Sandy Bridge motherboards which model?

[inwd]

Hi,

Building a new i7 2600 and I'm having trouble working out what are the better boards at the moment with the sandy bridge. I'm interested in the Gigabyte or Asus range although can be whatever brand. Any suggestions? What is popular choice with consumers what are a few of the best boards at the moment for value and performance? Thanks!

 

[Ubrales]

Am told Intel has rectified the SATA error and added a suffix -B3 to their P67 series.

But the SATA error is the one that HAS been reported, there could be others. So I think it best to wait for the Z68.

Thanks!

The same logic applies to ALL board manufacturers.

Another way to look at it that Intel has discovered and rectified their error; the others might not have even discovered errors in their new products, and probably will wait for customer returns.

Happens frequently in the automotive industry too! With every manufacturer.

 

[jaquith]

I am a 'Post Early Adopter' meaning I tend to wait for a 'number' of reviews and reviews from USERS more so prior to buying. The technologies between H67/P67/Z68 are more less the same -- regardless give any 'new' or 're-release' in this case for the P67/H67 at least a few weeks.

** I just noticed an OP building several 'B3' {post-recall} having problems with several of their Intel SATA II ports {3 Gb/s} which is what the recall was all about. ** I'm looking for other cases now, this thread -> http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/288760-30-anyone-sata-failure-cougar-point-chipsets

Clearly you want the P67 based upon your comments "powerful PC, capable of heavy multi-tasking, as also HD playback." Also, if you are heavy in multi-tasking then you want the i7-2600 series CPU; only the i7-2600K/S/_ are 4-core and 4-threads the i5 are 4-core with NO HT Hyper-Threading.

 

[colo]

Yes, it actually makes sense to wait to wait for a few weeks before P67-B3 stabilizes sans complaints/ recalls.

Do you suggest the i7-2600 or the top-end 2600K? I obviously want the investment to last a few years, and am only building a new system because my Asus A7N-SLI Deluxe board failed. At that time the AMD 939 chips were hot, and I got an Opteron 165 later on.

Do you agree that today's mATX/ uATX boards are as good as our good old ATX ones? I was having a discussion with my son, and have always favoured ATX.

Thanks again!

 

[colo]

The same logic applies to ALL board manufacturers.

Another way to look at it that Intel has discovered and rectified their error; the others might not have even discovered errors in their new products, and probably will wait for customer returns.

Happens frequently in the automotive industry too! With every manufacturer.

Quite right...so one has to also look for the best available support. Asus is pretty bad here in India, Intel among the better ones.

 

[deadlockedworld]

The P8P67 Deluxe is up on newegg again!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131701

 

[jaquith]

i7-2600 vs i7-2600K ; P67 = i7-2600K and H67 = i7-2600. See Building Chart above.

 

[SnowGator]

Yes, the P67 requires Discrete GPU(s). Waiting, it depends upon your Purpose and Budget. 'IF' I were to build either an HTPC or general Desktop {non-gaming} then I would probably wait for Z68, and most HTPC's are like DVD/DVR players so the H67 is fine. Supposedly, the Z68 is coming out in Q2 2011, but the P67 recall -- it 'could be' closer to Q3 2011. Remember, either the H67 or Z68 will pull both Physical RAM {0.5GB+} AND PCIe Bandwidth {10~20%} regardless if a Discrete GPU is used or not.

In any case, if 'Gaming' is part of the 'LIST' then P67 or maybe Z68 but for 'TV' resolutions.

Hope that helps & Good Luck!

Jaquith, as a recent lurker on these forums I have to say I've found your posts extremely helpful!

I had just convinced myself to wait for 2-3 months for the Z68 mobos in case the 'Quick Sync' capability amounted to something useful in the next couple years. Hadn't delved deeply enough apparently to discover the bandwidth and memory penalties. Was also hoping with all the SSD caching attention that the conflicts with RevoDrives and RAID data drive setups would be resolved.

Maybe I needn't bother waiting after all -- too bad the ASUS P8P67 Deluxe mobos are sold out again on NewEgg...