Which motherboard given is better?

1. Asus P8Z68-V LX Intel Z68 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard LucidLogix Virtu and Intel Smart Response Technology & 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, 2x SATA-III RAID,2 3 PCIe Gen2, 2 PCIe X1 & 2 3CI


2. GigaByte GA-Z68A-D3-B3 Intel Z68 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ Intel Smart Response Technology & 7.1 Dolby Home Theater Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, 2x SATA-III RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, 3 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI


3. MSI Z68A-G43 (B3) Intel Z68 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ Lucid Virtu + Intel Smart Response Technology, OC Genie II, Winki 3 & 7.1 Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, SATA-III RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe & 2 PCIe X2

Asus P8Z68-V LX Intel Z68 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard LucidLogix Virtu and Intel Smart Response Technology & 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, 2x SATA-III RAID,2 3 PCIe Gen2, 2 PCIe X1 & 2 3CI

In bencmark performance P8Z68 vs P867 win and losses, all support Xfire and Sli, and price P8P67 lower price than P8z68, what different .. Ussualy Z68 good for encoding (workstation NLE) + Gaming and P67 for game + OC

According to intel.com z68 belongs to their mainstream series and p67 meant for performance series. If you are using high end graphics card then p67 whoul be better, n i would suggest you the MSI P67A-GD55 its a good board for that money.

IF you plan to OC then NONE of them. OC - ASUS Pro or above, Gigabyte UD5/UD7 with Virtu support GA-Z68XP-UD5. The problem, there's a good correlation to low Phase = high vCore; High vCore = High temps; High temps = CPU reduced lifespan.

If you don't plan to OC then it doesn't matter, pick a MOBO the looks good to you and has the options needed.

My favorite (2) Z68 for the $ and low vCore: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO or Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD5.

Q - What's your target OC? {if any}
Q - What's the purpose/use of the build?
Q - What's your budget?

All Z68 offer RST, and allow for OC, but not all offer Virtu.

If you're not OC: 1. you don't need any 'K' CPU {I get the cost is negligible and the option is open}, 2. the packaged 'box' version includes a stock HSF so definitely a 'watercooler' is 100% waste.

Define:
1. What games?
2. Does the $1,000 include costs of the Case, OS, Keyboad, etc.


Type Price Description Link
CPU 219 Intel Core i5-2500K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115072
MOBO 200 ASUS P8Z68-V PRO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131730
GPU 185 EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1461-KR GeForce GTX 560 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130661
RAM 55 Mushkin Blackline 8GB DDR3 1600 Model 996988 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820226184
SSD 200 OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 120GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227706
HDD 60 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152185
PSU 100 CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650M http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139031
ODD 22 ASUS 24X DVDR - Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135204

1041


CASE 88 CM RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119216
OS 140 Windows 7 Pro SP1 64-bit - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116992
HDD 60 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB (RAID 1 2x1TB) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152185

288


HSF Options:
HSF 58 Thermaltake Frio http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835106150
HSF 126 CORSAIR H100 Liquid CPU Cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835181017

That's a CyberPower or IBuyPower build. You are much better off NOT using a PCI WiFi and instead look at Powerline unless you're 'borrowing' someone's WiFi; WiFi has way too much latency {ping times} and offers an unstable bandwidth.

Powerline -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sue1Zvmh8JA

With one of those companies unless it lists a Name the products are very cheap and generic. You can know what you're getting IF it either states the EXACT product or you contact them over email/chat/phone. Meaning what you see isn't what you get.

Case - the 'AZZA Orion' is cheap, no cable management...etc.
HSF - Asetek 510LC is an OEM version of a Corsair H50 ; it's fine
MOBO - ASUS P8Z68-V LX is a very basic Z68 and poor for OC > 3.8GHz~4.0GHz, but it works. It's not an SLI and x8/x4 is bad for CF.
RAM - don't 4x2GB, get 2x4GB DDR3 1600 MHz
HDD - 'SATA-III 6.0Gb/s' is the Interface and has zip to do with the HDD speed. Look for a cheaper ''SATA-II 3.0Gb/s' 1TB with 7200 RPM; same speed.

OS - I assume it's 64-bit to support >4GB of RAM

GPU - an HD 6850 is going to be dog slow playing Crysis. See -> http://www.anandtech.com/show/3987 [...] e-market/8 the GTX 560 is slow enough -> http://www.guru3d.com/article/gefo [...] -review/14

Rather than reinventing the wheel you might want to look at this post -> http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2972.html The builds are focused on Gaming over quality.

It's tough for me to 'push' quantity over quality. IMO Build it yourself! You'll have a lot more satisfaction in the process. If my, at the time, 10 year old daughter could build then so can you.

Case's are personal, and IF you get a 'good' one then your can reuse it later. The CM HAF 912 at least has cable management.

Otherwise the following is the 'cheapest' my integrity allows. It will last and offers solid OC plus expansion: RST, SLI/CF, etc. A MOBO it's the core of the build. The following is all from reputable companies and the warranty period is the same or longer than CB.

Type Price Description Link
CPU 219 Intel Core i5-2500K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115072
MOBO 200 ASUS P8Z68-V PRO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131730
GPU 185 EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1461-KR GeForce GTX 560 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130661
RAM 55 Mushkin Blackline 8GB DDR3 1600 Model 996988 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820226184
CASE 88 CM RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119216
HDD 60 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152185
PSU 100 CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650M http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139031
ODD 22 ASUS 24X DVDR - Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135204
OS 100 Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116986
HSF 58 Thermaltake Frio http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835106150
1087

No OC 'now' then save $58 on the Thermaltake Frio. When you need more performance then add a second GTX 560 in SLI.

GPU Option:
GPU 310 {+115} EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130593 ; LIFETIME WARRANTY