Which Z68 board for me?

[Atheus]

Hi all,

Looking to build a 2500k-on-Z68 system very shortly. Like this week. And I need a board...

Priorities:

- B3 revision chipset. Must be well cooled and use good surrounding components.
- Durable and overclockable processor-related components. Solid state power caps and all that. I love Gigabyte for this reason.
- A usable video output for the onboard graphics. VGA/DVI would be ideal since they'd fit more random monitors in an emergency but I could live with HDMI.

I would simply go for the best Gigabyte I can find but the ones with video output all seem to use the 7 or 12 phase power setup rather than the 16 phase monster on the UD4... which has no VGA out... so am I missing my perfect GB board somewhere? Or is there another manufacturer I should be looking at?

I have heard ASRock is now good quality but memories of their cheap and nasty history do not fill me with confidence...

Help?

 

[Atheus]

FYI my fallback board is this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=5&subcat=1990

The UD3P (B3) with HDMI and supposedly a 12 phase power regulator... it's not the 16 phase I really want (UD4) but it's advertisted as a positive and it does use good components. Plus the UD4 doesn't even allow you to use the video encoding capability of the 2500k let alone the onboard GPU as an actual graphics processor.

The UD3P at least has that, and HDMI too, which I suppose is fine... but damn I want those extra power stages... and I really want DVI and VGA... what if I need to hook an old monitor up to the onboard graphics to get a usable machine? I could be somewhere there's no HDMI, or I could have a moinitor or graphics card failure... do I need really these features or am I just nitpicking?.. I'm starting to get annoyed at the sheer number of options open to me from the various manufacturers...

And BTW, as a side note, I just spilt beer on my Macbook Pro while writing this. It seems to be fine. Good old Apple. Damn expensive though they are.

 

[MrTransistorm]

Plus the UD4 doesn't even allow you to use the video encoding capability of the 2500k let alone the onboard GPU as an actual graphics processor.

There are two Z68 UD4 boards. The GA-Z68XP-UD4 does have HDMI w/Virtu support:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128507

I'm a bit disappointed by Gigabyte's Z68 offerings. It seems that every one of them lacks one or two things that would make it near perfect.

You might want to consider something from Asus instead. Perhaps the P8Z68-V Pro:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131730

 

[GrumpyMan]

I really like my board, but it doesn't have a video connector port for the HD3000 on board which is kind of weird.

 

[Atheus]

Okay so I can get this...

http://www.ebuyer.com/267129-gigabyt...a-z68x-ud3p-b3

...for a little extra with HDMI - great! But is it the 'B3 version'? Do I need to worry about this?

Apologies for all the the n00b questions. I rarely get time to mess around with hardware

/edit - It has B3 in the fucking name. Please ignore the above stupidity.

I think I found my board then - can anyone point me to a good thread with an AT user overclocking this thing until it releases the magic smoke?

Thank everyone!

 

[munkle]

I would recomend one the asus z68 boards. My z68 maximus gene-z has been perfect!

 

[Atheus]

I would recomend one the asus z68 boards. My z68 maximus gene-z has been perfect!

Would a high end ASUS have the fancy solid state caps etc? I'm kinda a GB fanboy since I like the good components and construction etc- they're what makes a good board - the kind you keep around for 4 years or something even if it's not your main machine.

 

[munkle]

Would a high end ASUS have the fancy solid state caps etc? I'm kinda a GB fanboy since I like the good components and construction etc- they're what makes a good board - the kind you keep around for 4 years or something even if it's not your main machine.

Pretty much any board by any manufacturer over $100 has all solid caps. (except maybe a few intel made boards)

Easiest way to tell is just look at the mobo pics on newegg. solid caps look nothing like electrolytic caps. (for the most part anyways)

 

[capeconsultant]

I like the more copper myself

 

[Aharami]

can someone explain to me what exactly the B3 revision is, and how it is better?

Im trying to decide between these two board, but cant figure out which one is better
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3
and
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3

 

[munkle]

B3 is the fixed chipset, the previous version had a hardware defect. There is only b3 chipsets in retail circulation now.