Hi All, I decided to buy myself an upgrade from my old S775 system so that my wife can use the old parts for a new(er) PC. I've decided on an i5 2500K with 8GB RipjawsZ (2 x 4gb) and will be using my old ATI 4890 until the GPU refresh in the coming months As for the general use of my new PC, it will be mainly for gaming, programming and perhaps some rendering, however I do intend to do some overclocking, perhaps not extreme, but I will aim for about 4.5GHz. I will only be using one graphics card as gaming is not my living (unfortunately! ) When it comes to motherboards, I am a bit torn between two at the moment: * Asus P8Z68-V * Asus MAXIMUS IV GENE-Z Both of them are GEN3 boards as I might update to IB in the future. I've read reviews on both, and both seem to achieve good overclocks and I've seen good words about both. Both boards are about the same price so we can take that out of the decision. Initially I was going for the Maximus as I liked the features but was worried that mATX might cause problems (although I couldn't think why it should in an ATX case!) then saw the P8Z68 and so couldn't decide, I guess they are both good boards. Please could anyone give me a "push" in one direction? Thank you for any help!
I'm going for the GENE when I upgrade, premium feature for a standard price!!! And the colours go with my theme
I dont see the point upgrading from SB to IB. Itll be better, but not that much so. I buy boards based on what is best for my money now. If in 2-3 years i want to upgrade my CPU, then ill have to fork out for a new board, but that will likely be with new PCIe, or newer RAM, or better SATA3 etc. So by then its worth it anyway. So i would pick the cheapest of these boards, in the real world you wont notice any difference between them.
I have the Gene-Z (not the Gen3 version) and it is a great overclocker. the fastest I have benchmarked my 2700K at (with all cores and hyperthreading enabled) is 5.5 GHz, and I'm about to have a session pushing it harder (with watercooling). One thing to be aware of with the Gene-Z is if you use a large heatsink you will lose access to the first PCIe slot (that would apply to whatever board you use), and on the Gene-Z that is the only slot which works at x16 speeds. Worth considering, depending what cooler and what gpu you plan to use. Other than that, I can't recommend the Gene-Z enough
The TDP of Ivy Bridge is about 20% lower than Sandy Bridge - so if you leave your computer on and fully loaded 24/7 IB is a lot cheaper to run than SB. It also performs better at stock speeds, and is rumoured that the unlocked SKUs will have a higher maximum clock speed. So for some users it will be a lot better - higher clock speeds with less power usage. I know for me that I will sell my 2700K and buy a 3770K (maybe not immediately on release, but not too long after). The extra cost will be less than what I expect to save in electricity during it's life.
I have the Gene-Z and its a great motherboard. Admittedly I wanted a mATX build, so didn't have that many options, but would recommend it whole-heartedly. Unless you need the extra expansion slots there is no real disadvantage to having a mATX board.
Thanks for your help everyone, I'm going to order the Gene-Z later today. Now to figure out what I am going to do with the extra room in my TJ07!
I'd go ATX if I were you. You might not need the expansion slots straight away but you may do further down the line and you don't want to have to replace the motherboard to add a soundcard or the like.
Well... last night I had second thoughts and I didn't order it yet - still considering my options: I won't be using SLI (unless someone gives me another card). I won't be using onboard sound as I have both a PCI Xonar (D2) and a PCI-E Xonar (D2X) at my disposal. Board size is not an issue. I will be overclocking on air (to start with, maybe water later). I don't have any other expansion cards, and have two HDDs. I guess that the above points, either board would be suitable since I hear they are both good overclockers - just down to me to find the cheaper of the two, or an offer
FYI you want the RipJaw X memory - that is the one made for the Z68/P67 - not the Z version - designed for X79 I have the Gene Z, with the exception of the somewhat temperamental BIOS I can't say enough good things about it.
I have the Asus P8Z68-V/GEN 3, just built my system last week and so far its a smashing board, easy as pie to install, clear layout and good bundle of software. Im also using a large Noctua heatsink and there are no clashes with anything.
Got the GENE-Z because Bit Tech rated it as second fastest MB @ stock and a good OC'er (Fastest is the full ATX version). I tend to wait on OCing until the CPU starts to get old or a replacement is under 100 pounds.
just got a maximus iv gene z last week with a 2500k and 8gb ram, its really nice loads of usefull software loads of chassis fan connections really nice board, i have matx
