Best LGA1366 for overclocking/gaming to replace P6T Deluxe V2

[TheGooseyOne]

Hi,

I am in need of replacing my ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard. It was very effective at overclocking my CPU (I had about a 60% OC on my i7 920). I am looking the best possible motherboard for overclocking at a price around $350 or less. I have already looked at the Gigabyte G1 Sniper and Asus Rampage III but am unsure which would be better or if there is a sleeper out there I haven't found. Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreicated.

 

[chillin15]

How about the second review? What fatal flaw did you find there?

 

[jaquith]

Read my 'visual' above.

Regarding the second article, seen it before, it doesn't jive with any other tests. Hmmm , 140FPS HD 6970 vs 109FPS 3-WAY HD 6950. In gaming at best it's 0xAA which is CPU. However, assuming that YOU DO Game then you 'should' know 8xAA or 16xAA is ALL about the GPU(s).

GPU comparisons:
Link1 8xAA - http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1085/pg10/gtx-570-vs-radeon-6970-and-6950-vs-radeon-5870-all-overclocked-review-f1-2010.html
Link2 - http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-6950-6970-review/16

This is Tom's article for believable and I argued with him because it misleads people and another 0xAA and 4xAA and not a clock-per-clock, but a good comparison to the OP's i7 920 vs i7-2600K -> http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p67-gaming-3-way-sli-three-card-crossfire,2910-3.html

Xbit ATI Radeon SINGLE HD 6970:

Tom's 3-WAY HD 6950:

 

[TheGooseyOne]

Good points made by both of you. I'm really on the fence between going 1155 or 1366. One problem with going 1155 would be I'd also need new RAM. I currently have a triple channel kit and don't see myself using only 2 sticks of it in a new setup.

I also know I am not going to really see much of a noticable boost between my i7 920 which was at 4.2GHz and an i5-2500k at whatever OC I could manage. Sure my benches will go up, but will that be worth the couple hundred?

 

[fullofzen]

Good points made by both of you. I'm really on the fence between going 1155 or 1366. One problem with going 1155 would be I'd also need new RAM. I currently have a triple channel kit and don't see myself using only 2 sticks of it in a new setup.

I also know I am not going to really see much of a noticable boost between my i7 920 which was at 4.2GHz and an i5-2500k at whatever OC I could manage. Sure my benches will go up, but will that be worth the couple hundred?

NO!

 

[chillin15]

Good points made by both of you. I'm really on the fence between going 1155 or 1366. One problem with going 1155 would be I'd also need new RAM. I currently have a triple channel kit and don't see myself using only 2 sticks of it in a new setup.

I also know I am not going to really see much of a noticable boost between my i7 920 which was at 4.2GHz and an i5-2500k at whatever OC I could manage. Sure my benches will go up, but will that be worth the couple hundred?

Questions we should of asked you:

When do you plan to upgrade? If the answer is in 7 months, I would get a cheapt 1366 board (definitely not one costing 220) and stick it out for 7 months and upgrade to 2011.

If it is longer than a year, go lga 1155, sell your i7 920.

Sandy Bridge not only outperforms X58 in benchmarks...but as you can see from that second xbit article, it's a better overall processor in editing, power consumption, gaming, etc.

If 220 is not a lot of money for you, then you can get the board suggested but to me, sinking 220 into a dead chipset is not worth it...

 

[jaquith]

LGA 1366 -> LGA 2011 ; makes sense.
LGA 1366 -> LGA 1155 ; makes no sense - it's a side grade.

Xbit doesn't jive with ANY other benches I've seen.

Here's a Stock to Stock CPU comparison -> http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=287 ; now if you OC say 4GHz to 4GHz the differences get blurry.

Questions:
1. What are you doing with your PC? What are you constantly doing?
2. Is your ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 - BAD? Why are you replacing? It has a 3 year warranty.
3. Do you have an SSD?
4. What are your full specs? GPU(s), PSU, RAM, Monitor(s), etc

Otherwise everyone is off chasing chickens - guessing what's best.

 

[chillin15]

LGA 1366 -> LGA 2011 ; makes sense.
LGA 1366 -> LGA 1155 ; makes no sense - it's a side grade.

Xbit doesn't jive with ANY other benches I've seen.

Here's a Stock to Stock CPU comparison -> http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=287 ; now if you OC say 4GHz to 4GHz the differences get blurry.

Questions:
1. What are you doing with your PC? What are you constantly doing?
2. Is your ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 - BAD? Why are you replacing? It has a 3 year warranty.
3. Do you have an SSD?
4. What are your full specs? GPU(s), PSU, RAM, Monitor(s), etc

Otherwise everyone is off chasing chickens - guessing what's best.

the link you posted shows the 2600k beating the 920 on almost every single benchmark....which just confirms what I've been saying. AM I read the graphs wrong?

 

[chillin15]

God must have wanted this argument put to rest:

Z68 vs. X58 - Which Is The Better Gaming Platform?

Conclusion:
Today, though, you can see even with the extra strong performing setup that is the GTX 580 in SLI, the Z68 platform is ultimately the faster option with it coming ahead of the X58 more often than it comes in behind it. A lot of this is due to the fact that we're able to overclock the 2600k so much higher than our 980X.

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/4240/z68_vs_x58_which_is_the_better_gaming_platform/index1.html

 

[jaquith]

The ARGUMENT isn't IF the Sandy Bridge is 'better' the ARGUMENT is if it's has ANY real value to the OP's use and differences.

Real World:
IF having 110FPS SB OR 104FPS 920 and spending ANY MONEY for the +6FPS is CrAzY NuTs! IF the OP's achieving >45FPS {it's playable}, or ANYTHING >60FPS it wasted on a 60Hz monitor.

Now IF you 8xAA or 16xAA the Bottleneck isn't the SB vs 920 -- It's 100% the GPU(s) Bottleneck.

Next, if the OP is CONSTANTLY Rendering 5 Hours SB OR 5.5 Hours 920 AND the daily job get finished - still no reason for SB. Frankly, this is were Xeon(s) comes into play -> 2 Hours/1 Hour/etc.

The 'problem' is when the FPS is too low for play and the cost of GPU(s) + CPU bottlenecks to the point of 'diminishing returns'.

Here's a diminishing returns Bottleneck example:

 

[chillin15]

"LGA 1366 -> LGA 2011 ; makes sense.
LGA 1366 -> LGA 1155 ; makes no sense - it's a side grade."

That is what you just posted. So what you meant to say is:

UPgrade instead of side grade. It's just I'm getting conflicting messages from you. I feel like I'm dating you.

Yes, SB is better and it's up to the OP to determine whether it is better enough to upgrade to. I've linked two articles which shows gaming performance and other benchmarks which show the differences. It will be up to him if he wants to UPGRADE and whether it's worth the cost or stick with X58 and sink another 220 into something inferior.

 

[jaquith]

LGA 1366 -> LGA 2011 ; CPU ONLY ; makes sense - 45% improvement
LGA 1366 -> LGA 1155 ; CPU ONLY ; makes no sense - it's a side grade - 16% improvement

Balance - Gaming typical HD monitor, say I take a GeForce 9800 GT run it on a i7 9xx, SB, or SB-E this is totally unbalanced and the CPU won't do a damned thing to play e.g. Just Cause 2. Conversely, if I take a GTX 570 on Just Cause 2 55.4FPS SB vs 54.1FPS 920 WHERE'S the '16% improvement' poof all gone - 2%.

Take a minute and LOOK with your EYES 😱 at this article -> http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p67-gaming-3-way-sli-three-card-crossfire,2910-6.html ; read some pictures if nothing else.

DUMB CPU 'upgrade' Choice -> 110FPS SB OR 104FPS 920

You are trying to convince the OP to waste their money, in fact IMO for 'Free' RMA the ASUS is bad it has a 3 year warranty.

IF I wanted to improve overall performance: 1. 120GB SSD, 2. new/second GPU, 3. 6GB+ RAM - rendering 12GB.

 

[TheGooseyOne]

LGA 1366 -> LGA 2011 ; makes sense.
LGA 1366 -> LGA 1155 ; makes no sense - it's a side grade.

Xbit doesn't jive with ANY other benches I've seen.

Here's a Stock to Stock CPU comparison -> http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=287 ; now if you OC say 4GHz to 4GHz the differences get blurry.

Questions:
1. What are you doing with your PC? What are you constantly doing?
2. Is your ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 - BAD? Why are you replacing? It has a 3 year warranty.
3. Do you have an SSD?
4. What are your full specs? GPU(s), PSU, RAM, Monitor(s), etc

Otherwise everyone is off chasing chickens - guessing what's best.

1) Gaming and high-intenisty apps like Maya/Photoshop/After Effects (which is why I am leery about losing HT)
2) It died a week ago, I am currently RMA'ing it but I can't really be out of a PC for an entire month, so I would like to buy a new mobo and eBay my board for ~$150
3) Yes, but its kingston from right when they were starting out and isnt very fast. I could definitely upgrade here...
4) Radeon HD5850 (upgrading to either 6950/GTX570...but thats another thread), Corsair 750TX, 6GB OCZ Platinum DDR1866, LG 1080p monitor

 

[jaquith]

Maya actually runs best on AMD 6-core. Adobe acceleration indeed benefits from HT, high IOPS 'SSD' for both project file(s) and scratch disk -- try it once on a RAM Drive -- yeah buddy! All three need >8GB of RAM.

Neither GPU 6950/GTX570 - you really need a Pro GPU e.g. Quadro OpenGL acceleration; the BIOS hacked consumer GPU's don't perform the same.

The problem is your OCZ RAM, they quit making RAM and my experience is OCZ is horrible RAM all by itself let alone 'mixing' e.g. OCZ + Corsair/etc. The 750W is minimum for OC the CPU + GPU.

RAM 'today's deal' I would look at (2) sets of $150 24GB!!! Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 12GB (3 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 Model 998995 ; holly cow {$150 24GB} $150 24GB DDR3 1600 trumps $160 12GB DDR3 2000 MHz all day.
Side-by-Side -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007611%2050001504%20600006078&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=147|20-226-192^20-226-192-TS%2C20-226-195^20-226-195-TS

RAMDISK -> http://www.superspeed.com/desktop/ramdisk.php

--
edit: BTW the new LGA 2011 SB-E are 6/6 (12) CPU, the LGA 1155 is limited to 4/4 in the Core i7 models.

 

[TheGooseyOne]

Wait what? I'm not going to get an AMD CPU or a Quadro GPU....sure I use those applications but gaming is still my PC's main component.

As for the OCZ RAM, it has been flawless for 2 years and allowed me to easily OC my i7 920 to 4.2GHz so I have no complaints. I would be interested in upgrading to 12GB as you mention. I am a little confused though, your posted link would be $300 for 24GB of RAM, not $150.

Also, is the eVGA board you recommended above your absolute recommendation for a 1366 board for OC'ing? That was my main question and I'm getting down to the time to decide or I might as well wait for the RMA to return, hah

 

[jaquith]

I wasn't suggesting you get an AMD, just noting it's affect with Maya only.

The Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 12GB DDR3 1600 Model 998995 is $75 per 12GB Kit, 2*12GB = 24GB 2*$75 = $150 ; so yeah $150 = 24GB -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226192

For Gaming on X58 more than 12GB does nothing to improve Gaming, Rendering - yep more = faster rending; it depends on the Project size.

I've had really good luck on EVGA for Gaming, and with my slue of ASUS P6X58D-E, but IF you get an example OCZ Vertex 3 SSD 550/500 MB/s then the Marvell 91xx is going to cap it at 370~390 MB/s versus Marvell 918x 570~595 MB/s cap. So if you want an OCZ Vertex 3 then get a Gigabyte G1.Guerrilla {Marvell 9182 - x2 lanes}.

 

[chillin15]

LGA 1366 -> LGA 2011 ; CPU ONLY ; makes sense - 45% improvement
LGA 1366 -> LGA 1155 ; CPU ONLY ; makes no sense - it's a side grade - 16% improvement

Balance - Gaming typical HD monitor, say I take a GeForce 9800 GT run it on a i7 9xx, SB, or SB-E this is totally unbalanced and the CPU won't do a damned thing to play e.g. Just Cause 2. Conversely, if I take a GTX 570 on Just Cause 2 55.4FPS SB vs 54.1FPS 920 WHERE'S the '16% improvement' poof all gone - 2%.

Take a minute and LOOK with your EYES 😱 at this article -> http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p67-gaming-3-way-sli-three-card-crossfire,2910-6.html ; read some pictures if nothing else.

DUMB CPU 'upgrade' Choice -> 110FPS SB OR 104FPS 920

You are trying to convince the OP to waste their money, in fact IMO for 'Free' RMA the ASUS is bad it has a 3 year warranty.

IF I wanted to improve overall performance: 1. 120GB SSD, 2. new/second GPU, 3. 6GB+ RAM - rendering 12GB.

It's been fun but it's hard to argue with someone who picks and chooses reviews to form opinions while ignoring others and also who just pulls statistics from one benchmark and extrapolates it or worse yet, just makes stuff up off of hearsay without any evidence. Oh by the way, if you want to disprove an article, you do it by disproving methodology not by saying - oh well that doesn't agree with the articles that I agree with so it's wrong.

You want me to read articles, okay let's read the xbit article and let's see if we can get an idea of HOW MUCH better SB is better than X58 okay?

Is the OP even sli'ing? if not, why are you looking at tri sli, tri cf articles?

Source: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i7-2600k-990x_9.html#sect2

Test config: Same testbed, different processor

i960 versus i5 2500k (just remember the 920 performance differential will be even LARGER)

sysmark 2007 - 10% difference
e-learning - 10%
video creation - 4%
productivity - 8%
3D - 11%
Far Cry 2 1680x1060 - 12%
SC2 1680x1050 - 8%
f1 2010 same res - 10%
mafia 2 same res - 5%
metro 2033 same res + physx - 30% difference
civ v same res - 10%
winrar - 8%
true crypt - 0%
adobe photoshop - 30%
adobe lightroom - 0%
itunes 10 encoding - 15%
sonar x1 producer - 16%
x264 video transcoding - -1%
adobe priemere - <1%
cinebench - -1%
3dsmax - <1%
power consumption idle - 54% improvement
power consumption load - 52% improvement

performance in OC: not tested with 960 but differential gap widens between the best i7 and the SB i7

If there is one thing I agree with jaquith about it is that you should just stick with RMA. Don't watse your money on 1366.....

Just from the above figures, a 920 versus a 2500k, you are looking at at least a 25% improvement with a jump to 1155 - especially at resolutions higher than the ones in that article.

Oh btw, from dictionary.com:

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/upgrade - To raise to a higher grade or standard

yes, I would call 1155 an UPGRADE from 1366 and the dictionary would agree with me. Since the numbers are higher, it means it's an upgrade.

anyways, I'm done arguing

 

[jaquith]

... but gaming is still my PC's main component....easily OC my i7 920 to 4.2GHz so I have no complaints.

@chillin15:
OC CPUs @ 4GHz clock per clock - 'SB' Intel Core i7-2600K vs 'X58' Intel Core i7-920, HD @60Hz Resolution, 4xAA & High Details, ; Gaming Results:

AVP
SB = 61.1/40.4
X58 = 61.1/40.4
0/0 ; 0% average gain

Crysis
SB = 47.2/40.2
X58 = 42.7/38.9
0.5/1.3 ; 1.9% average gain

F2010
SB = 80.9/72.6
X58 = 71.6/70.5
9.3/2.1 ; 7.0% average gain

STALKER
SB = 82.5/58.5
X58 = 82.4/58.3
0.1/0.2 ; 0.2% average gain

Average gain = 2.3% SB vs X58

Now, the millisecond you go to 8xAA & High Details - poof it's all about the GPU the frame rates would be negligible. For me to recommend to the OP to rebuild their rig for +2.3% is CrAzY.

The article included Single GPU, 2-WAY SLI/CF, and 3-WAY SLI/CF. IF I were to spend money {see above again}.

A 'Side Grade' to me is when the overall performance doesn't either justify an appreciable improvement for the 'Purposes' intended AND/OR the increase in performance can be better achieved through BETTER SUBSTITUTED components e.g. GPU. In this case +$200 or more: 1. GPU, 2. Overall SSD. Clearly, IF the OP $ per $ Maximized +$200:

Example i5-2500K + GTX 570 ($300) HDD vs i7 920 + GTX 580 ($400) + $100 SSD ; the i7 920 would be by far the better performer for the OP needs.

IF the OP was starting from scratch and needed a NEW PC NOW - then DUH I'd be recommending an i7-2600K, 4x4GB, etc.

Yeah I'm tired of this pointless argument myself ; we agree on something!

 

[TheGooseyOne]

Chillin, thanks for all of your help but I think I am going to go more in the direction of jacquith. I agree with him that move to an i5-2500k would be more of a sidegrade. I was getting great OC's with my P6T deluxe and i7 920, and while I'm tempted by a possible 5GHz OC from the 2500k along with the upgraded chipset, I just don't think it will be worth it. When I was gaming on my rig before the mobo died, it was clear that my video card was the bottleneck, not my NB and CPU. After checking on eBay I just dont think I would get enough money out of my 920 and RAM to justify switching over.

My plan atm is to get a new 1366 board and sell my P6T Deluxe on eBay (~$150). If I get one like the Guerilla, which is $220 on tigerdirect atm, I'll be out $70 but have a working PC weeks before my RMA gets back (which is critical for me for work/school coming up...I can't keep using this old heap I'm on atm). Also I will get USB and SATA 3 which my current mobo lacks. IMO thats a worthy purchase.

New question before the thread locks, whats the best SSD for $200 or under? Now that I'll have a board that can use it I'm thinking of buying one...

 

[jaquith]

No question the $199.99 OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB Read 550 MB/s & Write 500 MB/s http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706 however it would require the G1.Guerrilla {Marvell 9182 - x2 lanes}.

SSD Installation tips:
1. Verify the latest firmware is installed; if not install firmware {if possible use a donor PC and do it prior to format/OS installation} - http://www.ocztechnology.com/ssd_tools/OCZ_Vertex_3,_Vertex_3_Max_IOPS,_Agility_3,_Solid_3,_RevoDrive_3_and_RevoDrive_3_X2/
2. Use the latest Marvell drivers on Gigabyte's site, in fact use only the drivers on GA's site {not the MOBO's CD/DVD} - http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3776#dl
3. Set both SATA and Marvell, in BIOS, to AHCI prior to OS install. Once OS is installed verify that the Start values = 0 ; Microsoft - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976 & see this image -> http://i1013.photobucket.com/albums/af254/Jaquith/AHCI_Start_0.jpg
4. Bench test with ATTO {official site} - http://www.attotech.com/products/product.php?sku=Disk_Benchmark

G1.Guerrilla - http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3776#sp

Let me know how it all turns-out.

Good Luck!

 

[vexun11]

I have an i7 930 with a GA-X58A-UD3R motherboard, it makes me so sad that this chipset is dead, I purchased it about a year and a half ago, I didn't think 1155 out performed 1366 by all that much when both cpu's are overclocked, how much longer will 1366 be fast enough before GPU's start to get held back by the CPU?