Gigabyte P67X or Z77 - Any Differences?

[darkol]

Hey there,

I have been doing some research for my new build which I will be buying very soon, and I came across some issues.

First, this is my (futuristic) build:

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912

Motherboard: Gigabyte Intel Z77 GA-Z77-D3H

Cooling System: Cooler Master V6GT

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2

CPU: Inter Core i5 3570K

GPU: Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB

RAM: Corsair Vengeance Blue 16 GB DDR3 Low Profile

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM ST1000DM003


Now my issue comes with the fact that I can only use Amazon to buy for several reasons, and my current motherboard takes up to 3 weeks to get shipped and I don't want that. So I started looking for substitutions.

The best solution I found is the GIGABYTE GA-P67X-UD3-B3 which costs exactly the same and has almost the same features except no onboard graphics which isn't a matter to me anyway, but I read some bad reviews which held me a bit. So is it a good choice or should I stick to my Z77 D3H and wait? Or downgrade to a Z77 DS3H?

Are there any better choices for the same price? I don't mind different brands, but I want something decent for $120 or less

 

[jaquith]

The difference between P67 and Z68 or Z77 are added features like: iGPU support, Quick Sync, SSD Caching, variants of Virtu with Z68 or Z77. The Z77 additionally offers Intel USB 3.0 native ports and Virtu MVP variant.

Easy to read grid - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_1155
Virtu MVP (review the entire article) - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77-express-virtu-mvp-benchmark,3174-2.html

For the same money I'd go the Z77 route and if Gigabyte and OC'ing I'd look at the UD5 series.

 

[darkol]

I will be overclocking - but I really don't think the UD5 series is worth the $70 difference. Actually I can't find the big difference between the two in terms of overclocking.

Also the P67 doesn't seem to have UEFI, will that affect me much while overclocking?

 

[jaquith]

The advantages to the UD5 are its additional Phases, to a degree the additional Phases lowers the vCore. As the power varies up and down additional vCore is required to bigger (less phases) power changes (stability).

There's no advantage to the older BIOS and UEFI for OC'ing, frankly the overall advantages are small.

 

[darkol]

Best answer selected by darkol.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr