[RLUser]

Hello everyone,

I have been searching after a motherboard in the last week and I found 3 motherboards that I consider to buy.

I'm talking about the motherbaords:

Gigabyte GA-P67X-UD3-B3 and Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3

And I found this one too: Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3.

I'm willing to buy an Intel i7 2600 3.4Ghz Socket 1155 processor, 16GB RAM,
2 TB hard drive and a Sapphire 6950HD 2GB RAM GDDR5 with dual fan(dirt3 edition)

Will one of these motherboards fit?

[Dyre Straits]

Only this one has onboard graphics....which, apparently is what you originally were asking about....

GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1155 - GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 (rev. 1.0)

So, is onboard graphics needed, or, do you plan to go without and just use an add-in card?

[MIG-31]

MODS Note:

JYI i have corrected the Main forum's Heading to match the threads Heading that the OP has tried to edit..

[RLUser]

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

Only this one has onboard graphics....which, apparently is what you originally were asking about....

GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1155 - GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 (rev. 1.0)

So, is onboard graphics needed, or, do you plan to go without and just use an add-in card?

Thanks for the reply.

I will use a Sapphire HD6950 2GB GDDR5 Dirt3 Edition, and the processor I mention above, which motherboard should I use?

[drwho]

Well, since you'll be using the Sapphire HD 6950 that kinda eliminates the z68 boards. I'd go with the P67 UD3 B3.

[Dyre Straits]

Originally Posted by drwho

Well, since you'll be using the Sapphire HD 6950 that kinda eliminates the z68 boards. I'd go with the P67 UD3 B3.

I don't follow your reasoning and it directly contradicts someone else who highly recommended the Z68 boards to him.

Your reasoning, please.

[RLUser]

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

I don't follow your reasoning and it directly contradicts someone else who highly recommended the Z68 boards to him.

Your reasoning, please.

+1

[blibbax]

I suspect the point is that Z68 is only worth the extra money vs. P67 if you want to use the integrated graphics. This seems sensible, but it's worth keeping in mind that Z68 has a few other small additional features - quicksync and SSD caching, iirc. Personally I'd go P67, but it depends how highly you value those features.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review...-overview.html

[RLUser]

I have made a decision, I'll go for the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3.
Thank you very much

[gaetan]

I'm not sure which is best, but having additional on-board graphics can be beneficial when the on-board GPU is used as a 'back-up' GPU for light operation when the high power GPU is not required, thus saving on energy consumption... or at least I think that's how it works ( I read it somewhere and I believe that's how it works if I understood it properly lol)

[blibbax]

Originally Posted by gaetan

I'm not sure which is best, but having additional on-board graphics can be beneficial when the on-board GPU is used as a 'back-up' GPU for light operation when the high power GPU is not required, thus saving on energy consumption... or at least I think that's how it works ( I read it somewhere and I believe that's how it works if I understood it properly lol)

That's not quite how it works. Lucid Virtue, which is not a component of Z68 but which is available for it, if I recall correctly set out to achieve something like this, but if I recall correctly failed.

Nvidia and AMD both have technologies like this for laptops (and for a few obsolete Nvidia desktop chipests), but they've not made the move to the desktop space. In reality, modern high-end GPUs use very little power at idle.

[gaetan]

Originally Posted by blibbax

That's not quite how it works. Lucid Virtue, which is not a component of Z68 but which is available for it, if I recall correctly set out to achieve something like this, but if I recall correctly failed.

Nvidia and AMD both have technologies like this for laptops (and for a few obsolete Nvidia desktop chipests), but they've not made the move to the desktop space. In reality, modern high-end GPUs use very little power at idle.

Not sure if it's the same thing, but I was talking about using the on-board GPU when the higher end GPU is not needed, but if the high end GPUs don't use much power, it's even better.

[blibbax]

In short, Z68 itself contains no such feature.

[drwho]

Originally Posted by blibbax

I suspect the point is that Z68 is only worth the extra money vs. P67 if you want to use the integrated graphics. This seems sensible, but it's worth keeping in mind that Z68 has a few other small additional features - quicksync and SSD caching, iirc. Personally I'd go P67, but it depends how highly you value those features.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review...-overview.html

My reasoning is pretty much the same as blibbax has explained above. If I were to buy a socket 1155 board it would be the P67 instead of the z68 simply for the fact being that I would never use the onboard video features because I use a video card. That was pretty much my thoughts on the subject. Besides I was not trying to undermine anybody else, I was just trying to be helpful, DS.

[Dyre Straits]

Originally Posted by drwho

My reasoning is pretty much the same as blibbax has explained above. If I were to buy a socket 1155 board it would be the P67 instead of the z68 simply for the fact being that I would never use the onboard video features because I use a video card. That was pretty much my thoughts on the subject. Besides I was not trying to undermine anybody else, I was just trying to be helpful, DS.

I was attempting to put myself in the shoes of the OP, who, it seems (and I may be wrong!) to be somewhat new to building a rig from scratch. Taking your comment at face value made it appear that the Z68 boards could not even be considered since he already made mention of wanting a separate graphics card. That, of course, is not true and made your comment appear to be a bit misleading.

I'm somewhat following this type of posting as, after the first of the year, I'll likely do another upgrade of my own and looking at some of the others' comments and recommendations.

[blibbax]

You really think 1155 is a worthwhile upgrade from your 950?

[drwho]

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

I was attempting to put myself in the shoes of the OP, who, it seems (and I may be wrong!) to be somewhat new to building a rig from scratch. Taking your comment at face value made it appear that the Z68 boards could not even be considered since he already made mention of wanting a separate graphics card. That, of course, is not true and made your comment appear to be a bit misleading.

I'm somewhat following this type of posting as, after the first of the year, I'll likely do another upgrade of my own and looking at some of the others' comments and recommendations.

I take your meaning, DS and apologize if my comments were misleading. This was not my intention and I shall try to more thorough in my explanations in the future.

[Dyre Straits]

Originally Posted by blibbax

You really think 1155 is a worthwhile upgrade from your 950?

My main reason for wanting to do an upgrade is due to some problems I'm having with CFx + Eyefinity. I'm leaning toward the problems being due to the MSI board I'm using and, if I get another motherboard, I'd just as well do a complete overhaul at the time.

[blibbax]

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

My main reason for wanting to do an upgrade is due to some problems I'm having with CFx + Eyefinity. I'm leaning toward the problems being due to the MSI board I'm using and, if I get another motherboard, I'd just as well do a complete overhaul at the time.

Is it not possible for you to send your board back as defective, and get a refund with which to buy a similar but functional replacement?

[Dyre Straits]

Originally Posted by blibbax

Is it not possible for you to send your board back as defective, and get a refund with which to buy a similar but functional replacement?

Proving that the fault is with the board would likely be very difficult unless I could send in the whole system. Where my suspicion lies is with how well...or how poorly...this board supports CFX. I could probably opt to go with a single slot/dual GPU card to see if my suspicion is valid. But, I really don't feel the need to get another graphics card at this time as the two I have are doing a splendid job for the games I play.

Where everything falls down is when I use Eyefinity + Crossfire. So far, I'm the only one who has reported the specific problem I have with this configuration. No one else where I've reported this has ever encountered the same thing. So, until I put this whole system into another motherboard, I won't know for sure just what the score is. AND, if I'm going to go that route, I'd just as soon build a whole new system with a new mobo and newer CPU. Waiting until after the new year should result in some decent options and at decent .... or better ... prices.

[blibbax]

Sometimes etailers can be really generous with their refund schemes - worth a go to just tell them it doesn't work and that you want an equivalent product, no? You don't lose anything if they refuse.

[RLUser]

Thank you guys for helping me, today I will buy the new computer, thanks to you

[Dyre Straits]

Originally Posted by RLUser

Thank you guys for helping me, today I will buy the new computer, thanks to you

Once you get it up and running, let us know how you like it. And, run some benchmarks and post in the Benchmark forum here.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/benching/

[RLUser]

Once I get it working I will do it.