Best Chipset's

[No_xp_STRAT]

In my research I am often disappointed by Intel chipsets/motherboards in my price range for processors like Intel's Core i5-760 running P55. I find myself disappointed by the lack of support for multiple GPU's. On top of that the range of ports'n'stuff on the chipset are far too outdated or unsuitable for my needs. I find that motherboards with AMD's 890FX chipsets and the like to be better equipped.

Please help with the dilemma of petter CPU performance (Intel make the superior performing CPU's i5 2500K>Phenom II X6 1100T BE) or longevity and adaptability.

THE BREAK DOWN
1) Who makes the best chipsets for multiple graphics cards(More PCI lanes than one 16x) and port support(SATA 3.0 USB 3.0 etc.)?
3) Suggest a chipset/motherbaord
2) What CPU's are compatible?
4) Suggestions for CPU (preferably multiplier unlocked)
5) voice other opinions on the matter.

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

Intel X79 chipset. It's pretty much 'Da Bomb' for you.

Supports Sandy Bridge 'Extreme' CPUs with four or six cores plus Hyper-Threading, quad-channel memory, and up to 15MB of L3 cache.
x16/x16 or x8/x8/x8/x8 PCIe Gen3 setups.
Will have something like 10 SATA3 ports plus four SATA2 ports.
One bad thing: No USB3 built in -- still have to use a USB3 chip.
Another bad thing: Have to wait until January 2012 or so to buy it.

 

[geekapproved]

8x/8x is just fine for today's graphics cards, you don't need 16x/16x, so P55 or P67 is just fine for multiple graphics cards.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p67-gaming-3-way-sli-three-card-crossfire,2910-17.html

From what's available right now, the Z68 is by far the best choice for whatever you do if your looking for the latest and greatest. s1156 (p55) is not the latest and greatest, s1155 is.

You want a Sandy Bridge cpu (s1155), the i5-2500K (no hyperthreading, unlocked multi, 3.3ghz) is the way to go if you basically want a bad ass gaming system. i7-2600K (w/hyperthreading, unlocked multi, 3.4ghz) is the way to go for $100 more if you need the hyperthreading.

X79 won't be out for quite some time and it will likely be very expensive.

 

[Onus]

I was just faced with this same question. Points I considered:
1. The economic poo is about to hit the fan. This made the decision time-critical. What comes out in a few months, as nice as it sounds, may be unaffordable or not available by then.
2. Intel CPUs significantly outperform AMD. Bulldozer is a no-show, and see #1; BUT, my 740BE had proven itself able to run any application or game I have.
3. Warranty period. This machine needs to last.
4. Must be capable of taking any upgrade I'm likely to want (assuming it is affordable).

After contemplating all this for a few weeks, I chose an Asus Sabertooth 990FX, and put a X4 970BE on it. It has the ports for anything I'm likely to ever want. Its six SATA 6Gb/s ports can be configured in RAID-5 if I want it; to get RAID-5 on Intel boards, I'd typically be limited to 3Gb/s ports as the 6Gb/s ports seem to exist in pairs. I can put up to 3 GPUs on it at X8 (two at x16/x16), and still have a X4 slot. Nothing has to be multiplexed to do this, nor would I have to give up other ports and/or slots. I chose the 970 rather than overclocking a 955 because at stock, the faster 970 inexplicably uses a lot less power. What's odd is that the Anandtech benchmark I used is currently missing, but I assure you it was there. I've got a single GTX560Ti on it, which doesn't break a sweat on any of my games, but I could SLI a second one if I wanted to.

 

[geofelt]

In my research I am often disappointed by Intel chipsets/motherboards in my price range for processors like Intel's Core i5-760 running P55. I find myself disappointed by the lack of support for multiple GPU's. On top of that the range of ports'n'stuff on the chipset are far too outdated or unsuitable for my needs. I find that motherboards with AMD's 890FX chipsets and the like to be better equipped.

Please help with the dilemma of petter CPU performance (Intel make the superior performing CPU's i5 2500K>Phenom II X6 1100T BE) or longevity and adaptability.

THE BREAK DOWN
1) Who makes the best chipsets for multiple graphics cards(More PCI lanes than one 16x) and port support(SATA 3.0 USB 3.0 etc.)?
3) Suggest a chipset/motherbaord
2) What CPU's are compatible?
4) Suggestions for CPU (preferably multiplier unlocked)
5) voice other opinions on the matter.

1) Perhaps the wrong question to ask. Everybody makes a motherboard with usb3.0, and everybody has a dual card cf/sli capable motherboard.
X8/X8 can deliver crazy frame rates when used with strong cards like the GTX580. If you feel you need more, you are a professional gamer with an unlimited budget.
Triple graphics cards and more are possible, but why bother?
2) Z68 or P67 would be the current chipset of choice. Pick you favorite brand, they are all good.
3) Sandy bridge cpu's are compatible. 22nm ivy bridge is supposed to be compatible with a bios/firmware update.
4) for the gamer, the favorite is the 2500K. At stock, it is superior to anything else available today. Overclocked is even better.
If $100 is not important to you, the 2600K adds hyperthreading and more cache.
5) What is your budget for a gaming cpu?
at $200 and over, 2500k is the pick
at $125, 2100 is good for most games, and the X4 of some sort is good for heavily threaded games.
at< you can play well with a sandy G620/850 or an amd X3 and a fair graphics card.

Remember, for gaming, spend more on the gpu than the cpu.

 

[Onus]

In an article some months ago, Tom's found that SLI on AMD boards did not scale anywhere near as well as on Intel boards, or there was a severe bottleneck somewhere (but it didn't identify where, or try to, as that wasn't the article topic). Now that was an older chipset, but if the bottleneck was the CPU, it may still be there; I'll look forward to another analysis once Bulldozer is out.
Still, like I said, based on my requirements, an AMD CPU offered sufficient performance, was cheaper, and the 990FX chipset offered superior connectivity options.

 

[No_xp_STRAT]

8x/8x is just fine for today's graphics cards, you don't need 16x/16x, so P55 or P67 is just fine for multiple graphics cards.

Actually my desire to have the ability of runny a multi GPU set-up was not for the present but the future where the grunt of two would give the graphical boost you need for cheap.

Spoiler

I manly do this cause I am interested yet have little means. In my country there is not a lot of good sites that I can do region specific research like pricing and stuff it more common to read an Australian PC magazine than it it is to read one form New Zealand.

(I know bad use of spoiler but cuts the c**p)

When/If I ever get to build a PC gaming rig it would be everything for strictly $2000 and under the focus would be the longevity of the internals (how long will those parts still be relevant/good enough) so the peripherals can be cheap. So for mother board and cpu no more than 600NZD (multiply by 0.75 for approx pure conversion).

Here is a build not happy with motherboard, PSU and graphics maybe even the Hard drive.

■Asus VE247H 23.6" 2ms LED Monitor $295.00

■Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB WD5000AAKX 16MB Cache SATA3 $64.99

■Sapphire ATI Radeon HD6850 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E $299.00

■LG GH22LS50 22x LightScribe Black SATA DVD Writer $59.00

■Microsoft Wired Desktop 600 $29.00

■CL Extreme i5 2500K Sandy Bridge P67A-UD4-B3 HyperX 4GB Combo $779.00

■Antec Gaming Three Hundred Case $109.00

■Corsair TX650 V2 Enthusiast Series Power Supply $179.00

■Microsoft Windows 7 OEM Home Premium 64Bit $179.00

 

[Onus]

The PSU is fine. For the hard drive, WD Black, Seagate 7200.12, or Samsung Spinpoint F3 would all be faster. If mine is any indication, the WD would be the loudest drive of the three.

 

[geekapproved]

PCI-E 3.0 is right around the corner, maybe you should wait for that if you looking for something for FUTURE video cards.

It's nearly impossible to buy now for the future, it doesn't work that way in the computer world anymore.

 

[geofelt]

The build looks good, and appropriate for today.

Most any P67 or Z68 motherboard with two separated pcie-x16 slots will be good for a long time.

You will have options for future upgrades.

The separated slots(for gpu cooling) will accomodate a second card as an upgrade.
More likely, new cards coming the end of the year will offer a more compelling upgrade.

On the cpu side, the 2500K is as good as it gets for gaming, and will likely still be for a while.
The P67 and Z68 motherboards are supposed to be compatible with 22nm ivy bridge due out within the year. Only a bios/firmware update will be required.

From a future upgrade point of view, you might want a stronger psu. Something like a 750w or 850w unit should do it.

 

[geekapproved]

The way Intel switches sockets and chipsets every 6 months or less makes me think there is no way Ivy Bridge will be compatible with P67 or Z68. I just can't see it.

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

Unless the confirmations we have seen are wrong, Ivy will indeed be compatible with current Sandy boards. They just need a BIOS update specifically for adding the CPU compatibility code.

 

[sykozis]

The way Intel switches sockets and chipsets every 6 months or less makes me think there is no way Ivy Bridge will be compatible with P67 or Z68. I just can't see it.

LGA1366 was released in Q3'08....it will be replaced by LGA2011 in Q4'11 or Q1'12. LGA1156 was released in 2009...and replaced in 2011. LGA1366 used X58 and 5520. LGA1156 uses H55, P55, H57, Q57, QM57 and the 3450 for Xeons.. Compared to LGA775, LGA1156 had few chipsets. LGA775 had 945, 965, G31, G33, Q33, P35, Q35, X38, G41, G43, B43, P43, G45, P45, X48, B65....not sure the exact release schedule of all these chipsets for LGA775, and I'm sure I'm probably missing a few. With LGA1156 and LGA1366, the same chipsets were used for the sockets' entire life... Intel has never switched sockets on a 6 month schedule....in fact, 2-3 years isn't even unreasonable for a socket life-span for the enthusiast market.