Sandy Bridge mobo question

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Skeetles

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Dec 2, 2007
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Are rev1 mobos really that bad? Will I seriously need to upgrade the mobo I am planning on buying tomorrow in the near future just because it is new?
 
P67 borrows heavily from the already established P55. Buy with confidence.
 
Just a few of my friends who claim to know more than the average consumer because of their hardware related jobs.

I was really only asking because this had never occurred to me before since I haven't ever used a processor that was just released, I usually buy my hardware right before a game I want is coming out and not because the hardware was just released.

But thanks for all of the answers! Probably gonna pick up an asus board today
 
I wouldn't say they are bad, but they certainly lack a bit in terms of USB 3.0 and overall USB ports, and SATA 6 Gb/s, mostly because of the limited implementation in the x67 chipset.
You won't find many dual CPU motherboards either at today's launch.

Someone mentioned Gigabyte does not use UEFI, I don't know if it's true or not, but you can boot from an unpartitioned 2.2+ TB disk on their latest motherboards.
 
Chimel said:
I wouldn't say they are bad, but they certainly lack a bit in terms of USB 3.0 and overall USB ports, and SATA 6 Gb/s, mostly because of the limited implementation in the x67 chipset.
You won't find many dual CPU motherboards either at today's launch.

Someone mentioned Gigabyte does not use UEFI, I don't know if it's true or not, but you can boot from an unpartitioned 2.2+ TB disk on their latest motherboards.
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Let's take the issues from the top, please.

1. USB 3.0 - Chicken-and-egg problem there; as was the case with USB 2.0, there are few USB 3.0 peripherals, and most of those are also available with other interfaces (such as SATA/eSATA). Of the Sandy Bridge chipsets, only B65 (intended for CSM, not BYOPC) is realistically USB3-starved; both P67 and H67 should have enough usable USB3 ports for anyone needing such support today.

2. Overall USB ports - P67/H67 support up to fourteen USB ports overall *natively* (up from ten with X58); again, except for niche users, that should be more than adequate. (Mighty Mouse has eight USB ports, and I have never used them all; in fact, five is the most I have had in use at once.)

3. UEFI - Important for two reasons (both currently niche for now); support for 2.2 TB and larger hard drives and future-proofing. If you truly need such support today (because you already have such a drive or will be purchasing one to tag-team with your SB motherboard), then go with ASUS, as they support UEFI now (Gigabyte will add it later as an upgrade). Thinking mATX/H67? Again, ASUS has you covered (specifically, the P8H67M-EVO) - http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=CkMiq3rrqw3yqO5H&templete=2
 
All seven of Intel's H67 and P67 boards use UEFI, including their microATX boards (they even have a microATX P67 board).
 
PGHammer said:
3. UEFI - Important for two reasons (both currently niche for now); support for 2.2 TB and larger hard drives and future-proofing. If you truly need such support today (because you already have such a drive or will be purchasing one to tag-team with your SB motherboard), then go with ASUS, as they support UEFI now (Gigabyte will add it later as an upgrade). Thinking mATX/H67? Again, ASUS has you covered (specifically, the P8H67M-EVO) - http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=CkMiq3rrqw3yqO5H&templete=2
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Yeah, why do you say ASUS, specifically? MSI's boards have also been released with UEFI (in addition to what evilsofa said). Also, the immediate benefit to UEFI imo is the faster boot time. That is not a niche feature nor a future-proof feature. It will benefit anyone, and immediately.
 
DaRuSsIaMaN said:
Yeah, why do you say ASUS, specifically? MSI's boards have also been released with UEFI (in addition to what evilsofa said). Also, the immediate benefit to UEFI imo is the faster boot time. That is not a niche feature nor a future-proof feature. It will benefit anyone, and immediately.
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I've gone with ASUS for the last three motherboards, and have had NO trouble with their RMA policies. I've never used an MSI board (though I have worked on some of their CSM boards) in a new build; therefore, I have no comment/experience with them new.

One other way to reduce boot time is to actually take a step backward and go to PS/2 keyboards and/or mice (vice USB) - just moving from a USB wireless keyboard to a PS/2 wired keyboard chopped BIOS load time by over half.
 
I don't see the big benefit to reduced boot time. So what if it shaves 5 or even 10 seconds - how often do you reboot the machine in this age of sleep?
 
Forceman said:
I don't see the big benefit to reduced boot time. So what if it shaves 5 or even 10 seconds - how often do you reboot the machine in this age of sleep?
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Usually when installing an OS or a major update (such as a Service Pack, in Windows 7's case). Those that dual-boot or multi-boot will see rebooting more often, of course.
 
PGHammer said:
Usually when installing an OS or a major update (such as a Service Pack, in Windows 7's case). Those that dual-boot or multi-boot will see rebooting more often, of course.
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I mean, I see the benefit - faster is always better - I just don't see that as a major selling point any longer.
 
I hibernate or shut off my computer multiple times a day and plan on continuing to do so. Sleep is good but still draws more power. So yes, it will make a substantial difference to me.
 
DaRuSsIaMaN said:
I hibernate or shut off my computer multiple times a day and plan on continuing to do so. Sleep is good but still draws more power. So yes, it will make a substantial difference to me.
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Seriously? S3 sleep uses less than 5W - I can't believe you are really worried about that kind of power draw.
 
DaRuSsIaMaN said:
Yeah, why do you say ASUS, specifically? MSI's boards have also been released with UEFI (in addition to what evilsofa said). Also, the immediate benefit to UEFI imo is the faster boot time. That is not a niche feature nor a future-proof feature. It will benefit anyone, and immediately.
Click to expand...

How much faster are boot time"s? Like a ssd?
 
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