Sandy bridge mb, which is best?

[g335]

Hello

I am going to get the i52500k or the i7 2600k for gaming, 2d design and 3d animation making.

I might oc I might not.

Which motherboards should I go with, the z68, or P67 series? What is the advantage of using a z68?

Will the h61 or h67 do?

 

[geofelt]

The H61 or H67 will not let you overclock the "K" multiplier.
Either P67 or Z68 will.

In addition, the Z68 can implement a SSD cache for a sata hard drive, and it can also run the sb integrated graphics.

Considering that the Z68 motherboards are similarly priced to P67, I would pick that option.

 

[g335]

The H61 or H67 will not let you overclock the "K" multiplier.
Either P67 or Z68 will.

In addition, the Z68 can implement a SSD cache for a sata hard drive, and it can also run the sb integrated graphics.

Considering that the Z68 motherboards are similarly priced to P67, I would pick that option.

How would I use the SSD cache for? Can't I use a SS drive with the P67?

 

[sosofm]

Yes you can use SSD on P67 motherboard.

 

[geofelt]

How would I use the SSD cache for? Can't I use a SS drive with the P67?

The Intel smart cache capability is sort of a mixed capability. You can use a small(20gb) ssd as a cache for a hard drive. Your most frequently used data from the hard drive will be accessed much faster.
On the other hand, if one can buy a 20gb ssd, why not buy a 60gb ssd and get the speed of both reads, and writes, particularly for the os.

 

[nikorr]

I would go with Z68 because the features.
There are 3 major differences between the P67 and the Z68.

Intel SRT (Smart Response Technology) lets you to use a small SSD (<50GB) to work as a caching drive to speed up the boot, start up of apps and access times.

IGP Support (Integrated Graphics on Processor) the Z68 boards have build in support for the IGP. The main advantages of this is that it will allow you to use the IGP for things like backup graphics and help with trouble shooting issues. Also with the Lucid Logix Virtu software you switch between the IGP and the dedicated video card for the best performance for the application that you are running.

Intel SATA III controller is better performing then the old Marvell controller that is used on the P67 boards.

Z68 is also great overclocker!

Those are the differences between the Z68 and the P67.

 

[nikorr]

And yes, the Intel SRT (Smart Response Technology) is the least useful feature.

Just get SSD and its done, I agree with geofelt ^^^ on that : )

 

[nikorr]

Hello

I am going to get the i52500k or the i7 2600k for gaming, 2d design and 3d animation making.

I might oc I might not.

Which motherboards should I go with, the z68, or P67 series? What is the advantage of using a z68?

Will the h61 or h67 do?

There is a difference in the video and 3D and other creative tasks.

The 2600K is a clear winner vs 2500K. But for games its not needed, as the games don't take the advantage of the hyper threading.

But who is using the PC only for the gaming, right : )

 

[jaquith]

Da what?

*SRT up to 64GB ; I'm not a fan because it tears-up an SSD with writes and SSD's have limited wrties and then their dead. Best to use a dedicated SSD 120GB or larger (OS, Apps, Working data) + HDD (Data storage).
*Quick Sync requires (any) video out port; some Z68's don't have one so always check
*P67 or Z68 have the same (2) Intel SATA3 and (4) SATA2 ports; oddly the P67 is faster

The 'real plus' if any for Z68 is Quick Sync and then only if you produce a lot of MPEG-2/4/H.264 videos and prefer Quick Sync over CPU quality aka quick and dirty.

If you never plan to OC then any LGA 1155 socket MOBO with any Intel chipset will work, but only the P67 and Z68 currently allow any OC.

 

[geofelt]

If you have the situation where Intel srt cache is a good idea, one would use the 20gb 311 ssd. It is a slc based drive which will handle writes better than mlc.

 

[jaquith]

Sure SLC or eMLC, but then the costs outweigh the gain. Using a dedicated SSD is going to be consistently faster 100% of the time. Someday, hopefully soon, there will be 'affordable' and long-lasting 512GB & 1TB SSD and then bye-bye to the Plater.

You pick:
$120 Intel 311 Series Larsen Creek 20GB SSD
$140 (-$15 Gift Card) $125 OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-120G 120GB SSD

 

[geofelt]

Sure SLC or eMLC, but then the costs outweigh the gain. Using a dedicated SSD is going to be consistently faster 100% of the time. Someday, hopefully soon, there will be 'affordable' and long-lasting 512GB & 1TB SSD and then bye-bye to the Plater.

You pick:
$120 Intel 311 Series Larsen Creek 20GB SSD
$140 (-$15 Gift Card) $125 OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-120G 120GB SSD

You miss my point.
It is situation dependent.

If you have the situation where ready cache will be of advantage, then there IS a ssd that will work in that environment.
Say, for instance, that you use 20gb of hard drive accesses intensely for a while, and then use a different set another time, ...etc.
Even then, one has to decide if a small 20gb slc ssd is better than a larger mlc ssd at the same price. For read, perhaps, for writes, likely not.
It is nice to have an option.

On the other hand, I readily agree, that most will not have that situation, and that using a larger ssd for the os and the more i/o intensive apps will be a better strategy.

 

[jaquith]

I wasn't criticizing, I too was trying to illustrate a point to not SSD Cache.