Hey fellow P67 Sandybridge owners....

[DeltrusDisc]

http://www.techspot.com/news/43531-i...68-boards.html

So, about Z68. The more I read up about it, now that it's approximately 10 days away, the more I feel screwed over by Intel. The P67&H67 boards have only been out with B3 Rev. for MAYBE 2 months? And now this? As I understand it, as an owner of a Windows 7 OEM disk, I would have to buy a new Win7 disk because this one is tied to this motherboard and they don't like you changing the motherboard. Either way, if I've owned the motherboard for over 14 days or 30 days or w.e the return policy is.... I'd basically have to either build a whole new computer or sit their with my old P8P67... yeah?

(Sorry, this was my first built-by-me computer, so still learning a lot of the after-the-event fine-print details.) ;p

[Deleted]

Early adopters, there'll always be something newer and better out eventually.

[DeltrusDisc]

Trying to find what kinds of prices they will be, any idea?

[kailtas]

Well skip it then and get the next one?

[DeltrusDisc]

Well skip it then and get the next one?

But then I'll want to get the next one of the next next one next..... what?

[mercutiouk]

http://www.techspot.com/news/43531-i...68-boards.html

So, about Z68. The more I read up about it, now that it's approximately 10 days away, the more I feel screwed over by Intel. The P67&H67 boards have only been out with B3 Rev. for MAYBE 2 months? And now this? As I understand it, as an owner of a Windows 7 OEM disk, I would have to buy a new Win7 disk because this one is tied to this motherboard and they don't like you changing the motherboard. Either way, if I've owned the motherboard for over 14 days or 30 days or w.e the return policy is.... I'd basically have to either build a whole new computer or sit their with my old P8P67... yeah?

(Sorry, this was my first built-by-me computer, so still learning a lot of the after-the-event fine-print details.) ;p

You won't be able to auto activate but you give MS a ring, tell em a sob story about your computer exploding and you having to change the mobo and they give you a new OEM code. It's no biggie (and I can assure you that IS the case).
There was actually an article I read somewhere that had an MS guy basically saying they had no real way of stopping it (or chose not to). Would suggest in future though you spent the extra 20-30 and get retail.

[Jurwi]

You screwed yourself by buying OEM windows. There's nothing wrong or "screwing over" by what Intel does. Seriously, there's always something bigger and better coming in few months, no matter what you buy.

[veyen]

When you get to activation, it will fail, and it will offer Phone Activation, just tell them your motherboard underwent repair, and they will allow you to activate it on your new board. I've done this on 5 builds so far, its always worked, even when swapping full PC's with OEM versions :P

[Deleted]

Trying to find what kinds of prices they will be, any idea?

A few stores are currently listing the "Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3" at 1600 SEK, which is the cheapest model, compared to more traditional P67s which go between 1200-1400.

---
While the Z68 has some nice perks - they're nothing dramatic or things that most people will miss. The Z68s are going for a fair bit more than the P67.

SSD cacheing was mentioned in the OPt (which still performs considerably more slowly than a regular partitioning setup), you have the ability to use the integrated GPU & at the same time overclock the processor. (And thus overclock the IGP as well)

You also get Quick Sync, a highly effective transcoding method. The Z68 will have an extra perk of also working with NVIDIAs Optimus tech, that is once they actually release those drivers. (They're on the way) Again though, this is a power savings feature.

But above is really it. You don't get more PCI-E lanes, you don't get any more memory bandwidth (or tri-channel), you don't get access to anything that'll improve general computing performance.
---
Question is, do you want to pay 25-33% more for these features? (Or potentially even more to get equivalent quality secondary chips)

[DeltrusDisc]

Retail version is a 100% increase in price for me, $90 to $180. Everyone here at mmo-champ was telling me to get the OEM disk back then. What does retail do different? I was told it's basically just fancy packaging... if it's extra codes then hey. I don't see anything that is standing out however on newegg.

---------- Post added 2011-05-02 at 07:50 AM ----------

A few stores are currently listing the "Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3" at 1600 SEK, which is the absolute chepest, compared to more traditional P67s which go between 900-1400.

So cheapest is about $250 USD then.

[Jurwi]

Retail version is a 100% increase in price for me, $90 to $180. Everyone here at mmo-champ was telling me to get the OEM disk back then. What does retail do different? I was told it's basically just fancy packaging... if it's extra codes then hey. I don't see anything that is standing out however on newegg.

OEM is bound on the motherboard, whilst retail is not. But yes, it's very likely possible to still activate it via phone like said couple times on this thread already.

[Xuvial]

Big deal? If you're feeling "screwed over", you can just buy an SSD now....or wait and build yourself a Z68 and it's amazing 20gb SSD. And then you could keep waiting forever...who knows.

When I built my machine I knew full-well that amazing new technology is always over the horizon, but I'm not regretting anything. After all, consoles like XBox 720 and PS4 (or w/e they'll be called) will continue to have pathetically inferior hardware (but I'm going to buy one of them anyway, good entertainment amongst friends IRL :P)
I'm staying with my P67 build for atleast 3 more years, I feel confident it will continue to fly through 99.9% games/software coming up till atleast 2014. By which time I'll have a lot more $$ to blow on a brand new top-of-the-line rig

[DeltrusDisc]

zomg DDR9 RAM. lolwut

Yeah I know my rig will last, it just bugs me how quickly this, more or less, upgrade, has come out.

[Jurwi]

zomg DDR9 RAM. lolwut

Yeah I know my rig will last, it just bugs me how quickly this, more or less, upgrade, has come out.

Well few more months and we get AMD Bulldozers and Intel Sandy Bridge Enthusiast shit that will rape these cheaper ones on performance. It's always been this way and always will be most likely.

[Asera]

OEM is bound on the motherboard, whilst retail is not. But yes, it's very likely possible to still activate it via phone like said couple times on this thread already.

I've installed Win7 on... 5 different motherboards so far. Phoning works every time.

[Wries]

As said by some people above: Z68 doesn't really offer anything amazing.

SSD caching and Optimus for desktops are mere gimmicks, and so far QuickSync is a gimmick well since regular CPU-bound transcoding ends up having better picture quality and more complex transcoding options.

Happy P67 user and even if Z68 would've been out the same day as P67 I still think I would've gone with said P67 in order to save money where money can be saved.

[shruikan2553]

-Retail can be on 1 computer at a time and comes with both 64 and 32 bit, just uninstall it from one computer and you can put it onto another
-OEM is a one use kind of thing, made for small companies who build their own computers so they can install a cheaper version which is tied with the computer but like its been said you can call MS.

Its £50 more expensive here for retail, considering how rarely it will be a problem that can be sorted with phone call I see no point of it.

Thats the thing with computers, when I was looking to buy a computer a few months ago sandybridge wasnt available so would of bought one of the older versions and soon AMD has bulldozer which could be best for awhile until intels Ivybridge is released. If you want to stay with the top stuff you are going to have to pay. Im happy with my P67 for the next few years, can OC, SLI, Crossfire, and has a 6gb sata port.