Gaming motherboard plus

[jwalker150]

I am looking at getting a iCore 7 2600k processor.

Have been evaluating motherboards and find a lot of good ones. Leaning towards ASUS.

Dilemma: I want the Z68 chipset. From what I can tell though, I can not find any that do PCIe x16 x16. If I do 3-way SLI I can do x8 x16 x16. That can work but was leaning towards doing GTX 580 video cards. Have even thought of getting a 590 now and one down the road. oth are way expensive to do 3-way SLI. 2 is going to be pricy enough.

Again I just want to find the best board that is going to give me the most bang from PCIe to chipset, ram capability etc... just as all of you are.

Is there a z68 board that can do x16 x16? If there is please tell me. I just have not found it yet.

 

[jaquith]

Welcome to Tom's Forum!

Naively both the P67 & Z68 + Sandy Bridge are 16 PCIe lanes; this is a CPU limitation. Now there are P67 & Z68 MOBO's that can do x16/x16 with the aide of an NF200 added chipset.

My choice are:
NF200:
3-WAY + PhysX P8P67 WS REVOLUTION ; perfect PCIe spacing and great OC
3-WAY - PhysX GA-P67A-UD7-B3 or GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 ; IMO for gaming not worth the $90 premium for the Z68
Native:
2-WAY + PhysX GA-Z68XP-UD5 or ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.1) or ASUS P8Z68-V PRO

You might want to wait for the X79/SB-E/LGA 2011 with 32-lanes of the NEW PCIe 3.0 which effectively quadruples the current P67/Z68/SB bandwidth coming in November (~3 months). The estimated costs for the SB-E 6-cores are $500+ limited unlock to $1,000 full unlock CPU Multiplier, and there will be a 4-core version for ~$300. See -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_2011

 

[jwalker150]

That does look very interesting. Moore's Law still at work I see.

 

[jaquith]

Some reading -> http://www.techpowerup.com/149464/Core-i7-3960X-About-47-Faster-On-Average-Than-Core-i7-990X-Intel.html

Original article (use Google Translate or Chrome) -> http://www.donanimhaber.com/islemci/haberleri/Ozel-Haber-intelin-en-hizli-islemcisi-Core-i73960Xin-ilk-test-sonuclari.htm

 

[clarkjd]

For strictly gaming use, the I5-2500k is within 2-3% of the I7-2600k performance and is $100 cheaper.

 

[jaquith]

^+1 Agreed.

 

[jwalker150]

@Clarkjd: Thank you very much. It is appreciated. I am decided though that unless I wait as @jaquith suggested, I will get the 2600k. It is what want and meets what I am looking for.

 

[jaquith]

I'm waiting...don't even have to think about it