Crosshair V vs Crosshair V Thunderbolt

[Masteroderus]

So my friend got his crosshair V and now I am jealous and must buy one for myself.

I mostly game on my computer, but I have been known to encode video and do some audio processing now and then. I also run statistical and mathematical software on occasion.

I was wondering if the thunderbolt add on card is worthy of $110.

The crosshair V has additional supreme x-fi 2 codec. It also has an Intel lan controller. It also has network prioritization software with the lan controller.

Is the thunderbolt card going to give me any performance benefit playing online video games? Even a decrease of 10ms ping would make me happy.

I also should mention I currently use the megalodon (ancient shark!) headset by razer which is usb, and basically offloads the sound to a breakout box, which has its own dac/adc and capacitors and doesn't care what my onboard sound is like.

I do listen to music and do audio editing on this box, so I also have a good pair of stereo headphones.

Please help! I can't decide :D

[JJThomp]

For me this is easy, do you have anything that will plug into a thunderbolt port? Is that thing actually bottlenecked by USB3? if the answer to either of these questions is no, you shouldn't get it.

For less money you can get a network card such as the killer 2100 or a better sound card with more channels (if you upgrade your headset trust me 2 channels will not be enough).

Not to mention the card pretty much takes up your first two expansion slots unless you have a single slot GPU which I'm assuming if you are buying this Mobo you don't.

[Masteroderus]

I'm sorry I was not clear enough.

The "thunderbolt" in the crosshair V thunderbolt is a PCIE soundcard/killerNIC

[JJThomp]

Originally Posted by Masteroderus

I'm sorry I was not clear enough.

The "thunderbolt" in the crosshair V thunderbolt is a PCIE soundcard/killerNIC

I knew what it was

[Garu]

I don't think thunderbolt card would give you drop of 10 ms ping while playing the game.
I would keep by $100 and just buy the regular V, and spend it on something else.

[Arinoth]

I hope you are aware that your latency is largely based on the speed between hops from where the server is to your house. As in its mainly dependent on the route your data travels and ISPs latency, not really that of your NIC.

I've seen tests where a single port gigabit NIC was pitted against gamer NICs and there resulting latency was nearly the same, due in part to the external factors. If you were to say play mostly on a LAN, then yes, a high end NIC would be worth it as your latency/speed would be limited to the router and your network cables. However if you're gaming online, there is no real gain other then bragging rights.

[norfolk]

Originally Posted by Garu

I don't think thunderbolt card would give you drop of 10 ms ping while playing the game.
I would keep by $100 and just buy the regular V, and spend it on something else.

I would have to agree with Garu I love my CHV but save the 100$,You know,It"s one of those situations were do I really need this?And the benefit as far as I"m concerned does not justify the cost.