Roark
Lord of Bacon
- Messages
- 1,357
- Location
- North Carolina
1) No, the Z68 also allows you to use the graphics integrated in the CPU, which is of no real benefit since you're getting a separate video card.
By all accounts I've read, there are no future benefits the Z68 has over the P67, both should be Ivy Bridge compatible.
2) I used a PS/2 to USB adapter for my keyboard for years, never had any problems, but for convenience there's nothing wrong with having a PS/2 port.
3) Yeah I dug around a bit, apparently people with Win7 Home Premium can direct download the XP Mode software, but it still doesn't work. I'm sure there are other ways to do it (thinking VirtualBox), but for simplicity nothing wrong with getting Win7 Pro.
4) Whats the price difference between the low profile and the regular? The Z68 version of the board also suggests putting RAM in slots 2 and 4, so the first RAM slot nearest the CPU cooler will still be empty. So, unless you plan on adding more RAM (unnecessary for gaming) it should never be a problem.
5) The build looks great, now you just need to purchase and build! As far as I can tell the WD Caviar Black and Samsung SpinPoint F3 have very similar performance, to a degree that the average user can't tell the difference, unless they are doing benchmarks to figure out the difference. I think it all comes down to brand preference, you can't go wrong either way. Just checked and noticed that site doesn't even carry the WD Caviar Black, definitely go for the Samsung over the Hitachi.
By all accounts I've read, there are no future benefits the Z68 has over the P67, both should be Ivy Bridge compatible.
2) I used a PS/2 to USB adapter for my keyboard for years, never had any problems, but for convenience there's nothing wrong with having a PS/2 port.
3) Yeah I dug around a bit, apparently people with Win7 Home Premium can direct download the XP Mode software, but it still doesn't work. I'm sure there are other ways to do it (thinking VirtualBox), but for simplicity nothing wrong with getting Win7 Pro.
4) Whats the price difference between the low profile and the regular? The Z68 version of the board also suggests putting RAM in slots 2 and 4, so the first RAM slot nearest the CPU cooler will still be empty. So, unless you plan on adding more RAM (unnecessary for gaming) it should never be a problem.
5) The build looks great, now you just need to purchase and build! As far as I can tell the WD Caviar Black and Samsung SpinPoint F3 have very similar performance, to a degree that the average user can't tell the difference, unless they are doing benchmarks to figure out the difference. I think it all comes down to brand preference, you can't go wrong either way. Just checked and noticed that site doesn't even carry the WD Caviar Black, definitely go for the Samsung over the Hitachi.