Hello gurus, I'm looking to buy a 2500k in the very near future. But I was just wondering what motherboard would go well with it. I've heard the ASUS P67 boards are the best way to go, but I'm still not quite sure. Any recommendations?
Depends. If you have or are planning to get an SSD, then go with the Z68. If you are doing video encoding, go with the Z68. If you just want something cheap (though there are Z68 boards for around $110-$120) to use with a discrete video card, then go P67. If you need to use the onboard video, then either the H67 or Z68. It all depends on your budget and other components.
Definitely Z68. Check out the gigabyte Z68 boards on newegg. You will find some very decently priced ones.
+1 on Z68 boards. Personally i now only recommend P67s only if someone's on a budget. If their budget can fit a Z68, then I would quote one for them. deltatux
Thanks for the replies. i had a look around a few stores and found quite a few boards. I am a bit confused about the naming scheme they have going on though, and the price difference associated with it. here are a few examples, I'm talking about the UD4, 5 and 7 parts. GA-Z68X-UD4-B3: €180,- GA-Z68X-UD5-B3: €243,- GA-Z68X-UD7-B3: €299,- What's the difference between these boards? I had a look at the different specs but I'm not quite sure what the difference is, especially considering there is quite a big price gap between each one. Sadly I sort of neglected being up to date about hardware, so I don't really know this. I'm also not very familiar with gigabyte, hence this question. Obviously I'm aware that the more expensive ones are generally the real enthusiast boards. I know the UD7 has 4 PCI-e slots for example. But the list of specifications in the store is a bit.. overwhelming considering they list every single detail.
UD4 only has 2 PCIe x16 slots, both running x8 if both are loaded. If not, only the first one is x16. It has 4 SATA 3.0 slots. UD5 has 3 PCIe x16 slots, the first two are the same as the UD4 but the third one runs at x4 all the time. It only has 2 SATA 3.0 slots. UD7 has 4 PCIe slots and 4 SATA 3 slots. Personally I don't like this configuration because the first PCIe GPU will most likely cover the second PCIe slot regardless because most cards these days are dual slotted. deltatux
Alright, thanks for the summary. Kind of don't see the point of the UD5 board then, unless it has a lot more going for it over the UD4 to justify the price difference. Is it better/easier for overclocking or something? I can afford the UD5 if it really is better than the UD4 though. The UD7 is most likely not worth it for me, so I can scrap that one. Which means it comes down to either the UD4, or UD5.
I agree with Delta, UD4 just makes more sense if you don't have a special need for an additional PCI-E 16x slot.
Z68 hands down! For brand the Asus P8Z68-V PRO. Awsome board. Every single online review gave it top marks across the board including this site. I have this board and I can say it is rock solid and was a joy to work with!!
Hmm, didn't realize ASUS also had z68 boards. The one you suggested is about 10 Euros cheaper than the gigabyte UD4 board. And the only thing that's really different is the color scheme, from the looks of it. Am I right in saying that they are very similar boards, where the only real difference would be the brand? Or does one have a distinct advantage over the other?
There are a few differences actually. I prefer the colours on the UD4 myself, but the P8Z68-V Pro has more goodies. For example, the Asus board has an extra PCIEx16 slot. Asus board also has the new UEFI BIOS which the UD4 does not. Also the Asus board has VGA port, DVI port and HDMI port on the motherboard. UDA does not. Asus offering offeres much more then the UD4 imo...
All Intel Sandy Bridge boards comes with EFI (and I absolutely refuse to call it BIOS as they're two DIFFERENT THINGS). The question is in the design of the motherboard manufacturer how they determine how the interface works. GIGABYTE has "Hybrid EFI" which is basically EFI with the old school BIOS design with no mouse support and call it "Hybrid EFI". They also have "Touch BIOS" which is just the standard EFI interface with mouse support and etc. Since it's EFI it also comes with support for non-standard devices like touch screens. deltatux
