Been out of the hardware scene for a while and I'm a bit lost in the Z68 roundups. I don't need loads of USB or SATA ports nor 3-way crossfire, which seem to consume a lot of the text in reviews.
Use is for gaming. No video encoding or whatever. A nice, solid, decent performing board is what I'm looking for.
Budget is flexible. The price difference between, say, the PRO and non-PRO Asus P8 Z68-V isn't going to be noticed, but neither do I throw money away.
Not a huge overclocker but seems to be so easy it's ubiquitous these days so I'd like some simple BIOS feature to crank the Turbo up to something conservative.
My preferred supplier has a decent range of Asus and Gigabyte boards, for ASRock I'd need to go elsewhere. I don't have any brand loyalties.
Rest of proposed system:
CPU : 2500K
RAM : 2x4gb GSkill RipjawsX CL9 1600 (I'm assuming not worth 50% more for CL8)
SSD : 120gb OCZ Vertex 3 (W7 + programs)
HDD : existing 1TB WD
GFX : existing ATI 6950
Case: existing Antec P182
Do I need a cooler? I didn't OC my current E8400 and was happy with the stock. There's room in the budget e.g. a Corsair Hydro H60 or Antec Khuler 620, though I'd be using the fan as an exhaust. Rather keep the noise reasonable than add another 5% to the OC.
Use is for gaming. No video encoding or whatever. A nice, solid, decent performing board is what I'm looking for.
Budget is flexible. The price difference between, say, the PRO and non-PRO Asus P8 Z68-V isn't going to be noticed, but neither do I throw money away.
Not a huge overclocker but seems to be so easy it's ubiquitous these days so I'd like some simple BIOS feature to crank the Turbo up to something conservative.
My preferred supplier has a decent range of Asus and Gigabyte boards, for ASRock I'd need to go elsewhere. I don't have any brand loyalties.
Rest of proposed system:
CPU : 2500K
RAM : 2x4gb GSkill RipjawsX CL9 1600 (I'm assuming not worth 50% more for CL8)
SSD : 120gb OCZ Vertex 3 (W7 + programs)
HDD : existing 1TB WD
GFX : existing ATI 6950
Case: existing Antec P182
Do I need a cooler? I didn't OC my current E8400 and was happy with the stock. There's room in the budget e.g. a Corsair Hydro H60 or Antec Khuler 620, though I'd be using the fan as an exhaust. Rather keep the noise reasonable than add another 5% to the OC.
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