I'm in the market for a desktop motherboard (preferably ATX) that functions well with Intel i7-3770 Ivy Bridge processor at 3.4 GHz with LGA1155 socket. That processor is very fast, and it should handle all my tasks. My question is about the type of motherboard chipset I should choose to accompany it.
I plan to use my rig for compiling and developing Debian package and other OS components, web development, occasional Android apps, chroots, VMs, FlightGear, other gaming but nothing serious, and heavy multitasking, all on Ubuntu. I do NOT plan to overclock, and I never will, so that's not a cause of concern for me.
That said, I'm down to three chipset choices:
Intel H77
Intel Z68
Intel Z77
I'm planning to go for H77 since I don't need any of the new features in Z77. I don't plan to use a second GPU and I will never overclock my CPU/GPU.
My question is, will H77 based MoBos handle all my tasks well? Intel advertises that chipset as "everyday computing" but other sites say it's base functionality is the same as Z77. Intel rather advertises Z77 for "serious multitaskers, hardcore gamers and overclocking enthusiasts". But the problem with all Z77 motherboards I've seen is, they're way too expensive and their main feature seems to be overclocking, which won't be useful to me.
Will I lose any raw CPU/GPU performance or HDD R/w with the H77 when comparing it to a Z77? Will heat, etc be an issue too? From what I've seen, Z77 motherboards have larger heat sinks when compared to H77 ones. Will that be an issue too, if I go with an H77 motherboard with no heat sinks for the chipset? The CPU will have a fan in both cases, of course.
tl;dr
When it comes to CPU/GPU performance and HDD r/w, is the Intel H77 chipset slower than the Z77? I don't care about overclocking or multiple GPUs, and for the processor, I'm set on Ivy Bridge i7-3770.
