Still debating which Sandy Motherboard to get

[joonkimdmd]

choices are

GA-P67A-UD3 LGA 1155 P67 ATX Motherboard
ASUS P8P67

I am not thinking about SLI/Crossfire.
I am getting 2500K and want to overclock it up to 4.5Ghz.
so then is it ok for me to get the cheapest P67 possible or is there any reason to avoid the cheapest motherboard?

So far, the cheapest one I know is GIGABYTE p67A-UD3.

 

[Eagle Eye_54]

I was in the same boat as you up til yesterday. I bought the i5-2500x to save a $100 over the 2600x and got an ASUS P8P67 Pro mobo. I went this way because the PRO is loaded with features at a reasonable price (I paid $180), has a great new bios interface and has multiple 16x PCI slots for up to 3 GPU's at 16x. (It says 2 @16x but the bandwidth of the new boards is twice as big so 3 will work at 16x).

I seriously looked at the Gigabyte mobos as well but are shy on some features that the ASUS have and IMO, ASUS has a better all around reputation.

Enjoy which ever you get and have fun with it.

 

[joonkimdmd]

I was in the same boat as you up til yesterday. I bought the i5-2500x to save a $100 over the 2600x and got an ASUS P8P67 Pro mobo. I went this way because the PRO is loaded with features at a reasonable price (I paid $180), has a great new bios interface and has multiple 16x PCI slots for up to 3 GPU's at 16x. (It says 2 @16x but the bandwidth of the new boards is twice as big so 3 will work at 16x).

I seriously looked at the Gigabyte mobos as well but are shy on some features that the ASUS have and IMO, ASUS has a better all around reputation.

Enjoy which ever you get and have fun with it.

Like I said, I am not interested in getting more than 1 GPU.
Besides this, are you saying that BIOS interface is the only difference that makes the price difference of $100?
What really is bios interface? is it that important?

Unfortunately, i don't have ASUS P8P67 PRO as my option.
My choice is just regular ASUS P8P67 and its deluxe version besides gigabyte.

 

[Eagle Eye_54]

Neither was I going to go SLI but I like to leave my options open. My last mobo only had one slot and I forever regretted that purchase. Also, I have found that going cheap on any purchase that matters is never the right answer. There are issues like quality, reliability, reputation, support and so on to consider. If the mobo is so cheap, ask yourself why is that? What is an extra 50-75 bucks over the life of the mobo? As for the BIOS, have you looked at the new reviews on Giga's and ASUS? If that new mouse controlled interface on the ASUS doesn't get you excited, then perhaps nothing will.

 

[joonkimdmd]

BIOS? isn't that the blue screen that allows you to pick which one to boot first?
is that something important?

 

[nged72]

The PRO Asus has 2x PCIe 2.0 x16 slots (technically 3), but if you are doing SLI/CF it will run the dual at x8/x8

 

[swimswithtrout]

Besides this, are you saying that BIOS interface is the only difference that makes the price difference of $100?
What really is bios interface? is it that important?

Unfortunately, i don't have ASUS P8P67 PRO as my option.
My choice is just regular ASUS P8P67 and its deluxe version besides gigabyte.

You don't know what a BIOS is ???

Have you ever built your own box ?

In any event, AFAIK all of the ASUS P67 boards (P8p67/ P8p67PRO/ P8p67EVO/P8p67Deluxe/P8p67Maximus) use the new UEFI graphic based, mouse controlled BIOS.

 

[nged72]

You don't know what a BIOS is ???

Have you ever built your own box ?

In any event, AFAIK all of the ASUS P67 boards (P8p67/ P8p67PRO/ P8p67EVO/P8p67Deluxe/P8p67Maximus) use the new UEFI graphic based, mouse controlled BIOS.

^ +1 Which is much nicer than the old ones. If you look up reviews or pictures of it on google you will be impressed

 

[swimswithtrout]

^ +1 Which is much nicer than the old ones. If you look up reviews or pictures of it on google you will be impressed

Unless the OP has never had to scroll down/across through all the standard BIOS DOS screen lists before.

I'm so used to them, it might be hard getting used to a mouse GUI..........NOT ! (or maybe).

I'm waiting a few weeks to see how the new Mobos's work, I'm not that worried about SB.

Once the dust settles, and real world results start coming out, I'll make my jump.....from my P4 3.4 to whatever.

That said, I'm posting this on my wife's AMD Athlon 2700 build since my box died months ago.

 

[nged72]

Yea I'm still on a 6 year old computer, and I have never had any problems with it except for my gpu.

I got so sick of scrolling up, down, left, right all the time >.<

I'm still debating on purchasing a 2500k, because I have a good case (Antec 902) tx650w psu and Windows 7 ultimate just sitting there waiting to get internals.

 

[joonkimdmd]

You don't know what a BIOS is ???

Have you ever built your own box ?

In any event, AFAIK all of the ASUS P67 boards (P8p67/ P8p67PRO/ P8p67EVO/P8p67Deluxe/P8p67Maximus) use the new UEFI graphic based, mouse controlled BIOS.

This is my first time building one and I don't know about BIOS.
The only thing I know is pressing F8 or something as soon as PC boots to enter blue screen mode where I could adjust the boot sequence.

 

[Eagle Eye_54]

Just buy an ASUS (with the new BIOS) and don't look back. They are not the best selling mobos in the world for no reason. The other equipment you have is good stuff and with a new Sandy setup, you'll have a setup to be proud of. It should last you for years too.

 

[Ripthruster]

They're both fine. If you're overclocking the new bios interface of the Asus boards may be better for you. That's how I went. I got the Asus P8P67 Pro.
Its better to have the SLI/XFire as an option even if you don' use it now.

 

[Ripthruster]

And I do appreciate that it is easier to spend other peoples $$$ but as I said...if you want to OC your 2500K then go for a higher end motherboard. You will likely have more successful and more stable OC's.

 

[joonkimdmd]

Best answer selected by joonkimdmd.

 

[joonkimdmd]

And I do appreciate that it is easier to spend other peoples $$$ but as I said...if you want to OC your 2500K then go for a higher end motherboard. You will likely have more successful and more stable OC's.

Do you think one of my choices, ASUS P8P67 would be good enough to OC my 2500K?
by the way, it's not pro, delux or any of those versions. It's just "P8P67".

 

[Resteasy]

If you want another choice
I picked up the ASrock Extreme4 (asrock is owned by Asus)
One review has a stable OC at 4.6 which is more than enough for myself with the 2500K. It's a relatively inexpensive board actually a couple dollars cheaper than teh Asus P8P67 (regular, not pro). Just throwing that out there.

If you want to choose between the 2 brands you mentioned then do go with the asus pro (especially if you have a microcenter near you then you'll save big) cause it'll be better in the long run. Plus so many people here decided on that board that there'll be good support.

 

[Eagle Eye_54]

Do you think one of my choices, ASUS P8P67 would be good enough to OC my 2500K?
by the way, it's not pro, delux or any of those versions. It's just "P8P67".

Yes absolutely. The ASUS P8P67 is a great basic board with a few extras in it that some other companies don't have. You can still OC that 2500K all you want and do so easily with the new BIOS ASUS has in all its P67 boards. Checkout the ASUS website and do a compare product list. That way you can see what you are giving up and whether the P8P67 has what you want.

This is the spot: http://usa.asus.com/ProductGroup2.aspx?PG_ID=mKyCKlQ4oSEtSu5m You will see the "Product Comparison" on the bottom left side of this page.

All the best.

 

[ferretmania]

Yes absolutely. The ASUS P8P67 is a great basic board with a few extras in it that some other companies don't have. You can still OC that 2500K all you want and do so easily with the new BIOS ASUS has in all its P67 boards. Checkout the ASUS website and do a compare product list. That way you can see what you are giving up and whether the P8P67 has what you want.

This is the spot: http://usa.asus.com/ProductGroup2.aspx?PG_ID=mKyCKlQ4oSEtSu5m You will see the "Product Comparison" on the bottom left side of this page.

All the best.

Eagle Eye_54:

I tried that ASUS product comparison link. However, all I get is pretty pictures of the various P67 Boards...no info at all. No hot links. Nada! I'd really like to see the various specs in one chart.

P8P67
P8P67 DELUXE
P8P67 EVO
P8P67 LE
P8P67 PRO


Sorry...I can't find a way to paste a screen shot.

Any ideas?

 

[Eagle Eye_54]

That sucks. It worked great when I tried it a few days back. Maybe someone at ASUS will read this and fix it, eh?

 

[joonkimdmd]

If you want another choice
I picked up the ASrock Extreme4 (asrock is owned by Asus)
One review has a stable OC at 4.6 which is more than enough for myself with the 2500K. It's a relatively inexpensive board actually a couple dollars cheaper than teh Asus P8P67 (regular, not pro). Just throwing that out there.

If you want to choose between the 2 brands you mentioned then do go with the asus pro (especially if you have a microcenter near you then you'll save big) cause it'll be better in the long run. Plus so many people here decided on that board that there'll be good support.

I will have my eyes on asrock extreme 4.
But what's better between asrock extreme 4 and asus p8p67?
By the way, microcenter doesn't have p8p67 pro. They only got p8p67 and its delux version.

 

[Resteasy]

Oh ok I thought they had the pro. I don't have a microcenter near me.

I really can't say what's better or worse between the two. One thing is price. Asus has the asus name on it but asrock is owned by asus.

Best thing to do is to compare the features (number of ports and such). I do like that the extreme4 comes with a front usb 3.0 panel. It fits into one of the drive bays in front and that's nice to have.

I think they are comparable personally but I don't have experience with them. I'm waiting on the cpu to arrive so I haven't hooked up my extreme4 yet.

 

[Resteasy]

intel 2500k, asus pro and civilization V (free) for 400 US.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7144664&CatId=6982
(saves 20)

not bad.

asrock (152 at newegg but currently sold out) + intel 2500k = 375 @neweggg.
instead and not in a bundle (and excluding the game)

 

[icemule1]

You guys can use my motherboard comparison chart (attached) I made in Excel when trying to decide which board to go with. I ruled out all boards that didn't have a sufficient number of SATA ports and I made sure it had at least one eSATA.

In the end, it came down to the Asus P8P67 LE and Asus P8P67 Professional boards. Since I still have a couple PATA drives I'd like to use, I decided to go with the LE model. It's cheaper too, and I didn't see much of a benefit from the Professional over the LE.

 

[Resteasy]

You guys can use my motherboard comparison chart (attached) I made in Excel when trying to decide which board to go with. I ruled out all boards that didn't have a sufficient number of SATA ports and I made sure it had at least one eSATA.

In the end, it came down to the Asus P8P67 LE and Asus P8P67 Professional boards. Since I still have a couple PATA drives I'd like to use, I decided to go with the LE model. It's cheaper too, and I didn't see much of a benefit from the Professional over the LE.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/2602/20110113132615.jpg

It's not completely correct. Just glancing at it you have 0 sata6 for ASrock extreme4 when it DOES have 4. Also it does have 2 usb 3.0 but it also comes with a front panel you can attach which gives another 2 for total of 4 usb 3.0 slots.
Didn't go through the rest of the list