[ibleedspeed]

Hey guys I have been building my new rig for the past month and getting to the major parts now. next up is the MOBO... right now I am pretty well set on the Asus Maximus V Formula....my other consideration was the MSI Mpower but I hear it can be pretty buggy. So talk me into or out of the V formula... tell me your thoughts on this board and if you wanna recommend something else I am all ears... the board will be running...
Intel I5 3570k
most likely an EVGA 670 ftw
and 6 hard drives along with an optical drive.

Thanks for the input.

 

[DeXel]

What's for? You can get a very decent Z77 board for ~$150 like UD3H or GD65.

For $250 I consider GA-Z77X-UP5 or G1 Sniper 3 (if you need 4-way SLI support) the best bang for the buck.

 

[ibleedspeed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeXel

What's for? You can get a very decent Z77 board for ~$150 like UD3H or GD65.

For $250 I consider GA-Z77X-UP5 or G1 Sniper 3 (if you need 4-way SLI support) the best bang for the buck.

Well the UD5 does not have enough sata ports for my needs and not a fan of the looks either... did I mention this will be going in a NZXT Switch 810 white case? and the sniper is a nice board but the yellow kills... tell me why the sniper is comparable in quality to the V formula?

 

[DeXel]

Because Sniper has 12 phase VRM with better mosfets on top of that it has more features for money. Like Killer NIC, Creative audio, and 4-way SLI support. It's also green, not yellow.

UD5 has the same number of SATA ports as MVF. You probably meant UP5 which has 2 Thunderbolts instead.

If your build is primary for looks, it's up to you to decide. Technically these GB boards offer more for money.

 

[ibleedspeed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeXel

Because Sniper has 12 phase VRM with better mosfets on top of that it has more features for money. Like Killer NIC, Creative audio, and 4-way SLI support. It's also green, not yellow.

UD5 has the same number of SATA ports as MVF. You probably meant UP5 which has 2 Thunderbolts instead.

If your build is primary for looks, it's up to you to decide. Technically these GB boards offer more for money.

I count 8 sata ports on the formula and 6 on the up5... I can live with 6 by using a splitter but I prefer not to.. Its not all about looks but looks do count with this big window on the switch. still though the formula destroys both those boards in that department...
v formula has one of those onboard audio solutions as well and 4 way sli support... but how does the gigabyte bios compare to asus?

 

[galaxie83]

I'm in the same boat as you are OP. I am also in the market for a good board. I love the looks of the V Formula, but love the quality and what you get out the GB boards. I was going to go for a red, black, and white theme with the 600t white case and I know the V formula would look awesome in it but at the same time I want what the up5 and sniper have to offer. It's kind nuts to think that Asus puts out a decent high end gaming board in the ROG series but it has less quality mosfets/vrm setup as the GB up5, UD5H. Let us know what you end up with.

 

[sherlock]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibleedspeed

I count 8 sata ports on the formula and 6 on the up5... I can live with 6 by using a splitter but I prefer not to.. Its not all about looks but looks do count with this big window on the switch. still though the formula destroys both those boards in that department...
v formula has one of those onboard audio solutions as well and 4 way sli support... but how does the gigabyte bios compare to asus?

The one he is talking about is UD5H and it have 8 SATA port, Sniper have 4 Way SLI support & onboard audio solutions.



If Red and Black is your thing get the ROG board, If Formula had 8 phase PWM for it VRM instead of 4 phase doubled I would have no problem recommending it, but it doesn't so I would even recommend ASUS V-Pro or V-Deluxe over it just for better VRM, those boards however don't have 4 Way SLI support.

p.s Imo if you want to run 4-Way SLI you might as well go X79 and get ASUS Rampage IV Formula

 

[galaxie83]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibleedspeed

I count 8 sata ports on the formula and 6 on the up5... I can live with 6 by using a splitter but I prefer not to.. Its not all about looks but looks do count with this big window on the switch. still though the formula destroys both those boards in that department...
v formula has one of those onboard audio solutions as well and 4 way sli support... but how does the gigabyte bios compare to asus?

What I have observed by comparing the Gigabtye bios to the Formula bios is that asus is a little more user friendly as far as "short cuts" to overclock. they have better independent fan control. The bios on the GB boards takes a bit to get use to. But i'm sure with either bios if you take the time you can get use to it and know how to navigate.

 

[DeXel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibleedspeed

I count 8 sata ports on the formula and 6 on the up5... I can live with 6 by using a splitter but I prefer not to.. Its not all about looks but looks do count with this big window on the switch. still though the formula destroys both those boards in that department...
v formula has one of those onboard audio solutions as well and 4 way sli support... but how does the gigabyte bios compare to asus?

Formula doesn't support 4-way. It doesn't even have enough slots for that. It support 2-way SLI or 3-way CrossFire.

UP5 uses 60A per phase mosfets whereas MVF uses ~30A per phase. What destroys what? MVF has 4 true phase VRM design where UP5 has 8 phase design. G1 and UD5H have 6 phase design.

UD5H and UP5 are different boards. First has 8 SATA ports the second has 6, but has 2 Thunderbolts.

Onboard audio on MVF seems terrible from the reviews I have read. In any case if you care about sound, get an audio card with any board.

 

[ibleedspeed]

Forgive my newbness but I am here to learn so what do higher quality vrm,s and mosfet,s offer me? and what problems do the lower quality ones on the formula cause?

 

[DeXel]

Worse VRM results in potentially worse overclock.

MVF has decent VRM. It's not something terrible like low-end boards. Still, it can't even compare to UP5 or even UP4 in quality.

 

[sherlock]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibleedspeed

Forgive my newbness but I am here to learn so what do higher quality vrm,s and mosfet,s offer me? and what problems do the lower quality ones on the formula cause?

Higher quality VRM( high quality PWM, high # of PWM phases, highly rated Mosfets) delivers cleaner power(less ripple) to the CPU while remaining cool under high voltage.

 

[ibleedspeed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sherlock

Higher quality VRM( high quality PWM, high # of PWM phases, highly rated Mosfets) delivers cleaner power(less ripple) to the CPU while remaining cool under high voltage.

nice explanation i can comprehend... ok I am looking at the ud5h now.... though I am not a fan of seeing the heatpipe on the board... they are always kinked and sloppy looking.

 

[xd9denz]

Have you tried to check the asrock Extreme 6? same as UD3H performance .... because i think your aiming only for 8 sata ports and good overclocking mobo right?

check this out http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157295

 

[ibleedspeed]

Meh hate to say it but im not into the ud5h...not liking the heatsink,s or the heatpipe. I am not at all worried about onboard sound as i will likely go with a discreet card for that and I cant ever see myself needing more then 2 graphics cards... also I wont require a silly high overclock... 4.5 should be plenty for my needs..... can the v formula handle that?

 

[FlashFir]

this might be relevant to discussions

sinhardware.com/index.php/vrm-list

Quote:

Originally Posted by xd9denz

Have you tried to check the asrock Extreme 6? same as UD3H performance .... because i think your aiming only for 8 sata ports and good overclocking mobo right?

check this out http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157295

I doubt the extreme6 has good vrms on that list.

 

[FlashFir]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibleedspeed

Meh hate to say it but im not into the ud5h...not liking the heatsink,s or the heatpipe. I am not at all worried about onboard sound as i will likely go with a discreet card for that and I cant ever see myself needing more then 2 graphics cards... also I wont require a silly high overclock... 4.5 should be plenty for my needs..... can the v formula handle that?

Well if that's the case, even a low end Extreme4 with D-PAK mosfets will likely net you a very modest 4.5ghz OC... unless you live in Arabia or something that I'm not aware of.

 

[ibleedspeed]

yeah I always looked at asrock as a budget solution... they seem cheaply built to me but i wouldnt reaslly know just going by instinct.

 

[DeXel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibleedspeed

Meh hate to say it but im not into the ud5h...not liking the heatsink,s or the heatpipe. I am not at all worried about onboard sound as i will likely go with a discreet card for that and I cant ever see myself needing more then 2 graphics cards... also I wont require a silly high overclock... 4.5 should be plenty for my needs..... can the v formula handle that?

Sure, but check UD4H. Pretty much the same thing for half the price. Amazing RAM clocker.

 

[ibleedspeed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlashFir

Well if that's the case, even a low end Extreme4 with D-PAK mosfets will likely net you a very modest 4.5ghz OC... unless you live in Arabia or something that I'm not aware of.

lol texas is about as hot as arabia...