8700k: Taichi or Gaming 7 or Hero X?

A

amd7674

[H]ard|Gawd
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I'm still waiting for CPU, hopefully I will get it on Monday. I will be using D15 for HSF and I'm planning to deled CPU (in the future).

I already have taichi (untouched, since waiting for mobo).

There is a good deal on gaming 7.
Gaming 7 is $65CDN (Canadian crazy prices) cheaper than Taichi.
Hero X is $30CDN more expensive than Taichi.

All 3 of them have good VRMs and I should be able to push CPU to 5Ghz (cpu lottery pending that is).

Should I just keep Taichi, go for cheaper gaming 7 (take my chances on bad VRM heatsink, can be RMA'd or fixed) or go for more expensive Hero?
 
I'd say use what you got and save yourself the hassle. At some point you just want to use the damn thing :D
 
I doubt you'd notice the difference between them. I'd just keep what you have.
 
Confirmed. You will not notice any functional difference between the boards, assuming they all have the features you actually require.

The concern over VRM quality and number of phases is out of control. It really doesn't matter, unless you're at the top 3% of CPUs already and are approaching safety margins external to the chip. This is a "der8uer" sort of concern, where you're trying to win a competition, and not actually using the machine day in, day out.

For normal people, normal working OCs - don't sweat it. Since you have an air cooler ( a great one, I use it too ) and not crazy water cooling, you will be thermally throttled LONG before any sort of VRM issue comes into play. But that's not actually a bad thing. It means you have a real setup instead of a lab queen.
 
If you start getting into RAM overclocking, however, you'll regret not going for the Asus. That's really where the Hero boards shine.
 
spine said:
If you start getting into RAM overclocking, however, you'll regret not going for the Asus. That's really where the Hero boards shine.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your feedback. Maybe Taichi doesn't have all the options to tweak, but it is a known/proven good RAM overclocker. I ordered 3200 CAS14 RAM, and I'm not planning on tweaking it too much. Also a big plus for Taichi it has dual BIOS in case things go to hell when overclocking.
I'll stick with Taichi. My CPU should arrive today.
 
Late reply but for anyone coming across this: The Gaming 7's VRM issue is easily fixed by tightening the screws on the MB heatsinks. Also, it has dual bios as well. I'm pretty sure Gigabyte was the first company to actually do that with motherboards back in the day.
 
Keep what you have. I got the Gaming 7 here with my 8700K at 5Ghz using 1.360 Vcore. VRM temp is 96c after 3 hours prime95 small FFT load without me tightening any screws etc.

My chip tops out well before the motherboard comes into play and I could've gotten away with a cheaper board (although it was $150 after rebates).
 
legcramp said:
Keep what you have. I got the Gaming 7 here with my 8700K at 5Ghz using 1.360 Vcore. VRM temp is 96c after 3 hours prime95 small FFT load without me tightening any screws etc.

My chip tops out well before the motherboard comes into play and I could've gotten away with a cheaper board (although it was $150 after rebates).
Click to expand...

I kept Taichi, however I got my 8700k stable at 4.9Ghz @ 1.3V... I was trying to push it till 1.35V without luck with some WHEAs. The CPU was getting hot +90C. I need to delid it before attempting 5Ghz again.
Overall I really like Taichi mobo, good VRMs, enough OC options, 8 SATAs, dual BIOS... At the end of the day luck of CPU lottery is most important... :p
 
Yea, not always having a great VRM help when you have a lower "quality" overclocker CPU. But 4.9 is pretty good. Just open the window in winter time, bring down your cpu temps :D
 
amd7674 said:
I kept Taichi, however I got my 8700k stable at 4.9Ghz @ 1.3V... I was trying to push it till 1.35V without luck with some WHEAs. The CPU was getting hot +90C. I need to delid it before attempting 5Ghz again.
Overall I really like Taichi mobo, good VRMs, enough OC options, 8 SATAs, dual BIOS... At the end of the day luck of CPU lottery is most important... :p
Click to expand...

With the Taichi, delidded 8700k, and Arctic Liquid Freezer 240, I’m getting CPU temps maxing at high 60s/low 70s (depending on core) using Prime95 small FFT with CPU clocked at 5 GHz with -2 AVX offset, I have a little more headroom as I can get AVX to work at -1 offset (4.9 GHz), but I really like the temps I have now. Definitely worth delidding that 8700k.
 
Asus Strix E + 8700k @ 5.2G at 1.350v/max82°C_p95-26.6 ( oc-voltage in Asus TP). it wont accept my xmp-3600/cl16 modules tho, 3200 is max without hassle or even bsod.

my 2 cents
 
after all said...it is all based on your silicon lottery luck !!! ;););)

No doubt delliding helps and it is totally worth it (y)

... if not with overclocking it helps with temps which translates to quieter CPU/Case fans !!!! (y)
 
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