Narrowed it down to 2 motherboards! Opinions please!

[supermade]

I've decided to purchase the i5 2500k in lieu of the new Ivy Bridge set to release in a few months. I will add though, that my build will be ready for the Ivy Bridge, but I'm running on a very outdated system, so waiting any longer will be torture to me.

Here are the two motherboards I've brought it down to:

ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z Z68
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131760

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790&Tpk=N82E16813131790

My concern is if I decide to purchase the ASUS Maximus IV Extreme, will there be any significant increase in performance compared to the P8Z68-V PRO?

Components:
CPU:i5 2500k
RAM:Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600
GPU: MSI N560GTX-Ti 448
PSU: Corsair TX650M
HDD:: 3HDD (1x 2TB SATA II and 2x 1TB SATA II)
CASE: CoolerMaster HAF X
Heatsink & Fan: CoolerMaster V6 GT

I will add a little questionnaire that I found on this forum that might help with getting a more detailed answer.

Which form factor do you want? (ATX, mATX, ITX, etx...) - Prefer E-ATX since I have a HAF X, but it is really irrelevant, unless it plays a role in performance...

Do you need Sata 6.0Gbps? USB 3.0? How many of each? - I do plan on having an SSD. Don't own anything with USB 3.0, but assuming I'll need it eventually.

Do you going to run dual (or tri or quad) graphics cards (ever)? - Eventually, but not within 4-6 months.

Are you going to have a graphics card at all? ABSOLUTELY!

Are you going to be overclocking? Definitely! As far as air cooling allows me too.

Are you going to be doing a lot of video encoding? No

Do you need legacy connections (PS/2, IDE, etc...) No

What other ports do you want/need (eSATA, Firewire, etc...) and how many of each do you need? Not sure.

Do you need space for a sound card or Raid Controller or anything? 90% that I'll be purchasing a sound card. Raid controller, probably.


Now, this is roughly a $150 price difference, which is not an issue. But is it really worth the extra $150? As I stated above, I don't plan to run SLI anytime soon (for at least 4-6 months). Don't see myself needing more than 8GBs of RAM unless more will help gaming, which I've read that it won't(?).

Main purpose of this build is for gaming.

And please, I ask this very politely, that if anyone/everyone refrain from saying "If you have the money, go all out". Haha, I've heard a lot of that when I asked the "tech guys" at my local PC store.

 

[sosofm]

Buy ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 it have PCIE 3.0 and in the future you can benefit from that if you upgrade the CPU with Ivy Bridge.

 

[supermade]

I also have to take into account that we still have not saturated the full capabilities of PCI-E 2.0 x16. I'm just guessing here, but by the time we have full usage of PCI-E 3.0, my MOBO and processor will be obsolete.

It does seem prudent to buy a MOBO with PCI-E 3.0 though.

 

[sosofm]

From april it is posible because PCIE 3.0 will be available because Ivy Bridge will support PCIE 3.0. And AMD 7000 series video cards have allready PCIE 3.0.

 

[supermade]

I don't plan on transitioning from nVidia to AMD.

Would appreciate more input, please.

 

[sosofm]

You can wait for next 600 series video cards from Nvidia in april , i think they will be with PCIE 3.0.

 

[sosofm]

And the new Ivy Bridge with the new 77 platform for full support for PCIE 3.0

 

[SkyWalker1726]

i wouldn't bother with PCiE 3.0 right now , we do not even know how much performance boost it'll have , and right now even 8x PCi2.0 is more than enough for a GTX590 or HD6990 , and u wont see any difference on a 16x
u mentioned that u want to OC , Z68Vpro isn't really an OC board , u'll get better results and better mainboard temps with the MAXIMUS wich is a Highend ASUS board ( V-Pro Midrange )


AMD didn't even care to release a MB Chip with PciE 3.0 Compatibility and will not in 2012 ( although it released the 7*** series as PCiE 3.0 ) that should be enough to prove that it's just a marketing term and a Technology no really needed

if u really care about PciE 3.0 then w8 for IvyBridge and P77 MBs ( ivy bridge will bring features that won't be supported by Z68 )

 

[supermade]

What makes the Maximus more capable of overclocking than the z68 V-Pro? Any input on the Maximus?