Should I buy a P67 or Z68 board for faster boot???

[Wolters]

Hi,

I am going to build a new computer which will be used as a "mainstream" PC mostly for MS Office-like tasks and some gaming, though not hard core.

The most important aim is to LOWER BOOT TIME and load times as much as possible. Therefore I am going to equip the PC with an SSD (Corsair 120GB Force GT as a C-drive for OS and programmes, and a second SATA6 drive (WD Caviar Black) for storage.

I now wonder, given the main goal to get a PC that boots as fast as possible and that load Office programmes quickly, are there any significant differences between the P67 series and the Z68 with its Intel Smart Response Technology??? (I guess this means that I also will have to buy a second, smaller SSD as well??)

And if there is no real world differences between those two, which within the P67-series would be most appropriate for me to buy, also given that I will not overclock or tweak the computer... Regards, Dag

 

[jpoos]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/intel-z68-express-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching,review-32185-3.html

 

[RetiredChief]

(1) Recommend using the SSD for OS and programs, Skip the SRT option.
(2) Altho NO performance difference there is not much cost difference between equivilant P67/Z68 Mbs so I recommend the Z68. One biggy for me is that the Z68 allows for use of the Internal IGP. Even though most will use a dedicated GPU this is still an advantage. (A) You can do the initial build using the IGP. IF NO problems then you can pop in the dedicated GPU. But if you do Have a problem you have eliminated the GPU as a possible cause. Also if the IGP develops problems downstream you can always use the IGP temporairly untill you replace the dedicated GPU. Other advantages may/may not be much benifit (such as SRT). Some software benifits from the IGP when a dedicated GPU is installed and you are doing video encoding work.

 

[Wolters]

Thanks, both of you! And good argument for choosing Z68, Retired Chief! As most of my time with my computer will be on MS Office work, and Internet surfing, is there any specific Z68 board that you would recommend (as I said, I will not tinker with the board at all!! Just want a very stable PC!!!)

 

[jpoos]

needing anything special like sli or a mATX board to fit inside a smaller case, or just anything goes as long as it's stable? what's your local etailer for pc parts / what country you in?

 

[Wolters]

Hi jpoos,

I am in Sweden and I have a ATX-case (Antec P183) and thought I would start from there, and therefore go for an ATX board.

 

[RetiredChief]

The most popular seems to be the Gigabyte and asus boards. I tend to go with gigabyte. With the exception of my last build (i5-2500k) I have used gigabyte and have had NO problems. My last build used the ASRock Extreme 4 - had good reviews and have not had any problems. Reason I went with the ASRock was based on reviews and the fact that the gigabyte boards, at that time, did not have the HDMI output from the motherboard - which is also a caution verify that HDMI is incorporated onto the MB as not all gigabyte Z68 MB provide HDMI out.

A 2nd advantage of the Z68 MAY be that the system can use the output of the IGP when in 2D mode (ie office) and only switch to the dedicated GPU when system switchs to 3 D mode, ie games (But need to verify that).

 

[jpoos]

Hi jpoos,

I am in Sweden and I have a ATX-case (Antec P183) and thought I would start from there, and therefore go for an ATX board.

aww, swedeland, komplett i'm guessing then. not the best choice in the world, but they normally have an ok selection
http://www.komplett.se/k/ki.aspx?sku=638945

or if u need sli/xfire + provides decent overclocking if you wish to experiment http://www.komplett.se/k/ki.aspx?sku=638695

 

[Wolters]

Thanks, I do have a GPU laying somewhere. Does this mean I can have two monitors if I install this GPU and then connects one monitor to the IGP and the other to the dedicated GPU???

 

[jpoos]

no idea with the new on-die gpu, but you should be able to connect both screens to your dedicated gpu card anyway. it is a recent pci-e model gpu right?.... best to check having images of some dusty old single vga port pci card, sure i still got one or two of those hidden in junk boxes, lol.

 

[RetiredChief]

http://ancillotti.hubpages.com/hub/nVidia-Optimus

This is Nvidia's implimentation. Primarily used on laptops with an installed Video card (ie 540M) I have this on my SB Samsung Notebook. I'm not sure if any of the Desktop MBs have implimented it. Do not Know if ATI has a simular method of using both.

As pointed out, probably not worth it (Only mention as it may be available) a dedicated GPU uses much less power in 2D mode than in 3D mode so would probably be best to just connect monitor to the GPU and use the IGP as a Backup.

 

[Guest]

It is the Z68 it's the newest thing going unless ya want to spend more for a revamped P67 that is a reversion of the original P67's that were fist released; you might be able to get faster boot times with that!

 

[RetiredChief]

^ Boot times and program load times are tied to (1) bios detection (post) and (2) the speed of the disk drive for windows / program load times.

(1) Do not think there is going to be a time diff between identically configured P67 and Z68. The post is tied more to verifing cpu and Ram and the discovery of add ons HDDs/SSDs/DVD drives and GPU.
(2) Loading windows/programs will be a function of HDDs (very little diff between them) and SSDs which a SATA III SSD might be slightly faster than say a SATA II device - But not a significant difference as it is primarily dependent on the 4 K random file read and here the Faster SATA II SSDs are about the same spesd as SATA III. SATA III mostly improves the Sequencial read/writes speed which are more for working with large video files and large spreadsheet/Cam/Cam drawings and large jpeg photos (Which most stick on a slow HDD anyways.

BUT still recommend the Z68!!

 

[Wolters]

Thanks all of you for your kind help!

 

[Guest]

TO add to what retired chief said about hdd's. This is why people are going with ssd type drives. Ssd drives not only boot faster but also allow one to overclock computer higher because ssd is shooting out the info fast enough to land on the flight deck(computer with cpu memory really running faster)of the mainboard being overclocked. Which would also result in a faster boot time.