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Asus or Gigabyte for new Rig ?

Kinesis

Kinesis

Senior member
I have been considering for sometime between two possible boards for my new system. The Asus P4C800-E Deluxe and the GA-8KNXP(rev 2.0) and after reading the threads on both boards at various forum sites, I am still at a loss for deciding, and hoping someone could answer some of the questions/concerns I have. I want my new system to last some time and offer compatibility and reliability.

Concern #1:
I have no need for a RAID array at the moment, but in the choices of the two boards the Manual for the Asus board actually tells you how to set one up, while the Gigabyte does not. How hard is it really?

Question #1:
Can you have a setup like so; A P-ATA Drive has the main drive (i.e. Has the OS on it) and a single S-ATA drive connected for data/games/database install?

Concern #2:
After reading the associated threads, the components of the Gigabyte seem to be far superior (especially with regards to the raid controller), and the althought I have never had an issue with my current Asus board (CUV4X) I am concerned with the number of issues folks are having with the P4C800-E over the 8KNXP boards. Or am I just reading too much into it?

Question #2:
Is the type of RAM I get really going to be a major issue, as I plan to not do any overclocking in the near future with the system, but may later on? I am considering 1 GB Kit Corsair TWINX1024 3200C2 RAM Kit versus 2 X 512 MB Kingston RAM (exact one not sure) PC3200 ... And note I am in Canada, not the USA.

System specs for the possible build:
GA-8KNXP or Asus P4C800-E Deluxe
1GB Corsair or Kingston PC3200 RAM
WD 80GB IDE
2 X Seagate Barracuda SATA 7200RPM Drives (RAID) unless I can get away with one drive in a non-RAID setup
HIS Excalibur 9600XT 256MB w/DVI & TV Video Card
SB Audiology 2 ZS
LG-GSA 4082B DVD Burner
LG 52X32X52X CDRW
Thermaltake W0013/14 Silent Pure 480W PSU
ICute 302 Case


Any answers, thoughts or suggestions are welcome!

Thanks in advance.
🙂
 
Even the most skilled techs have difficulties with RAID. It is tricky until you have done a couple... but of course not impossible. And there is plenty of online help available.

I don't understand why you want to use the drive configuration you suggested.

There isn't a twit of difference between the two boards, but some will love one while others rave about the other. There seems to be more online info available on the ASUS. They certainly have sold enough of them. You might want to look at some of the information on both boards on www.tomshardware.com
 
The Asus is much better for overclocking, especially if you add a small fan to the northbridge.

edit: And no, your SATA drive HAS to be the boot drive.
 
Originally posted by: raybay
Even the most skilled techs have difficulties with RAID. It is tricky until you have done a couple... but of course not impossible.
Click to expand...

When did this happen?
 
Hmm, well I have both a gigabyte and asus board at home right now. Both run great. No issues, but it is hard to decide which to ultimately go with.

Money is a not a deciding factors because it is only $40 bucks difference between the two boards.

raybay the reason I was going with the idea of one P-ATA and one S-ATA drive, was the fact that I do not need a screaming fast system, but it would be nice if the SWAP file and Games where on the faster drive. At least that was what I understood and was told. But I see your point....why? It is a choice of $100 more to do a RAID 0 array. But from what I understood the Array does not have to be the the place for the OS to reside. It could be on a P-ATA drive. No?

The fact that the Gigabyte board has much higher quality (so Tomshardware and other places say) products, and that you can do P-ATA and S-ATA RAID with it, seemed to hold a little more appeal for future upgrades I wanted to do. Which the ASUS board does not. But I may never use that feature.

Well either way I appreciate the replies folks, wish I could say the decision has been made. So far the choice is ASUS 5 to Gigabyte 1 from all the people/forums/places I have asked.
 
I looked at both boards as well and settled on the ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe. My comments reflect the limited amount of time I have spent working with the ASUS board.

- The board can support one or two independent sata drives as well as raid (array) for two sata drives

- Unless the WD 80GB IDE is something already purchased, I would use two sata drives instead of one sata and one pata

- Corsair is hit or miss on this board based on what I read, Kingston is usually safe

- I went with 1GB Mushkin PC3500 for memory , it cost almost the same as the other brands I looked into and has potential to tighten timings or overclock
 
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