# AsRock vs. Asus for Sandy Bridge setup?



## puma99dk| (Sep 10, 2011)

i have been looking more and more at Sandy Bridge setup up since everyone is changing and i have been looking at Asus and AsRock but looks like u get more with AsRock than u do with Asus and is that better or just nuth that really matters?

i have been looking at Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z, since i luv the ROG colour theme and that u can run x16 on ur GFX and still use the open PCI-Express x4 open slot with Intel Gigabit Ethernet.






Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z (Asus.com)

and than the AsRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3, the black and gold theme looks kinda nice i think, plus u get PCI-Express 3.0 but u r stuck with Realtek RTL8111E Gigabit Ethernet.





AsRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 (AsRock.com)

from what ino the onboard Intel Gigabit Ethernet on the Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z should be better than the Realtek RTL8111E Gigabite and use less cpu i dunno if that's true but that's what i have read many places, but on the AsRock u get PCI-Express 3.0 which should be for next generation of GFX or is that just a "Gimmick" or what u call it?

u get 2xUSB3.0 ports on both cards but the Asus got 7xUSB2.0 and AsRock 4xUSB2.0 which i feel it's kinda not enough since i got Mouse, Keyboard, Webcam and wireless mouse and keyboard (on one USB connector only) so that's 4four and a usb pen i use, and 2xUSB2.0 ports in my case.

both got 2xSATA-3 ports and 4xSATA-2 ports so they will be filled since i got 2x2TB's 1x500gb and a DVD Burner, and i want a Raptor or something in the future, plus and last but not lest not to forget my Asus Xonar Essence STX card, i wanna use, and yes ino u don't miss much performance running x8 on my EVGA GeForce GTX570 than i could plug-in a Asus U3S6 PCI-E x4 card for 2xUSB3.0 and 2xSATA-3 connectors if i need one, but i still don't know kinda lost bcs i feel that i like the Intel Core 7-860 Lynnfield processor more than the Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge i dunno why, but in basic, gaming and coding how much will i get in performance? bcs ino that Sandy Bridge clocks pretty easily where Lynnfield can be a little more tricky.

for Memory i will stick with my A-Data XPG™ Gaming Series DDR3-2000G AX3U2000GB2G9 2x2GB they r 2000mhz so that should be fine even ino it can be tricky running 2000mhz on a Sandy Bridge setup, ino that but the does r running like a dream here on my Lynnfield setup ^^;

Some advice would be nice here, since i am kinda lost, the AsRock board i am talking about costs around 123euro / 172USD and the Asus board costs 160euro / 225USD and is it true that it's not the board that limits the processor overclocking on the Sandy Bridge Setup but the processor itself? and no i actually don't need the SSD-caching i think but if the PCI-Express 3.0 ain't a "Gimmick" than i think the Intel Z68 chipset is the way to go actually.

ino it's long to read but i was sure how to cut the text down, sry for that, but i hope u will help me setting things straight here on if i could go Sandy Bridge or not


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## Altered (Sep 11, 2011)

ASRock $124.99 vs ASUS $179.99 na ill pass. The ASRock board doesnt give up $50 in features and the ASUS name isnt worth it either. But hey if you need a little red for decor it might be worth it.


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## Jegergrim (Sep 11, 2011)

Altered said:


> ASRock $124.99 vs ASUS $179.99 na ill pass. The ASRock board doesnt give up $50 in features and the ASUS name isnt worth it either. But hey if you need a little red for decor it might be worth it.



What makes you say the Asus name isnt worth it? Out of curiosity


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## Grnfinger (Sep 11, 2011)

Asrock is a crapshoot
Asus is a solid performer, 50 bucks is cheap insurance and peice of mind


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## tritron (Sep 11, 2011)

Asus and asrock  are owned by same company one is lexus the other toyota of motherboards. Asrock. What about MSI motherboard ? I like that asrock is cheaper and has more expansions slots.


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## PaulieG (Sep 11, 2011)

Grnfinger said:


> Asrock is a crapshoot
> Asus is a solid performer, 50 bucks is cheap insurance and peice of mind



Asrock isn't really a crapshoot anymore, starting with the x58 platform. They are very solid. I also am more impressed with my Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 than I was with my P8P67 Pro. I can clock my 2600k to 50x with a lower vcore, and it handles 4GB sticks better than the Asus. It's also a much better looking board with the all black PCB, if that means anything.


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## erocker (Sep 11, 2011)

Grnfinger said:


> Asrock is a crapshoot
> Asus is a solid performer, 50 bucks is cheap insurance and peice of mind



While I completely agree with you, I'm currently using an AsRock Extreme4 Gen3 Z68 and I'm very satisfied with it.


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## EarthDog (Sep 11, 2011)

Paulieg said:


> Asrock isn't really a crapshoot anymore, starting with the x58 platform. They are very solid. I also am more impressed with my Z68 Extreme4 than I was with my P8P67 Pro. I can clock my 2600k to 50x with a lower vcore, and it handles 4GB sticks better than the Asus. It's also a much better looking board with the all black PCB, if that means anything.


Agreed. Had both those same boards. I have a MIVE and use a Asrock Extreme4 for extreme sessions... 

Truth be told I couldnt handle slathering my MIVE in vaseline around the pcie slot and the artist eraser.


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## crazyeyesreaper (Sep 11, 2011)

i also have to agree had an Asrock 790gx board that took a lightning strike that fried a 4870x2 but the board kept on going, still works to this day, used them in multiple other builds over the years they've out  lasted builds using MSI and Asus usually 2 to 1, the other brands boards tend to offer a bit higher overclocks but overall ive had Asrock boards last a bit longer then others ive used, there pretty solid mid range but right now Asrock has Design teams they took from EVGA and Gigabyte.


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## brandonwh64 (Sep 11, 2011)

Asrock makes so very impressive boards here the last couple of years. My ASrock P55 extreme was very nice! along with a 785G board unlocking an old C2 720 black and OCing to 3.8ghz stable I say!


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## HossHuge (Sep 11, 2011)

another vote here for AsRock.


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## bogmali (Sep 11, 2011)

I still own two Asrock motherboards, an X58Extreme3 and P55Extreme4 and can that they are not crapshoots. Will most likely own a Z68Extreme4 here shortly.

I've had better OC results using Asrocks mobo compared to Asus though.

Currently using a P8P67 EVO and a Gigabyte GA-P67UD4 on both my SB builds and no complaints with either mobo.


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## Feizy (Sep 11, 2011)

I own the Gene-Z board and it is the best z68 board I have ever owned (I have used 5 in total: 3 Asus and 2 MSI).  It is running an i5 2500k @ 4.8Ghz w/ 16gb of ram running at 2133MHz with 2 GTX 580s.  Never had an issue with it.  I have never owned an Asrock board so I can't speak to their quality. I have heard good things about them lately.  

I would say it comes down to looks and/or features.  Any place you buy the boards from will take them back if they crap out right out of the box.


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## TRWOV (Sep 11, 2011)

My previous board was an Asrock as well. Got my E5800 to 3.7Ghz without blinking  

I usually don't give brand name much weight; read some reviews and see what works for you.


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## fusionblu (Sep 11, 2011)

A few recommendations I would make is that make sure you are using RAM that runs at 1.5v since from what I know having RAM running at higher volatages can damage your CPU (this by itself can limit the overclocking potential of your CPU) and secondly if you intend to upgrade to the 22nm Ivybridge i7 CPUs when they come out and put it in the motherboard you intend to buy I would suggest just buying a i5 2500K OEM as you wouldn't lose out on much in performance with the i7 2600K as both can hit between 4.9GHz and 5.1GHz on air or other cooling with the right settings and overall set-up.

As for motherboards I would go with the Asrock one as it would probably (if not it will) run cooler than the Asus one and for less money you would get more or less (not much of a difference) the same performance as the Asus motherboard and you get more features such as the Gen3 support for the new PCI-E 3.0 graphics cards (whenever they come out) and 22nm Ivybridge CPUs support, and more slots to fit sound or netword cards.

Also the key difference between the Asrock and Asus motherboards you've put up is that the Asus one is intended to be put in a small case for LAN parties where the Asrock one is suppose to be in a normal or large case for normal domestic use with the idea that the case would rarely be moved around.

Just to add if you think neither motherboard fully doesn't do what you want it may be a good idea to up your budget for a better motherboard and the Asrock choice of motherboards would be Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 motherboard and if you really want lots of features, the red and black theme and much better overclocking potential it may be worth going to the Asrock Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 motherboard (best performance for the price and is cheaper than almost all high-end motherboards) which should be more than possible if you buy an i5 2500k instead of the i7 2600k and up the budget a little.

Good luck with your choice and I hope this information will help you go for what you want.


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## MT Alex (Sep 11, 2011)

Another ASRock board, here.  Currently using the P67 Extreme4 Gen3.


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## Altered (Sep 11, 2011)

Jegergrim said:


> What makes you say the Asus name isnt worth it? Out of curiosity



Just in this thread so far I took each post and took a line that was said in each. This is how I  see it as well. The difference in performance will be minimal at best from what I have read. Far from $50 dollars difference.  That is damn near 1/2 the price of the ASRock board. ASRock is quite established in the performance geared motherboards now days. And as you can see 13 of 15 people most claiming to own or have owned ASRock boards are recommending them or talking positive of them. My point is the $50 is basically buying the name ASUS. If you like the name that much and $ is no problem go for it. 

*Pro ASUS comments:*

Asrock is a crapshoot
I own the Gene-Z board and it is the best z68 board I have ever owned

*Pro ASRock comments:*

asrock is cheaper and has more expansions slots.
Asrock isn't really a crapshoot anymore, starting with the x58 platform. They are very solid.
I'm currently using an AsRock Extreme4 Gen3 Z68 and I'm very satisfied with it.
use a Asrock Extreme4 for extreme sessions
i also have to agree had an Asrock 790gx board that took a lightning strike that fried a 4870x2 but the board kept on going, still works to this day
Asrock makes so very impressive boards here the last couple of years.
another vote here for AsRock.
I still own two Asrock motherboards, an X58Extreme3 and P55Extreme4 and can that they are not crapshoots.
My previous board was an Asrock as well. Got my E5800 to 3.7Ghz without blinking
As for motherboards I would go with the Asrock one
Another ASRock board, here.


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## Zen_ (Sep 11, 2011)

I like my P67 ASRock board a lot. One thing I've noticed that they have, which a lot of other low price boards don't is dual fan headers for the heatsink. This makes fan speed control by temp for dual fan heatsinks a snap. Their UEFI looks pretty basic, but it works well. Only problem is, at least on mine it takes quite awhile for the UEFI to load.


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## Funtoss (Sep 11, 2011)

I say Asus! that colour red will look nice as well  instead of that all black asrock mobo..


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## puma99dk| (Sep 11, 2011)

i kinda like both colour themes Funtoss, and i don't like the cooling they used on the Extreme4 Gen3 even they give u and extra PCI-Express x16 slot that runs x4, would be nice, but that was why i took the Extreme3 Gen3 to begin with, and the Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 i don't like the look of the bios and the box, maybe bcs i am not a Fatal1ty fan i dunno, it's kinda not my type, and i have also been looking at the Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 at a price of around 249euro / 350USD it's an oki price a little over double the Extreme3 Gen3 and u get a NF200 chip but i kinda not have that money for an upgrade :/ since i wanna see if i could get a used i7-2600k and a new motherboard since not many boards r sold used in my country atm.


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## Robjamderout (Sep 11, 2011)

*Another for ASROCK*

Got my p67 extreme6 for the pcie2.0 x4, and it had good power supply specs and (i think) it looks good.
Price was £20-£30 better than the equal boards too.


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## puma99dk| (Sep 11, 2011)

Robjamderout said:


> Got my p67 extreme6 for the pcie2.0 x4, and it had good power supply specs and (i think) it looks good.
> Price was £20-£30 better than the equal boards too.



that's common for AsRock to be at a better price, even for there Extreme7 Gen3 in my country it's about 48euro / 68USD cheaper than Gigabyte's GA-Z68X-UD7 and 86euro / 121USD cheaper than Asus' Maximus IV Extreme-Z all with the same NF200 chip,

and not even Asus or Gigabyte got the Gen3/PCI-E 3 options on their boards so the price is more than fair, but just too high for me ^^;


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## Grnfinger (Sep 11, 2011)

Paulieg said:


> Asrock isn't really a crapshoot anymore, starting with the x58 platform. They are very solid. I also am more impressed with my Z68 Extreme4 than I was with my P8P67 Pro. I can clock my 2600k to 50x with a lower vcore, and it handles 4GB sticks better than the Asus. It's also a much better looking board with the all black PCB, if that means anything.



I will admit that the Asrock is a sweet looking board.

Asus offers solid support . bios drivers ect...it's my brand of choice for any platform.
I have never owned a Asrock and I'm surprised at all the positive comments about them so far. I was looking to Gigabyte for my next board, perhaps a hard look at Asrock is needed.
I really do like the layout and colors


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## puma99dk| (Sep 11, 2011)

Grnfinger said:


> I will admit that the Asrock is a sweet looking board.
> 
> Asus offers solid support . bios drivers ect...it's my brand of choice for any platform.
> I have never owned a Asrock and I'm surprised at all the positive comments about them so far. I was looking to Gigabyte for my next board, perhaps a hard look at Asrock is needed.
> I really do like the layout and colors



i have only tried Asus RMA once that was for a Asus A8N-SLi back in the days it was less than a week than i got my money back, but general on their vip forum it's fine in basic, even when i got my III Gene i used it, but i never once RMA'ed a AsRock board myself, i have had for Socket A, AM2 and one AMD more i think, never for Intel but in tests they do as good as Gigabyte, Asus and so on, so i think they have grow up to get as good as they can be atm, but i dunno if i should upgrade or not, i just keep thinking about it


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## Deleted member 74752 (Sep 11, 2011)

The only SB motherboard failure I have had to date is an AsRock P67 Extreme6....oh well.


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## puma99dk| (Sep 11, 2011)

rickss69 said:


> The only SB motherboard failure I have had to date is an AsRock P67 Extreme6....oh well.



every board can fail, but is it true that there will be no Ivy Bridge support for Z68 boards bcs of the UEFI bios?


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## BrooksyX (Sep 11, 2011)

I love my ASRock P67 Fatality Performance board. Has no problem getting my 2500k to 4.8ghz stable.


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## Altered (Sep 21, 2011)

Well did you go Sandy Bridge? If so what board did you decide on?


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## puma99dk| (Sep 21, 2011)

Altered said:


> Well did you go Sandy Bridge? If so what board did you decide on?



i actually went ECS P67H2-A Black Series ^^ so now i just needs a i5-2500k or i7-2600k i am not sure yet, but i will properly take the i5-2500k and buy a brand new one.


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## pantherx12 (Sep 21, 2011)

+ one for Asrock.

Great boards for great prices.

I bought a £35 motherboard they made ( in specs) cheapest dual pci-e board you can get.

And it's brilliant. The only down side is I can't push more voltage through the mosfets ( without blowing them up) but that's all cool as I wasn't expecting ANY overclocking with this board.

( but I pulled 864 mhz out of it  )


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## crazyeyesreaper (Sep 21, 2011)

puma99dk| said:


> i actually went ECS P67H2-A Black Series ^^ so now i just needs a i5-2500k or i7-2600k i am not sure yet, but i will properly take the i5-2500k and buy a brand new one.



if its not a black deluxe branded P67 all i can say is good luck

i have an ECS board P67H2 - A2 Black Deluxe, its a good board damn solid, but its missing PLL overvoltage, so if your CPU isnt a good clocker by default youll be disappointed,

example my 2500k stops at 4.4ghz i hit the multi wall with PLL overvoltage it will go higher 4.6-4.7ghz being achievable but since no ECS board supports PLL overvoltage, it means im stuck at 4.4 no matter what on this ECS board.


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## EarthDog (Sep 21, 2011)

Nothing like asking for advice, getting it, then going out on your own with a decent chance of fail... Here is to hoping your board has that option if you are looking to really push that chip!


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## crazyeyesreaper (Sep 21, 2011)

it wont have PLL overvoltage it will have basic bios

most tweaking must be done within windows with the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility or XTU for short,

you will not be able to edit memory sub timings, pll voltage, etc

if you get a below average chip your in for some trouble, my chip is a SHITTY chip 4.5 wont even boot 4.4 is stable but only 99% 4.3 is 100% stable but as you can guess 4.3 is very low compared to many others hitting 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 on air since there boards have the PLL over volting required to allow those multis to run stable,

Im not knocking ECS i love my P67 Black Deluxe its a solid board it looks good its stable, it does what its suppose to just for higher end overclocking look elsewhere unless you know for sure your chip will clock great without PLL voltage increases.


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## puma99dk| (Sep 21, 2011)

crazyeyereaper still 4,4ghz is still fine, with out much tweaking


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