Z68 vs z77 gaming rig

[Phragg]

Hello,
Currently running a P8Z68V-LX MoBo w/ i7 2600k on a Hyper212+ cooling solution. My intentions are to get the most I can out of this chip (GTX480 card) for gaming. I have a P8Z77V-LX just sitting here doing nothing - is it worth swapping everything out? Will I notice any more overclock headroom? Will it run cooler? As far as I know, and please correct me if I am wrong - the Z77 only adds PCI 3.0 for Ivy Bridge chips. I do not have any PCI 3.0 devices nor do I plan on getting any, anytime soon. Thank you for your time. Love this forum; you all rock.

 

[mouse24]

Pretty much no real improvement in speed going from an i7 to an ivy i7.

The biggest increase in performance is upgrading your graphics card but the 480 is still a very strong gpu, maybe get another to SLi down the road?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Will I notice any more overclock headroom?

Probably not. Same power phase design on both boards. (More phases would possibly mean higher, more stable OC's, but it's the same on both)

Also, that's for CPU's anyway. GPU OC'ing is NEVER dependent on the mobo.

Will it run cooler?

Almost definitely not, but it wouldn't run warmer either. Once again, GPU temp would NEVER be affected by the mobo.

As far as I know, and please correct me if I am wrong - the Z77 only adds PCI 3.0 for Ivy Bridge chips.

That's correct, although I think the P8Z68-V LX can too. (My P8Z68-V LE can)

I would just sell the the P8Z77-V LX. No real reason to change to that board.

 

[Phragg]

Best answer selected by Phragg.

 

[Phragg]

Awesome, thank you for your answer. That being said, anyone want to buy this z77? :lol: