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El Quintron
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El Quintron

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[Parts Check] Ivy Bridge Configuration Options + Price check for

So I'm about the pull the trigger on an i7 3770k and possible a z77 Sabertooth or a P8z77, I'm not sure which, I'm also eying an Asus Xonar DX, so I'm wondering if this will be overkill with these two boards, the Xonar has 7.1 and Dolby headset, which would be nice for my usual gaming time, when my wife and kids go bed.

So what I'm asking is: Which out of the two boards do you guys like best the Sabertooth or the P8z77? Why and should I get the Xonar on top of either of these boards... I originally started checking out the Xonar based on my current system...

Which brings me to my next question...

I got an offer on my current system which is an Asus P5Q, with an Intel Core Duo Quad Q6700, and 8 gigs of RAM, the prospective buyer is a buddy of mine that's a notorious cheapskate so I'm going to have to set a price, how much should I let it go for (In your opinions)

Cheers,
EQ
El Quintron

El Quintron

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Re: [Parts Check] Ivy Bridge Configuration Options + Price check

Bump...
DarkEvil
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There is 1 to many P8z77.
There is P8Z77-V LX, P8Z77-V LK, P8Z77-V Deluxe, P8Z77-V Pro, P8Z77-V, P8Z77-V LE, P8Z77-M, P8Z77-M Pro, the list goes on and on. »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· A%201155

You could also check the box for ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77. And then check on the other P8Z77 to compare it.

If I have money, I might go with ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77.

El Quintron
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El Quintron

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said by DarkEvil:

There is 1 to many P8z77.

True dat, was looking at the deluxe version, but it's a bit much, might go for the "pro" version
said by DarkEvil:

If I have money, I might go with ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77.

Most likely my choice as well... do you think adding a Xonar DX to this would be overkill?
DarkEvil
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DarkEvil

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/shrug

I use a Xonar STX for my earbuds. Doesn't seem over kill to me.. Because I hate creative labs sound card. Time to time creative labs sound card for get it self. I finally throw that pos out the window and got the Asus Xonar STX and it works fine. Never have that issue any more.

So, up to you. =)

El Quintron
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El Quintron

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So you would definitely take the Xonar over the onboard Audio then?
Anon
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As it is easy enough to buy and add a xonar after you have built your machine why not try the onboard with your own ears and judge for yourself? It isn't like you are taking any additional risk by doing it this way as you aren't paying extra for the onboard sound. You are going to get it either way. It also won't require any radical reconfiguration of your machine to add it later.

El Quintron
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said by :

As it is easy enough to buy and add a xonar after you have built your machine why not try the onboard with your own ears and judge for yourself?

Ultimately that depends, because the Xonar is available now, and the 3770k will only be available at the end of the month... so I may actually install it now, and just add it to my new configuation later.

All lust for tech aside you do have a good point... I'll do a few searches to see if either of those boards support dolby headphone out of the box
DarkEvil
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With slower pc. Me and my brother notice. It does slow down a bit in games for onboard vs. pci/pcie card.

Another thing I almost for got to tell you. Tho, those asus are great. Asus does have bad support. As in, they dont really update their drivers. I use »brainbit.wordpress.com/c ··· i-xonar/ and install on top of the asus drivers. =D

Again up to you.

El Quintron
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El Quintron

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said by DarkEvil:

With slower pc. Me and my brother notice. It does slow down a bit in games for onboard vs. pci/pcie card.

Another thing I almost for got to tell you. Tho, those asus are great. Asus does have bad support. As in, they dont really update their drivers. I use »brainbit.wordpress.com/c ··· i-xonar/ and install on top of the asus drivers. =D

Again up to you.

All good points to know... so the PCI is technically slower than the onboard?

Thanks for letting me know about the drivers, something I should be aware of before buying the ASUS card...
DarkEvil
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PCI card, and PCIE card, we found out while gaming is faster than onboard. Me and my bro's stop using onboard sound.

In short:
PCIE card and PCIE x1 Card better than on-board. IMO

El Quintron
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said by DarkEvil:

PCI card, and PCIE card, we found out while gaming is faster than onboard. Me and my bro's stop using onboard sound.

In short:
PCIE card and PCIE x1 Card better than on-board. IMO

Duly noted, sounds like good times other than the drive issue with the Xonar DX... which is too bad because that was the one I liked best.

elwoodblues
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Personally I'm going X79, going to buy bleeding EDGE for the first time in my life.

I'm just debating between the 6 core 3930,. or 3960.

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said by elwoodblues:

Personally I'm going X79, going to buy bleeding EDGE for the first time in my life.

I'm just debating between the 6 core 3930,. or 3960.

Same here, I just went with an Intel Sandy Bridge-E Core i7 3930K for ~$499.99 at Microcenter (MSRP is ~$555) and an Asus P9X79 Deluxe from Amazon (had a ~$207 coupon so it only cost about ~$150). Microcenter has the Sandy Bridge-E Core i7 3820 for ~$229.99 which is a great price IMO.

However, I wouldn’t necessarily say that Sandy Bridge-E is the bleeding edge since its been out for roughly 6 months and the platform is due for an update IMO. Ivy Bridge / Z77 chipset has a number of new technological advances. For example, most Asus Z77 motherboards come with an Intel Thunderbolt “TB_Header” for use with an upcoming add-in card for full Thunderbolt support. This is the first implementation of Intel Thunderbolt on retail motherboards. The X79 / LGA2011 platform is supposedly the high-end enthusiast level platform so there no excuse for it to be outshined, outclassed or out featured by a lower-end solution like the Z77 but it is what it is. And there is more,….

elwoodblues
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I realize SB-E is not bleeding edge, but Intel has not released any IVB 6 core processors and I don't see any on the roadmap.

Do I need 6 core? No, but it'd be nice.. I figure I can hold out till Broadwell/Skylake come out and upgrade at that point again.
DarkEvil
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IVB-E is 6 core. Should be out Q4 this year. But you better of getting Haswell by that time. DDR4... maybe even PCI-Express 4.0. lol

pnjunction
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pnjunction

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Not a chance for DDR4. Intel has said it is coming to servers in 2014 and desktops in 2015.
DarkEvil
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»www.softpedia.com/review ··· 68.shtml

pnjunction
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Right from that article: Intel previously revealed that its Haswell-EX platform would only add DDR4 support in 2014.

That's a server platform. Desktops won't get it until later.
DarkEvil
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There always AMD.

you forgot the rest of it
quote:
.....but Micron is one of the companies who want to speed things up. It is in 2013 that it wants to unleash its new RAM upon the world. Volume production will commence in Q4 2012.

pnjunction
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True but AMD has to catch up before they can shake things up.

I doubt Micron is going to be pushing Intel to do anything. I'm thinking it's already too late to get DDR4 into any Ivy Bridge-Ex platforms (and it's a 'tick' anyways), and beyond that is Haswell-Ex where they are already planning it. Will they get it into consumer Haswell platforms next year? Doubt it.

elwoodblues
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said by DarkEvil:

IVB-E is 6 core. Should be out Q4 this year. But you better of getting Haswell by that time. DDR4... maybe even PCI-Express 4.0. lol

Looks like IVB-E is being pushed out till the 2nd half of 2013 and will be out at the same time as Haswell.

»www.techspot.com/news/47 ··· 013.html

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said by pnjunction:

True but AMD has to catch up before they can shake things up.

How do you see that?

AMD already has its "Fusion" chips that are would-be competitors with the Intel integrated graphics platform available with Ivy Bridge.

AMD is definitely the underdog here but the technology seems to be already there on the AMD platform

pnjunction
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said by El Quintron:

said by pnjunction:

True but AMD has to catch up before they can shake things up.

How do you see that?

AMD does have its strengths. Their integrated graphics and prices make for some pretty capable systems at low prices.

But that is where their strength is right now, in the value market. Is that compatible with an early rush to DDR4, which will be quite expensive to start (especially before Intel is using it)? I don't think so.

Their integrated graphics would benefit from faster memory speed, but it doesn't make sense if the memory is expensive since integrated graphics are aimed at the budget market.

El Quintron
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said by pnjunction:

Their integrated graphics would benefit from faster memory speed, but it doesn't make sense if the memory is expensive since integrated graphics are aimed at the budget market.

Point taken...

elwoodblues
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said by El Quintron:

said by pnjunction:

Their integrated graphics would benefit from faster memory speed, but it doesn't make sense if the memory is expensive since integrated graphics are aimed at the budget market.

Point taken...

They're not really "aimed" at anything, but rather built into the processor. It's not like I have a choice and say NO to the IGP that's built in.

I can buy another video card, but that;'s for us that make homebrew PC's, not the mainstream stuff you buy at FS or BB.

El Quintron
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El Quintron

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said by elwoodblues:

They're not really "aimed" at anything, but rather built into the processor. It's not like I have a choice and say NO to the IGP that's built in.

I can buy another video card, but that;'s for us that make homebrew PC's, not the mainstream stuff you buy at FS or BB.

I think you're missing the point of the IGP, (or IGP improvements more specifically) is that you can get more graphics processing power without buying a video card, so improvements from both AMD and Intel are welcome on this front.