Which Motherboard ?, upgrading.

T

topdad

Geek Trainee
Hi All,



Need some advice regarding Motherboards, I am currently going to upgrade my PC to a Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600/2.4ghz 2x4mb cache / 1066 FSB, also getting a 8800GT video card, only 1 8800GT card so I wont need SLI ready MB, and will be getting Corsair ram 4 x 1 gig sticks, total 4 gig ram at 800mhz c4, and 2 x SATA II drives in Raid format.

Only thing I am having a hard time deciding on is the MB, can anyone give me some advice to a really good MB for my specs, currently I have been using Gigabyte and have had no problems with these types of boards and nice and stable. But I currently have an AMD chip and its been awhile since I have gone back to Intel, but they seem to be in front of AMD this time, which is why I am going back to Intel, I assume Gigabyte should be just as good with the Intel cpu, as they are with AMD.

What I would like is 3 choices of what people consider a good MB, not to worried about price, guess my preference is Gigabyte as I have had a real good run with these boards.




Just some other advice also, currently I have a AMD Athlon 64 +3500, MB is Gigabyte GA-K8N ULTRA-SLI, 1 x video card is 7900GS, 1 GIG ram 2 x 512, 2 x SATA I drives in Raid format.
Just wondering if I was to purchase another 7900gs video card and go SLI on my current machine, as it is a SLI capable MB, just never bothered to go SLI, would it be quicker then my new PC upgrade, my guess is NOT :) , also can you have two different video cards in SLI, my guess is also NO :) .
 
All depends on what you want and how much you want to spend, you could go with a P35 that will support what you want
Under 100 bucks
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail
Or better cooling
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard - Retail
Or if you want better support for the 45nm Quad
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EX38-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
If your planning to go SLI
ClubIT Product - ASUS P5N-T Deluxe LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard Retail

And no, just going to SLI on your current setup is not going to make it as fast as a Q6600 and 8800GT setup. On SLI you can have to different brand video cards but they have to have the same GPU, like 2 8800GT or 2 9600GT
 
topdad said:
Just some other advice also, currently I have a AMD Athlon 64 +3500, MB is Gigabyte GA-K8N ULTRA-SLI, 1 x video card is 7900GS, 1 GIG ram 2 x 512, 2 x SATA I drives in Raid format.
Just wondering if I was to purchase another 7900gs video card and go SLI on my current machine, as it is a SLI capable MB, just never bothered to go SLI, would it be quicker then my new PC upgrade, my guess is NOT :) , also can you have two different video cards in SLI, my guess is also NO :) .
Click to expand...

8800GT will be better then 7900gs in SLi

as having different cards in Sli i think you can't do that.
 
Pimp said:
P35 is old now lol he said money ain't the issue so i guess an X48 will be the right mobo I'm planing on getting this for my self check it out:


Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 Intel X48

The Gigabyte website goes into more detail about the mobo so check this link out as well:

Gigabyte official website
Click to expand...

The P35 will suppoprt the CPU that he picked out.And I give him a link to a X38 for better 45nm support

Pimp said:
8800GT will be better then 7900gs in SLi

as having different cards in Sli i think you can't do that.
Click to expand...

I already told him that you cant run 2 different GPUs in SLI and that running 2 7900GS in SLI would not make his system run better than upgrading to what he wants.

Pimp said:
I also forgot to mention you can go for the new nForce 780i SLi motherboards, maybe you would want to go 8800GT SLi in the future.

I recommend these two brands and motherboards below:

MSI P7N Diamond nForce 780i SLi (Socket 775)

or

Asus Striker II Formula nForce 780i (Socket 775) a little more expensive then the MSI mobo but it's probably the best mobo out there at the moment.

Hope that gives you some ideas :)
Click to expand...

And I already gave him a link to a 780i board.
 
How much are you looking to spend? Are you looking to run a multi-GPU setup?

If you're going to run one video card, a P35 board is probably your best bet, and Gigabyte is pretty sweet. Some nForce 650i boards are around, but they don't seem nearly as popular as the P35's right now. The 650i SLI would be worth considering for SLI if you don't want to spend $200-250+ USD on a motherboard. The trade off is 8x + 8x PCIe lanes in the x16 PCIe slots versus two full x16 lane PCIe slots with the 680/780 nForce chipsets.

If you're wanting to run multiple cards or at least have the option, X38 or 680i/780i boards are the way to go.

A 7900GS wouldn't be bad if you can get one used. However at the current prices for a new card seem to be a little cheaper than a Radeon 3870/3850 or even a GeForce 8800GS. Hell, if you look around, the new 9600GT might even be worth consideration. Secondly, the Socket 939 platform is dead, so CPU upgrades are starting to become harder to find.

Yeah, you can upgrade your parts a little, but for a little extra you can make a nice boost in performance.
 
Hmmm, i think i will be getting the p35 chip, why from the reviews x38 chip supports DDR3 ram and PCI-e 2.0, now DDR3 is too expensive & i am getting DDR2, difference between PCI-e 2.0 & 1.0a not worth it as below links below show. From what i am reading X38 is for future use which by then i will upgrade MB etc etc, it just doesnt seem worth it for me, some are having trouble with X38 also, were as P35 is tried and tested, only thing now is i will either go Gigabyte or Asus both good boards with the P35 chip.



http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/247867-30-tomshardware



Crossfire up to 20 Percent Faster : Crossfire meets PCI Express 2.0 – More Lanes, More Frames?


Also i am wary of going for anything that is just new & released, bugs and issues, thus i am going for P35 chip, also will only have 1 8800gt card, no SLI, the P35 is tried and tested, and the Quad core for me, i have never really been into OC, prefer a good solid board. Been using Gigabyte for some time now and i am very happy, for the record i dont get to play much games because of time restraints, all i will be playing is Frontline fuel of war when it is released, currently only play BF2 now, FFOW uses the UT3 engine, and i know this new setup will have plenty of grunt for this game.
 
The Gigabyte GA P35 DS3L is a good little board for not much, if you want better cooling you could jump up to something like the GA EP35 DS3P or DS4
 
I think you made the right decision. The p35 is the perfect chipset for your needs. You plan to stay single GPU, just want something to fit your quad. It's the most stable chip out at the moment and, if you get brave later on, the best overclocking chipset there is. Any of those boards will run raid stripes. Only thing to watch for would be the NB/SB cooling. Get a nice passive heatsink on both and you're set. If you don't plan on overclocking then you won't need anything with heatpipes, just copper bases. But if you do plan to possibly overclocking later, heatpipes would be prefered. Gigabyte is my board of choice, so you seem to be right on track. Solid capacitors and eight voltage regulators is great.
 
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