Z68 vs P67: advice welcome!

[marlinman]

Hi all

Trying to convince myself that I have no use for a Z68 mb, and that a P67-based one will do me fine (mb will carry an i5-2500K).

My current understanding is that one can view Z68 as P67 plus SRT (SSD caching), and plus the enabling of the CPU's integrated GPU (which may be OCd and allows use of QuickSync/Virtu).

Now, I do no transcoding whatsoever and have no plans to start, which seems to make QS a non-issue. I'm awaiting a pair of HD5830s so have no interest in the iGPU. I think I'm smart enough to divide OS/apps/media/games/... between SSD and HDD, so have no interest in SRT.

Am I missing anything? Cheers in advance...

 

[dma0991]

If you could get a Z68 board for almost the same price of a P67 I don't see why not get the one with the extra features. If you say that you have no use for a Z68 board then getting a P67 would do just fine.

 

[DesiPower]

What features are you looking for in your mobo? also which P67 mobos are you currently looking at? There is no reason for not going with Z68 except for budget, do you think you can get more features on a P67 for the price?

Let us know what you are looking for and I am sure we can find a Z68 that fits your needs and doesn't break your bank. Afterall Z68 is a newer chip and it might support next generation Intel CPUs that P67 may not...

 

[marlinman]

Oh, nuts! When I started this thread I had evidence to suggest that Z68 boards started almost 50% higher price-wise than P67s in my country. Sadly (or not, as it happens) this evidence has been 'discredited' by further investigation, and (as seems to be the case in the US) the Z68s are certainly in the same ballpark as the P67 boards price-wise.

I'll have a good night's sleep, investigate some more, and might hit y'alls up for some Z68 board advice on the morrow =)

 

[wjones14]

There's an excellent article at Maximum PC all about the Z68 chipset. Highly recommended:

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/everything_you_need_know_about_intels_new_z68_chipset

The bottom line is the best disk performance is going to be with a 100% SSD solution and no HDD, but that is beyond the budget of many people. The Z68 chipset offers a reasonable alternative for people who still want to maximize their performance while keeping the cost down.

In the conclusion of the Maximum PC article, the author says that when you install the OS and maybe a few apps on a small SSD, you often end up spending a lot more time freeing up space and a lot less time enjoying your computer. Also, when Windows installs patches and Service Packs, is there going to be room on the SSD for them? With the Z68, you don't need to worry about any of that.