Which Mobo?

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1

I'm new to building pc's, so I tried and did my homework reading a lot. 
However there are some things i quite don't understand, mainly about motherboards.
First,
My build will be 50% Gaming and 50% Autocad/Sketchup/Vray (Rendering)

I will not OC since I don't know how and don't plan to try, I will not add many hdd's or ssd's since it will not be my main pc, or any sound card or any extra stuff. 

 

So the question is, which Mobo? Do i need a $150 mobo or a $70 mobo it's fine?

 

Any other advise is well received.

 

Thanks.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xnpXJx
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xnpXJx/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($252.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($149.99 @ Micro Center)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($339.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master CM Storm Scout 2 Advanced ATX Mid Tower Case ($95.00)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $1002.91

 

3

One in particular? I'm completely lost here
if a h97,h87, b85, h87plus, or even z97 (although xeon is non oc, and i don't plan to)

I don't want any bottleneck with my build

4

Nothing is bottlenecked on your build list. but you do want to get a reasonably good motherboard. there are 2 things you should NEVER cheap out on, that's the motherboard and PSU. I've had good experience with the ASUS z87 Gryphon but that is a M-ATX board. excellent board and feature rich for a reasonable price. also a good M-ATX case i would look at is the Fractal Arc Mini.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132133&cm_re=Z97_Gryphon-_-13-132-133-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352034&cm_re=ARC_MINI-_-11-352-034-_-Product

if you choose to stick with ATX i would go with this motherboard. Excellent features for the money.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132118&cm_re=ASUS_Motherboard_z97-_-13-132-118-_-Product

5

Well, you don't need Z87/Z97.  A relatively inexpensive H97 should be perfectly fine with that Xeon.  I would avoid Z87 and B85 for now since some may need a BIOS update, which usually require an older CPU.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yXmbTW

Also look into picking up an SSD(120-256gb), and perhaps getting an R9 280X instead of the GTX 770 since the extra 1GB of VRAM may help during rendering.

6

I would recommend this for a xeon: b85m pro4... its cheap, good quality and you keep all the performance.

I edited the build some.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PMXjBm

highlights:

  • includes SSD
  • Much better case with smaller form factor.
  • removed CPU cooler since you wont be overclocking