Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, JustAnEngineer
DPete27 wrote:What are you missing from the Asus mobo? If you ask me, it's got everything I'd ever need. Things like thunderbolt, additional SATA 6Gb/s ports, additonal power phases are all frivolous if you ask me and that's all the additional features I can think of that you'd want. (Built-in wireless is a pointless luxury since you've got all the slots of ATX available for an add-in card anyway.) Here, compare it to the Sabertooth mobo you originally chose.
1) Thunderbolt is expensive and there's hardly any peripherals that support it. Furthermore, I don't see the advantages besides reducing cable clutter. USB3.0 can handle peak speeds of external hdds.
2) SATA III can only be saturated by SSDs and very few systems have more than two of those. Mechanical hdd's only benefit from SATA III through buffer transfers which is negligable in most cases.
3) The benefits of additional power phases for anyone except competition overclockers is debatable. For everyday use, I wouldn't recommend overclocking any more than the stock CPU voltage can keep stable. Once you start raising voltage, you reduce life-expectancy.
4) Asus' UEFI and fan controls are definetly the best in the business, no question about it. In many cases, this is enough to sway buyers away from other brands with similar physical features that may be cheaper.
5) The board supports x8/x8 Crossfire and/or SLI with PCIe3.0 speeds. (this equals x16/x16 PCIe2.0) So you're covered if you ever decide to go the dual GPU route.
DPete27 wrote:4) Asus' UEFI and fan controls are definetly the best in the business, no question about it. In many cases, this is enough to sway buyers away from other brands with similar physical features that may be cheaper.
DPete27 wrote:
automaticus wrote:Another thing.. does the EVO CPU cooler come with thermal compound? If not, I suppose I have to get that myself? Any suggestions there?
Flying Fox wrote:For me, the only reason to go to the Pro version of the Asus motherboard is the Intel NIC
DPete27 wrote:Flying Fox wrote:For me, the only reason to go to the Pro version of the Asus motherboard is the Intel NIC
Any hard numbers to support the Intel NIC is any better than Realtek 8111F? I've seen some people say Intel NIC is the best, others say it's no better than any other NIC these days. I just wonder if the difference is easily quantifiable to a price premium. Moreover, would anyone would even notice the difference between the two in the real world, or is it just a slightly bigger benchmark number to brag about? (as in most modern SSDs)
There's no push button for power, reset or CMOS clear, for instance.
automaticus wrote:DPete27 wrote:Flying Fox wrote:For me, the only reason to go to the Pro version of the Asus motherboard is the Intel NIC
Any hard numbers to support the Intel NIC is any better than Realtek 8111F? I've seen some people say Intel NIC is the best, others say it's no better than any other NIC these days. I just wonder if the difference is easily quantifiable to a price premium. Moreover, would anyone would even notice the difference between the two in the real world, or is it just a slightly bigger benchmark number to brag about? (as in most modern SSDs)
I wonder about the same thing.
BTW, I think this question of mine sort of drowned above somewhere...
What's the standard way to connect your monitor to your GPU these days? HDMI? DVI? Does it matter?
Other than that, any issues you see with the build as it is now? If not, I'm ordering this stuff tomorrow. Exciting!
Also, even though the EVO comes with its own thermal compound, is there any reason to look into purchasing a separate thermal compound or should I forget about it and stick to the included one?
Thanks!
EDIT:There's no push button for power, reset or CMOS clear, for instance.
http://www.cnet.com.au/asus-p8z77-v-lk- ... htm#image3
How big a difference does this really make?
automaticus wrote:DVI, but it doesn't really matter between DVI and HDMI. In fact, I've used DVI to HDMI cables (passive) to connect computers to TVs. Most monitors will come with DVI and VGA cables, assuming that there are ports for them on there. I think the only thing you get from HDMI that you can't get from DVI is audio, but you might as well just plug in your speakers/headphones in directly.What's the standard way to connect your monitor to your GPU these days? HDMI? DVI? Does it matter?
You know how manufacturers have the "gold plated" gimmick because gold conducts electricity better than copper (or other alternatives)? Well strictly speaking, there is some truth to that, but it not anything you would ever notice. That's basically the same deal with thermal compounds. Whatever is included will be fine so long as it's applied correctly, and as long as you get that right, the airflow in your case will have a bigger impact on CPU temperatures.Also, even though the EVO comes with its own thermal compound, is there any reason to look into purchasing a separate thermal compound or should I forget about it and stick to the included one?
automaticus wrote:You guys must have gotten tired of me changing things around... well, be annoyed no more. Last night, I placed the order for all parts: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Aj1J
DPete27 wrote:Like the Mythbusters say, "If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing." You've got a very potent system there, no doubt you'll enjoy it for many years to come.
Flying Fox wrote:automaticus wrote:You guys must have gotten tired of me changing things around... well, be annoyed no more. Last night, I placed the order for all parts: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Aj1J
Now we just want box shots, unboxing, hardware p0rn, and build logs as updates to this thread!
JustAnEngineer wrote:You bought a TN LCD monitor?
automaticus wrote:JustAnEngineer wrote:You bought a TN LCD monitor?
That was in 2011, I believe. So I haven't even done research on monitors for this build. Why do you ask?
JustAnEngineer wrote:You bought a TN LCD monitor?
JohnC wrote:Looks like you put a pretty large amount of thermal paste on your CPU - you should put a very small amount and then try to evenly spread it around (while removing excess at the same time) using a credit card or something similar... The thermal paste is only needed to fill in the tiny "gaps" on the surface of heatspreader and heatsink, so the thinner it is = the better. But it doesn't matter THAT much, especially if you don't overclock, so if you're already assembled everything - just forget it
Also, I noticed you're using Wiha screwdrivers I use similar model - pretty good tool, though the thick insulated magnetic bit holder sometimes prevent me from getting into tight "holes"/spaces (insert sexual joke here)
8. Change power options: Applies to SSDs/HDDs
I recommend at least setting to high performance, as for laptops it is up to you, I would leave the default for a laptop. This step is so that Idle Time Garbage Collection can run for your SSD if you have one when the system is at idle rather than going to sleep and you get more performance out of your system just by setting it to high performance. But feel free to set it up however you like.
Go to the Desktop.
Press the "Windows Key" + "X" on your keyboard.
Click the "Power Options" option.
Click "Show additional plans."
Select the "High performance power plan" radio button.
Click "Change plan settings."
Click "Change advanced power settings."
Expand the "Hard disk" option and change the "Turn off hard disk after" setting to "Never."
Expand the "Sleep" option and change the "Sleep after" setting to "Never."
Click OK.
automaticus wrote:One mounting hole of the motherboard was plugged by a plastic peg that fit perfectly through the hole and was already present inside the case.... that's a case feature to help align the mobo properly during installation.
JohnC wrote:Looks like you put a pretty large amount of thermal paste on your CPU