I wanna see some Sandy Bridge Results

[Movieman]

Does anyone have any thoughts on what the ideal "cruncher" board will be?

I've been looking at all the boards and prices.
The one I like is the GB UD5 but the UD4 may be the best investment for a cruncher.
I'll be using the Intel board but have no idea on what it's cost is.

[sierra_bound]

About the only difference between the UD4 and the UD3P is that the former has support for both SLI and CrossFireX. They both have 12-phase VRM. The UD5 has 20-phase.

[Movieman]

About the only difference between the UD4 and the UD3P is that the former has support for both SLI and CrossFireX. They both have 12-phase VRM. The UD5 has 20-phase.

Thanks Sierra..
Then to me the choice is the 3 or 5..
If the 3 will be stable for long term it's a steal at the price in todays market

[sierra_bound]

I have the 1156 UD3P board. Have had no problems.

Essentially you would be paying an extra $30-35 just to have SLI support on the 1155 UD4 board.

If you look at features list for the 1155 UD3P and UD4, you're not going to see much difference.

GA-P67A-UD3P

GA-P67A-UD4

[ugotd8]

2x eSATA on the UD4...

Personally, gonna save the money and use the estat bracket I've had forever.

[[XC] Hicks121]

E-sata was the only reason why I got the ud4. Didn't have the bones for the ud5 & the ram I wanted.

[sierra_bound]

A lot depends on what you're going to use the board for. If it's strictly going to be used for crunching, you don't need a lot of bells and whistles. If it's to be your main machine, you may want to consider a board with more features.

Whatever board you choose, make sure you buy it from a reseller with a good return policy. Movieman has said some of the boards are really flakey, which often happens with a new platform.

[retro77]

Looks like the UD3 is the best bang for the cruncher buck...at least this cruncher!

[sierra_bound]

The only major negative, if you want to call it that, about the Gigabyte boards is that they don't come with UEFI which is a little surprising for cutting-edge products. UEFI will eventually replace the traditional BIOS.

[OldChap]

So,with that in mind would you consider the Asus pro? or get the ud3 and wait for Giga to produce the goods

You have the board and the 2600K ??? so unhide your rigs already

[sierra_bound]

If the question is for me, I have neither board nor CPU. But I have both ASUS and Gigabyte crunchers. They each have their pluses and minuses. Legit Reviews tested the ASUS P867 (non-PRO). It's priced about the same as the UD3P and overclocked very well. Plus, it has UEFI. It's probably the board I will get. I say "probably" because I have to visit Fry's tomorrow to see if it's in stock.

The Deluxe board overclocked about the same and costs more. You're basically paying for more bells and whistles. The board I get doesn't need SLI or much of anything else. I will probably use an Ebay-bought VGA card which will consume next to no power.

The UD3P is probably a nicer-looking board. But I really don't care what the board I get looks like, as long as it crunches well.

[retro77]

Frys has the Gigabyte GA-P67AUD3P for $169.99

Edit: confirmed that the San Marcos Frys has the 2600K in stock to release tomorrow.

[PCduster]

For those of you in the states interested in the UD3P, superbiiz.com (formerly known as Ewiz) has a 15% off code (up to a max of $15). The code is "hello2011" and is supposed to expire today. The code obviously works on other boards, too.

I just placed an order this morning for a UD3P and it came out to $150 including shipping.

GA-P67A-UD3P

[Fhqwhgads6680]

Hey guys! Exciting day, I looked through all the boards and this asrock looks like a real winner to me:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157217

3x pci-e 16x for gpu-grid, 8x sata, sli support, and they have the solid caps furthest away from the socket for better SS fun I can't get this today... but will be eyeing this for some time.

Anyone know how like the microcenter deals will be going?

[sierra_bound]

If the question is for me, I have neither board nor CPU.

Update: I will soon have board and CPU.

[Jupiler]

I'm in the same boat now, can't decide which board to get.

I've been running a Gigabyte P45-UD3P and a Q9650 for 2 years, and I thought it was time to upgrade.
I already ordered a 2500k (which I can pick up on wednesday), so I have some time left to search for a good board.

The Gigabyte UD4 came into mind (being very happy with my "old" P45-UD3P), but the Asrock Extreme 4 seems a good board too.
The Asrock seems to have some more features than the UD4, plus it's about 30€ cheaper than the UD4.
With the money I would be saving, I can spend it on some good DDR3 (even though it might not be that important for the SB).

Decisions, decisions...........

[[XC] Hicks121]

I have my ud4 & the 2600k....had to drive to downtown Chicago to get it. The MC by my house was all out. No I wait for ups to get here tomorrow with my ram.

[Jupiler]

What memory did you order?

[retro77]

SB 2600K up and running!

I went with the GA-P67A-UD3P, 4GB of RAM. Also running off a 5400RPM 500GB laptop hard drive and all powered by a Antec Earthwatts 430W. I need a video card. I had a PCI ATI9250, but I can't get the drivers to load.

edit:

Prices
CPU: 319.99
Mobo: 169.99
RAM: 54.99

Local Fry's!

[sierra_bound]

Let us know what kind of results you get in WCG. If the system is just being used for crunching, I wouldn't even bother with installing ATI drivers. Just use whatever Microsoft installs.

[retro77]

Will do. It's 100% cruncher.

[kjeldoran]

I am really tempted to switch my i7 860 to a sandybridge setup for my main rig, but I think I will wait for bulldozer to come around and/or the enthusiast sandy bridge for that. I do want a sandybridge cruncher, but I'm going to wait for the z68 chipset so I can use the onboard video and overclock at the same time.

[[XC] Hicks121]

What memory did you order?

Hey my big furry brother!! How you doing?

clicky

[Jupiler]

I'm doing fine, thanks for asking, my fellow, tiny blue furry brother.
Hope you're doing fine, too.

I also have those sticks on my list, they cost about 94€ over here.
Also still undecided if I should take 4Gb or 8Gb of RAM.

Hey my big furry brother!! How you doing?

clicky

[[XC] Hicks121]

I'm doing fine, thanks for asking, my fellow, tiny blue furry brother.
Hope you're doing fine, too.

I also have those sticks on my list, they cost about 94€ over here.
Also still undecided if I should take 4Gb or 8Gb of RAM.

More is better if you have Win7 imo.