Z68 boards & upgrade

[boondocks]

Hi folks,
My system in sig has been pretty much trouble free but I'm considering a Z68. My plan is to use my current UD3 in an HTPC build but with an i3 or i5 and buy a new Z68 and put my i7 on it.
Would like to buy a mid range Z68 if I can wade through all the models and figure out what I want that is not too expensive. BTW I'm not a "heavy" overclocker as I need reliability.

So my question is, what Gigabyte Z68 MOBO's have seemed to be free of the constant loop / other problems?

Thanks.

[BobCollette]

Re: Z68 boards & upgrade

I have the GA-Z68XP-UD4 board running an i5-2500K @4.7GHz. I had the boot loop problem initially when I was first working with the board. Since I updated the BIOS to F5, I haven't had any more boot loop problems. However, from what I've read, it can be a problem with almost any Z68 board, although it appears that ASUS BIOS updates have helped reduce/eliminate the problem with ASUS Z68 boards. While the boot loop problem can be annoying, I wouldn't let it stop you from getting a Z68 board, as updating the BIOS (one of the first things you should do after verifying functionality) seems to minimize the frequency of the problem.

[boondocks]

Re: Z68 boards & upgrade

Thanks, Bob.
I wish the manufacturers would come out and say what the problem is. Obviously if BIOS updates are fixing the majority of the problems then someone must know something.

I'm torn between swapping boards in main system or just buy a different board for the HTPC. I've been super happy with my P67 UD3 and other than it would be nice to have some more SATA connectors it's been trouble free.

I confess I'm less well read up on the Z68 boards than I was on the P67 when I built my last system, and there are so many Z68 boards it's a hard choice.

Oh well I'm going to hook up my current system to my Onkyo AVR when I have time and see if everything works together and then I'll make my mind up.

[wazza300]

Re: Z68 boards & upgrade

Just to throw some more hard choices into the mix don't forget new z77 mb's will be out soon,

[Chike]

Re: Z68 boards & upgrade

If the HTPC won't be used for extreme gaming you can get a sub 100USD H61/H67 board and an i3 CPU.
You can get a SATA II add-on card faily cheap.

[boondocks]

Re: Z68 boards & upgrade

Thanks, guys, I went ahead and ordered a new MOBO, GA-Z68XP-UD3 but to put in my main pc.

Next week I'll be busy putting my new HTPC together with the "old" P67 in an Antec 300 case with an i3 and a 400W PC Power and Cooling Silencer MKIII PSU, with the old 60GB SSD & 2TB Caviar Greens. Also adding a standalone Hauppauge PVR for recording HD from the satellite box, etc.

My "old" pc will be the GA-Z68XP-UD3, i7, 90GB SSD, and all the other stuff I already had in the sig below.

I've so enjoyed my Gigabyte P67 mobo, I decided to stick with Gigabyte for the Z68. If problems come up I'll deal with it. Time to start downloading all the updates.......

The older I get the more I like my toys.......

[boondocks]

Re: Z68 boards & upgrade

Forgot to add I hooked up my current system to my HT AVR and it's passing hi res DTS-MAS sound via HDMI so it's good to go for the HTPC.

[Deafty]

Re: Z68 boards & upgrade

Hows the HTPC running? I did effectivively the same:
Built new gaming PC with Z68 UD4
and use my old socket 775 with e8400 and a new case for HTPC

For HTPC I highly reccomend XBMC.
I have had zero problems with my Z68UD4 other than 1x BSOD during initial setup but that was my fault
have a look at my old thread, Prof Jim and others provided very useful setup guides.

[boondocks]

Re: Z68 boards & upgrade

That's old news, I built a completely different HTPC and my wife uses the P67 setup. I've got an nmediapc 5000 case with an Asrock Z68/i3 connected to my Onkyo and a Hauppauge HD PVR.