Best mobo for Haswell processor (i5 4570) around 7k for my needs

[Vyom]

Last year in Nov, I made an AMD APU rig with the following config:

Mobo+CPU	Gigabyte E350N Motherboard	4100
Cabinet	Cooler Master Elite 310 Cabinet (Red)	1400
SMPS	Corsair CMPSU-430CXV2UK 430 Watts PSU	2703
HDD	500 GB WD Cavier Blue	3300
RAM	Kingston ValueRAM DDR3 2 GB (KVR1333D3N9/2G) x 2	1156
ODD	Samsung DVD Writer	900

Now I am upgrading to Haswell processor. So, I bought an Intel Core i5 4570 processor from Amazon about a week ago, but so far unable to decide on what motherboard to use it with.

Apart from the Mobo Combo, I am planning to use every other component, from above configuration. I may even built another configuration specially for the mobo combo which would be left spare with me after haswell upgrade (as planned).

I am shortlisted these mobo's according to preference:
ASRock H87 Pro4 Motherboard
Gigabyte H87M-D3H Motherboard
MSI H87M-G43 Motherboard
Intel DH87RL 4th Generation Motherboard

Now I selected only H87 chipset based mobo's since according to my research, its the best balance between performance and VFM. Core i5 4570 is not an unlocked processor, so I don't need a mobo which would help me to overclock, neither I plan to. I am not a pro gamer, so won't need to do crossfire.

I did go out to get the mobo this saturday, but to my dismay I found no vendor kept the H87 mobo's except that of Intel, which was the last on my list. So I refrained to buy, and thought to ask fellow digitians before I try to buy it from Nehru place next saturday.

I have the following doubts:
1. Does B85 and H87 really makes much of a difference? And what will I loose if I don't get H87 and get B85 instead.
2. How much difference does an ATX mobo really makes from a micro ATX one, for a basic gamer.
3. What other mobo's can I put in the list and what should be the order, since it seems availability of the mobos are scarce. (even out of stock on FK).
4. Should I care about getting a thermal paste, before I install the processor to mobo?
5. Should I care about getting new SMPS. I think no, since I am not adding a dGPU anytime soon.

Please suggest.

 

[topgear]

try to get asus H87M-E but honestly speaking for a haswell cpu the choice of motherboard does not matters much be it b85/h87/z87 for a cpu like i5 4570 .. so depending on the I/O ports and expansion slots you cn even stick with a good b85 board.

 

[Vyom]

try to get asus H87M-E but honestly speaking for a haswell cpu the choice of motherboard does not matters much be it b85/h87/z87 for a cpu like i5 4570 .. so depending on the I/O ports and expansion slots you cn even stick with a good b85 board.

You mean ASUS right? H87M-E - Motherboards - ASUS Which is around 8k.

Choosing becomes harder when we have got many mobos with almost same calibre. For eg, if brand doesn't matter much for H87 then, I would try to find one with best *looking* UEFI BIOS.

And what about other queries?

 

[topgear]

as for other quesries :

1. you can go with a B85 motherboard.
2. If you don't need all those extra expansion slot matx board is really good.
3. Same as above .. look at the features/IO ports/ exapnsion slots that you need and yes of-course coolest looking UEFI
4. The cpu cooler comes with TiM pre applied but for many haswell cpu overheats so if you can invest in a better cooler like CM Hyper TX3 evo @ 1.5k.
5. Corsair CMPSU-430CXV2UK is more than enough even if you add a discrete gpu later.

 

[Vyom]

Looks like I will be getting an mATX, if I don't get the ATX one.

Problem with looking for best UEFI is that even boards from same brand have different BIOS interface. So its hard to get the correct information. (I think product page should also list a screenshot of the BIOS. )
If TIM is already applied, I will be using the stock cooler for this winter. Planning to get CM Hyper TX3, around March when temperature will soar again.
And yes, CM430CXV2 should do it. Although I don't think it will support the low power state provided by haswell chips.

I still have to make a *list*. So that it's easier for me to decide on the next preference, if the mobo of my choice is not available. I don't want to buy anything based on *seller's suggestion*. lol.

 

[topgear]

cx430 is still listed as under testing but here's a cheap workaround by CM

Cooler Master also proposes a workaround for PSUs that may lack support:

Should customers experience problems nevertheless, or would like to enable the advanced power saving mode on older power supplies that might not support it, there is a simple fix. Simply adding a single silent case fan to the system, connected to the power supply, should provide enough additional load to keep the system running in advanced power saving mode. The only disadvantage would be that power savings in idle mode on such a system would only surmount to around 2-3W instead of ~5W.

 

[rijinpk1]

Looks like I will be getting an mATX, if I don't get the ATX one.

Problem with looking for best UEFI is that even boards from same brand have different BIOS interface. So its hard to get the correct information. (I think product page should also list a screenshot of the BIOS. )

And yes, CM430CXV2 should do it. Although I don't think it will support the low power state provided by haswell chips.

all haswell motherboards comes with the sleeps states s6/s7 disabled. So no worries for corsair cx 430v2 psu.
I dont think you will be on a uefi for a whole day when using your computer .

 

[Vyom]

Topgear, thanks for the tip. May try that.

I dont think you will be on a uefi for a whole day when using your computer .

Of course not. But it would be cool to boast ..
Besides, with recent BIOS coming with a browser, I may not even need to log into OS, if I just need to do some casual surfing.

So is this list ok? According to the preference:

ASRock H87 Pro4 Motherboard
H87M-E - Motherboards - ASUS
Gigabyte H87M-D3H Motherboard
MSI H87M-G43 Motherboard
Intel DH87RL 4th Generation Motherboard

 

[topgear]

have a look at this as well : Link and if you can avoid MSI and asrock.

 

[Vyom]

Well, I am not upgrading to B85 based mobo. Partly because, B85 and H87 don't have much difference in price.
I want the best VFM mobo for what is to be my *big* upgrade. And H87 in the range of 7-8k I think is the sweet spot.

So here are my choices in the order I will prefer:

ASRock H87 Pro4 Motherboard
MSI H87M-G43 Motherboard
H87M-E - Motherboards - ASUS
Gigabyte H87M-D3H Motherboard

Thrown out Intel one. Might go out to buy one today itself.

 

[darkther]

Go for H87 chipset if you will / have an SSD, otherwise there isn't much difference between a B85 and H87.
Gigabyte H87M-D3H seems to be a better option IMO, plus its cheaper.

 

[Vyom]

I bought MSI h87 G43 mobo on Friday. Its working fine. Will post some benchmarks once mtnl broadband comes back online.

 

[topgear]

congrats so how much you paid for it ?

 

[Vyom]

congrats so how much you paid for it ?

I looked the whole of Nehru Place for ASRock's mobo. None had it. NONE.

Finally had to buy MSI one, from SMC International. Cost: Rs 6600, which I think is a decent deal, considering the price at FK. Will post pics later, once my BB comes back.

 

[topgear]

nah, that's not only decent but very very good deal anyway, thanks for the info.

 

[Vyom]

So here are some pics (taken from mobile, so bad):

The 1 TB WD HDD, cost: Rs 4300, bought locally:

*i.minus.com/ibk1b6Nx3iUCkU.jpg

MSI H87 G43 mobo, cost: Rs 6600, bought from Nehru Place (since couldn't find ASRock H87 Pro4 anywhere):

*i.minus.com/i9JVAGEIaeWCA.jpg

*i.minus.com/ibgXILL8prlw01.jpg

*i.minus.com/it3ruq8leVo26.jpg

*i.minus.com/iVPdmxcK5FKBd.jpg

*i.minus.com/iIdeeoafm5Ptw.jpg

Dunno what's that:

*i.minus.com/irx5d9siQqG4g.jpg


*i.minus.com/iXrQzDQARObu2.jpg

*i.minus.com/i38XvJPpiNVy.jpg

*i.minus.com/iEsEHk9eLd1mH.jpg

The processor with stock heating agent:

*i.minus.com/ibsMH9oxWfcEbn.jpg

*i.minus.com/iNYjvfCdX9pG1.jpg

*i.minus.com/iNO5Oai6G7uhf.jpg

*i.minus.com/iyzANAKqhN5I9.jpg

Old E350N mini ITX mobo:

*i.minus.com/i913T8E5uWj6w.jpg

*i.minus.com/ibvCYWNkIVTQL8.jpg

Complete setup with MSI mobo and stock cooler:

*i.minus.com/ixn4x8P6cd2nG.jpg

But, I couldn't benchmark, since its giving me poor FPS, lower than even AMD E350n, which is lol. I tried upgrading the drivers. Still no help. Then I checked Core temp, which is reporting temps in the range of 95-100 degree Celsius. I don't know, if the tool is reporting right or wrong, since I have not faced any random shutdown, due to over heating. Now I don't know if I should re apply TIM, buy Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO Cooler, or both, or just try to readjust the stock cooler.

Any suggestion?

*i.minus.com/ibdkSxO6X7L9mh.png

 

[dashing.sujay]

If the TIM is applied applied correctly, the temps are worryingly high, especially when the load is too low to spike the temps.

First check the temps with diff soft, like HWMonitor. If it reports same, try re-applying TIM while refitting CPU.

*www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-030329.htm

 

[Vyom]

If the TIM is applied applied correctly, the temps are worryingly high.

First check the temps with diff soft, like HWMonitor. If it reports same, try re-applying TIM while refitting CPU.

It was stock cooler with default TIM, like shown in a pic above. I didn't clean the surface, or something like that, since I didn't think it was necessary. Maybe I should reapply the cooler.
I did checked with 3 different tools: Core Temp, HWMonitor and even Real Temp. All reports same temps.

 

[dashing.sujay]

I'll say go ahead with readjustment of CPU including reTIM.

 

[Vyom]

So, I removed the cooler. It was difficult to do that, since it stuck on one corner. After many tries, I succeeded in removing the cooler. Then, without doing anything else, I just reseated the cooler. And new results are shocking:

*i.minus.com/iqwX62U3KxcFn.PNG

Less than 50 degree Celsius on each core.

So I don't have to buy Arctic Silver or new cooler? Eh?

Update: After 5 min of starting PC, temp are even down under 40 degrees:

*i.minus.com/i3Pr1k3nnXO3D.PNG

Is that a good sign? I still have to test what it does to temp under load, like gaming.