Advice for a potential new Intel (i7) assembly? (anyone use the ASUS P8Z68-V?)

[Mordecai Walfish]

Hello, I recently had an AMD motherboard (ASRock 870 Extreme 3) go south on me after about a year, and was in the process of getting recommendations from folks on a good replacement for that board (see thread here: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=167251)

So looking at the price of the motherboard I was considering getting (~$135 ASUS M5A99X EVO AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 A...) I got to thinking that for a little more invested above that I could get an i7-2600k and a decently priced motherboard.

I found this ASUS P8Z68-V LX for ~$115: ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s...

reviews seem okay for it I was just wondering what the consensus was around here?


Thanks for your time!
-Mordecai

[erocker]

It's not a motherboard I would consider overclocking on too much due to its lack of power componentry but it seems to have all the features one needs.

[FreedomEclipse]

at this moment in time.... Unless that Z68 board was really really insanely dirty cheap. Id look at getting a Z77 board instead.

Obviously if youre into overclocking then that board would probably hold you back abit as its the diet coke of the Asus Z68 boards.

[Mordecai Walfish]

Do you think a 2600k could hit ~4.20ghz reasonably on that MOBO? That's currently my goal with a 6 fan push-pull heavy airflow solution, but I can step that up to a small liquid cooling solution if necessary I guess..

Man its going to be nice having an intel system again ^_^ I'm getting really excited for this =)

It was power issues while using very slight overclocks that killed the old AMD system though, I believe. If there is a better motherboard anyone wants to recommend thats hopefully in the same ~$115-135 range, with a more appropriate power design for my goal, please just mention the model name even I'll look them up.

Thanks!

[erocker]

Originally Posted by Mordecai Walfish

Do you think a 2600k could hit ~4.20ghz reasonably on that MOBO?

As long as you don't need a lot of voltage to do it. I would definitely consider looking at other options for a motherboard.

[Mordecai Walfish]

Thank you for the advice, erocker & FreedomEclipse.

I am currently looking at this Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H: GIGABYTE GA-Z77-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6...

I know next to nothing about intel mobos currently because of using AMD for the past 7 years, so the recommend for the Z77 is definitely appreciated there, I see that it is available for quite similar prices. That board is $120, and I would be happy with just say perhaps clocking it to a solid 3.8 - 4.0 ghz constant with no turbocore bs. Would that be a reasonable sight to set for this particular Gigabyte board?

Thanks again guys!

EDIT: I also appreciate that this mobo comes with a VIA onboard sound solution instead of Realtek, as their hardware/drivers have given me problems in the past. Is VIA at least comparable to Realtek's modern on-board solutions? Not going to have the $$ for a proper audio card for a little bit after getting the 2600k, heh

[cadaveca]

Buy the Z77-UD3H.

[Mordecai Walfish]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

Buy the Z77-UD3H.

thats a bit out of the price range I was hoping for the mobo. And besides that I dont need stuff on there like 3 pci-e slots and all that jazz.

ive no doubt its a better motherboard.. but would anyone care to comment on the pros/cons of the standard Z77-D3H that I linked above for my intended setup? (~4ghz oc'd from 3.8 with no turbo-boost with a i7-2600k)

-------------------------

EDIT: okay, after a long time spent deliberating and checking different models, I'm either going with the Gigabyte Z77-UD3H (found for $150 shipped, here: http://www.neutronusa.com/prod.cfm/1372272/glb) or the MSI Z77A-G45 (for $143 shipped, found here: MSI Z77A-G45 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s US...)

Between those two what is the consensus? I'm ordering tonight so it's coming down to these two.

Thanks again for the help guys!

[micropage7]

why dont you try asrock z77 series

[JrRacinFan]

I would try to stay away from MSI stuff totally altogether. Personally, I absolutely love my 2 Asrock boards and they run very very well.
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI S...

EDIT:
Do you need hyperthreading?


I'm eye-ing the 2500k z68x-ud3h, if you have a microcenter near you. http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/...6f#/cde49d6f/1

[brandonwh64]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

Buy the Z77-UD3H.

My vote would be this too!

[Mordecai Walfish]

I delayed my hastiness in ordering last night so I could research a bit more what every company was bringing to the table. My last board was an ASRock and shat out after a year so I've been kinda hesitant, but I *will* try one of their boards again in the future, as everything except the voltage and power aspects of that board were rock solid.


I ended up going with the UD3H and i5-3570k for this build.

I will also be upgrading from a dual 8800GT SLI platform (using HyperSLI!), to a single GTX480 (for $209 from EVGA i could not pass this up).


The input here has been invaluable in directing me towards quality products in my price range, thanks to everyone who chimed in!
-Mordecai