ASRock Z68 Professional Fatal1ty Gen.3

[Drdeath]

ROG series has all the extra bells and whistles which other high-end Asus board don't have. This one reason you have to pay extra for it however the performance is on par or a little better is all depend if you are a gamer or OC enthusiast.

I have overclocked as high or higher with non ROG boards with Asus and other manufacturers. IMO, I feel they are overpriced and not needed in both AMD and Intel Platforms. Not saying they are bad by no means but I am stating facts.

[Drdeath]

Perhaps you would like to closely look at the specs of the "other good" ASUS boards and compare those with the specs of the ROG boards, there are several features that make the ROG series boards a premium.

If you are truly an enthusiast, gamer, and into some high overclocks you would appreciate the ROG boards, However, if you are one of the many that just want the bragging rights of having the finest components and have no desire or knowledge on how to use them to their full ability then perhaps you should have just bought a run of the mill board.

This is where I feel the Fatal1ty motherboards for both Intel and AMD are the best bang for the buck. ROG boards really do not game any netter than the Fatal1ty's.

[Drdeath]

why? even if turbo is disabled? I just built a 2600k system for a friend and i disabled all that crap and used a manual oc of 4.5ghz on a crappy $100 board its prime95 stable. Are you saying turbo should be left on? I don't really understand the sandybridge cpu very much so i would appreciate if you guys could enlighten me. For example are you saying that you have oc'd to 5ghz and turbo is still able to oc higher?To me turbo is the stupidest thing imaginable. I dont want the cpu ramping up the frequency when it wants to i want it ramped up all the time and to where i choose it to be. Another question i have. why doesnt windows detect the correct cpu frequency? windows says 3.4ghz cpuz says 4.5ghzdr death anyone?

Sandybridge scales very well with turbo and C1E enabled. These chips are very simple to overclock with turbo enabled. The days of massive tweaks in the bios are pretty much over. Can you find a higher overclock without turbo and all power saving features? Perhaps but it will not be much. Keep it simple and stupid IMO.

[Doctor_Death]

I really do not see where they said the MSI Z68 is better than the ASRock Z68, your going by their Editors Choice Award, and the ASRock Z68 Fatal1ty Pro gen 3 has more Editor choice awards than the MSI Z68 you have, so that should be telling you something.

tweaktown gave it an editors choice must have rating. i would give you a link but their server is screwed up again. they have the worst server EVER. also with the same chip the asrock board could only hit 5.05 ghz while the msi board hit 5.34ghz


EDIT: HERE IS LINK: http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/408...iew/index.html

[Bill Gates]

I really do not see where they said the MSI Z68 is better than the ASRock Z68, your going by their Editors Choice Award, and the ASRock Z68 Fatal1ty Pro gen 3 has more Editor choice awards than the MSI Z68 you have, so that should be telling you something.

except for the fact that they were comparing it directly to the asrock board. but i will say this after getting the board and using it i wish i would have went with asus. the two reasons being there is no ide compatibility mode which is necessary to use hdderase and i dont like the way the cpu fan speed is controlled.

[Bill Gates]

Sandybridge scales very well with turbo and C1E enabled. These chips are very simple to overclock with turbo enabled. The days of massive tweaks in the bios are pretty much over. Can you find a higher overclock without turbo and all power saving features? Perhaps but it will not be much. Keep it simple and stupid IMO.

i agree except for C1E. yes it helps with easier high multiplier boots but there is no frigging way i ever want my rig idling @ 1600mhz and ramping up when it decides to. turbo YES, C1E may it rot in hell. Myself I settled in at 4.7ghz on at all times. My hyper 212 with a single fan just cant keep up @ 5ghz plus.

[Drdeath]

i agree except for C1E. yes it helps with easier high multiplier boots but there is no frigging way i ever want my rig idling @ 1600mhz and ramping up when it decides to. turbo YES, C1E may it rot in hell. Myself I settled in at 4.7ghz on at all times. My hyper 212 with a single fan just cant keep up @ 5ghz plus.

I have no idea why you would be against this. Idle at lower voltage and frequency is more efficient. It saves power and adds longevity to the processor. Idling at 4.7GHz wastes energy and Sandybridge overclocks higher and more stable with it enabled. Your kind of contradicting yourself if the 212 cannot keep up.

You may want to re apply tim or work on fans if it cannot keep up. I use a lesser cooler with no problems.

[Drdeath]

There should be IDE mode in the bios. I an almost certain when I reviewed the board. I think you disable ACHI and badda Bing. Your in IDE.

[Bill Gates]

I have no idea why you would be against this. Idle at lower voltage and frequency is more efficient. It saves power and adds longevity to the processor. Idling at 4.7GHz wastes energy and Sandybridge overclocks higher and more stable with it enabled. Your kind of contradicting yourself if the 212 cannot keep up.

You may want to re apply tim or work on fans if it cannot keep up. I use a lesser cooler with no problems.

1) longevity: you or i do not even know one person who has worn out a processor so that is a bad arguement. I will have a new processor and probably a new mb in 6 months. 2) My 2600k needs more than 1.45 volts to clock to 5ghz. The core temps reach 92c (around 194f) while running prime95 when the voltage is above 1.45. Just a little to hot. 3) I hate anything "GREEN" and I am trying to cause global warming

what is your lesser cooler?

[alan1476]

This is where I feel the Fatal1ty motherboards for both Intel and AMD are the best bang for the buck. ROG boards really do not game any netter than the Fatal1ty's.

Finally someone who agrees with me. I feel exactly the same way and yes I own both, I have an Asus Rampage 111 X58 ( ROG) and an ASrock Z68 Extreme4 ( not ROG), I will never buy an ROG board again, and I agree that there is nothing bad about them as a matter of fact I really like the board, but its not worth the extra money for the bells ands whistles.

[Bill Gates]

There should be IDE mode in the bios. I an almost certain when I reviewed the board. I think you disable ACHI and badda Bing. Your in IDE.

no not badda bing. it has ide mode BUT, its ide COMPATIBILITY mode thats required to run hdderase.

[Bill Gates]

Finally someone who agrees with me. I feel exactly the same way and yes I own both, I have an Asus Rampage 111 X58 ( ROG) and an ASrock Z68 Extreme4 ( not ROG), I will never buy an ROG board again, and I agree that there is nothing bad about them as a matter of fact I really like the board, but its not worth the extra money for the bells ands whistles.

yes but just look who it is! LOL

[Drdeath]

no not badda bing. it has ide mode BUT, its ide COMPATIBILITY mode thats required to run hdderase.

If your trying to erase a SSD there are other ways. I do not know what the big deal is.

[Bill Gates]

If your trying to erase a SSD there are other ways. I do not know what the big deal is.

yes there are other ways BUT i like hdderase best

[Bill Gates]

btw i am using nano-diamond tim and its applied perfectly. the hyper 212 is simply not able to cool good enough for 5 ghz. Maybe i need more voltage because c1e is disabled but i dont see why.