ASUS vs ASRock - Gaming PC

n00k1e

n00k1e

n00k1e

Associate
Joined
27 Jun 2012
Posts
3
Monitor: Alienware AW2210 60hz 1080p

Case: Silverstone Raven RV01
PSU: Corsair HX750W

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme or ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3
CPU: I5 2500k (I will OC to at least 4.0GHZ)
CPU Air Cooling: Zalman CNPS12x
RAM: some good 8GB DDR3 (not decied yet)

GPU: Radeon HD6970
GPU 2: I might add another HD6970 in the future or maybe I will sell the HD6970 and get a single HD6990 or some other high-end card (depends on the mobo)

SSD: Crucial M4 256GB Sata III
HDD: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 32MB

Please help me out with the mobo. I know that ASRock has the PCIE 3.0 and by upgrading to IvyBridge in the future I will be albe to use its full potential. Also ASRock has the 2x PCIE x16 x16 support, where ASUS is dropping to x8 x8 while in Crossfire/SLI. ASUS is more "mature" as a company and I have heard that maximus is an overclocking monster. Which one should I choose? Price is pretty much the same.

And what do you think about the overall setup?

By the way, Hi everyone, I love these forums ;)
 
I have had both Asus P8z68 v-pro Gen3 and failed on me with-in two weeks Dreaded VGA Led error. Even when it was running fine, it had lots of start up and cold boot issues. Now I could have just been un-lucky but when I was reading up about the issues I wasn't alone lol

Now got the Asrock z68 Extreme4 Gen3 and cant fault it one bit. OC Cpu easy and Ram, start up is super fast Bios screen then windows no issues like asus showing wrong controllers etc.

So I say go Asrock :) Now has well you might want to pick Z77 and go ivy bridge.
 
I wouldn't worry about Xfire/SLI it would be best to concentrate on the best single GPU option and keep power requirements down. We like to suggest GB mobos for the UK based 3 year warranty but i do love the look of the asrock extreme mobos :)

That alienware monitor can't be cheap (£300 is it?). You could game over three 22inch screens or have a 3D monitor for that cash, a 27inch screen or even start thinking about an IPS display.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Iiyama ProLite G2773HS 120Hz 27" Widescreen LED 1MS Monitor - Black **£20 CASHBACK** £323.99
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £323.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £167.99
1 x Plextor M2S 256GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (PX-256M2S) £124.99
1 x BitFenix Colossus Red LED Big Tower Windowed Case - Black £119.99
1 x Asrock Z77 Extreme4 M Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £101.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (ST2000DL003) £89.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3) (CWCH100) £83.58
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £79.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £43.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
1 x Akasa SATA-III 50cm Rounded Data Cable (Right-Angle Connectors) (AK-CBSA01-05BK) £5.99
Total : £1,509.10 (includes shipping : £22.20).



Lot's of ways to go, look that over and hit me back with any questions you might have
 
Last edited:
jeff6475 said:
hi,why not get a z77 board and ivy now ?
Click to expand...

This is already a lot more than my budget was at the beginning of the project.
I was reading that ivy is running a lot hotter while overclocked too hence I am sticking with 2500k. In the future I might update to a top of the range ivy so that I will not have to OC a lot and it will be nice and cool.
 
Thank you very much for your reply honosuseri. I like that Seagate HDD ;)
I will probably go with air cooling unless I will find a decent internal liquid system that will fit inside my Raven case as I do not want to have anything outside the case (yes, I am getting Raven no matter what :P)

That alienware screen costs around £150 for 60hz 21,5inch and around £270 for 120hz 3D 23inch.

If I will go with the 120hz monitor then probably I will go with nvidia GPU so that I will be able to use nvidia vision and its full 3D potential.
 
Asrock are budget Asus boards and as such usually have limited overclocking potential if thats your beef. Not a problem if you're not bothered now but in the future, well, you might change your mind. Just saying.
 
Last edited:
n00k1e said:
Thank you very much for your reply honosuseri. I like that Seagate HDD ;)
I will probably go with air cooling unless I will find a decent internal liquid system that will fit inside my Raven case as I do not want to have anything outside the case (yes, I am getting Raven no matter what :P)

That alienware screen costs around £150 for 60hz 21,5inch and around £270 for 120hz 3D 23inch.

If I will go with the 120hz monitor then probably I will go with nvidia GPU so that I will be able to use nvidia vision and its full 3D potential.
Click to expand...

Your welcome fella. I'm used to balancing a budget, if I had a set budget I could do a better job ;) ;)
 
Blackjack Davy said:
Asrock are budget Asus boards and as such usually have limited overclocking potential if thats your beef. Not a problem if you're not bothered now but in the future, well, you might change your mind. Just saying.
Click to expand...

No problem OC my i5 2500k to 5GHz if I wanted to and it runs stable. I just dont like the heat it gives.
Asrock have came a long way and now produce some of the best boards out there. Just check the reviews for the Extreme series.
 
I wouldnt agree that the asrock are budget asus boards, I have the fatal1ty and it's great for overclocking and the price defiantly wasn't budget
 
Blackjack Davy said:
Asrock are budget Asus boards and as such usually have limited overclocking potential if thats your beef. Not a problem if you're not bothered now but in the future, well, you might change your mind. Just saying.
Click to expand...

That did used to be the case, but it isnt any longer. Asrock has actually gained some steam, and as such offers boards just as capable as their Asus brand name.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom