ASUS Sabertooth P67A and SLI

[centrius]

Hi,

My friend told me about ASUS Sabertooth P67A and i started to research it and from what i can read, its a good motherboard with some nice features.

But i wanted to ask some questions and was hoping ppl could help me out:

I will get the MSI GTX 580 Lightning in 2-3 weeks and the P67A wont have an issue with that card. However, i would like to get one more Lightning next year and go with a SLI setup. So the question is, will the P67A work with 2 non reference cards like Lightning - heat wise? My wallet would cry if i got the extra card and was unable to run it in SLI. Today i have a Cooler Master Cosmos (http://bit.ly/n64rLO) and i was wondering if there is anything i should think about/consider?

Would appreciate any tips and feedback

Thx

 

[centrius]

A small edit: I see that there is different P67 models, A and B. Does anyone know the difference? Also, you can see my setup in my signature, should I be worried that stuff dosnt work?

http://www.webhallen.com/hardvara/1...el_p67-ddr3-2xpci-e-sata_3.0-usb_3.0-firewire

 

[SieB]

You want a B3 model those are the ones with the fixed chipset. As for SLI yes it will work but the cards will only run at X8 X8. On one monitor that wont matter but on more than one you will loose a few FPS, not sure how much but it shouldn't be too much. The only P67/Z68 boards that can do x16 x16 which will give you no performance loss are the Gigabyte UD7, Gigabyte G1 Killer Sniper 2 and the MSI BBM.

 

[S_I_N]

You want a B3 model those are the ones with the fixed chipset. As for SLI yes it will work but the cards will only run at X8 X8. On one monitor that wont matter but on more than one you will loose a few FPS, not sure how much but it shouldn't be too much. The only P67/Z68 boards that can do x16 x16 which will give you no performance loss are the Gigabyte UD7, Gigabyte G1 Killer Sniper 2 and the MSI BBM.

I had to check ya on that one lol cause afaik x8,x8 for sli was a chipset limitation from everything I read but ur correct those 3 are x16,x16 but I'm sure they take it from somewhere else. Most of my research on sb boards both p67 and z68 shoed if they gave ya something here they took away from there. As bandwidth limitations kicked in. So again it makes me wonder what being sacrificed for the 2@x16 psi-e slots

 

[centrius]

@ SieB: thank you for your input. I won't run more the one monitor so x8 x8 won't be a problem. But you don't think the heat from a SLI setup on that B3 card will be a problem? From reviews I read, ppl have been wondering about the heat sink (the metal casing) and that it might actually trap heat. No test showed otherwise but with SLI it might be different.

You want a B3 model those are the ones with the fixed chipset.

Sorry for the nuub question but what does that mean?

Also, I have a intel i7 930 CPU, that will work with the mobo, right? Today I have a 1366 socket mobo, rampage II gene.

 

[S_I_N]

no the p67's and z68's are all 1155 socket boards they wont take ur 1366 cpu at all. As far as the B3 back when the 1155 socket motherboards were launched intel found a problem that affected some of the sata ports degrading the hdds info so they pulled them off the shelves and fixed the issue and denoted the fixed boards with a B3 designation so ppl would know it was the fixed version.

and as long as you have good air flow in your case you wont have any heat issue with sli

 

[centrius]

no the p67's and z68's are all 1155 socket boards they wont take ur 1366 cpu at all. As far as the B3 back when the 1155 socket motherboards were launched intel found a problem that affected some of the sata ports degrading the hdds info so they pulled them off the shelves and fixed the issue and denoted the fixed boards with a B3 designation so ppl would know it was the fixed version.

and as long as you have good air flow in your case you wont have any heat issue with sli

Hmm ok, that was what i was afraid of. But i looked around and i found this at my local store, i5 2500K 3,3Ghz (http://www.webhallen.com/hardvara/127472-intel_core_i5-2500k_3.3ghz-6mb-socket_1155). Would u say this was a good CPU for a normal user? Or should i go for the i7 (http://www.webhallen.com/hardvara/127474-intel_core_i7-2600k_3.4ghz-8mb-socket_1155) Is the diffrence from the i7 930 big? Havnt really seen any charts to compare these typs of CPUs, is the diffrence big?

Also the question about the fixed chipset, what was that?

I really appreciate all the help <3

 

[adamjamesroe]

You want a B3 model those are the ones with the fixed chipset. As for SLI yes it will work but the cards will only run at X8 X8. On one monitor that wont matter but on more than one you will loose a few FPS, not sure how much but it shouldn't be too much. The only P67/Z68 boards that can do x16 x16 which will give you no performance loss are the Gigabyte UD7, Gigabyte G1 Killer Sniper 2 and the MSI BBM.

I dont think the Sniper 2 can do x16 x16 the second PCIe lane is only wired to x8 and there is no NF200 chip on the baord, i have seen a pic with the heatsinks off and supprisingly the heatsink with the lights on is cooling nothing!

 

[adamjamesroe]

Hmm ok, that was what i was afraid of...my poor wallet cant take the 580 Lightning + mobo AND the cpu....or can it *looks evil* i dont have to eat, right?

But i looked around and i found this at my local store, i5 2500K 3,3Ghz (http://www.webhallen...6mb-socket_1155). Would u say this was a good CPU or maybe "to good" for a normal user? Is the diffrence from the i7 930 big? Havnt really seen any charts to compare these typs of CPUs

I really appreciate all the help <3

You would be wasting your time upgrading from a 930 to a 2500K. The advantages are marginal, and in my opinion not worth the premium of oh having to get a new mobo and ram along with it.

 

[centrius]

You would be wasting your time upgrading from a 930 to a 2500K. The advantages are marginal, and in my opinion not worth the premium of oh having to get a new mobo and ram along with it.

Ok good to know! Just for arguments sake, would the 2600K be worth upgrading to to or is it the same, to small of a diffrence?

Also, do i really need to swap my RAM? Why wouldnt they work?

 

[Natashaful]

Why bother the new X68 gear is out soon, Which supports 16x16 lanes, Can you honestly say the 930 @ 4Ghz is not fast enough? you would see a very small jump in performance on alot of games, Massive refresh coming on CPU and GPU in the next 2-4 months

Save your money X68 platform will have a longer life span then the current P67/Z68.

 

[Natashaful]

I was reading your Sig whats this!, ATI HD 4870x2 with AC-Xtreme GFX fan | Intel i7 930, 2.8 GHz | Rampage II Gene, 1366 socket | 4GB Corsair 1600Mhz DDR3 <--

Is your 3rd Bank empty?, Did you just buy duel channel or something.. You really have no excuse to run a ramp II gene and have the 930 stock your money would be better spent on a Noc D14 and overclocking to 4.0Ghz, Thease chips can handle that no problem, My 930 i have does 4.0Ghz wih 1.23 volts, And you can stick 1.4 through them.

 

[centrius]

Why bother the new X68 gear is out soon, Which supports 16x16 lanes, Can you honestly say the 930 @ 4Ghz is not fast enough? you would see a very small jump in performance on alot of games, Massive refresh coming on CPU and GPU in the next 2-4 months

Save your money X68 platform will have a longer life span then the current P67/Z68.

ye thats what i heard....atleast on the GPU (28nm)but didnt know about the x68 mobo gear, would you perhaps have a good link so i can read up?

 

[SieB]

I dont think the Sniper 2 can do x16 x16 the second PCIe lane is only wired to x8 and there is no NF200 chip on the baord, i have seen a pic with the heatsinks off and supprisingly the heatsink with the lights on is cooling nothing!

Your right I just checked and its x8 x8. http://uk.gigabyte.c...spx?pid=3962#sp

Still can't believe this board is £350, the only things it has over the UD7 which is £100 cheaper and does x16 x16 are the sound card and the E2100 Dedicated NPU thing that is supposed to give you a better online experience. I have read a lot of people who have a board with that on it say that couldn't tell the difference anyway, same goes for the sound card unless you have some expensive speakers.

TL;DR

UD7 > Sniper 2

 

[adamjamesroe]

Ok good to know! Just for arguments sake, would the 2600K be worth upgrading to to or is it the same, to small of a diffrence?

Also, do i really need to swap my RAM? Why wouldnt they work?

oh yeah just seen you have 4GB duel channel i expected you to have a tripple channel kit becasue of 1366 CPU. I would say the 2600K would be a viable upgrade as it does bring extra FPS in games over the 930 and supports a few other features that would be advantageous.

 

[adamjamesroe]

Your right I just checked and its x8 x8. http://uk.gigabyte.c...spx?pid=3962#sp

Still can't belove this board is £350, the only things it has over the UD7 which is £100 cheaper and does x16 x16 are the sound card and the E2100 Dedicated NPU thing that is supposed to give you a better online experience. I have read a lot of people who have a board with that on it say that couldn't tell the difference anyway, same goes for the sound card unless you have some expensive speakers.

TL;DR

UD7 > Sniper 2

I think Gigabyte would have been better putting the Gurilla 2 branding on this board rather than Sniper 2. essentialy what they are saying is this is the best they have to offer for the z68 chipset that meets ATX spec. Which it clearly isnt, the UD7 walks over this board in terms of expandibility and performance.

 

[centrius]

I was reading your Sig whats this!, ATI HD 4870x2 with AC-Xtreme GFX fan | Intel i7 930, 2.8 GHz | Rampage II Gene, 1366 socket | 4GB Corsair 1600Mhz DDR3 <--

Is your 3rd Bank empty?,

yes it is QQ i had a diffrent mobo before the rampage and it only supported 2 slots, and the memory i have was removed from the storey i got them from so i couldnt get a new set. although im looking to get a new 3 pack soon, but i heard that the 3e slot dosnt really need to be filled, and that getting one more ram would make the comp just go 1-4% faster (from the support there, not sure thats correct but it was what i heard).

also, would u like to rate my setup for gaming? i think its very good but fun to hear what you think. remember, im getting the gtx 580 lightning. also, i have not OC anything, i dont dare :/ im pretty sure i could squesse out alot more from my setup but i dont know anyone who has the knowledge about OCing

Edit:

one more thing. if i stay with my Rampage II gene i do have the same question: would a SLI setup of 2 x gtx 580 Lightning work without beeing over heated? It feels like the PCIe slots are closer on my card the f.ex P67:

And yes, its 8x 8x but thats ok. I did plan to get a larger mobo to be able to pic the lower PCIe slot so i got alot of free air space btw the 2 cards. The 580 Lightning is also equiped with 2x fans and its one of its USP so it should work better then a normal setup of 580 BUT i read on a diffrent forum (sweclockers) that its more risky to have 2 non ref. cards since they are often a bit thicker = less space = warm warm warm!

Anyone want to comment on that?

 

[Ya93sin]

Why bother the new X79 gear is out soon, Which supports 16x16 lanes, Can you honestly say the 930 @ 4Ghz is not fast enough? you would see a very small jump in performance on alot of games, Massive refresh coming on CPU and GPU in the next 2-4 months

Save your money X68 platform will have a longer life span then the current P67/Z68.

Fix'd

Also no point upgrading from a i7-930, if SLi is a must, then just get two Lightnings now, and worry about upgrading the rest later, it won't be a bottleneck, afaik, there are very few games where a 930 will become the limiting factor for gaming.

AFAIK the Lightning is just a bit deeper (as in reaches out further distance from the mobo), and maybe a bit wider than the reference PCBs, I don't think its thicker, and if it was, then just get the Twin Frozr II/OC version, it OCs to the Lightning's clocks easily (in fact nearly all the 580s do).

 

[centrius]

You want a B3 model those are the ones with the fixed chipset. As for SLI yes it will work but the cards will only run at X8 X8. On one monitor that wont matter but on more than one you will loose a few FPS, not sure how much but it shouldn't be too much. The only P67/Z68 boards that can do x16 x16 which will give you no performance loss are the Gigabyte UD7, Gigabyte G1 Killer Sniper 2 and the MSI BBM.

Everyone is saying that my Rampage II Gene mobo is gonna be x8 x8 when run i SLI mode, but the spec page says something diffrent:

2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 ( CrossFireX: double x16-mode, SLI: double x16-mode )

http://www.komplett.se/k/ki.aspx?sku=440916#extra

Am i reading it wrong or is it just that ppl asume that its gonna be x8 x8 since most mobos scale that way? I even asked a guy in a computer store and he showed me this and said it should be x16 x16 even in SLI

thx

 

[Ya93sin]

Yeah usually it would go down to x8/x8 in SLi mode, but if the specifications on the manufacturer website say x16/x16, then obviously you know who to believe.

It makes such little difference anyway mate.