards for high end CPUs. I'm wondering if there is a good but cheaper priced board that doesn't have 3-4 GPU slots? But don't get me wrong, the main thing I'm looking for is what to look for in a board that will get me the most out of that i7-4930. Any advice is welcome.

numerobis

@mistro11 said:

I'm wondering if there is a good but cheaper priced board that doesn't have 3-4 GPU slots? But don't get me wrong, the main thing I'm looking for is what to look for in a board that will get me the most out of that i7-4930.

What do you mean by "the most"? Are you planning to overclock?
Normally if you don't overclock you can take almost every board, the differences are mostly based on things like the quality of the power supply, the number of RAM and PCIe slots the number of ports (SATA, LAN, USB) and additional features like "better" sound or a better BIOS.
Concerning the question about PCIe and PCI slots... today almost everything is working with PCIe and the long slots (16x, 8x) are downward compatible. So if you need more PCIe 1x slots you can plug a PCIe 1x card into a PCIe 16x slot.

The more expensive boards normally feature 8 RAM slots. If you don't need them you can take one with 4.

I'm normally buying Asus and ASRock. All my nodes have ASRock boards (with X79 i currently have one Extreme4 and two Extreme6, all overclocked. My workstation is based on an Asus P9X79 WS, also overclocked. No problems so far.

Mistro11

Thanks for the info numerobis.
No I don't plan to overclock. Maybe one day out of curiosity.

Well... for the first time in my PC using history (about 15 years) I have built my system almost from scratch without shop assistance save for doing a post test at Micro Center before leaving the store with my new motherboard. It's a good thing too because the first motherboard did not pass the post test and they promptly made the exchange. The little front panel pins and wires always scared me but I finally did some reading and observing and got it figured out. Maybe laughable to some of you but a big milestone for me. I can't believe that little panel been holding me back from building all on my own.

This is what I bought:
i7-4930k and an Intel cooling fan
Gigabyte x79-UP4 Mobo
16GB of Crucial Ballistix RAM
Crucial MX100 256Gb SSD

I ended up using my case instead of getting a new one: Cooler Master CM 690
All other parts Hard drives GTX 760 etc. are from my former build so I save a lot because of that. But please note the Motherboard is a placeholder and will become my backup when I get an ASUS board that I really wanted but could not afford right now.

numerobis

Why replace the Gigabyte? The X79 boards from Gigabyte had some problems with early BIOSes but if it works for you, everything should be fine. I'm stll having one X58 board from Gigabyte in one of my nodes - working strong since 4 years now (overclocked i7 980X@4GHz)

But you should check your temps if you are using the boxed cooler! This is a component that i would replace (temps/noise).

Mistro11

Yeah, I moved too fast on that cooler. It was actually sold separately as these CPUs do not come packaged with cooling fans. Getting a replacement is on the list.