X79 vs Z77

[andybird123]

91C is the maximum although you'd want to stay under 80C really because don't forget it will be a lot warmer when summer comes.

A watercooled system should be better if you're planning to overclock much higher but 60C is absolutely fine.

+1

anything under 80C is safe - I've got a 3930K running at [email protected] on air that in normal/high use hits low 70's and only on a warm day running a full system stress test (CPU + GPU) does it hit 80

watercooling would be if you wanted to start looking at close to 5ghz

 

[F4810]

a Z77 has no advantage over an X79 (except maybe lucid virtu mvp, not sure if all the X79 support it). its just 99% of people wont use the extras the X79 has so its not worth spending the extra.
Overclocking wise 1155 seems to be a bit better than 2011, but then this is dependant on the cpu, so nothing is guarnateed.

I disagree on the overclocking point. I agree on the 99% point only if you upgrade your mobo every few years. But I have had my Q6600 for 5 or 6 years now and it has served me well but my mobo held me back as I wanted to go SLI and for a new CPU. Who knows what the tech will require 5 or 6 years time but I am hoping with plenty of PCIE-3 lanes I should be in good shape.

X79 is likely to get IB-E next year so that probably gives it another 2 years at least for drop in CPU upgrades and by then I might want to go 8 core etc etc.

For GPU upgrades it should last a very long time. I would rather pay the extra £80 (which I did) to have a bit more future proofing.

 

[the_director]

I am seriously thinking x79 is the way to go. If you compare like for like the x79 boards are actually good value when compared to mid / higher range z68 boards that have the same feature set. Plus the 3820 is more flexible than the 2500k without being much more expensive, whilst it is cheaper than the 2600k/2700k. The only issue is that Ivy will be quicker, then Ivy-E will be out but probably destroyed by Haswell...

 

[F4810]

I am seriously thinking x79 is the way to go. If you compare like for like the x79 boards are actually good value when compared to mid / higher range z68 boards that have the same feature set. Plus the 3820 is more flexible than the 2500k without being much more expensive, whilst it is cheaper than the 2600k/2700k. The only issue is that Ivy will be quicker, then Ivy-E will be out but probably destroyed by Haswell...

You never know which way is right to go so you only have 2 options:

1) Buy the best value/power you can now (prob Z68 & 2500k) and then just upgrade it all in a couple of years time.

2) Buy a system that you intend to keep for longer than might give you the flexibility to upgrade components as you go.

I went for option 2 as like I said for the extra £80 or so it was a no brainer for me as I will always have the option of more cores and loads of PCIE lanes.