z68 asrock extreme 4 or gigabyte z68 ud3h

Y

you2

[H]ard|Gawd
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Aug 10, 2004
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I'm building a new system and want to use the internal gpu of the 2500k.
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I do not intend to overclock so overclock performance is not too relevant (I'm using the 2500k because it is cheaper than the 2500)
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I wanted the following features:
7 or more sata ports (2 raid 1 volumes; system disk; 2 optical drives)
dispaly port (to support high resolution monitor)
2 pci ports (tv card and extra network adapter)
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From the list of boards I saw I could only find two that met the requirements (If I drop down to 5 sata ports and get a 2 port card there are a few other options)
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I realize that historically gigabyte has reliable boards (this system will be up 24/7)
but I'm more concern about the specific z68 boards being considered.
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There are a few other differences between the boards:
asrock has 892 for audio; gig 889 (not sure if matters much)
asrock has broadcom chip for ethernet; intel realtek
gigabyte has a longer warranty but not sure that matters too much
gigabyte is $20 less expensive
(I do not care too much about bios as I will only use the bios a couple of times when I install the machine and if I have to do a bios update)
from reviews the asrock is sligtly more efficient (less power)
asrock ahs the front bay usb3.0 adapter which would be useful since my case lacks usb3.0
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Does anyone have additional information or suggestions that might be relevant (I.e, one board is known to have poor quality compoents or poor soldering or other issues) ?
Not sure it matters too much but I will be using linux.
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There is a certain temptation to go with the intel board and get a 2 port sata adapter (intel BOXDz678DB) but not sure if that is a better route
 
I vote Gigabyte z68 UD3H. I think Gigabyte is generally higher quality than AsRock.

However, as you stated, you will be running linux. Gigabyte will not supply you with Linux drivers of any sort, so that's going to be up to you. I'm not sure of AsRock's stance on linux support.

Depending on what distro you chose, this could be important. Most distro's will find drivers for the gigabyte board no problem, but some might not. The AsRock board does has an Intel nic, which is always a plus when dealing with linux. Having said that, an Intel board itself is looking mighty tasty, as you wont have any problems with linux compatibility.
 
I have a GB Z68MA board and Ubuntu 11.04 works out of the box with my 2600k. I am sure FC15 will also work. Hence linux support is not an issue.
 
Are you using IGP or do you have a dedicated gpu ? Do you have any idea if 10.04 will work without IGP ?


ddutta said:
I have a GB Z68MA board and Ubuntu 11.04 works out of the box with my 2600k. I am sure FC15 will also work. Hence linux support is not an issue.
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