Is Asrock P67/Z68 Professional overkill for SB build?

[VirtualLarry]

I really want floppy, IDE, and front USB3.0 ports. Also SLI if I can swing it, although that's not 100% critical.

I like Asrock's boards, I've been a faithful Asrock and Gigabyte customer for quite some time.

Here's the list of boards that I'm looking at:

ASRock Z68 PRO3-M LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157252

Has floppy, no IDE, no front USB3.0. Is MATX, so no SLI/CF. Considering, only because Microcenter stocks it (sometimes), and if I can get the $50-60 off, then it becomes half price.

ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Performance LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157253

Has floppy, has IDE, no front USB3.0, is ATX, but no SLI/CF. This motherboard is also (rarely) stocked at Microcenter. Would settle for this board, if they happened to have it in stock. Is most similar in layout and features to my current GA-P35-DS3R v1.0 board, which I think I paid $130 for.

ASRock Fatal1ty P67 PROFESSIONAL (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157240

Now we're talking. Has floppy, has IDE, has front USB3.0, and supports SLI/CF. Unsure if this board is Gen3 like the Z68 version. Would possibly get this board over the Z68 one, only because it is like $60 cheaper. Unfortunately, not stocked at Microcenter.

ASRock Z68 PROFESSIONAL GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157263

This one is the big daddy. It should be, with its $260 price tag. Has floppy, IDE, front USB3.0, and supports SLI/CF. Explicitly supports Gen3, it's in the name. This board IS carried at Microcenter, and because of the price, doesn't often sell out. Could potentially get it for $200 with a 2500K purchase, which would bring it down into the price ballpark of the P67 Professional. I don't really think I would have need for the onboard video though. I'm unsure if I would use SSD caching. I think I would rather have a 128/256GB SSD for OS and games, if I could afford it.

Edit: Btw, if anyone has any Gigabyte boards to suggest, that might be similar in features to these, then go ahead. I'm not aware of any Gigabyte boards with a floppy port though.

 

[paperwastage]

any reason you really want floppy, IDE, and front USB3.0 ports?

IDE- use SATA/PCI/PCIe->IDE adapters

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, I keep floppy drives in my machine, just in case I need one. And I have some nice LG DVD-RW drives that are IDE, and flashed with a patched rip-lock-removed firmware. And my case (Rosewill Blackhawk) has two USB3.0 front-panel jacks, that terminate in a 20-pin USB3.0 mobo header.

 

[Kenmitch]

Can't you use a PATA to SATA adapter for your DVD drive?

Microcenter has the ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 only thing it doesn't have you mentioned is the IDE controller. You could sell off the included front USB3/SSD mount to lower the cost or purchase the SATA to PATA adapter.

 

[FAUguy]

For the last few months I've been using the last one you have listed, the ASRock Fatal1ty Z68 Professional with a 2600K CPU and 16GB of Mushkin 2133MHz RAM.
I haven't had any issues at all with this setup.
I too occasionally need the use of a floppy, but that wasn't a big deal breaker. I was looking to keep using my Plextor DVD burner that uses IDE, as most new cheap burners aren't that great and don't last.

 

[Rvenger]

ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Performance LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel

ASRock Fatal1ty P67 PROFESSIONAL (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0


These are both good choices. If you aren't using SLI, then I say go for the P67 Performance. On a side note you may want a PCI-E Gen 3 mobo instead and just get an IDE PCI card or use the Sata adapter like Kenmitch said. I have an extra one of these if you want it. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816124009

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hmm. I do have some SiliconImage-chipset PCI dual-port IDE cards around here somewhere. That's not really an issue. I would just prefer it to be on the board itself, so I wouldn't have to use a card.

 

[Kenmitch]

Hmm. I do have some SiliconImage-chipset PCI dual-port IDE cards around here somewhere. That's not really an issue. I would just prefer it to be on the board itself, so I wouldn't have to use a card.

Couldn't you just use something like this? http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0267067