Trying to choose the best LGA 1155 motherboard is difficult, but it can really make a huge difference in your build quality.
When weighing the options, what really matters?
Our experts have looked through the different options, tested them, read reviews, and looked into the problems for many, many motherboards that are compatible with LGA 1155.
The results? We suggest these options:
| Best LGA 1155 Motherboard Options | Key Features |
| DELL OptiPlex 990 DT |
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| H61 LGA 1155 |
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| New P8H61-M LX3 PLUS R2.0 |
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Contents
Product Reviews
1. DELL OptiPlex 990 DT desktop motherboard
- Packs a punch
- Great customer service
- Smaller form factor
- Great compatibility
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Overall Review:
This is a smaller LGA 1155 motherboard that packs a lot of punch. It runs at 3.4 GHz, which is much faster than other counterparts. This comes with little noise and heat, so there is no worry about degradation.
Users who have had this motherboard for a long time haven’t reported any degradation or problems with performance over time. Dell is known to create products that have some degradation, but that isn’t a worry here. Of course, Dell also offers some great support if you need it.
If you have a ton of parts from other builds and you are worried about compatibility, Dell products are known to be extremely versatile and easy to use with components from other manufacturers.
While the design of this board is somewhat boring, there are a few things that will impress. It is a more narrow board, which can be hard to find for some people. The narrowness makes it easy to stack motherboards if that is something you need.
Finally, this is a quiet motherboard that won’t create much, if any noise.
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Who Is This For?
The DELL OptiPlex 990 DT is a great option for those who will use their computers for business or school work. This isn’t a great option for gamers, but it will be more than enough for the common user.
2. H61 LGA 1155 Motherboard
- Extremely consistent performance
- Integrated graphics support
- Easy CPU temperature monitoring
- Somewhat limited RAM speed
- Versatile
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Overall Review
Of all of the motherboards that we reviewed, this one has some of the best reviews because it has such a wide range of features at a disarmingly low price.
The audio quality is quite good and you will be able to edit content as well as listen to music in games at higher levels. There is very little warping or hollowing, which audiophiles will love.
The graphics are quite good as well, with minimal glutting and shuttering. Gamers will be able to push their systems and still expect some good graphics. For more, there is room for some RAM expansion.
This motherboard can also be adjusted to different speeds to maximize your computer for your needs, which is especially helpful in many gaming situations. It supports dual-band memory channel DDR3, SATA 3.0, and USB 3.0 for data transferring, making it an option in MPG and more.
This motherboard also supports different features that aren’t standard on some motherboards on the list, including faster network connections and higher data transfer rates. This motherboard will give you an overall good performance without breaking the bank. Furthermore, it is a good, safe option.
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Who Is This For?
The quality of the graphics and the audio make it an instant choice for gamers of all levels. In particular, the ease of use makes it a great choice for beginners and those who don’t want a “fussy” motherboard where you will spend hours figuring out the settings.
3. New P8H61-M LX3 PLUS R2.0 Desktop Motherboard
- External Port: for Audio interface/for VGA interface/for HDMI HD port/network card/USB interface
- Graphics Card Slot: PCI-E 3.0 16X graphics card slot
- Integrated Chip: Graphics card/sound card/network card
- Size: 17x19cm/6.6×7.4in
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Overall Review
If you are the type of person who likes to “play” with your motherboard and try new things, this is going to be a good choice because of how sturdy it is. Many of the components are made out of materials that far exceed the price range.
The micro size is quite handy and allows for enough functionality without being too large or unwieldy. The layout is surprisingly simple and easy to navigate, but you will need to do some planning before you are able to actually build onto the motherboard. Take your time.
Finally, this motherboard is simply one of the best deals for the money. It works with just about every component, so if you are trying to make a “mix and match” rig, you will be hard-pressed to find a motherboard that is this versatile.
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Who Is This For?
This is a great option for anyone who is looking for a replacement for a motherboard, as it is compatible with many other components. It is probably better for someone who has had some experience in replacing motherboards as there isn’t as much customer support for this motherboard.
4. ASUS P8H77-V LGA 1155 Intel Motherboard
- Graphics cards are much better with this motherboard
- Great for home theater usage
- Some Wi-Fi problems
- Great interface for settings
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Overall Review
For a newcomer, there is almost nothing better than the customer support from ASUS. The setup and BIOS are so easy to navigate that with just the manual and maybe a few Google searches, this is accessible to almost anyone. There is plenty of room for expansions and upgrades, which means this motherboard will grow with you.
ASUS also has some fantastic customer service, and there have been many reports of people getting help with everything they want to do.
This motherboard also offers increased GPU performance and audio quality, which can make the gaming experience that much better. There are also some settings that are standard that make this great for standard usage and for gaming.
For audiophiles, the surround audio for home theater systems and streaming is clutch.
You should note that there are some advanced features here and there that will require a bit of research, but it isn’t impossible for newcomers. In fact, this is a great device to learn on because the construction is so high quality.
Finally, the smart technology allows you to increase performance and make such small changes that have huge impacts, especially for those who are going to game or use the motherboard for content creation.
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Who Is This For?
If you are looking for a lower-priced option for your LGA 1155 motherboard, this is going to be a great option for you. If this is your first time building a computer, this is also a great option. You can trust ASUS to be leading the pack when it comes to tech and customer support.
Best LGA 1155 Motherboard Buying Guide
The motherboard is the communication hub of your computer, where almost every element and external device goes to connect and send data. As such, it is important to get the right motherboard the first time. Many components are delicate and cannot be switched all the time.
Motherboards use sockets to connect with the CPU. When buying your motherboard, you will need to look at what socket it is compatible with – for example, the LGA 1155 socket.
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What Is LGA 1155?
The LGA 1155 is a CPU socket that may also be called the Socket H2. It is made for Intel using both the Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge microarchitecture. It was introduced in the 2nd generation of Intel’s core processors.
LGA stands for “Land Grid Array.” It is a type of socket design that uses pins on the socket rather than those using them on an integrated circuit. This came as an alternative for Ball Grid Array and Pin Grid Array and is generally preferred by many people, including gamings.
What Do We Look For In The Best LGA 1155 Motherboard?
When our experts looked through the different LGA 1155 motherboards, we looked for three key things:
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Compatibility
These sockets were made to match with Intel 2nd and 3rd generation processors, which include the Core i5 and Core i7. Therefore, you need to find motherboards that are compatible with these cores.
These products are either for 2nd Gen, 3rd Gen, or both. If you want to buy a motherboard for this socket, you will need to find motherboards that are also compatible with that. Otherwise, there will be compatibility issues and you could end up shocking out your motherboard and your CPU.
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Speed
The best motherboards should be high-speed. Without a high-speed motherboard, most rigs won’t be able to do much of anything. You want to have faster Ethernet connections for data transfers. Some will also have wi-fi.
Fast connections will also allow you to overclock the system to take your processor to its limits and give it a good performance.
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Overclocking Potential
Most users are looking for a motherboard for gaming and they want something that can overclock. Of course, you know that this is extremely dangerous for the CPU and if you are going to overclock, you need to be careful. These motherboards can handle various levels of overclocking to improve performance.
Conclusion
When purchasing an LGA 1155 motherboard, there are a few different names that you don’t always see on lists.
Thankfully, they are largely pretty great motherboards that you will get some good performance out of: so don’t be afraid to go with names that you don’t know.
Our experts looked at the different options and determined that these are some of the best on the market.
If you are looking for the best of the best, we can’t help but to suggest the ASUS P8H77-V LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard. However, if you are looking to replace your existing motherboard, you may want to consider the New P8H61-M LX3 PLUS R2.0 Desktop Motherboard H61 Socket LGA 1155 I3 I5 I7 DDR3 16G UATX UEFI BIOS Mainboard.
