Intel Sandy Bridge Motherboards Roundup

By now you have already seen some performance numbers on the new Intel Sandy Bridge processors, and have even perhaps decided on what processor to go with. If you’re an enthusiast, then surely the Core i5-2500K or i7-2600K will do just fine. The “K” in the processor name being of utmost importance here since these CPUs have their cores unlocked, i.e. overclocking galore. So with that out of the way, you now have to decide what motherboard to buy.

Keep in mind that not all motherboards are of equal value and performance, not to mention various features and ease of use. Today I’ll be looking at 4 top-end motherboards from some the industry’s most respected manufacturers to see which one is the best amongst the initial crop.

In the interest of full disclosure, the reason why only have four motherboards and not 10 or 12 is because not all manufacturers could supply us their boards for review on time for the Sandy Bridge release, nor do we want to have two motherboards from the same manufacturer. This roundup simply features the P67 series of motherboards (due to the need for overclocking the CPU), and that too the high-end model from all the boards sent to us by a single manufacturer. So look out over the coming weeks as we review more LGA 1155 motherboards, especially the H67 boards to see a different side of the overclocking story.

In the meanwhile, grab a cup of coffee and read on ahead.