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Deal is off in MC but I'm sure It'll be back.
What deal is that?
They used to have 2600k running for $200.
I can get a 2600k and z68 mobo for around $300.
Should I go for it or wait for IB?
With the current deal you have there, it really is a no brainer. That's probably better than that dead microcenter deal. Get that deal now and enjoy your system instead of waiting for IB.
I say SB + Z68. Save about $75 and get insane clocks.
IB and Z77 have nice features to brag about but the improvements will be almost imperceptable unless you're into Quick Sync and iGP stuff, or have quad 680's.
How about SB + Z77. Is it the best of both worlds?
Had I known that I wouldn't have ordered that exact combo
Will the RAM underclock or simply not work at all?
What the hell... If I end up deciding to go with a Sandy Bridge 2500k I was still planning to get a Gigabyte UD5H z77 board but I just found out it doesn't support 1600MHz ram without an Ivy Bridge CPU. And then I noticed none of the stores I shop at here in Canada even stock P67 or Z68 boards anymore. Maybe another Z77 board supports 1600MHz ram with a SB CPU? I was planning to get some Gskill Ripjaws 1600 ram.
It will under clock. Another feature you don't get with Z77 if paired with IB is PCIe 3
True, but I've been reading the real-world performance gains of PCI 3 vs 2 is not that huge. Also, I probably will eventually get an IB, but I want to wait a while for them to hopefully iron out any problems and give time to see what this heating issue is all about.
Let me know how this combo works out, I really like that board and now I don't know what to do. I'd appreciate some info on how things go for you.Had I known that I wouldn't have ordered that exact combo
Will the RAM underclock or simply not work at all?
That's strange, Gigabyte's P67 boards seem to officially support 1600MHz with Sandy Bridge but their z77 doesn't. Asus P67 supports 1600 too. I need to look into this some more.Actually, you can select 1600 speed with SB. However, 1600 is considered overclocking the SB's memory controller since Intel officially supports only up to 1333 with SB. Besides, most "1600" speed DDR3 RAM sold is actually native 1333-speed RAM with an XMP profile set to 1600.
I doubt there are going to be any problems with 1600MHz. It's not even supported for SB on Z68, and we can all do 1600 up to 2133 no problem.
Also, Z77 is designed with slightly lower power delivery, for IB, or at least tends to have a shorter power phase on all the low/midrange boards (8+2 vs 12+4). I haven't seen any reports but I don't think it's going to overclock SB very well.
Besides, most "1600" speed DDR3 RAM sold is actually native 1333-speed RAM with an XMP profile set to 1600.
I don't think it's going to be an issue at all except for the very cheapest of boards. At a certain point, the amount of "phases" becomes more of a marketing gimmick and a reason to inflate prices than something that is actually necessary.