Motherboard for 2500k OC?

[Zoom123]

Hello,

I am planning a computer upgrade (motherboard,CPU,RAM).

For CPU I decided to go with the 2500K and now I am looking for a motherboard that will allow me the highest overclocking possible when combined with a Hyper 212 Plus cooler.

I am not a hard core gamer and I will just use a singe video card. I would like the best possible connectivity for my budged (under $200)

I narrowed it down to these 3 motherboards:

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128498

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131730

ASRock P67 PRO3 (B3) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157230

I guess the Asus must be the best of the 3, but is lacking an IEEE 1394 on the rear panel which I occasionally need, which is why I am also considering the other two motherboards.

The Gigabyte has all the features I need, but I am not sure if it will overclock well.

The ASRock gets great reviews and has all the features I need, but it is P67 and and not Z68.

 

[pauldun170]

Dump the hyper (its good all rounder but a mediocre cooler for OC)
Grab a Noctua
Asus may be the better choice for OC due to hardware
Asrock might pull higher peak numbers

What kind of case are using?

 

[JBT]

Why not this ASRock?
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2189554

 

[Zoom123]

I am not planning on any extreme OC. Wouldn't the hyper be good enough for 4.5GHz?

JBT, that ASRock seems good but doesn't have 1394 at all.

Talking about 1394, I have a thing from an old Asus motherboard that was used with the Onboard 1394 of that motherboard. Can the same thing be used on the Internal I/O 1394 Connector of the P8Z68-V PRO?


bmp upload

 

[Corporate Thug]

Dump the hyper (its good all rounder but a mediocre cooler for OC)
Grab a Noctua
Asus may be the better choice for OC due to hardware
Asrock might pull higher peak numbers

What kind of case are using?

The Noctua is clearly a better...at three times the price. The hyper is fine. If you are really concerned, get a corsair A70...they go on sale for under $30.


OP,

If you are going with asus, I would just wait 2 more weeks until the 3.0 boards are released.

Dollar for dollar, the ASrock is the best option IMO. Check out the hot deals for the superbiiz sale ($115 shipped; has UFEI bios and pci e 3.0)

Why bother with p67 when the z68 are about the same price and give you ivy support and pcie 3.0 for future proofing. Also, SATA performance seems to suffer on gigabyte boards.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

I am using the Cooler Master hyper 212+ on my Intel® Core™ i7-2600K with the 2 fans and I think it is fine around 4.5GHz but if you are looking for much more you are going to want to get a better cooler.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[Zoom123]

If you are going with asus, I would just wait 2 more weeks until the 3.0 boards are released.

I asked 3 weeks ago if it was a good time to upgrade and I was told to wait until AMD BD was out, so I would prefer not to wait much more. What advantages will the 3.0 boards have?

I don't upgrade often so ivy support will probably not matter to me since the next time I will upgrade will probably be in 2+ years from now and at that point I will probably upgrade the motherboard as well.

Anybody knows the answer regarding that 1394 thing?

 

[MTDEW]

Anybody knows the answer regarding that 1394 thing?

The ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 has rear 1394.
The ASUS P8Z68-V PRO has different 1394 connectors than the bracket in your pic, the Asus has ones that have two rows of pins that look just like USB 2.0 connectors.
You can see them pretty clearly in the first pic HERE, they are the two black connectors at the bottom of the board just to the right of the 3 blue USB connectors.
Or you can look on page 2-25 of the Asus p8z68-v pro manual ASUS P8Z68-V PRO manual.

 

[pauldun170]

I am using the Cooler Master hyper 212+ on my Intel® Core™ i7-2600K with the 2 fans and I think it is fine around 4.5GHz but if you are looking for much more you are going to want to get a better cooler.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

What fans are you using (as reference for OP)?

 

[Diogenes2]

No problems here with 212+ at 4.6g ..

Low to mid 70's at full load F@H ... I use 1 Coolermaster Xcaliber fan .. The stock fan worked fine also but the xcaliber is quieter ..

No need to pay 2 - 3x more for a better HS ..

 

[Zoom123]

The ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 has rear 1394.
The ASUS P8Z68-V PRO has different 1394 connectors than the bracket in your pic, the Asus has ones that have two rows of pins that look just like USB 2.0 connectors.
You can see them pretty clearly in the first pic HERE, they are the two black connectors at the bottom of the board just to the right of the 3 blue USB connectors.
Or you can look on page 2-25 of the Asus p8z68-v pro manual ASUS P8Z68-V PRO manual.

Thanks. So where can I buy a 1394 connector that is compatible with the new Asus motherboards?

 

[Corporate Thug]

I asked 3 weeks ago if it was a good time to upgrade and I was told to wait until AMD BD was out, so I would prefer not to wait much more. What advantages will the 3.0 boards have?

I don't upgrade often so ivy support will probably not matter to me since the next time I will upgrade will probably be in 2+ years from now and at that point I will probably upgrade the motherboard as well.

Anybody knows the answer regarding that 1394 thing?

Well, they support PCi-e 3.0 video cards when they are released. What practical gain will you see w/ 3.0 upon release? your guess is as good as mine.

 

[MTDEW]

Thanks. So where can I buy a 1394 connector that is compatible with the new Asus motherboards?

Asus doesn't give a part number, nor can i find any links or info on the official part number in the manual.
I cant find any info on it or the SPDIF module in my manual except for "module is purchased separately"

I'm going to ASSUME that this is the correct official Asus one.
To be sure I'd email or call Asus support to verify the part number

Although i wouldn't pay that much, i'm sure they're cheaper elsewhere.

 

[MTDEW]

Well, they support PCi-e 3.0 video cards when they are released. What practical gain will you see w/ 3.0 upon release? your guess is as good as mine.

Exactly, i own a 2600k / Asus P8Z68-V Pro and a 2500k / ASRock Z68 Extreme4 and i'm very happy with both setups.

But if i was buying today I'd buy the ASRock z68 Extreme4 Gen3 simply because the boards cost about the same, so why not grab the one with PCI-e 3.0 support.
Even if PCI-e 3.0 isnt relevant before your next upgrade, it will at the very least help resale value toward your next upgrade.

 

[R4in]

Instead of the 212+ you could also look into the 212 Evo or Scythe Mugen 3 as alternatives.

I asked 3 weeks ago if it was a good time to upgrade and I was told to wait until AMD BD was out,

I must say, being told to wait for BD has got to be a swift kick to the nutsack now.

 

[anti.machine]

IMO the ASUS Pro is the best board followed by the ASrock I dont think you will go wrong either way.

I must say, being told to wait for BD has got to be a swift kick to the nutsack now.

Unless you need some serious yet affordable multithreaded processing power

 

[Zoom123]

Asus doesn't give a part number, nor can i find any links or info on the official part number in the manual.
I cant find any info on it or the SPDIF module in my manual except for "module is purchased separately"

I'm going to ASSUME that this is the correct official Asus one.
To be sure I'd email or call Asus support to verify the part number

Although i wouldn't pay that much, i'm sure they're cheaper elsewhere.

Thanks for your help. My case (Coll Master) has a Firewire connector on the front panel. Maybe that would match what is on the Asus MB.

 

[Zoom123]

Exactly, i own a 2600k / Asus P8Z68-V Pro and a 2500k / ASRock Z68 Extreme4 and i'm very happy with both setups.

But if i was buying today I'd buy the ASRock z68 Extreme4 Gen3 simply because the boards cost about the same, so why not grab the one with PCI-e 3.0 support.
Even if PCI-e 3.0 isnt relevant before your next upgrade, it will at the very least help resale value toward your next upgrade.

I've build 5 computers so far, all with Asus motherboards, and so far I had no problem with any of them ... that is why I prefer to stick with Asus if possible.

Regarding PCI-e 3.0, is this something that low and mid graphic cards will be able to take advantage of? I am not a gamer, I am currently using a Radeon 5670. Also, is there a specific date for the release of the new Asus motherboards?

 

[MTDEW]

Thanks for your help. My case (Coll Master) has a Firewire connector on the front panel. Maybe that would match what is on the Asus MB.

My Cooler Master HAF X does, so i'd say those chances are good.

If you're not a gamer, then no PCI-e 3.0 probably wouldn't matter to you anyway.
Also, just for clarification, you NEED an Ivy Bridge cpu also for PCI-e 3.0 support, so people are grabbing the GEN3 boards with upgrading in mind down the road.
(note: all z68 boards will accept Ivy bridge cpu's just not all will support PCI-e 3.0 when an Ivy Bridge cpu is installed, only the GEN3's)
So you personally have to decide if you even care about a GEN3 board or not.

As for wanting to stick with Asus, i can understand that since i own one myself.
As a matter of fact the ASRock z68 Extreme4 is my first ASRock board and i'm very impressed with it!
ASRock just split from Asus last year , so now they are making performance motherboards instead of just the budget boards they are mostly known for.

I consider both my z68 boards equal, they are both excellent boards.
That is why you'll get advice from the ASRock owners to buy the ASRock and the Asus owners say buy the Asus, cuz you cannot own either board and not think you've just bought the best motherboard you've ever owned. (and ive been building pcs for about 20yrs)

I have no idea when Asus is releasing their Gen3 board, but then again i haven't been looking for the info since my rigs were recently built, so someone else will have to answer that one.
A google search is turning up no solid release date or availability.
It has to be soon because they already have the support page with bios and drivers available for download.
Click Here
From what Ive read the P8Z68-V Pro/GEN3 is expected to be around $250.00 (hopefully its a bit less than that)

 

[Mem]

I have no idea when Asus is releasing their Gen3 board, but then again i haven't been looking for the info since my rigs were recently built, so someone else will have to answer that one.
A google search is turning up no solid release date or availability.
It has to be soon because they already have the support page with bios and drivers available for download.
Click Here
From what Ive read the P8Z68-V Pro/GEN3 is expected to be around $250.00 (hopefully its a bit less than that)

Asus rep over at HardOCP forums said next Tuesday .

 

[Zoom123]

Thanks, I will open the case later on to make sure that the firewire cable is compatible.

I really don't think I will upgrade CPU on this system. Next time I will upgrade will be more than 2 years from now and by that time I will surely need a new motherboard anyway (probably I will buy everything new next time since this time I am reusing several parts).

 

[Zoom123]

Asus rep over at HardOCP forums said next Tuesday .

Thanks. And do you know anything more about the price? If it is $50 more I don't think I will buy it anyway. Any chance that it will be the same price as the current motherboards (maybe with the current ones becoming cheaper)?

 

[Mem]

Thanks. And do you know anything more about the price? If it is $50 more I don't think I will buy it anyway. Any chance that it will be the same price as the current motherboards (maybe with the current ones becoming cheaper)?

Only pricing I know is from this site http://www.tcmagazine.com/tcm/news/hardware/40923/asus-coming-out-three-pci-express-30-enabled-z68-motherboards

The P8Z68 Deluxe/GEN3, P8Z68-V Pro/GEN3 and P8Z68-V/GEN3 have recommended price tags of €229, €185 and €159, respectively.

 

[MTDEW]

Only pricing I know is from this site http://www.tcmagazine.com/tcm/news/hardware/40923/asus-coming-out-three-pci-express-30-enabled-z68-motherboards

Thats good, so the pro should be about $200.00.

EDIT: Well im not so sure now, i saw THIS while searching which converts it to $200.00.
And THIS which says $292.00.
And THIS says $256.00.

LOL, apparently im not very good at exchange rate searches, so just ignore me. :biggrin:

 

[R4in]

With the new Asus boards right around the corner, I'm glad I still have another month and a half til i build.

Being a gamer, the 3.0 could prove to be useful for the 6** cards.