BIOSTAR TZ77A Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard + 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM $98 + Free Shipping @ Newegg

MC FTW!

haha, don't taze me, bro!

Quote from scheister : I swear to god i'm going to pistol whip the next guy who says Microcenter!

Might I suggest Consulting anger management. They'll be able to help.

Quote from aznsniper911 : And what would make a ram excellent over another?

Tight timings for the overall speed, stability, wide compatibility according to mobo manufacturers, low failure rate, overvolting potentional, reasonable height to clear large air coolers, readily available in different kits, decent manufacturer support, and a reasonable price.
I have 16 or so Ripjaws sticks in various flavors and I've been very happy with them.

Yeah I do agree that it is rarther point less to assume that everyone has a Microcenter. I would have to drive 4 hours one way to get to one. I live in the third largest city in my state. Around 1 million population metro area.

Quote from ResidentPony : I have 16 or so Ripjaws sticks in various flavors and I've been very happy with them.

I prefer snozberry myself.

Don't buy biostar.

Quote from ResidentPony : Great RAM - but BIOSTAR? ...

That's funny... I was thinking "Good board - but G.SKILL?

Quote from scheister : I swear to god i'm going to pistol whip the next guy who says Microcenter!

many -lols-

Quote from aznsniper911 : Total USA population roughly 308 Million Your Number: 110 million Which comes out to roughly 35.71%, a lot less then the 50% you originally stated. Microcenter is worth mentioning yeah but most people play it out as a store most people have access to. Also geographically, the Western United States has a miniscule Microcenter presence. So wrong on many levels haha.

Case and point. There are not many levels to my bet. Actually there is only one. Please explain to me your need for many levels. And your MC argument creates many levels as well, when in fact, it started as one. It's like the fundamental of writing code. 0 and 1. Yes and No. It's that simple. If you want to make life harder for yourself, go right ahead. Quit wasting my time with your frivolous comments.

And back to the original MC post. It was stated "FWIW". If it's not worth it to you, move on. It's that simple. Misery loves company.

I've had this board since the MC deal with i7 2600k last spring. Running oc'd @ 4.8 with crossfired 7950's @1150. Been rock solid for me.

Quote from scheister : I swear to god i'm going to pistol whip the next guy who says Microcenter!

Micro Center

Quote from K6-2 : That's funny... I was thinking "Good board - but G.SKILL? many -lols-

The problem is that G.Skill isn't well known but their Ripjaws have reviewed near the top of the pile for a couple of years now, while Biostar is well known as a cut-rate mobo with a mediocre rep. I know they (and ECS and Asrock fwiw) are trying to move upmarket like Hyundai, but they have a long and sordid history to overcome. Just a couple years ago a typical convo would be "Why did you spend so much on the case and get a Biostar?" and "I'm on a very tight budget so I'm reusing my PSU and getting a Biostar motherboard."
Hey, they aren't alone in trying. But as long as they price their wares in the same range as better manufacturers, I'm content to let someone else do the testing.

Been running this board 6 months now....from micro center deal of course haha....and it has been 100% rock solid for me as well. Can't beat it for the money for a basic overclocking board.

I dunno why the hate for biostar. They have been around for ages. I guess some people just refuse to acknowledge anything beyond gigabyte or asus, or maybe used one in an unintended way like buying a cheap basic board not meant to be a monster overclocker and trying to do just that with it.

This is the first biostar board I've had since the mid 90's, but I have zero complaint from it for what it is. In fact I'm rather impressed with it given the price.

Decent deal for a nice budget board, I have had good luck with the half dozen or so biostar boards I've used in the past. I would consider this deal had i not just got the TZ77XE3 for $80 after MIR along with a i5-3570k for $208 from tigerdirect over the weekend. I'm one of the people who have a 3 hr drive to MC and try to find deals online because after gas and tax the only way I make out at MC is to bring a few friends and buy 4-6 cpu and mobo combos per trip.

I've never had an issue eith a biostar board. They are fine. Most ivy chips are temp limited or you will simply hit a wall unless you have an amazing chip.

That said, it's a good deal if you need a cheap system.

As for the MC statements, here's my take. .

I live 60 miles out of the denver location. I decided to make the drive. The cost of gas and sales taxes killed a single cpu purchase. I bought a ton of stuff, but the combo deals arent impressive, just the cpu prices. They dont always fo 50 off a board.

I lived 6 hours from houston in Nola and its never worth the drive. So what if you are close, its not realistic to make the drive. Unless you are 20 miles away or less...

Quote from LonelyHiker : This is a very underrated board, probably deservedly because of Biostar's past reputation. But they did get it right with this one.

I am not sure where this reputation comes from. I recall about 7 years ago purchasing a Biostar TForce P965PT motherboard for dirt cheap with a first generation C2D E6300 1.86ghz and overclocking it to just over 3.5ghz on air cooling without even having to increase the voltage. I got it to 3.9 with extra voltage but it ran a bit hot for my comfort so I kept it at 3.5ish. This system actually still runs (I gave it to my sister).

I just did a google search for that motherboard and processor and came up with a 2006 review article that achieved similar results:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2117/4

Biostar is A-OK with me!

Quote from aznsniper911 : The sheer amount of people who don't realize that Microcenter is out of reach for many people is so frustrating at this point.

I am well aware that MC is out of reach to many, and I swore to never get involved in one of these conversations, but complaining there isn't a Micro Center nearby adds nothing useful to the discussion, whereas suggesting Micro Center as an alternative serves to help many users obtain a better deal. As I live near MC, I found ResidentPony's comment to be highly relevant and useful. Yours, not so much.

Relevant and useful discussion that might help people obtain a good deal is the purpose of these forums. If a particular deal doesn't apply to you, simply move on and take what you can get!

Quote from webculb : Yeah I do agree that it is rarther point less to assume that everyone has a Microcenter. I would have to drive 4 hours one way to get to one. I live in the third largest city in my state. Around 1 million population metro area...

Yes, "most people" have a Microcenter, but better than anyone else I've seen, you've just illustrated how meaningless that statistic is. --- repped

Quote from ResidentPony : ...The problem is that G.Skill isn't well known but their Ripjaws have reviewed near the top of the pile for a couple of years now, while Biostar is well known as a cut-rate mobo with a mediocre rep. I know they (and ECS and Asrock fwiw) are trying to move upmarket like Hyundai, but they have a long and sordid history to overcome. Just a couple years ago a typical convo would be "Why did you spend so much on the case and get a Biostar?" and "I'm on a very tight budget so I'm reusing my PSU and getting a Biostar motherboard." Hey, they aren't alone in trying. But as long as they price their wares in the same range as better manufacturers, I'm content to let someone else do the testing.

Biostar history? Oh, I know.

For example, I know a dealer that used to bankrupt his subcontractors by fulfilling school district contracts in a tri-state area with systems built-up from Biostar motherboards. Heard some wonderful stories.

In the past few years, however, they seem to be a different company. I've had no problems with anything that uses DDR2 or DDR3 memory.

I'm considering a Biostar Intel 837 (ultra low-power Sandy Bridge embedded processor) mini-ITX board w/ the free 8GB of G.SKILL - you're comments about the ripjaws make that easier, even though I hate the heatspreader. tnx