A good solid motherboard for Core Duo 2

[soulman901]

What is bar none a good solid motherboard for the Core Duo 2. I was looking at the 650i and 680i motherboards but a lot of users are saying that the boards are having issues. I am currently researching my motherboards right now and I would like to get one that is rock solid. I am not OC'ing nothing. Screw that crap, I'd rather not waste my time tweaking Ram settings. I want a mother board that can support Core Duo Quad(When I upgrade later on) and I want it to support SLI(Crossfire would probably be fine too)
This motherboard needs to be flexable.
I have probably wasted a good two weeks trying to figure this out.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
soulman901

 

[Shimmishim]

If you want officially supported SLi then you will have to get a 680i or 650i board.

RD600, 965p/g, 975x all support cross fire.

 

[soulman901]

I understand what chipsets support what. You want SLI, you have to go 650i/680i or hell 590(But without Quad Core Support) which is Nvidia only if you want SLI on their stuff.
What I am asking for is SPECIFIC motherboards that are bar none solid, has lots of features and is/should be future proof for at least 2 years that I can upgrade with newer components that I can just pop in. My current motherboard is stuck with a 754Socket and AGP. That currently is holding me back from being able to upgrade.
I will also repeat, I am not OC'ing. Now if I were to go with AMD, this would be a much different story. However, for the price and the speed, Intel is currently giving kidney shots to AMD with it's Core Duo. That is why I am looking at Intel.
soulman901

 

[soulman901]

 

[Beelziboss]

I too am in your exact position. My Socket A AMD is all but obsolete and my AGP Graphics card is as entertaining as a Prince Half Time Show. I have done alot of research over the last few months. I initially was drawn to the 680i board, but was quickly turned off by a premature bios and shoddy quality issues. then looked at the 650i, which offers much more stability over its larger brother, plus still offering SLI. However Tech issues still have me leary on the NVidia NForce chipsets, and honestly ive never been a huge fan of them.

My needs are much like yours, I want stabilty, I dont want to OC, and i want to be able to upgrade to quad core when the prices drop. With all the research i have done, one board seems to fit the mold:

MSI P965 PLATINUM

Although Im a tax return away from a pruchase of this board, I must say this seems to be a well rounded board. Performing well in all benchmarks it has been put through. it does not OC well, but for me, i couldnt care less. This board perfoms solid out of the box, suppports quad core and ATI Crossfire - and i firmly believe ATI will have the best DX10 cards when its all said and done, later this year. For now I will use a E6400 and an ATI X1950 PRO, leaving an easy transition to a Quadcore chip and ATi's DX10 offerings.

Like I sauid, Ive done the Math on this, and I give you this board a suggestion, since you seem to be looking for, what I am looking for.


good Luck.

 

[craftech]

The User Reviews http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16813130055 aren't all that glowing. There seem to be several complaints regarding the jMicron controller in terms of IDE support. Recommendations were to go all SATA. Can you do that? Including the DVD burner?

John

 

[Beelziboss]

Originally posted by: craftech
The User Reviews http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16813130055 aren't all that glowing. There seem to be several complaints regarding the jMicron controller in terms of IDE support. Recommendations were to go all SATA. Can you do that? Including the DVD burner?

John

JMicron is a known issue with the 965 chipset.

The problem is that the JMicron drivers come on a CD (this goes for pretty much all 965 based boards), Meaning if you have a IDE Hard Drive, the MOBO will not detect your IDE HD. Which obviously means you cant isntall the drivers from a CD because you will never get that far. There is plenty Forum support available for that. plus It doesnt appear to be an issue for people who actually know what they are doing. So no, You cans still have IDE Roms, but i would reccommend SATA 3.0 HD's.

 

[moosey]

Originally posted by: soulman901
What is bar none a good solid motherboard for the Core Duo 2. I was looking at the 650i and 680i motherboards but a lot of users are saying that the boards are having issues. I am currently researching my motherboards right now and I would like to get one that is rock solid. I am not OC'ing nothing. Screw that crap, I'd rather not waste my time tweaking Ram settings. I want a mother board that can support Core Duo Quad(When I upgrade later on) and I want it to support SLI(Crossfire would probably be fine too)
This motherboard needs to be flexable.
I have probably wasted a good two weeks trying to figure this out.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
soulman901

If you want good and solid with an Intel processor, I'd go Intel chipset. The 975X is a mature , fast and stable chipset and doesn't have the JMicron issues of most 965 boards.
P5W-DH
DFI Infinity
Intel BadAxe2

 

[Beelziboss]

BadAxe2 is also solid, good call

 

[soulman901]

I was looking at the P5W-DH and it appears to have a JMicron Chipset, is that something I should concerned with on that board? By the way, the thought on ATI and Crossfire, it seems like Crossfire is going to be the way to go with Direct X10. The newer cards from Nvidia still can't even match pace with some of the X1950's from ATI.
soulman901

 

[idiotekniQues]

ati IQ is better than nvidia IMO anyways. you may lose some framerates sometimes but you get the better image in games.

 

[Twitch22]

Originally posted by: moosey
If you want good and solid with an Intel processor, I'd go Intel chipset. The 975X is a mature , fast and stable chipset and doesn't have the JMicron issues of most 965 boards.
P5W-DH
DFI Infinity
Intel BadAxe2

One more vote to going with an Intel-based board if solid, stable and fast performance is what you're after. The running "consensus" here at AT Forums is go with a 965 board if you're going with a 2MB Cache C2D and go with a 975X if you're going with a 4MB model. It has nothing to do with the stock performance, but more about the headroom you'll have if you decide to OC down the road.

I currently use the Asus P5W-DH in my rig and can tell you that it is an absolute rock and joy to use. However, it can be a bit of a bear to set-up since it has so many options and features. Have no issues with the J-Micron...I'm running all my drives through the Intel controller. Having said this, if I were building today, I'd go with the Intel Bad Axe2. From all the reviews, that board is as solid as a rock and runs pretty fast to boot.

Good luck with your build...:thumbsup:

Twitch

 

[soulman901]

I am actually not planning on Overclocking what so ever.
I think I may go with the 650i. While there are some issues, I think people forget that most of the problems stem from them trying to overclock. Since I am not overclocking, I should be ok.
soulman901

 

[idiotekniQues]

if you dont want to oc the intel bad axe 2 has the reputation for most rock solid board for the core2duos. and it can oc just not insanely like other boards.

 

[Beelziboss]

I had done some research on the BAd AXE2 prior to this thread, but I took a closer look at it, and I think I am going for this board myself. It seems to have the stability I am looking for and the performance is on par with the 965 chipset. So I think I am now sold on this board.

And why is there no "Official Bad Axe 2" Thread...seems to be enough interest to get one going.

 

[moosey]

Originally posted by: Beelziboss
I had done some research on the BAd AXE2 prior to this thread, but I took a closer look at it, and I think I am going for this board myself. It seems to have the stability I am looking for and the performance is on par with the 965 chipset. So I think I am now sold on this board.

And why is there no "Official Bad Axe 2" Thread...seems to be enough interest to get one going.

Nice choice, I'm running it now w/ an e6600. From what I've seen 975X is basically just as good as P965 only the 965 will allow higher FSB. Obviously, performance will differ between benchmarks but I'm fine with the 975.

 

[Beelziboss]

Originally posted by: moosey

Originally posted by: Beelziboss
I had done some research on the BAd AXE2 prior to this thread, but I took a closer look at it, and I think I am going for this board myself. It seems to have the stability I am looking for and the performance is on par with the 965 chipset. So I think I am now sold on this board.

And why is there no "Official Bad Axe 2" Thread...seems to be enough interest to get one going.

Nice choice, I'm running it now w/ an e6600. From what I've seen 975X is basically just as good as P965 only the 965 will allow higher FSB. Obviously, performance will differ between benchmarks but I'm fine with the 975.

Moosey,

have you tried running any versions of Vista yet (32 or 64)? Ive seen a few spots around the web, with people getting BSOD's when they try to load VISTA on the BAXE2.


Soulman- sorry not trying to jack your thread.

 

[moosey]

Originally posted by: Beelziboss

Originally posted by: moosey

Originally posted by: Beelziboss
I had done some research on the BAd AXE2 prior to this thread, but I took a closer look at it, and I think I am going for this board myself. It seems to have the stability I am looking for and the performance is on par with the 965 chipset. So I think I am now sold on this board.

And why is there no "Official Bad Axe 2" Thread...seems to be enough interest to get one going.

Nice choice, I'm running it now w/ an e6600. From what I've seen 975X is basically just as good as P965 only the 965 will allow higher FSB. Obviously, performance will differ between benchmarks but I'm fine with the 975.

Moosey,

have you tried running any versions of Vista yet (32 or 64)? Ive seen a few spots around the web, with people getting BSOD's when they try to load VISTA on the BAXE2.


Soulman- sorry not trying to jack your thread.

No, haven't tried it yet. I was gonna wait a few months when I get a DX10 card. However, I have seen people in forums say they're running it on the BX2.

 

[Beelziboss]

Originally posted by: moosey

Originally posted by: Beelziboss

Originally posted by: moosey

Originally posted by: Beelziboss
I had done some research on the BAd AXE2 prior to this thread, but I took a closer look at it, and I think I am going for this board myself. It seems to have the stability I am looking for and the performance is on par with the 965 chipset. So I think I am now sold on this board.

And why is there no "Official Bad Axe 2" Thread...seems to be enough interest to get one going.

Nice choice, I'm running it now w/ an e6600. From what I've seen 975X is basically just as good as P965 only the 965 will allow higher FSB. Obviously, performance will differ between benchmarks but I'm fine with the 975.

Moosey,

have you tried running any versions of Vista yet (32 or 64)? Ive seen a few spots around the web, with people getting BSOD's when they try to load VISTA on the BAXE2.


Soulman- sorry not trying to jack your thread.

No, haven't tried it yet. I was gonna wait a few months when I get a DX10 card. However, I have seen people in forums say they're running it on the BX2.

Well im going to be using Vista..no choice (no gonna buy xp at this point)..guess I will find out soon.

 

[soulman901]

Here is the Mobo I am going with

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131153

I decided againest ATI. The reason I did so was due to the fact that ATI will have a couple of hits and then go into a Slump. Nvidia at least has been making solid video cards with the G6 and G7 series. While they had this little snafu with their G8 series and Vista, they will get it resolved. The G8 is not going to turn into the G5 Screw up. They just need more cards for Midrange 200-300 Market. I still think over all Quality is much better with Nvidia.
soulman901

 

[Beelziboss]

Good luck to ya..680i is about as far from stable as you can get. Asus would have the slightly more stable one over the eVga..so you picked the lesser of 2 evils I suppose..lol.

 

[Shimmishim]

Even though you're getting a "680i" board... you're not getting a 680i board.

The only reason why it's even considered 680 is because it supports 2 x 16 pci-e lanes

The NB chipset is the 650i chipset while the SB is 570.

Have fun with that board! It has lots of voltage tweaks... it's a shame they won't be used

 

[soulman901]

It's not a 680i board which is nice. It's a 650i which has proven to be much more stable. Yeah I wish I could get into Overclocking but I can't bring myself to do it. When I get home, all I want is a sound solid machine that I can work on without having to mess around with settings just to make something work right. When I have more money and time I will probably try the Over Clocking scene, but as of right now, this Money(Tax Returns) need to be used for a practical application and overclocking is not a practical application for me.
soulman901

 

[Beelziboss]

Well the board you linked is a 680 dude

 

[soulman901]

http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1567&l1=3&l2=11&l3=495
Here is a better link. The information on Newegg's page is incorrect.
soulman901