Which of these two 1155's for my 2500K?

[mazeroth]

I'm going to head to Micro Center in the morning and buy myself a 2500K chip. I just noticed they have bundles with a few motherboards for $299 and would like to know which of these two you would go with:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&Tpk=ga%20p67x

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&Tpk=p67a-gd55

I'm leaning towards the MSI as it has 3x the reviews and they tend to be better. Though, the sample size isn't that big. My last four boards have been Gigabytes and I've been happy with them but wouldn't mind trying something different.

Any pros/cons for either is greatly appreciated!

 

[Blitz KriegeR]

I've heard some great things about GB in the past, and would risk them over MSI purely from a brand point of view. However, I have heard bad things about their most recent boards based on 1155.

As far as the listed boards... the GB has two extra 6Gbps SATA ports and is cheaper.

The MSI has a proper UEFI not a hybrid EFI like the GB (no mouse/graphics = old style BIOS), come with more SATA cables, and imo just LOOKS like a better board.

Given you said both are part of a $299 combo I'd get the MSI.


P.S. 2500k + that MSI P67 for $299 Damn that's a steal! I wonder if my local microcenter has that deal...

 

[mazeroth]

They should have the deal. If you browse the 50 page ad on their site you should be able to see it. Yeah, even with tax and gas money I'll only have $330 in it, which is about $50 cheaper than Newegg.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Did you really need 2 threads asking the same question?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=31776196#post31776196

Why not get a Z68 board?

 

[Vette73]

Yep, get a Z68 board


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128498

 

[mazeroth]

What is a Z68 going to do for me that a P67 won't? Plus, the two P67 boards that I linked to will only cost me $120 at Microcenter. That Gigabyte is $60 more.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

turn your machine into an HTPC later on down the road or a low power main rig

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157251

 

[Kenmitch]

I jumped on the microcenter P8P67 Pro/2500K combo when it was available

Based on your 2 choices in the original post if it was me I'd give the MSI a shot. Not that it's the way to choose a MB but the MSI looks like the nicer of the two MB's your choosing from. I'm pretty sure I saw the MSI board at fry's and it does look like it has nice build quality!

I've used alot of Gigabyte boards and have never had a problem with them to be fair.

I can relate to the I wanna try something new thing!

 

[Bartman39]

I have the MSI P67A-GD53 which the only difference between it and the GD55 is the 1 internal 3.0 USB header other than its only $149... The bios is a bit clunky but for sure alot better than a reg old bios and the features and performance is sweet... I`ll never go back to an old style bios its UEFI all the way... That microcenter deal is very good...:thumbsup:

 

[Patrick Wolf]

What is a Z68 going to do for me that a P67 won't? Plus, the two P67 boards that I linked to will only cost me $120 at Microcenter. That Gigabyte is $60 more.

Ignore the others. If you won't use SRT or quicksync there's no point. Get the P67 combo deal and enjoy.

 

[jcniest5]

Get the P67 combo since you mind about the saving. Z68 board is newer technology, but costs more.

 

[CraigRT]

Ignore the others. If you won't use SRT or quicksync there's no point. Get the P67 combo deal and enjoy.

Agree.
I recently went P67 and could not care less about Z68. For what its worth I have a Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3 and its rock solid. I could not be happier.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Ignore the others. If you won't use SRT or quicksync there's no point. Get the P67 combo deal and enjoy.

After the machine is done as a gaming machine/box or whatever, take the video card out and use it as a low power HTPC or main rig with the Z68 chipset. You cannot utilize the on-board GPU with a P67 board.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

After the machine is done as a gaming machine/box or whatever, take the video card out and use it as a low power HTPC or main rig with the Z68 chipset. You cannot utilize the on-board GPU with a P67 board.

That's one option, but may not be in OP's interest. Some people, like me, have no need for a secondary rig of that magnitude. When I upgrade CPU/mobo/RAM, I just swap out the old parts in my current system. Everything else gets reused and the old parts are sold off. If I wanted a 2nd rig it'd be for low level stuff and would have low level parts. A 2500K would just be wasted in such a machine.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I think it would be the best route as you can get a decent Z68 board for ~ the same price as a P67.

I disagree with saying "waisted." With the 2500K you have a more energy efficient CPU, it runs thermally cool/low temps, and its fast. That's like saying "I use to run a business but I was making too much money so I quit". And by the time one decides to upgrade the 2500K would probably be a slow chip, in tomorrows world.

Would you agree?

 

[Patrick Wolf]

No. It depends entirely on what the rig is being used for. If an Athlon II X2 build would be adequate, anything more powerful would be waste - wasted performance and wasted money for not selling.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

So you are saying with relatively no price difference between a P67 board and a Z68 board it is better to get the board with less options. :thumbsup:

 

[Patrick Wolf]

That's not what I'm saying. That's not even relevant to what we're talking about.

 

[Blitz KriegeR]

Ok flame war over, tyvm.

Though both P67 and Z68 are fair platforms that will suit the OPs needs, since he was talking about the combo at micro center that only includes P67 there you have it, debate over!

GL with your build mate!

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I could of argued I read the OP had already bought the 2500K!

Wait, i did! lol, sorry

.....maybe i was confusing it from a different thread.

 

[dweilbacher]

I have the MSI P67A-GD55 Motherboard paired with an i5 2500K. Using the Hyper 212+ to cool the CPU. Running at 4.0Ghz on each core.

I chose the MSI over the GB due to the Bios. MSI has the full UEFI.

The board seems solid and fast and I had no problems during installation. I also have no stability issues while OC'ed. My only grip is with their add-on software. Live Update 5 works OK, but is buggy. Some of their other software was a bit buggy or unless also. But I just un-installed all of it and move on.

I did have some confusion with the UEFI when attempting to OC. But once I figured it out I posted my bios setting on this forum to help others (so search).