General

[quote=Burning]You can look back to the GIGABYTE GA-H81M-HD3 if you want to save some money. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128662

I'd consider the ASRock H97M Pro4 to be slightly, if not any bit more reliable than the GIGABYTE GA-H81M-HD3.[/quote]

Alright thanks for your replies, but I think im gonna go with the asrock as there are 2 extra ram slots and the chipset is a bit newer.

You can look back to the GIGABYTE GA-H81M-HD3 if you want to save some money. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128662

I'd consider the ASRock H97M Pro4 to be slightly, if not any bit more reliable than the GIGABYTE GA-H81M-HD3.

[quote=Burning]That motherboard is fine.

It's predecessor is fine too, but I'll admit it's not as pretty.

So if we're going with the assumption you are going to buy a new motherboard, what kind of features are you looking for? Form factor? Price?[/quote]

I'm not looking for a whole lot, just a long lasting mobo to fit my parts around the 70$ price range

[quote=burningfire52]Would you recommend this motherboard? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157512[/quote]

That motherboard is fine.

It's predecessor is fine too, but I'll admit it's not as pretty.

So if we're going with the assumption you are going to buy a new motherboard, what kind of features are you looking for? Form factor? Price?

[quote=Burning]As I've already mentioned, there's no loss of gaming performance when not using dual-channel RAM.

If you asking what I would do in your position, I'd probably buy an even better motherboard and case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128760&cm_re=gigabyte_b85-_-13-128-760-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128629&cm_re=gigabyte_b85-_-13-128-629-_-Product[/quote]

Would you recommend this motherboard? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157512

[quote=burningfire52]Ithe end price would be around $180 where if I went with his mobo the end price would be $140. So the question is should I spend $40+ on a new motherboard that isnt broken.[/quote]

As I've already mentioned, there's no loss of gaming performance when not using dual-channel RAM.

If you asking what I would do in your position, I'd probably buy an even better motherboard and case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128760&cm_re=gigabyte_b85-_-13-128-760-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128629&cm_re=gigabyte_b85-_-13-128-629-_-Product

[quote=Burning]There's nothing wrong with ASRock.

I'm hesitant to give an answer without knowing more about your current situation and intentions.

If your current computer is weaker or inadequate in some significant way such as that it's a laptop or a desktop with a comparatively weak processor, then your friend's deal is very good.

If your current computer has a desktop Sandy Bridge i5 or better, then your friend's offer becomes less interesting because of the diminished gain.

This depends on how much you are willing to spend at the end of this, how much value you place on a slightly broken motherboard, and if you are going to play video games on the integrated graphics.

Faster system memory is of benefit to integrated graphics performance in which case dual channel memory would be a dealbreaker. For the vast majority of home users, worrying about the capacity of the RAM is enough.

Retail processors come with their own heatsink. You should confirm with your friend if the original heatsink that was packaged with the processor is included in the offer.[/quote]

I currently have the gigabyte ga-78lmt-usb3 and the fx-4300 cpu which uses the am3+ socket. Since the i5 4440 cpu uses the lga1150 socket, it means i'll have to get myself a mobo that fits lga1150.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3Mnfcf this is what im using as of now. If I didn't need to buy a new mobo, then this deal would've been great. This PC is mainly for media and gaming, and the fx-4300 isnt good enough for most new games. I have to get myself a new pc case due to the fact my gpu wont fit into mines. If I went with buying my own mobo, the end price would be around $180 where if I went with his mobo the end price would be $140. So the question is should I spend $40+ on a new motherboard that isnt broken.

There's nothing wrong with ASRock.

[quote=burningfire52]He'll charge me 110$ if I buy the gigabyte and I keep my ram. What should I go with?[/quote]

I'm hesitant to give an answer without knowing more about your current situation and intentions.

If your current computer is weaker or inadequate in some significant way such as that it's a laptop or a desktop with a comparatively weak processor, then your friend's deal is very good.

If your current computer has a desktop Sandy Bridge i5 or better, then your friend's offer becomes less interesting because of the diminished gain.

[quote=burningfire52]Also I heard dual channel ram is better than single channel ram, and I'll have to do single channel if i went with the asrock. He'll charge me 110$ if I buy the gigabyte and I keep my ram. What should I go with?[/quote]

This depends on how much you are willing to spend at the end of this, how much value you place on a slightly broken motherboard, and if you are going to play video games on the integrated graphics.

Faster system memory is of benefit to integrated graphics performance in which case dual channel memory would be a dealbreaker. For the vast majority of home users, worrying about the capacity of the RAM is enough.

[quote=burningfire52]AIf I bought the gigabyte I would have to buy a new cpu cooler as well because I dont think it comes with one.[/quote]

Retail processors come with their own heatsink. You should confirm with your friend if the original heatsink that was packaged with the processor is included in the offer.

Gigabyte. Who uses Asrock?