2. Administrators Jabo Posted January 18, 2011 2. Administrators Share Posted January 18, 2011 Off the back of CGs thread about the new SB i-series Intel processors, I thought I'd kick this one off to cover the mainboards. As I understand it, the question is which chipset? There are two new ones, the H67 and the P67. Apparently the H67 is 'locked' to limit (prevent?) overclocking, but takes advantage of the HD graphics gubbins built in to the processors, whereas the P67 is 'unlocked' for the overclockers, but doesn't use the graphics. This means that you could save money if you're not bothered about overclocking by going for the 2600 as opposed to the 2600K (the 'K' denotes unlocked) and get a board with the H67 chipset (also cheaper). Question is how much difference does using the graphics stuff built into the processor make? or is it better to get the unlocked hardware and clock the machine to get an overall boost. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimosabi Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 The integrated Intel HD3000 graphics usually performs on par with an ATI HD 5450/Nvidia GT220, on turboboost, so I wouldn't really consider it for a gaming computer. You can kinda overclock the 2600/2500 as well, but it has a locked multi so the only option is to run it with "turboboost" option, which is limited to around 4.2-4.3gHz and from my experience, those kinds of tools usually adds alot more heat than overclocking normally, since they tend to bump up the voltages quite a bit more than necessary. I'm not experienced with SB though so they might have refined the "noob overclocking utilities" a bit. There is no DX11 support in H67/P67Sandy Bridge IPG's, so if you want to play Cliffs of Dover in DX11, you can't. The only reason to why I'd pick the H67 is if I did lots of video encoding, film making etc. and not much gaming. The Sandy Bridge procs rule when it comes to converting/encoding because of the extra horsepower from the IGP. It is a nice architecture and very flexible for the normal user, but if you run games at 1600x1200 and above, H67 will limit your options quite badly. You can also forget using much AA or AF with the integrated Sandy Bridge graphics. Especially AF. However, DirectX 11 and DirectX 10.1 graphics support is largely a moot point with regard to integrated graphics. Whatever GPU capabilities that are present in Sandy Bridge and Fusion, they are more suited to entry-level gaming and playing games from a generation or two ago rather than taking on top-tier DirectX 11 titles. For that task, using one or more high-end discrete graphics cards is highly recommended. That's my 2 cents anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gec Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Off the back of CGs thread about the new SB i-series Intel processors, I thought I'd kick this one off to cover the mainboards. As I understand it, the question is which chipset? There are two new ones, the H67 and the P67. Apparently the H67 is 'locked' to limit (prevent?) overclocking, but takes advantage of the HD graphics gubbins built in to the processors, whereas the P67 is 'unlocked' for the overclockers, but doesn't use the graphics. This means that you could save money if you're not bothered about overclocking by going for the 2600 as opposed to the 2600K (the 'K' denotes unlocked) and get a board with the H67 chipset (also cheaper). Question is how much difference does using the graphics stuff built into the processor make? or is it better to get the unlocked hardware and clock the machine to get an overall boost. What do you think? the processors have the graphics built in it. The H board only have the display connector soldered on it so u can use on processor graphic. That's the same as onboard graphic just this time it is on the processor meaning much faster. The P boards are for those like us that need more graphic power than this implemented can offer. So it does not have connectors. instead it has more PCIe 16x slots, extra controller for triple and more SLI and some other cool stuff. also if u want to OC your processor, u'll have to buy K version. H boards, taking that they will be implemented in lower end computers, and probably depending on the manufacurer of the board does not have OC options in the BIOS menu. In other hand P board does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2. Administrators Jabo Posted January 19, 2011 Author 2. Administrators Share Posted January 19, 2011 Ah, so the integrated graphics stuff is pointless for us as far as CoD is concerned. May as well go for a 'k' and P67 then. I feel a gtx580 coming on too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimosabi Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 If you have a 775 cpu cooler you're very satisfied with(like me), ASRock P67 boards have both 1156/1155 AND 775 mounting holes incorporated. I'm thinking about getting either the ASRock P67 Extreme 4 or Extreme 6. Pretty decent pricing on those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2. Administrators Jabo Posted January 19, 2011 Author 2. Administrators Share Posted January 19, 2011 Hmmm, that's not going to work for me I don't think, but I'm looking at an ASUS or Gigabyte board. Jabo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimosabi Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Two well known and respected brands. I'm curious about the new UEFI bios so it may be Asus for me as well. Time will show. Gigabyte doesn't incorporate UEFI yet so I'll have to leave Gigglebyte's side for my upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2. Administrators Jabo Posted January 19, 2011 Author 2. Administrators Share Posted January 19, 2011 I think asus is the more likely option for me Kimo. I'm keen on having a look at the bios replacement too. Question is though, which one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2. Administrators Jabo Posted January 19, 2011 Author 2. Administrators Share Posted January 19, 2011 Kimo m8, check out the ASUS Maximus IV Extreme - There's a distinct chance that board would ROCK! It's expensive but it's v. sexy. Jabo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimosabi Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Yeah looks tempting but I need a PCI slot. Don't want to buy a new soundcard yet. Thinking about the ASUS P8P67 DELUXE here. Nice board, UEFI, PCI slots, two x16 slots(x8/x8), 8 backpanel USB etc. Should be plenty. I'm not sure how much of a difference there is between a 2500k and 2600k though, besides 2 more mb L3 in the 2600k plus hyperthreading. I think I'm going for the 2500k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2. Administrators Jabo Posted January 20, 2011 Author 2. Administrators Share Posted January 20, 2011 2500k is an i5 isn't it? I've been using inboard sound for ages now without problems, so don't need any cards over and above the gfx. Mmmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimosabi Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Here's a jolly good review to compare 2500k and 2600k to precent i7's and i5's. http://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/zardon/intel-core-i7-2600k-and-core-i5-2500k-review/ Yeah the 2500k is an i5 but the only real difference is shared L3 cache, 6mb vs 8mb, and hyperthreading besides the IGP which I won't be using. I'm not used to having hyperthreading so I don't know if I'll be missing it either. My wallet will miss the extra dough from getting a 2600k instead of a 2500k though and since a 2500k will easily hit 4.6gHz, the increase from my Q9550 will be enormous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2. Administrators Jabo Posted January 20, 2011 Author 2. Administrators Share Posted January 20, 2011 Overclockers do some nice pre-overclocked bundles, so you don't have to do the hard work yourself - includes mainboard, memory and processor. See here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimosabi Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 It is a nice bundle but the new Asus UEFI does have a "turboboost" option, very much improved from former "noob overclocking" functions from earlier sockets and various brands. Click the button and you'll instantly have 4+gHz. Overclocking is becoming mainstream and much easier. I'm not sure if I'd pay for that clock instead of doing the clicking myself. That's what's nice about Sandy Bridge, as if the new UEFI BIOS hasn't made things easy enough, the processors themselves have been made more efficient and "clockable" than the ones I'm used to. Overclockers nowadays pretty much chunk out 5gHz of 2500K and 2600K's as if it was nothing. On air cooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2. Administrators Jabo Posted January 20, 2011 Author 2. Administrators Share Posted January 20, 2011 Good point but I'm no overclocker and that button looks awfully difficult to push. Jabo On a more serious note, overclockers.co.uk are doing 2x2GB of Corsair Vengeance ddr3 for £59.99 this week. Might take advantage - it'd be the right memory regardless of the mobo/processor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimosabi Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Yeah, I like to push buttons and see what happens. I've only heard good things about Corsair Vengeance. Planning on using those myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2. Administrators Jabo Posted January 23, 2011 Author 2. Administrators Share Posted January 23, 2011 Another new ASUS board released - The P67 Sabretooth. I suspect it's overpriced at present as all the ASUS P67 boards (except the Maximus IV) are cheaper now. Not fully SLI/Crossfire compatible either as can only run one card at x16 not two. I feel it's a dud at this price. Spec here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimosabi Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Unless you're running a GTX295, HD5970 or any dual gpu card, x8/x8 isn't going to hinder your crossfire/Sli more than probably 1-2%. A review on how much it really matters in performance terms: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_5870_PCI-Express_Scaling/1.html Anyway, I think you're better off with the Maximus IV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2. Administrators Jabo Posted January 24, 2011 Author 2. Administrators Share Posted January 24, 2011 Unless you're running a GTX295, HD5970 or any dual gpu card, x8/x8 isn't going to hinder your crossfire/Sli more than probably 1-2%. A review on how much it really matters in performance terms: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_5870_PCI-Express_Scaling/1.htmlAnyway, I think you're better off with the Maximus IV. I suppose I'd forgotten about dual-GPU cards, but it doesn't affect me in any case as I won't be running one any time soon. While the Maximus IV is a (very) nice board, at £300+ it's a little pricey for my wallet, so I'm thinking of the Pro or Deluxe ASUS P8P67 with (after your earlier posts and some more googling) a 2500K (for now). As it is, I've bought the memory and it arrived this morning. I obviously had a moment though as I seem to have purchased 8GB of the Corsair Vengeance (4 x 2GB) rather than the 4GB I was originally going for. So all I need now is a board, processor and a graphics card - lol @ me. Jabo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimosabi Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 It's hard to choose isn't it? Imma wait a few weeks more and see about how the game really runs but I am also tempted to wait for Ivy Bridge and see how that socket stacks up, in case CoD:IL-2 runs ok on my computer. My high end 775 is no longer high end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2. Administrators Jabo Posted January 25, 2011 Author 2. Administrators Share Posted January 25, 2011 Agreed, I'm not actually upgrading until I've had hysterics over <10fps in COD. My now (sadly) ageing 9800gtx does not cut the mustard for RoF though (gfx memory apparently), but seeing as COD is more important, I'm happy to wait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blairgowrie Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I see there some issues being reported with Sandy chipsets http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-20030048-92.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2. Administrators Jabo Posted February 1, 2011 Author 2. Administrators Share Posted February 1, 2011 Ouch. Thanks for the heads up Jim, looks like a gfx card upgrade is all I'll be doing for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimosabi Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Seems the socket is a bit premature. Give it another 9 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Jabo, I went for this mobo for my new rig.. http://ncix.com/products/?sku=52675&vpn=CROSSHAIR%20IV%20FORMULA&manufacture=ASUS I also went with the 8gb (2x4) Corsoair Vengance ram. And the Asus Radeon HD 2gb 6970 graphics card. As well as the AMD Phenom II x4 Black edition quad core 3.5ghz. You can check out my wish list here if you want.... http://www.dangerdogz.com/forums/topic/8148-new-dell/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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