Whats a Good, Affordable Motherboard for i5?

ruzzi said:

As I said before a reviewer of that Asrock mb couldn't install updates via USB. The only way he was able to was via an optical drive. And I'm not in the budget to buy an optical drive.

Could be the reviewer you refer to had problems, I was able to install the LAN driver via USB from the BIOS:

Easy Driver Installer

For users that don’t have an optical disk drive to install the drivers from our support CD, Easy Driver Installer is a handy tool in the UEFI that installs the LAN driver to your system via an USB storage device, then downloads and installs the other required drivers automatically through the internet. Completely no CD or optical disk drive required!

I am not trying to defend the ASRock board, just saying it does a good job.........If I had been buying the components for my own build I would have went with an upper-end board from ASUS.......

Thanks kipper. I'm leaving towards getting this Asus mb:

ASUS Z170-K LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gbs USB 3.1 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

But I need to buy a case for it. I'm looking for an ATX mid-tower for it. I need one roomy enough for an adequate PSU. If you can suggest a few cases I'd appreciate it.

PC maximum has just put out their selections on mid towers............you might have a look here to get some ideas....

The best ATX mid-tower PC cases | PC Gamer

These inexpensive chassis with included power supplies will not do you justice.........for the most part the power supplies are very low end.....

IMHO the power supply is the most important component in any build.......without clean stable power your component's lifespan becomes shortened and performance is degraded overall.....

as for the cases you have listed......if you like any one of them that is all that counts as long as they will house your components.......

I have built a few of my systems over the years that actually just sat on the motherboard box with the power supply sitting next to it until I found my perfect case of that build........

Keep in mind that the size of the chassis can also restrict airflow so I would look for one that has the best fan positions and cable management capabilities to keep the cables out of the way for cooling........as much as possible anyways.....

Hope this gives you some food for thought while planning out your system.....

Hi Kipper. I'm very interested in buying a case I linked below. My only concern before I buy is, does it have USB ports in the front and back? I can't tell from the pics. If you can do me the small favor and check this, I'd hugely appreciate it. Thanks man!

COOLER MASTER HAF series RC-912-KKN1 Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Newegg.com

As Mike and Steve say above.........so your only question is.....can you live with the USB options of this chassis.......?

You could also purchase one of the 5.25" slide in adapters to add additional USB ports to the front of the case.......

Get an adapter housing like this from NewEgg to put the below adapter in.........

Like this one which is for 3.5" (floppy opening) NewEgg.