Finding a P67 Overclocker

[preolt]

Hey OC3D,

I am currently building my first SB build and need a little bit of help. I'll be sure to list my system specs and components for you guys. First off I am a photographer with gaming on the side. I use cpu heavy applications and so the more ghz i can push out of processors the better. Though after doing some testing I am finding that the i5-2500k runs every thing I need when clocked at 4ghz. I know it can go beyond this, but my biggest thing is stability. I will be keeping the processor at this speed (or higher) till the end of its days. So I want to find a mobo that will support the heat and speed of such oc's.

Now that thats out of the way here are my system specs.

Cpu: i5-2500k

mobo: choosing

heat sink: own both the H70 and the mugen scythe

gpu: msi 560 ti twin frozr

SSD: 2x intel 64 Gb

HD: I am in the process of creating a 10 tb RAID system, I have never built one before and so I am trying not to cut corners.

Thats about every thing I believe.

Now for motherboard choices. I want to for sure keep the price of the board below 300$. I know that leaves out some prime boards, m4, ud7, etc.

I was actually only planning on spending around 200$ but after talking to some people decided to expand my range a little. So far the boards that I have sited are as followed. (not in any specific order)

ASUS:

PRO-180ish

Evo-240

Revolution-200

Sabertooth-220

Gigabyte:

UD4-190

UD5-250

Asrock:

Fatal1ty-250

professional-160

The ASUS sabertooth was my top choice until I saw what gigabyte had to offer and I began to think more about expandability. Having 2x16 pci slots for instance for sli configuration instead of running at x8 x8. I know they say you can not even tell the difference, but i guess I am just a skeptic Or how well the boards heat sinks dissipate heat and there for handle the over-clock long term. Again I want to spend the least possible like most people and get the best bang for my buck basically. I am not one of those people that needs the best of the best. I just prefer to buy quality over quantity.

I guess what I am asking is if you guys could be a bit like real estate agents for me helping me broker a deal that benifets me less. Giving you a range but trying to actually keep it as low as possible

Thanks for your help guys.

 

[SieB]

I was thinking about getting a Sabretooth but after a bit of reading apparently they are not as good as the P8P67 PRO/EVO for overclocking something to do with phase power. The UD4 is slightly more than the P8P67 PRO and from a couple of reviews I have read they say that the PRO is the better board for overclocking,

I don't know about the P9P67 EVO and UD5 I haven't read anything about those TBH, same goes for the Asrock but I have seen a youtube vid SnW posted a while back somewhere on here with a 2600k @ 5.5ghz on one of the Asrock extreme boards. That's my two cents anyway hope it helped a little.

 

[preolt]

I was thinking about getting a Sabretooth but after a bit of reading apparently they are not as good as the P8P67 PRO/EVO for overclocking something to do with phase power. The UD4 is slightly more than the P8P67 PRO and from a couple of reviews I have read they say that the PRO is the better board for overclocking,

I don't know about the P9P67 EVO and UD5 I haven't read anything about those TBH, same goes for the Asrock but I have seen a youtube vid SnW posted a while back somewhere on here with a 2600k @ 5.5ghz on one of the Asrock extreme boards. That's my two cents anyway hope it helped a little.

Yeah thanks a lot. I am not sure I want to take the plunge in the Asrock area. I know people are saying that they are quality boards but for now im going to stick to the regular ASUS like from Asus tech or Gigbayte.

I really like the looks of Gigabytes boards right now. They all are a nice black finish. (My case is all black interior) Not that its a huge deal. I like the idea of the sabertooth and the look, but the whole tuf armor sounds a bit gimmicky to me

Any more thoughts on mobos?

 

[SieB]

Personally I like the Gigabyte motherboards better because of the black PCB and if I was to buy a P67 board now I would probably get a UD4 even though the P8P67 PRO is slightly better but i don't think it's that much better that it really matters TBH.

Ideally I would love a Gigabyte UD7 because IMHO it's the best P67 board there is barring the MSI BBM but untill the review for that is out we won't know how it compares. But those are way out of my budget but if you can afford them those are the boards you want to be getting.

As for the Sabretooth I have read quite a few reviews on it and even though they all say it's a good board they also say it's not really any different to any of the others apart from the TUF Armor which does do what it says on tin but it doesn't really make that much of a difference for it to be anything special. Also the reviews I have read and some comments on other forums a lot of people are saying for overclocking that the P8P67 PRO or EVO are the better boards to go with.

 

[preolt]

For sure the Gigabyte boards are the easiest on the eyes. I would normally wait for an EVGA board but they are not releasing any information at all so I figured its about time to pick one.

I agree I would not pass up a UD7 either haha. But my budget doesnt allow for that sadly, its an amazing board and way better than the m4 in my opinion.

If I can get a good deal on the UD5 (220ish) then I will pick that up because I know its on the same level as the evo. But the UD4 I really dont know about sadly. I would love to hear from some one who has tried them to know how they are liking it.

 

[Fez]

Good choice of CPU they have been reported to go over the 5Ghz mark

 

[preolt]

Good choice of CPU they have been reported to go over the 5Ghz mark

Depending on how you do on your silicone lottery yeah ha.I will be happy with a stable 4 ghz and if I can have 4.5 ghz all the happier. I dont need to push the processor to its limits because I am not really doing video editing or any thing like that so the slight speed gains wont be the greatest advantage to me.

It is an amazing little chip though. Just trying to find a mobo to go with it. As is it looks like I am gonna be spending more for my mobo then I did for my processor

Any one have news on the EVGA stuff? is it ever gonna hit the market ? I have heard rumors april but speculation is speculation nothing more..