About Z68 benefits...

[sumedik]

Well let us put aside overclocking for a second(after all turbo boost is like an internal overclocking mechanism).

Other than the possibility to overclock, what are the other added features we are getting in Z68 mobos which are NOT there in H67 mobos.

1 is the ability to use SSD as cache for HDD.

Is there any more such features to be put on the list(maybe USB 3 etc)?

Also H67 mobos had a SATA bug. Was that ever fixed or is that defect STILL present in the boards available today?? In that case what are the model numbers of rectified boards of brands like Asus, Gigabyte, Asrock, MSI?

 

[ensign_lee]

Any motherboard you buy new now will not have said defect. Look for B3 steppingin most boards (or Rev 3.0 in ASUS ones)

 

[sumedik]

Alright....so the top 3 H67 chipset based motherboards would be...????

 

[sumedik]

Someone help please...it is not easy making a decision from 10-20 mobos available for each of the top brands.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Intel boards usually have the lowest power use, other than that it's going to come down to what board has the features you want at the price you want.

Intel, Asus, Asrock, Gigaabyte, MSI are all decent choices. People have their brand preferences but there is no "must buy" motherboard that I know of. Newegg user reviews aren't much help because often the satisfied users don't post them, only the people with a bad board (which happens for all brands) or who are idiots.

If you want ITX instead of microATX (for making a tiny cube PC), SilentPCReview just reviewed the $150 Asus board and liked it:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/asus-p8h67i-deluxe

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Z68's two major advantages over H67 are #1 - overclocking (of which since you don't state any significant interest in this, it is irrelevant) and #2 - SSD cache (which again you do not state any sort of budget or desire for)

so from what little info you have given it just sounds like you could get by with the cheapest option available

if you're not comfortable with the cheapest go with something that is cheap but also receives high review scores.

otherwise we'll need more information on what kind of computer you plan on building and how you intend to use it

 

[sumedik]

Well The requirements are such:

CPU: Most probably i5 2500(K would not be needed if on H67)

I would use the onboard graphics card certainly. In future I might go for a discreet graphics card, but not more than 1 discreet graphics card would be added to the system.

In this regard, can you add more than 1 discreet graphics card in H67? Also can you add more than 1 discreet graphics card in Z68? I am confused.

With Virtu, you can switch graphics without restarting. However in absence of Virtu(H67), how do you do it?

I want every possible port etc possible on the board. Like Firewire, Bluetooth, etc...

I hope that clears things up. I am trying to figure out a few good H67 mobos so that i can pit them against the Z68 mobos in terms of pricing when they come out. If the difference is not much, I would surely go for Z68 based mobo. But that might not be the case, so I am trying to find if i can live with H67 mobo.

The final buying would happen after looking at Bulldozer based CPU benchmarks, which would happen in the middle of June. So I have some time, and therefore doing some research.

 

[Vette73]

you want a matx or atx board?

But I would get the z68 board and the K chip.
The K chip has the better video (3000 vs 2000) let alone will hold is resale much better.
The z68 boards should be supported a little longer. So better/more Bios and driver support. Price differance between the h67 and z68 is about $20 when you compare boards with the same type features.

Here is a good cheap z68 board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157252

 

[RU482]

I've got a question...on Z68, if you add a discrete graphics card, can you simultaneously use the integrated graphics?

Example, to drive 4 displays, 2 from a discrete card and 2 from the DVI and HDMI ports on the board

 

[aphelion02]

Yes, you can, as long as the board has an iGPU out.

 

[sumedik]

you want a matx or atx board?

No preference.

The K chip has the better video (3000 vs 2000)

Can you please elaborate on this?

The z68 boards should be supported a little longer. So better/more Bios and driver support.http://detonator.dynamitedata.com/c...com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157252

Brilliant point. haven't looked at it from this angle at all.

I feel it is important to get a mobo that supports ALL features of Z68, like usage of IGP, via display ports.

Please address this:

Can you add more than 1 discreet graphics card in H67?
Can you add more than 1 discreet graphics card in Z68?

As mentioned earlier, whichever chipset I go for, I would go for a mobo which offers maximum features. After all it is a long term investment.

So "cheap" would not solve the purpose.

 

[Vette73]

The non-K chips only get half the video cores (6). The K chips get the full 12 cores on.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/11

Did not know you wanted display port, not many boards have that option.

Here is the 2 z68 boards in the factors with display ports and multi-gpu support...

mATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128503

ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157250

 

[sumedik]

Oops sorry, by "display port" I meant onboard display connector, that is something through which I can connect my monitor to the mobo, without having to purchase a discreet graphics card for that very purpose.



Does todays mobo's still have the "blue" port to connect monitors? Or the small circular ports for keyboard/mouse?

 

[Vette73]

^

Yea the blue = analog. Both boards I linked to above have that as well.

 

[wwswimming]

next thing you know, they'll be calling it the Z80 ... recycling part numbers from 25 years ago.

that's already happened with graphics cards.