Which motherboard is better and why?

[Chirality]

This http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157269 which just came out not to long ago, seems to be a nice buy.

VS.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128499

I'm trying to pick a great mobo, and I'm stuck.

 

[farrengottu]

unless your planning on a tripple or quad video card setup id say both are wayyyyyy overkill. if you do want tripple there are cheaper options that are just as good if you want quad sli/crossfire then the gigabyte is the only option of the two.

 

[farrengottu]

id like to know what you plan on plugging into it and using it for.

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

tough call,
asrock has optical audio output which is nice if you going to a home theater system. Also has nf200 bridge which is helpful if your going to load up with 3+ gpu or hardware raid systems.

Gigabyte advertises usb on/off which lets you charge your usb devices even when the cpu is off. plus has more usb ports.

It would seem to me that asrock is more power while the gigabyte is more convenient. Going off the info on Neweggs website my money would go to the gigabyte board.

 

[jaquith]

EASY CALL. GA-Z68X-UD7-B3

Assuming you will OC the vCore will be much lower on the GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 with it's 24 Phase power vs ASRock's pitiful 8+4 Phase. The plus to the ASRock is the GPU spacing IF you got an e.g. pair of ASUS MARS II -- BIG BUCKS! Otherwise the GA-P67A-UD7-B3 lacks crap like SRT and Quick Sync but in Gaming and OC performs exactly the same but at a reasonable cost.

However, IF you don't plan to 3-WAY SLI then NEITHER MOBO. The NF200 adds latency i.e. lowers frame rate in single and 2-WAY.

IF single or 2-WAY then the ASUS Pro or above or Gigabyte's UD5 series e.g. GA-Z68XP-UD5.

IF 3-WAY + PhysX then the only option is the ASUS P8P67 WS REVOLUTION with it's perfect PCIe spacing and NF200 support.

Further, IMO wait another 6~10 weeks for SB-E/LGA 2011.

 

[roscolo]

The Asrock z68 Extreme7 supports Quad Crossfire / Quad SLI. But so do the z68 Fatal1ty Pro, and the z68 Extreme4, and at a much better price than the GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 or the Extreme7.

I'm not that impressed with the Extreme7, I think you're better off choosing between the GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 or the Asrock z68 Fatal1ty board or z68 Extreme4.

 

[jaquith]

Careful, don't confuse 4 GPU cores with SLI/CF; there's no 4-WAY SLI P67/Z68. The only way to 'Quad SLI' on any LGA 1155 is from (2) two Dual GPU cards.

Specs - http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68%20Extreme7%20Gen3&cat=Specifications

 

[roscolo]

Careful, don't confuse 4 GPU cores with SLI/CF; there's no 4-WAY SLI P67/Z68. The only way to 'Quad SLI' on any LGA 1155 is from (2) two Dual GPU cards.

Specs - http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68%20Extreme7%20Gen3&cat=Specifications

I finally figured that out, but I see enough posts here that a lot of folks assume (understandably) that QuadSLI means 4 individual GPU cards. It was confusing to me as well, but I've never run more than one GPU card. I'm pretty impressed with the onboard video on the Asrock Fat board for getting by until I install a GPU.

 

[Chirality]

CPU: i7 2600K Sandy Bridge (Planning on overclocking), inb4 2500 is better (I'd like to edit some videos in the future)

MOBO: Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD7-B3

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

PSU: Corsair Professional Series Gold AX1200 (CMPSU-1200AX) 1200W - I was going to get the Thermal Toughpower, but newegg gave me 30 bucks off for grouping it with something else lol.

Primary HD: Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB

Secondary HD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"

Case: Thermaltake Level 10 GT

Optical Drive: LITE-ON Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback SATA

GPU: EVGA 03G-P3-1591-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) Hydro Copper 2 3072MB (Two of these at SLI)

Cooling: Basic liquid cooling setup, CPU cooling and GPU through the hydro copper twins.

3 Monitors: ASUS VS Series VS238H-P Black 23" 2ms HDMI LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor x 3


I'm building for the ultimate SWTOR experience

 

[Chirality]

anyone?

 

[jaquith]

What do you want me or anyone to say or do? I would use nearly none of the components you have listed. CPU = Good ; PSU = Good ; MOBO = maybe and depends if adding a 3rd or PhysX. Most folks play more the Star Wars.

Example - 3D BluRay is IMPOSSIBLE on the ASUS VS238H-P. The Thermaltake Level 10 GT case looks okay, but it is horribly limited to a good sized radiator. I would look at Silverstone, Corsair or Lian-Li...and there are others.

What's the total budget? {including monitors}

 

[Chirality]

Most of the things I've listed are amazing so I'm a bit confused why you wouldn't use these parts. I've gotten tons of experts to help me put what I do have together, the only one thing I'm iffy on is the mobo. I've had suggestions but I haven't had any clear cut choices presented to me - it's all been "this is ok but this is better but this does this too" etc etc.

I'm looking for a clear cut choice for an amazing mobo.

The cases people have mentioned so far look like tin cans. If I wanted an ugly case I'd have picked something else. My original case was http://www.mountainmods.com/maximumpc-dream-machine-2010-p-593.html
but I don't know enough about what to get to make that happen (it just comes with the metal, nothing else).

I'm looking to play more than TOR on this thing that goes without saying, but my dream setup is one that lets me play it with three monitors at the most amazing settings imaginable.

Skyrim, ME3, and a few big titles are other games I'll be playing on this as well.

My budget is anything to be perfectly honest with you. I don't want to spend more than what I have planned for it as is (sitting at 3.7k with monitors).

If you think you can make something that does what I want and is made of high quality parts I'm game to listen. There are just brands I will not touch whatsoever (ASUS for anything other than monitors is being one).

 

[jaquith]

I'n the morning I'll list a system as close to $3,700 as possible. My 3D Vision in its day was $5K and even with $700 off the CPU it's going to be tough with a single loop and 3X120Hz monitors.

 

[Chirality]

I don't really want 3D though at all, just the three monitors.

 

[Chirality]

bump - still looking for definitive answers about the best mobo

 

[jaquith]

I'm still trying to decide on ===> "5760x1080 + GTX 580 2-WAY 3072MB <OR> 3-WAY BUT 1536MB + $350USD"

 

[Chirality]

go big or go home , im looking at getting 2 3gig hydro coppers, ill take another look at other x580 cards 3 way as long as a cooling solution makes sense

 

[jaquith]

600 EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR GTX 580 3072MB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130655
120 VID-NX580 (GeForce GTX 580/570) http://www.koolance.com/water-cooling/product_info.php?product_id=2005
720 X2 = $1,440

729 EVGA 03G-P3-1591-AR GTX 580 Hydro Copper 2 3072MB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130665
729 X2 = $1,458 + Time Saved

478 EVGA 015-P3-1580-AR GTX 580 1536MB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587
120 VID-NX580 (GeForce GTX 580/570) http://www.koolance.com/water-cooling/product_info.php?product_id=2005
598 X3 = $1,794

354 2-WAY -> 3-WAY BUT 1536MB vs 3072MB in 5760x1080

It's easy 'for me' to use a Koolance block...just noticed the EVGA 03G-P3-1591-AR is out of stock at newegg since this morning. The EVGA 015-P3-1589-AR is a rip-off.

 

[Chirality]

I'm liking two of these cards as well http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127589

But I'm more worried about the mobo, I need a great mobo for the cards.

 

[jaquith]

So far, the following:

MOBO: ASUS P8P67 WS REVOLUTION

2-WAY -> 3-WAY BUT 1536MB vs 3072MB in 5760x1080 ; on the game you listed I saw none that would exceed the 1536 vRAM, and if correct the 3-WAY on your resolution is indeed better. So it's worth looking carefully to know 100% and IMO best to ask the OEM instead of taking anyone's one-size-fits-all answer.

600 EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR GTX 580 3072MB
120 VID-NX580 (GeForce GTX 580/570)
720 X2 = $1,440 + PhysX GPU GTX460

729 EVGA 03G-P3-1591-AR GTX 580 Hydro Copper 2 3072MB
729 X2 = $1,458 + Time Saved + PhysX GPU GTX460

Type Price Description Link
CPU 315 Intel Core i7-2600K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
MOBO 269 ASUS P8P67 WS REVOLUTION (3-WAY+PhysX) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131714
GPU 600 EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR GTX 580 3072MB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130655
GPU/B 120 VID-NX580 (GeForce GTX 580/570) http://www.koolance.com/water-cooling/product_info.php?product_id=2005
GPU 600 EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR GTX 580 3072MB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130655
GPU/B 120 VID-NX580 (GeForce GTX 580/570) http://www.koolance.com/water-cooling/product_info.php?product_id=2005
RAM 140 G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 F3-12800CL8D-8GBRM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445
SSD 200 OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 120GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706
HDD 60 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
HDD 60 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
PSU 286 CORSAIR Professional Series AX1200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014
CASE 365 SILVERSTONE Temjin Series TJ07-BW http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163067
OS 140 Windows 7 Pro SP1 64-bit - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992
HSF/K ~700+ Koolance / Water loop Allowance
Total $3,975 + ODD(s) + Monitor(s)

Monitors, IMO they should be 120Hz - besides 3D say you have 100FPS then poof 40FPS goes into Monitor heaven. 60Hz is limited to 60FPS on the screen - period anything more is lost. I have both 60Hz+ and 120Hz the 120Hz are very smooth in comparison.

I knew your budget was impossible before I started adding.

Cases 'I' would consider -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007583&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=7|11-163-178^11-163-178-TS%2C11-163-067^11-163-067-TS%2C11-139-001^11-139-001-TS

 

[jaquith]

BIG-TIME!!! - IMO wait another 6~10 weeks for SB-E/LGA 2011.

I wouldn't build an extreme rig now...

 

[Chirality]

you got any news sources for that? i cant find anything on when they'll be out

 

[jaquith]

Actually, there are tons of links; my info has had November 2011 since after the B2 recall. Frankly, had the recall not happened I'd probably be typing on an LGA 2011 now. Google i7 3930K or i7 3960X or the 4-core i7 3820 and see for yourself.

This one, reliable, suggest October 2011 -> http://www.guru3d.com/news/sandy-bridgee-may-launch-in-october-2011-core-i73930k-gets-priced/
CPU World specs -> http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i7/Intel-Core%20i7-3930K.html

I'm still assuming ~mid November 2011. I have a 980X and I'd be out of my mind to use any LGA 1155.

 

[Chirality]

So your saying it's better to wait and deal with all the mobos that get farted out when these chips get released. I'll be in the same boat I am now lol. At least the mobos and what not I'm looking at now have been out long enough to have some solid reviews.

New stuff might be great but it's like shooting in the dark.

 

[jaquith]

You're not talking about a baby CPU increase from LGA 1366->LGA 1155 of ~-6%~+12% the new LGA 2011/SB-E it's more like +45% over the i7 2600K. Most importantly, bye-bye to ALL MOBO bottlenecks {sharing of chipset, add-ons, SATA, etc}. The PCIe 3.0 is a hell of a lot more than the frigging GPU - all the bandwidth sharing going on now is a real problem for the LGA 1155. However, speaking of PCIe the LGA 2011 is 32-lanes double running PCIe 2.x or Quadruple running PCIe bandwidth. I guess an extra 856 CPU pins buys you something.

The LGA 1156/1155 = Consumer ; the LGA 1366/2011 Extreme.

It's your money burn it anyway you see fit...