Looking for the cheapest mobo+cpu to go with my current parts

[donoteatmikezila]

I currently already have a PSU, DDR3 memory, storage, and a GeForce 660 Ti. I just need a mobo+cpu. Performance doesn't need to be monumental. It will only be used for development and general desktop usage. Gaming done via Steam in-home streaming.

It's looking like the cheapest mobo I can get is around $80, does that sound about right? I see this, which is ~$80. I also see this and this, which are cheaper, but are Asrock, not Gigabyte. For a motherboard, I don't care about wifi or bluetooth, so long as the ethernet and audio works. Is there a current golden child for simplicity of setup in this price range?

I'd really like to avoid having to muck around with DSDT and a million voodoo kexts. I used to have a hackintosh back in the earlier days, but back then it was strongly advised to get a gigabyte board over any other. Is that still the case?

I don't care if it's ATX or mATX. mATX would be nice, since my PSU isn't modular and it'd save some space in my case.

For CPUs, it looks like an i3 is going to be the cheapest that still has a supported iGPU. Would it be otherwise okay to get a Pentium/Celeron instead, since I have a GPU already? If the only consequence is the iGPU isn't supported, then I can cut the price almost in half to get a Pentium instead. Looking at benchmarks it seems to be very near to the cheapest i3 in non-graphics performance.

So I come to you presenting my research and seeking advice. How low can I go?

 

[trs96]

I would go with this combo from Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1N83VM3633&cm_re=ga-b85m-ds3h-a-_-13-128-822-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117446

Should be around 205-208 dollars after rebate.

You could save a little by going with an I3-4160 with HD4400 but it is nice to have the
integrated HD4600 if you ever need it as a back up to boot into your system.

 

[donoteatmikezila]

Thanks a bunch. Will this board make for a simple/well supported install? Things like sleep/hibernate I don't really care about, but I'd love to get something as easy to setup and drama-free as possible. I'd be willing to expand my budget a bit if needed to get something that's near-native.

 

[trs96]

Thanks a bunch. Will this board make for a simple/well supported install? Things like sleep/hibernate I don't really care about, but I'd love to get something as easy to setup and drama-free as possible. I'd be willing to expand my budget a bit if needed to get something that's near-native.

I haven't used that particular board but one of our Mods has. See here:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...3-4330-msi-h97m-eco-intel-hd-4600-clover.html

 

[nobodynose]

Thanks a bunch. Will this board make for a simple/well supported install? Things like sleep/hibernate I don't really care about, but I'd love to get something as easy to setup and drama-free as possible. I'd be willing to expand my budget a bit if needed to get something that's near-native.

I actually didn't install on the GA-B85M-DS3H-A - I simply did a motherboard swap with the previous board, an MSI H97M-ECO. The only change I had to make in the configuration was to remove the Realtek LAN driver and install the Intel driver - the installation booted perfectly with no other changes! The only problem we've had with the B85M-DS3H-A is it sometimes fails to wake from sleep. I suspect that's something that can be fixed in the Clover config.plist, I just haven't put in the time & effort to track down the problem.