What sort of black magic advertising does ASUS have?

[DarkSable]

So... I'm in awe of the sorcerers in ASUS's PR department.

Are there invisible ads telling people to buy the Sabertooth?

The most common mistake I see people doing in new gaming builds, besides buying an i7, is buying a Sabertooth.

It's a mid-range board with "thermal armor" and a heavy price tag - and all the thermal armor does it make it hotter.

Basically what I'm asking is this: Why do people think the Sabertooth is so good that everyone picks it?

(For that matter, why do people spend as much as they can on the processor, and nothing on the graphics card? Wouldn't common sense tell you to at LEAST spend equal amounts on both?)

 

[Nko]

Im making my first build on a computer. with this features
Processor: Core i5-3570K
Ram : G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB DDR3 1600
video . nvidia gygabyte gtx 670
Hard disk: barracuda 3 Tb Seagate
Mobo: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel
CPU cooler : COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
Shell: Cooler Master Haf XM ATX Mid tower
SSD: Intel Intel 330 Series SSDSC2CT240A3K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC
Power supply: SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W ATX12V

Can you tell me a better mobo without passing 400 dollars that can match perfectly with the components above ? Specially a reliabe one that doesnt give errors or problems for example with heat as u said . I thought ont the sabertooh because i read a lot of reviews about it.
Thank you very much

 

[DarkSable]

Im making my first build on a computer. with this features
Processor: Core i5-3570K
Ram : G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB DDR3 1600
video . nvidia gygabyte gtx 670
Hard disk: barracuda 3 Tb Seagate
Mobo: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel
CPU cooler : COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
Shell: Cooler Master Haf XM ATX Mid tower
SSD: Intel Intel 330 Series SSDSC2CT240A3K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC
Power supply: SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W ATX12V

Can you tell me a better mobo without passing 400 dollars that can match perfectly with the components above ? Specially a reliabe one that doesnt give errors or problems for example with heat as u said . I thought ont the sabertooh because i read a lot of reviews about it.
Thank you very much

Yep. Go with a AsRock Extreme 4. That's way more than plenty to service what you're putting into the rig - and it's way, way cheaper.

It has less fancy features than the sabertooth, but it's better at overclocking - provided that you do it manually like you're supposed to. (Never use an easy-button or software to overclock.)

EDIT: You can also drop down to 8GB of ram without any issue - I can run photoshop, bf3, and 50 tabs in chrome all at once without having to worry about ram, and that's without a page file.

 

[quilciri]

Yep. Go with a AsRock Extreme 4. That's way more than plenty to service what you're putting into the rig - and it's way, way cheaper.

It has less fancy features than the sabertooth, but it's better at overclocking - provided that you do it manually like you're supposed to. (Never use an easy-button or software to overclock.)

EDIT: You can also drop down to 8GB of ram without any issue - I can run photoshop, bf3, and 50 tabs in chrome all at once without having to worry about ram, and that's without a page file.

^+1. That's all I have to say about that.

maybe I'll say one thing....

The Sabertooth board looks cool. That will always get you a certain aount of sales. The Asus name, and the fact that the board isn't utter crap took it the rest of the way, imo.

one more thing...

I hope every enthusiast is praying to whatever God or piece of lint he/she worships that Asus doesn't succeed in buying Asrock back, if the rumors are indeed true.

 

[DarkSable]

Really? Personally I don't like the way it looks - I much prefer the steampunk-esque look of AsRock boards. Didn't think about the Asus brand name, but why not a normal Asus board?

(And I haven't heard those rumors. Which are these?)

 

[quilciri]

http://semiaccurate.com/2012/09/28/asus-makes-an-offer-to-buy-asrock/
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/asus-makes-an-offer-to-buy-asrock/

 

[Nko]

Thank you very much for the advice , yeah def the asrock extreme 4 is one of the best efficiency / price mobos. As i read yeah 8 gb ram would be enough as 16 doesnt give a real advange . My build is specially for( hardcore) gaming so i guess 8 would be more than enough right? Can you suggest me a better cpu cooler? or that one is more than enough. Whar about the 3 tb hard drive , i heard seagate has a lot of problems maybe a western digital would be better or a hitachi one? or if the high capacity ones have more problems i should drop to a 2 tb reliable one ? in that case a samsung should be awesome right?

Yep. Go with a AsRock Extreme 4. That's way more than plenty to service what you're putting into the rig - and it's way, way cheaper.

It has less fancy features than the sabertooth, but it's better at overclocking - provided that you do it manually like you're supposed to. (Never use an easy-button or software to overclock.)

EDIT: You can also drop down to 8GB of ram without any issue - I can run photoshop, bf3, and 50 tabs in chrome all at once without having to worry about ram, and that's without a page file.

 

[DarkSable]

Oh dear. That's rather worrisome, quilciri. I do hope those are just rumours...

NKO: Yeah, 8GB of ram is more than enough except for professional video editing and rendering.

For the cpu cooler, if you want slightly better, get an aftermarket fan, or the Hyper 212 Evo. Either will get you to 4.4 GHz or so with ease.

As for the hard drive, seagate used to be that way, but it's a wash between them and WD. I'm fairly sure hitachi is just a rebranded seagate anyways. (Or a rebranded WD... one of the two.)

 

[Nko]

Then im going for the hyper 212 evo unless you sugest me another one better. For the hard drive then should i stick with samsung 2 tb? better than the ones you said , or you have a special one (between those 3) Im with you bro , hope asrock doesnt accept that tricky move

Oh dear. That's rather worrisome, quilciri. I do hope those are just rumours...

NKO: Yeah, 8GB of ram is more than enough except for professional video editing and rendering.

For the cpu cooler, if you want slightly better, get an aftermarket fan, or the Hyper 212 Evo. Either will get you to 4.4 GHz or so with ease.

As for the hard drive, seagate used to be that way, but it's a wash between them and WD. I'm fairly sure hitachi is just a rebranded seagate anyways. (Or a rebranded WD... one of the two.)

 

[DarkSable]

Yup. The EVO is a great cooler - I myself have a 212 plus with a different fan, which is essentially what the EVO is, and it works mightly fine.

Most hard drives are made the same - there's not much difference between 7200 rpm hard drives. That being said, I like western digital for their warranties, but that's just me.

 

[Nko]

Thank you very much for helping me. ONe last thing if i get a 1 tb samsung should be better to get a ssd 240 gb samsung too? or works the same if i keep the intel one ?

Yup. The EVO is a great cooler - I myself have a 212 plus with a different fan, which is essentially what the EVO is, and it works mightly fine.

Most hard drives are made the same - there's not much difference between 7200 rpm hard drives. That being said, I like western digital for their warranties, but that's just me.

 

[DarkSable]

I'd get a 128GB Samsung 830 or 840 pro. Don't buy the non-pro 840.

 

[Orlean]

Just to be clear from the start I got my Sabertooth for $190 with the MC combo deal. That being said from personal experience the Sabertooth doesn't run hot at all I haven't any problems with it. Actually if you read the reviews the baseline performance was below average but the overclocking performance was impressive to most reviewer's. That being said the reason for my purchase was the 5 year warranty and the Asus quality and reliability I have been accustomed too.

 

[Nko]

Do you think the Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW240A3K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III is better than the 830 or 840 pro samsung ? is just 10 $ more . If not then whats in your opinion the best in terms of price/performance . im likely to go for the 840 pro.

I'd get a 128GB Samsung 830 or 840 pro. Don't buy the non-pro 840.

 

[DarkSable]

Orlean, what all do you have overclocked?

I don't deny that it's a decent motherboard; it's Asus... but any other Asus motherboard at a similar price point seems like a much better product.

Also, Nko? No. The 840 pro is by far the fastest out there. It is NOT the best for price to performance, however - that would be an OCZ Vertex 4.

 

[paulemannsen]

840 pro is a fair bit faster. the intel is a tiny bit more reliable.

 

[Orlean]

Orlean, what all do you have overclocked?

I don't deny that it's a decent motherboard; it's Asus... but any other Asus motherboard at a similar price point seems like a much better product.

Also, Nko? No. The 840 pro is by far the fastest out there. It is NOT the best for price to performance, however - that would be an OCZ Vertex 4.

As per my Sig I have my CPU overclocked to 4.2ghz and I have my 7870 overclocked. Although I was looking at the Sabertooth but since it was out of my $200 budget I was also looking at the P8Z77-V PRO when I found out about the $50 discount with combo deal I decided to go with the Sabertooth - the deciding factor was obviously price, me being able to get a $250 board(at the time of release) for the same price as a V-Pro and also warranty is important to me in this case 5 years v 3 years offered by the other options.

 

[DarkSable]

That makes sense, though an evo can get most 3570k's to about 4.4-4.5 without trouble on way cheaper motherboards as well.

I can understand the appeal, especially with the warranty, if it's at a significant discount; I just don't understand why one would buy it full price when compared to the similarly priced motherboards ASUS makes that outstrip it by far.

 

[Orlean]

That makes sense, though an evo can get most 3570k's to about 4.4-4.5 without trouble on way cheaper motherboards as well.

I can understand the appeal, especially with the warranty, if it's at a significant discount; I just don't understand why one would buy it full price when compared to the similarly priced motherboards ASUS makes that outstrip it by far.

True some people are able to get good temps with Evos at those higher clocks, as for me the tempertures I reach at that clock speed are far to high for my liking.

As far as similarly priced motherboard, some people just don't have use for the features that are offered it just really depends on the person and there appeals like for me for example I had no use for the WiFi, Bluetooth and Thunderbolt.

 

[DarkSable]

Fair enough. I dunno; comes down to personal taste at that point, I suppose. I just don't understand buying the board normally when you could either have a better board or an equivalent one for cheaper.

 

[Nko]

If i buy the 2x 8 gb ripjaws ram but just put 1 to my computer will it work fine or i always have to put it in pairs ? Meaning i have to buy the 2 x 4 gb ones.

Yep. Go with a AsRock Extreme 4. That's way more than plenty to service what you're putting into the rig - and it's way, way cheaper.

It has less fancy features than the sabertooth, but it's better at overclocking - provided that you do it manually like you're supposed to. (Never use an easy-button or software to overclock.)

EDIT: You can also drop down to 8GB of ram without any issue - I can run photoshop, bf3, and 50 tabs in chrome all at once without having to worry about ram, and that's without a page file.

 

[DarkSable]

You can put one in your computer, but your RAM will be faster if it runs in pairs - i.e. there's a significant speed difference favoring 2x4GB.