Upgrading system, i5 2500k in mind.

[Steven1]

Hi guys,

With all the deals going on at online retailers, I figured I'd update my current system.

My current system is:

Processor: E8400
Motherboard: Asus P5Q Pro
GPU: Powercolor HD4890 1g
PSU: Corsair TX750w
Case: Antec 900
HDD: 500GB WD AAKS

Usage: Gaming (Atm SC2, Skyrim, BF3)
Budget Range:700CAD, give or take.
Parts Not Required:Case, PSU, HDD
Preferred Website(s) for Parts:Newegg.ca, NCIX.com, Tigerdirect.ca, etc.
Parts Preferences: Intel, AMD, Asus
Overclocking: Not immediately, aiming for a system that will handle games at stock settings for a good while. Will OC a bit when the system becomes outdated.
SLI or Crossfire:No
Monitor Resolution: 1080P single monitor
Additional Comments:On one hand I want to get the most out of my money, but also keep it a bit future proof. I change/upgrade PCs on average every 3 yrs. I'd like an upgrade that will be noticeable. I've though of an SSD/HDD combo but the prices are still a bit high. I'd like to upgrade the rest and eventually add in an SSD, extra monitor, etc.

Thanks!

 

[raptorxrx]

Do you mind reusing some parts? If not I would reuse your PSU, Case,HDD-Prices are INSANE right now (flooding in thailand. google it.),and dvd burner.

I than would bye this.
i5-2500k http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
ASRock GEN3 (PCIE 3.0 compatible) http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271
2GB 560ti http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127608
And the Hyper 212 Evo for cooling. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

Oh and if you like AMD graphics cards this one is good too. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127588
This all comes in under budget, even I believe shipped.(I choose a random Quebec Area postal code)

Good Luck

~Raptor

 

[divz]

I like raptor's ideas... I feel that the cpu is a bit overkill if you're just going for a 560ti though... even a 6950 (I guess it would make sense if you plan on a future crossfire/ sli). If not, then I'd say to get a cheaper cpu such as the phenom ii x4 955 which is on sale on newegg right now. This way, you would have more money to invest into a GPU (which is more important than a powerful cpu for gaming as long as the GPU isn't bottlenecked) such as the gtx 580.

 

[vadimua]

you should def get the i5 2500k espically its on sale right now on newegg for $200. its the best cpu for the money and performance. My opinion , i would get a Asus sabertooth p67 motherboard for that cpu, its the best combo ,very good overclocking mobo.

 

[rmiiirusty]

You cant beat the Asus maximus iv gene-z mobo for value. Its micro atx Z68 and has solid sound, virtue logic graphics,smart drive technology for that ssd you want later and the sweetest eufi available as well as an easy overclocking suite. Mine came with a years free subscription to kapersky a\v. I just built one of these boards lastweek and am using the system right now.
Case: Coolermaster Storm Scout Amazon $69.00
mobo: Asus Maximus IV Gene-z Amazon $169.00
CPU: i5-2500k Amazon $214.00
Ram: Crucial Ballistics sport 1600 2x4 (8Gig) Amazon $34,99
CoolerMaster V8 cpu cooler: E-Bay $35.00
Psu:Galaxis 650w 80+ modular PCDirect $49.00
GPU: ASUS GeForce GTX 560 DirectCU II Fermi OC 850MHZ 1GB E Bay $149.99

 

[RaptorHunter]

Reuse your old hard drive for storage but get a 120GB SSD to install stuff on.

 

[Steven1]

Thanks for all the replies


Motherboard
I've had an ASRock prior to my current build and it fried within a year of none OC use. How is the build quality now as opposed to say Asus? Asus has always been my goto brand for motherboards as my P5Q is my 3rd Asus board.

Maximum IV runs about 170$ which is about my max. However, Sabertooth P67 Rev.3 is about 20 bucks more. Any significant differences besides the TUF armor design?

GPU
This is where I'm not too sure.. In the past, I've always went overkill on a single GPU. My 4890 cost me about 320$ at the time of purchase. I can't say I regret it, but seeing the Diamond version of it on special for 70$ at Newegg makes me rethink if I really should go 300+ on a new card.

Seems the sweet spot of 240-260$ offers the GTX 560 and HD 6950. Guru3d I believe ranked the 6950 slightly ahead but showed the 2g version gives little impact.

I would really love the 6970 but current pricing hovering in the 350$ area makes me wonder if it's worth it the increased performance over the 6950.



Raptor - You said prices are insane.. are you saying I'd get a better deal say post xmas? Pricing atm seems pretty decent, but then again I'm not up to date with current parts

 

[raptorxrx]

Thanks for all the replies


Motherboard
I've had an ASRock prior to my current build and it fried within a year of none OC use. How is the build quality now as opposed to say Asus? Asus has always been my goto brand for motherboards as my P5Q is my 3rd Asus board.

Maximum IV runs about 170$ which is about my max. However, Sabertooth P67 Rev.3 is about 20 bucks more. Any significant differences besides the TUF armor design?

GPU
This is where I'm not too sure.. In the past, I've always went overkill on a single GPU. My 4890 cost me about 320$ at the time of purchase. I can't say I regret it, but seeing the Diamond version of it on special for 70$ at Newegg makes me rethink if I really should go 300+ on a new card.

Seems the sweet spot of 240-260$ offers the GTX 560 and HD 6950. Guru3d I believe ranked the 6950 slightly ahead but showed the 2g version gives little impact.

I would really love the 6970 but current pricing hovering in the 350$ area makes me wonder if it's worth it the increased performance over the 6950.



Raptor - You said prices are insane.. are you saying I'd get a better deal say post xmas? Pricing atm seems pretty decent, but then again I'm not up to date with current parts

Many people have had great luck with ASRock's Extreme 3 Gen3. I didn't pay enough for my first mobo and am considering buying it. They are comparable to ASUS now, but ASUS is still a little better (better QC,warranties) but ASRock is definitely not bad. Part of the reason I recommended that mobo is the fact that it is PCIE 3.0 capable so you can use 3.0 graphics cards. That isn't a huge deal, but it is something to consider. This would be a comparable ASUS board. ASUS is better, but it's not a night and day difference.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792

With the 2gb versions, you will have better performance at higher resolutions and for upcoming games. Currently it doesn't make much difference I would agree but it will in the future. Do you like AMD or Nvidia better? If you would pay the extra I would get the 6970 or gtx 570. They are better, but I wouldn't pay any more than that as new cards are supposed to be released soon. Any card you get will eventually come down to a extremely low price. It's just how tech works, and their is nothing we can do about it. Anything above 350 though and your starting to enter the land of diminishing returns.

The Maximum IV is micro-atx with almost all of the regular atx boards features. It has everything but size. If you have a large heatsink on it chances are the first PCIE slot is blocked. It has the Z68 chipset which is the best for sandy-bridge. Basically it supports the IGP on the i5, and allows for overclocking. It has some SSD cashing stuff and Lucid Logix but I don't quite understand what those are for and couldn't explain them well enough to you. But basically the Z68 and P67 are both great chipsets. The sabertooth is fine but I would rather get one of the ones I linked. The Smart Drive technology mentioned earlier is only useful if you have a small SSD, as if you have a bigger one (64 or up) you already have the OS on it.

When I say hdd prices are insane, I mean it will be a year before they are back down to normal. Some people say it will be march but after research most of the companies say a year. The HDD's (none of this applies to SSD's) are 3 times their normal price, which is why I say to reuse yours.
You really did pick nice components last time, which is why I recommend reusing so many componets, there is no need to upgrade them.

The i5 is the best performing gaming processor, look it up tom's hardware agrees. I would definitely go intel, not amd, as amd is having lots of troubles with keeping up to tempo with intel. Even intel's i3-2100 (which I have) can outpreform the 955 in gaming, and a fair amount of other tasks.

RaptorHunter

Reuse your old hard drive for storage but get a 120GB SSD to install stuff on.

Would you care to show us how you plan to upgrade the rest of his system?

You cant beat the Asus maximus iv gene-z mobo for value. Its micro atx Z68 and has solid sound, virtue logic graphics,smart drive technology for that ssd you want later and the sweetest eufi available as well as an easy overclocking suite. Mine came with a years free subscription to kapersky a\v. I just built one of these boards lastweek and am using the system right now.
Case: Coolermaster Storm Scout Amazon $69.00
mobo: Asus Maximus IV Gene-z Amazon $169.00
CPU: i5-2500k Amazon $214.00
Ram: Crucial Ballistics sport 1600 2x4 (8Gig) Amazon $34,99
CoolerMaster V8 cpu cooler: E-Bay $35.00
Psu:Galaxis 650w 80+ modular PCDirect $49.00
GPU: ASUS GeForce GTX 560 DirectCU II Fermi OC 850MHZ 1GB E Bay $149.99

If i'm not mistaking, those websites are expensive to ship to Canada. Are those US dollars or Canadian?

 

[rmiiirusty]

As for the Sabertooth and the tough armor , I have heard that the armor is useless and that it just makes every thing more awkward to get to. When the ROG boards are put beside any competing boards they win hands down in quality. Listen to jj from asus doing interviews @ newegg in the video footage on the maximus iv gene-z page.ROG features the best of the best in terms of quality and tweekabilityaccording to JJ.
The main thing I like better about the z68 chip instead of the p67 is the fact that with the p67 your (on processor) graphics is useless, and it seems a shame to waste it. I hear the sabertooth is a fine board overall but unless you are getting a deal on it, it is overpriced to the tune of over $200 most of the time, also consider the asus p8z68 lv, pro, and deluxe models as they have much of the same features as the maximus board without the ROG features.
As for the aftermarket cooler blocking the first slot, I don't have that problem on mine and I have a massive coolermaster v8 cooler. There may be some coolers that are wider at the base but the suggested slots for using only two sticks of ram are slot 2 and 4, I have 2x4 gig and am wasting probably 4 gigs of that until future. Now there are 8g ram dimms out there and two of those will give you at least 8 more gigs than you will ever need. However the maximus is set up to handle 4 of those if you so choose for a maximum of 32 g. If in the year 2025 there is ever a need for that much ram,the Asus board has the best chance of surviving the wait.
Amazon is free to ship in most U.S. I dont know about canada but ncix wants over $184 for the same mobo as well as shipping I believe.
Also the maximus has a smart response technology feature enabling you to load your O.S. onto a small ssd and use the rest of the drive as a cache while keeping your games and programs on your hdd. This signifigantly increases startup times on your windows and games etc. When I turn my comp. on cold boot, It takes all of about 18 seconds to get to win7 log on screen, and my games when loading, instead of waiting on the progress bar at the bottom of the screen I just watch it shoot to the end and load in a few seconds . Definately a good thing using the ssd.
Lucid logic when enabled allows the computer to decide when to use the processors graphics and when to use your gpu. It is great for giving your gpu a break while not gaming and switches to the gpu (unseen) automaticly when necessary. And yes the processor graphics are tweekable with the software provided.

 

[Steven1]

Many people have had great luck with ASRock's Extreme 3 Gen3. I didn't pay enough for my first mobo and am considering buying it. They are comparable to ASUS now, but ASUS is still a little better (better QC,warranties) but ASRock is definitely not bad. Part of the reason I recommended that mobo is the fact that it is PCIE 3.0 capable so you can use 3.0 graphics cards. That isn't a huge deal, but it is something to consider. This would be a comparable ASUS board. ASUS is better, but it's not a night and day difference.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792

I would honestly prefer an Asus board at this point. From what I can see, the Asus Z68 chipsets are hovering in the 200-220$ area, but the P67s are around 155-190$. But on the other hand, NCIX is offering free shipping with the Z68X-UD3H-B3. Besides the free shipping deal, do I really need an Z68 if I'm going over 300$ on a GPU? My biggest issue with with motherboards atm is that there's so many difference variants to choose from.

With the 2gb versions, you will have better performance at higher resolutions and for upcoming games. Currently it doesn't make much difference I would agree but it will in the future. Do you like AMD or Nvidia better? If you would pay the extra I would get the 6970 or gtx 570. They are better, but I wouldn't pay any more than that as new cards are supposed to be released soon. Any card you get will eventually come down to a extremely low price. It's just how tech works, and their is nothing we can do about it. Anything above 350 though and your starting to enter the land of diminishing returns.

I was hesitant to go over 300$ on a GPU but knowing myself I'll just go for it at the last minute like last time. In terms of preference, I will most likely go for the 6970, unless of course Nvidia has something in the same price range that outperforms it without question.

The Maximum IV is micro-atx with almost all of the regular atx boards features. It has everything but size. If you have a large heatsink on it chances are the first PCIE slot is blocked. It has the Z68 chipset which is the best for sandy-bridge. Basically it supports the IGP on the i5, and allows for overclocking. It has some SSD cashing stuff and Lucid Logix but I don't quite understand what those are for and couldn't explain them well enough to you. But basically the Z68 and P67 are both great chipsets. The sabertooth is fine but I would rather get one of the ones I linked. The Smart Drive technology mentioned earlier is only useful if you have a small SSD, as if you have a bigger one (64 or up) you already have the OS on it.

My next purchase after this upgrade will be an 120g SSD. One of the reasons why I'm leaning towards the P67 chipsets instead of the Z68. The 40$ price difference seems wasted for me.

When I say hdd prices are insane, I mean it will be a year before they are back down to normal. Some people say it will be march but after research most of the companies say a year. The HDD's (none of this applies to SSD's) are 3 times their normal price, which is why I say to reuse yours.
You really did pick nice components last time, which is why I recommend reusing so many componets, there is no need to upgrade them.

No argument here, I will reuse Case, PSU & HDD. The PSU is a bit over 2 yrs old, but considering the capacity I really doubt my system gave it any sort of stress.

My current plans are:

I5 2500K 219$ (DirectCanada.com)
P8P67 Pro Rev3.1 175$ (bestdirect.ca, nearly same price as the none pro version?!)
ASUS Radeon HD 6970 DirectCU II 379$(Bestdirect.ca)
+8g of random DDR3-1333 ram

This puts me at 779$ without Ram/shipping. 864$ if purchased entirely from NCIX w/o pricematch(which may not apply due to limited qties, i need to check)

 

[raptorxrx]

Many people have had great luck with ASRock's Extreme 3 Gen3. I didn't pay enough for my first mobo and am considering buying it. They are comparable to ASUS now, but ASUS is still a little better (better QC,warranties) but ASRock is definitely not bad. Part of the reason I recommended that mobo is the fact that it is PCIE 3.0 capable so you can use 3.0 graphics cards. That isn't a huge deal, but it is something to consider. This would be a comparable ASUS board. ASUS is better, but it's not a night and day difference.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792

I would honestly prefer an Asus board at this point. From what I can see, the Asus Z68 chipsets are hovering in the 200-220$ area, but the P67s are around 155-190$. But on the other hand, NCIX is offering free shipping with the Z68X-UD3H-B3. Besides the free shipping deal, do I really need an Z68 if I'm going over 300$ on a GPU? My biggest issue with with motherboards atm is that there's so many difference variants to choose from.

With the 2gb versions, you will have better performance at higher resolutions and for upcoming games. Currently it doesn't make much difference I would agree but it will in the future. Do you like AMD or Nvidia better? If you would pay the extra I would get the 6970 or gtx 570. They are better, but I wouldn't pay any more than that as new cards are supposed to be released soon. Any card you get will eventually come down to a extremely low price. It's just how tech works, and their is nothing we can do about it. Anything above 350 though and your starting to enter the land of diminishing returns.

I was hesitant to go over 300$ on a GPU but knowing myself I'll just go for it at the last minute like last time. In terms of preference, I will most likely go for the 6970, unless of course Nvidia has something in the same price range that outperforms it without question.

The Maximum IV is micro-atx with almost all of the regular atx boards features. It has everything but size. If you have a large heatsink on it chances are the first PCIE slot is blocked. It has the Z68 chipset which is the best for sandy-bridge. Basically it supports the IGP on the i5, and allows for overclocking. It has some SSD cashing stuff and Lucid Logix but I don't quite understand what those are for and couldn't explain them well enough to you. But basically the Z68 and P67 are both great chipsets. The sabertooth is fine but I would rather get one of the ones I linked. The Smart Drive technology mentioned earlier is only useful if you have a small SSD, as if you have a bigger one (64 or up) you already have the OS on it.

My next purchase after this upgrade will be an 120g SSD. One of the reasons why I'm leaning towards the P67 chipsets instead of the Z68. The 40$ price difference seems wasted for me.

When I say hdd prices are insane, I mean it will be a year before they are back down to normal. Some people say it will be march but after research most of the companies say a year. The HDD's (none of this applies to SSD's) are 3 times their normal price, which is why I say to reuse yours.
You really did pick nice components last time, which is why I recommend reusing so many componets, there is no need to upgrade them.

No argument here, I will reuse Case, PSU & HDD. The PSU is a bit over 2 yrs old, but considering the capacity I really doubt my system gave it any sort of stress.

My current plans are:

I5 2500K 219$ (DirectCanada.com)
P8P67 Pro Rev3.1 175$ (bestdirect.ca, nearly same price as the none pro version?!)
ASUS Radeon HD 6970 DirectCU II 379$(Bestdirect.ca)
+8g of random DDR3-1333 ram

This puts me at 779$ without Ram/shipping. 864$ if purchased entirely from NCIX w/o pricematch(which may not apply due to limited qties, i need to check)

Looks good. If you want to have an asus thats a great motherboard and no you really wouldn't need the Z68. Technically it's better but in reality your not going to see a difference.

A 6950, 560ti, 6970, or GTX 570, they would all do fine. If you are willing to spend the extra, I would get the 6970, but in reality all of those cards are good. And nvidia doesn't have anything in that price range that would flat out out perform the 6970. If you get the ASUS GPU, will you ever XFire? If you do, than the triple slot size of it could be a problem. It is excellent for cooling however.

RAM http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

 

[Steven1]

I doubt I'll crossfire. If I go with a 350$ GPU, by the time the price lowers to a point it's worth picking up a 2nd one, I'd probably already be looking at a whole new chipset setup. For this reason I might just go with the P8P67 regular board, but atm the Pro is only about 10$ more. Unless stock runs out I'll get the pro

Concerning the ram, I though the CPU only supported up to DDR3-1333? I came across this a few days ago: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/291469-30-intel-2500k-supported-speed

GPU wise, the Asus Direct CU II 6970 seems to have the best air cooling from what I've read. Considering my current card can get pretty hot (74C atm), I'll happily favor better cooling over factory OC'd cards

 

[Steven1]

Best answer selected by Steven1.

 

[rmiiirusty]

Sounds like you've decided on some quality parts. It should be a real power gamer for you.

One thing I hope you haven,t overlooked is... You mentioned that your next upgrade would be an 120g ssd. I wanted to make sure you realize that your choiceof a p67 chipset has taken smart drive technology out of the picture for you , .. Meaning the mobo wont know how to use that ssd as only a boot and cache drive while using the hdd as your main master dr. in other words you will have to configure your drives in boot sequence keeping your op system on the ssd of course.
This will still offer a small speed boost to your booting and applications, but your ssd is now going to be recognised as your main drive. That means program downloads will have to be directed by you to the drive letter of your hdd unless you want them on your ssd. you will also need to keep at least 20% of your ssd for cache use.
For the very little boost in performance that it will give, you might want to consider just using the samsung spinpoint and saving the cash, Unless you come into a windfall of cash and decide to go with a large capacity ssd to begin with and save what you would spend on the hhd.

 

[raptorxrx]

Sounds like you've decided on some quality parts. It should be a real power gamer for you.

One thing I hope you haven,t overlooked is... You mentioned that your next upgrade would be an 120g ssd. I wanted to make sure you realize that your choiceof a p67 chipset has taken smart drive technology out of the picture for you , .. Meaning the mobo wont know how to use that ssd as only a boot and cache drive while using the hdd as your main master dr. in other words you will have to configure your drives in boot sequence keeping your op system on the ssd of course.
This will still offer a small speed boost to your booting and applications, but your ssd is now going to be recognised as your main drive. That means program downloads will have to be directed by you to the drive letter of your hdd unless you want them on your ssd. you will also need to keep at least 20% of your ssd for cache use.
For the very little boost in performance that it will give, you might want to consider just using the samsung spinpoint and saving the cash, Unless you come into a windfall of cash and decide to go with a large capacity ssd to begin with and save what you would spend on the hhd.

I'm gonna have to disagree with this one. Smart Drive is only useful if you have a small SSD. He said he would upgrade to a 120gig so SRT really wouldn't be of use. Plenty of people run P67 and a SSD with a HDD for overflow. He would get a big boost in performance. Yes it's a little more work, but once you get your computer up in running how often do you add lots of programs. Probably not that often. Is it really hard to put in 10 seconds to tell it where to install? No. He will get a bigger boost by not using the SRT, and installing the OS. It would be a big boost, not a small boost, and by the time he buys (probably) SSD's will have come down even more in prices, while improving performance. I don't mean to completely disagree with you, as SRT has it's uses, but it wouldn't be useful to the OP. Oh and what do you mean "you will also need to keep at least 20% of your ssd for cache use." If your talking about extending drive life by not filling it all the way up, you would need to do that with SRT too. The OP has good components,and is not missing out by taking the more cost effective way of P67.

 

[raptorxrx]

I doubt I'll crossfire. If I go with a 350$ GPU, by the time the price lowers to a point it's worth picking up a 2nd one, I'd probably already be looking at a whole new chipset setup. For this reason I might just go with the P8P67 regular board, but atm the Pro is only about 10$ more. Unless stock runs out I'll get the pro

Concerning the ram, I though the CPU only supported up to DDR3-1333? I came across this a few days ago: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/291469-30-intel-2500k-supported-speed

GPU wise, the Asus Direct CU II 6970 seems to have the best air cooling from what I've read. Considering my current card can get pretty hot (74C atm), I'll happily favor better cooling over factory OC'd cards

Definitely do what you want with the X Fire. It's probably easiest that way anyways as you don't need to worry about any micro-stuttering or supported games etc.

With the RAM it is technically "overclocking" the RAM after 1333 but it doesn't hurt anything if your RAM supports it. Don't pay for anything above 1600 though as it really doesn't make much difference. Pretty much you want to buy the cheapest 1.5v 8gb ram set as long as it is in a 4x2 kit, preferably at the 1333 or 1600 speed. If you have 8gbs timing and speed won't matter much as your computer won't be using most of it anyway. You are right though 1333 is the highest "supported" speed.

For the GPU, that is fine! I honestly didn't mean to imply buy factory over-clocked cards as if you want to overclock them to those clocks it's a piece of cake and isn't worth paying for. Better cooling is definitely more important. Besides, if you want to overclock, than better cooling will be the best anyways.

Oh and on your motherboard either the non-pro or pro is fine. The non-pro doesn't SLI but does X-fire, so I was wrong, but you said you aren't planing too so I guess I'm wasting posting space writing that. For ten bucks though I would say go Pro, but hey, that's up to you, and you saw the differences in the chart I linked.

And really don't worry about the smart response technology the other poster was talking about. Very few people actually use it, many more have the SSD as their :C drive and a HDD for media/not often used apps/etc. The Smart technology was actually being designed when SSD's were tiny and couldn't hold an OS, but came out after SSD's had grown to a more reasonable size. I wouldn't pay the extra for the Z68 just for the Smart Drive stuff.

Have fun building, and hope all goes well!
Happy Gaming!

 

[rmiiirusty]

Howdy folks,
Just got back from my weekly LAN party bith my buds, about 9 of us showed this week but various friends came along.
Steven congrats on your choices they(like I said earlier) are some great parts.
To clarify what I said earlier, I was not speculating, only going by facts learned from our gaming club. We always spend an hour or so running benchmarks and comparing systems and new upgrades before we get started gaming. We did this tonite as a matter of fact.
There are quite a variety of builds in our (loose term) club. one of the things we always try to compete with is start up time.
My maximus with a 60 gig srt set up is the fastest every since my build a couple of weeks ago. it is consistantly 18 seconds from push button to logon. I think because sataIII ssd
#2 this week is Jimmy with his p8z68 srt 40g set up , our previous leader in the category(and not to happy being set back to second place)his time is consistant @ 19-20 seconds w sata II ssd
#3 is Steve with his Asrock board also a z68 gen3 of some kind I dont remember also using an ssd for os but not as srt. His times vary from 21-23 seconds and are never consistent
We have two p8p67 one pro and one deluxe that are using ssd for os one has only ssd @250gb as singular dr. both of these systems vary in start up speed from around 24- 30 seconds and are hard to place one ahead of the other.
We have a couple of other systems w z68 and p67 but none with ssd's their startups range from 30-45 seconds.
As you can see The p67 boards are still quite speedy and you have made a good choice with ASUS.

As for saving 20% of your drive raptorx is right you need to do this with any drive and I wasn't clear in why I said it.
I was only trying to give you an Idea as to what you might need for size. and no I wasn't talking about longer drive life I was talking about cache space.
Have you ever got that anoying message "your system is low on virtual memory and windows cant adjust the file size. You need to free up some space on your hard drive".
That is what I am talking about.
raptorx is also right about it only taking 10 seconds to redirect your downloads,however that is 10 sec for every single download that you dont want on your ssd.
As for the ram I used kingston ddr 1333 @ 4x2 8g until my crucial Ballistics sport 1600@ 2x4 8g arrived. My win7 experience score for ram was 6.2 for the 4x2 and when changed to 2x4 the score rose to the 7.9 maximum I didn't notice any other difference other than a more stable o.c. with the latter.
I brought up Toms Hardware tonite at our lan party and 9 out of 9 guys like it for the reviews and news . 7 out of nine told me to avoid the forums cause some guys like to think they know every thing and shoot down all other comments when trying to be your go to guy.
Any way I hope you enjoy your new build and Happy gaming.

 

[raptorxrx]

Howdy folks,
Just got back from my weekly LAN party bith my buds, about 9 of us showed this week but various friends came along.
Steven congrats on your choices they(like I said earlier) are some great parts.
To clarify what I said earlier, I was not speculating, only going by facts learned from our gaming club. We always spend an hour or so running benchmarks and comparing systems and new upgrades before we get started gaming. We did this tonite as a matter of fact.
There are quite a variety of builds in our (loose term) club. one of the things we always try to compete with is start up time.
My maximus with a 60 gig srt set up is the fastest every since my build a couple of weeks ago. it is consistantly 18 seconds from push button to logon. I think because sataIII ssd
#2 this week is Jimmy with his p8z68 srt 40g set up , our previous leader in the category(and not to happy being set back to second place)his time is consistant @ 19-20 seconds w sata II ssd
#3 is Steve with his Asrock board also a z68 gen3 of some kind I dont remember also using an ssd for os but not as srt. His times vary from 21-23 seconds and are never consistent
We have two p8p67 one pro and one deluxe that are using ssd for os one has only ssd @250gb as singular dr. both of these systems vary in start up speed from around 24- 30 seconds and are hard to place one ahead of the other.
We have a couple of other systems w z68 and p67 but none with ssd's their startups range from 30-45 seconds.
As you can see The p67 boards are still quite speedy and you have made a good choice with ASUS.

As for saving 20% of your drive raptorx is right you need to do this with any drive and I wasn't clear in why I said it.
I was only trying to give you an Idea as to what you might need for size. and no I wasn't talking about longer drive life I was talking about cache space.
Have you ever got that anoying message "your system is low on virtual memory and windows cant adjust the file size. You need to free up some space on your hard drive".
That is what I am talking about.
raptorx is also right about it only taking 10 seconds to redirect your downloads,however that is 10 sec for every single download that you dont want on your ssd.
As for the ram I used kingston ddr 1333 @ 4x2 8g until my crucial Ballistics sport 1600@ 2x4 8g arrived. My win7 experience score for ram was 6.2 for the 4x2 and when changed to 2x4 the score rose to the 7.9 maximum I didn't notice any other difference other than a more stable o.c. with the latter.
I brought up Toms Hardware tonite at our lan party and 9 out of 9 guys like it for the reviews and news . 7 out of nine told me to avoid the forums cause some guys like to think they know every thing and shoot down all other comments when trying to be your go to guy.
Any way I hope you enjoy your new build and Happy gaming.

A flash-based SSD typically uses a small amount of DRAM as a cache, similar to the cache in Hard disk drives. A directory of block placement and wear leveling data is also kept in the cache while the drive is operating. Data is not permanently stored in the cache.[29] One SSD controller manufacturer, SandForce, does not use an external DRAM cache on their designs, but still achieve very high performance. Eliminating the external DRAM enables a smaller footprint for the other flash memory components in order to build even smaller SSDs.[40]

Thank you wikipedia. If it has DRAM why would you need another cache? I currently don't have an SSD, I'm getting one this holiday season. I don't know if everyone does this, but I normally change where my downloads go anyways. On my computer they go to downloads. So just redirect where the target folder is for that. Z68 isn't faster than P67. I would have some questions on your benchmark. Does this include post? Each post time is slightly different. And it all matters on the SSD too. Honestly who cares about 2 seconds of startup time. (with the exception of bragging rights). I'm sticking with my opinion.

 

[rmiiirusty]

A flash-based SSD typically uses a small amount of DRAM as a cache, similar to the cache in Hard disk drives. A directory of block placement and wear leveling data is also kept in the cache while the drive is operating. Data is not permanently stored in the cache.[29] One SSD controller manufacturer, SandForce, does not use an external DRAM cache on their designs, but still achieve very high performance. Eliminating the external DRAM enables a smaller footprint for the other flash memory components in order to build even smaller SSDs.[40]

Thank you wikipedia. If it has DRAM why would you need another cache? I currently don't have an SSD, I'm getting one this holiday season. I don't know if everyone does this, but I normally change where my downloads go anyways. On my computer they go to downloads. So just redirect where the target folder is for that. Z68 isn't faster than P67. I would have some questions on your benchmark. Does this include post? Each post time is slightly different. And it all matters on the SSD too. Honestly who cares about 2 seconds of startup time. (with the exception of bragging rights). I'm sticking with my opinion.

Ok not worth the energy to argue over, do you want to hear me say "your right" Ok your right. The better posting time of a superior board isn't that important and the difference isnt that much so he should go ahead and pay more for only a slightly lesser board Sound Logic,and good advice.

Either way Steven you are getting a nice board w the p67 too and I hope your build goes well. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[raptorxrx]

Ok not worth the energy to argue over, do you want to hear me say "your right" Ok your right. The better posting time of a superior board isn't that important and the difference isnt that much so he should go ahead and pay more for only a slightly lesser board Sound Logic,and good advice.

Either way Steven you are getting a nice board w the p67 too and I hope your build goes well. Let us know how it turns out.

lol, to be nice i'll say your right too. i'm not lying there when I say your right too. everything has it's uses.I just stick to my guns, and don't back down. and +1 on the telling us how it goes.