Hi guysI'm looking at putting a new rig together, but I'm not really sure I understand the differences between the boards.I've always liked Asus, and see no reason to change.There's at least three Z67 boards for the i7-2600k that I can see.You guys seem to know your stuff pretty well - Does it really matter which I opt for?Don't suppose I'm gonna need a double vid card option for FSX?Help appreciatedCheersEDIT: Some PSU advice and recommendations would help too :Big Grin:

It would be the P8Z68-V or P8Z68-V ProApparently the plain P8Z68-V is SLI ready too, I thought it wasn't. The main difference is that the Pro has the Marvel controller with 2 extra SATA III portsThe lower models, namely the P8Z68-V LE, like in the P67 series, lacks phases and I would recommend against itAs for the PSU, what's your budget? and what's your GPU?

Hi DarioMy budget is sort of open (within reason). I certainly want quality and reliability, that's for sure.I haven't yet chosen a GPU, so open there too :Nail Biting: I think my current model is a modular Enermax 770 and there's a shed load of HDDs in there too (well, six anyway) :Big Grin: I could probably get away with that until I've found something a little quieter at least.

Hi DarioMy budget is sort of open (within reason). I certainly want quality and reliability, that's for sure.I haven't yet chosen a GPU, so open there too :Nail Biting: I think my current model is a modular Enermax 770 and there's a shed load of HDDs in there too (well, six anyway) :Big Grin: I could probably get away with that until I've found something a little quieter at least.

I haven't found a 770W Enermax, but it's a renowned brand. If it's noisy and you are set on replacing it because of that, the Corsair TX750 is a great PSU at a fair price that will have you covered in case you decide to go with a dual GPU setup someday. You said that's not the plan, in which case you could get away with a lower wattage unit, but if you don't mind it not being modular, the TX750 is great value and often recommended everywhere.

I haven't found a 770W Enermax, but it's a renowned brand. If it's noisy and you are set on replacing it because of that, the Corsair TX750 is a great PSU at a fair price that will have you covered in case you decide to go with a dual GPU setup someday. You said that's not the plan, in which case you could get away with a lower wattage unit, but if you don't mind it not being modular, the TX750 is great value and often recommended everywhere.

The PSU itself isn't noisy, but I've just discovered a problem with it that maybe causing all my problems...According to 'Speedfan' (if it's correct), my 12volt rail is only reading 11.09v!!Now, I'm no guru for sure, but even I would guess that could cause some serious issues?

The PSU itself isn't noisy, but I've just discovered a problem with it that maybe causing all my problems...According to 'Speedfan' (if it's correct), my 12volt rail is only reading 11.09v!!Now, I'm no guru for sure, but even I would guess that could cause some serious issues?

Don't worry about that Phil. My 12V rail reading in Speed fan is 6.6V

Don't worry about that Phil. My 12V rail reading in Speed fan is 6.6V

Eeeek!!!!!!!Is there a reliable method of test a PSU?

Eeeek!!!!!!!Is there a reliable method of test a PSU?

multimeter I guess

You can try this one and compare too. Apparently it's more accuratehttp://www.stvsoft.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=17&Itemid=33I get 11.50V with this one. The ATX standard says that the 12V rail tolerance is +/- 5%, so that's borderline lolIt's still a software reading that should be taken with a grain of salt, but if you get a different reading than Speedfan's you can rest assured that it's not an issue

FWIW, I just purchased a new i7-2600k and the Asus P8Z68-V Pro. I'm about half-way through installing all my FSX software before I start some overclocking... :Smug: I also bought the Corsair TX850 PSU and re-using my existing EVGA 570 GPU.

AsRock offers nice cheaper alternatives. The Pro3 is a great entry level single PCIe 16x board.