I'm looking for a Core 2 High End Gaming Motherboard? I'm looking at spending $200 to $300 on one. ASUS, ABIT?????????????????
Best Core 2 High End Gaming Motherboard?
- Thread starter GUNNYCWT
- Start date
I'm looking mostly at the ASUS P5N-E SLI, DFI LANParty UT ICFX3200-T2R, Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6, and the abit AB9 QuadGT.
Any suggestions????
Any suggestions????
vailr
Diamond Member
- Oct 9, 1999
- 5,365
- 54
- 91
GIGABYTE GA965PDQ6 Rev 3.3 LGA775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=CA4830922
http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=CA4830922
Make sure you are aware that the Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 does not support SLI or crossfire. It will run 1 of the PCI-e 16x slots at 16x or both slots at 8x for a two card 4 monitor setup.
Which core2 duo proc are you planning on going with? What kind and speed memory will you have? Do you plan on overclocking mildly extreme or not at all. Are you running Sata drives or IDE drives? You ask for a board but you dont offer any needs you have for it. There is a couple hundred boards that could run a Core2 proc and all would game. Do you need Raid? Do you have a Lan network that you can use gigalan eithernet for? Do you plan on going with SLI/Crossfire now or in the future? Do you intend to up grade to the 1333FSB proc late this year or next year? How soon do you need the board and how long are you willing to wait for a new board to hit the market? Is your cd/dvd drive IDE or SATA? Does your case support an ATX or Matx board? What old hardware you plan on reusing in the new system. I can't really help you more then telling you what board is best for me if you don't give some detail as to what your intentions or thoughts are.
If you want the best board that will work for any application under the sky go for the Gigabyte GA-680sli-DQ6. Thats the best I can do with the amount of information you gave me. It will work for you no matter what your running or what your future upgrades will be(with the exception of more than 2 IDE drives, But SATA to IDE converters and IDE pci-e 1x controller cards are pretty cheap can be added on if really needed). Read the thread "Where are the Gigabyte GA-680SLI-DQ6 Motherboards" for more info.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=29&threadid=1978297&enterthread=y
The Asus Striker is the top overclocker right now just easing out ahead of the P965 chipset, and the price is finally starting to tumble down on it about 330usd shipped and it has pretty good onboard audio. The P5n32-E SLI is the same exact board as the striker without the analog audio daughter-card(still providing Digital-out) and as much cabling. At about a hundred dollars less.
The upcoming P6N Diamond from MSI will probley be the best gaming solution at the time of it's release in about 2 weeks. Providing the most bang for the buck and super overclocking potential without breaking the bank and a robust set of features but not an overkill of componets on a single board that you can drown in. After that will come the DFI lanparty board, not much info on that board to be sure if its overall place in the market yet. Maybe released late March.
If you want the best board that will work for any application under the sky go for the Gigabyte GA-680sli-DQ6. Thats the best I can do with the amount of information you gave me. It will work for you no matter what your running or what your future upgrades will be(with the exception of more than 2 IDE drives, But SATA to IDE converters and IDE pci-e 1x controller cards are pretty cheap can be added on if really needed). Read the thread "Where are the Gigabyte GA-680SLI-DQ6 Motherboards" for more info.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=29&threadid=1978297&enterthread=y
The Asus Striker is the top overclocker right now just easing out ahead of the P965 chipset, and the price is finally starting to tumble down on it about 330usd shipped and it has pretty good onboard audio. The P5n32-E SLI is the same exact board as the striker without the analog audio daughter-card(still providing Digital-out) and as much cabling. At about a hundred dollars less.
The upcoming P6N Diamond from MSI will probley be the best gaming solution at the time of it's release in about 2 weeks. Providing the most bang for the buck and super overclocking potential without breaking the bank and a robust set of features but not an overkill of componets on a single board that you can drown in. After that will come the DFI lanparty board, not much info on that board to be sure if its overall place in the market yet. Maybe released late March.
Abit QuadGT.
The BETA BIOS seems to have ironed out most of the release bugs and the final BIOS should be here very soon.
The BETA BIOS seems to have ironed out most of the release bugs and the final BIOS should be here very soon.
AstroDogg
Here's the much needed Info!
Which core2 duo proc are you planning on going with? Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor What kind and speed memory will you have? At least 2 GB and the fastest the board will support. Do you plan on overclocking mildly extreme or not at all. Some what Are you running Sata drives or IDE drives? 4 Sata You ask for a board but you dont offer any needs you have for it. Playing BF 2141 and Crysis (soon) but I will not be purchasing Vista any time soon. There is a couple hundred boards that could run a Core2 proc and all would game. Do you need Raid? No/ Maybe Do you have a Lan network that you can use gigalan eithernet for? No Do you plan on going with SLI/Crossfire now or in the future? Not now but maybe later (e-GeForce 8800 GTS Superclocked 640M) Do you intend to up grade to the 1333FSB proc late this year or next year? Late this year. How soon do you need the board and how long are you willing to wait for a new board to hit the market? In the next six months. Is your cd/dvd drive IDE or SATA? IDE Does your case support an ATX or Matx board? I will be purchasing one that supports both. What old hardware you plan on reusing in the new system. 4 Sata hard drives and 2 IDE DVD/RW drives thats it.
Let me know if I need to add more Info! Thanks for all the help.
Here's the much needed Info!
Which core2 duo proc are you planning on going with? Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor What kind and speed memory will you have? At least 2 GB and the fastest the board will support. Do you plan on overclocking mildly extreme or not at all. Some what Are you running Sata drives or IDE drives? 4 Sata You ask for a board but you dont offer any needs you have for it. Playing BF 2141 and Crysis (soon) but I will not be purchasing Vista any time soon. There is a couple hundred boards that could run a Core2 proc and all would game. Do you need Raid? No/ Maybe Do you have a Lan network that you can use gigalan eithernet for? No Do you plan on going with SLI/Crossfire now or in the future? Not now but maybe later (e-GeForce 8800 GTS Superclocked 640M) Do you intend to up grade to the 1333FSB proc late this year or next year? Late this year. How soon do you need the board and how long are you willing to wait for a new board to hit the market? In the next six months. Is your cd/dvd drive IDE or SATA? IDE Does your case support an ATX or Matx board? I will be purchasing one that supports both. What old hardware you plan on reusing in the new system. 4 Sata hard drives and 2 IDE DVD/RW drives thats it.
Let me know if I need to add more Info! Thanks for all the help.
gorka
Thanks for the Info. I have been tracking the updates that Abit has been making with the BIOS and the reviews that are out. Still waiting for the final out come. I have an Abit IC7-G II and it's been a very good board but it only supports AGP. Time for PCI-e I currently have an e-GeForce 6800GS CO SUPERCLOCKED DDR3 256MB AGP X8.
Thanks for the Info. I have been tracking the updates that Abit has been making with the BIOS and the reviews that are out. Still waiting for the final out come. I have an Abit IC7-G II and it's been a very good board but it only supports AGP. Time for PCI-e I currently have an e-GeForce 6800GS CO SUPERCLOCKED DDR3 256MB AGP X8.
What Audio system(speakers) will you be using? Do you plan on using an audio card or on-board audio?
The IC7-G MAX2 is a very fine board have one myself(as a note they are selling on ebay for more than I paid for mine new). ATi does make a X1950PRO AGP card that performs just as well as the PCI-e. I don't blame you for wanting to upgrade the pressor and memory tho.
I'd go with one of the 680i boards if you don't plan on a new board when upgradeing to 1333 comes time. The 650i boards are looking to preform just as well the 680i boards@ stock settings. The Nvidia boards are out preforming the P975 and P965 boards now with less problems then those chipsets still have.
Check out the Asus P5N-E SLI @ under $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131142R
The MSI SLI Platnium P6N @ under $155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130081
Out of the 5 boards I suggested your Audio needs will be the real deciding key to the right board.
The IC7-G MAX2 is a very fine board have one myself(as a note they are selling on ebay for more than I paid for mine new). ATi does make a X1950PRO AGP card that performs just as well as the PCI-e. I don't blame you for wanting to upgrade the pressor and memory tho.
I'd go with one of the 680i boards if you don't plan on a new board when upgradeing to 1333 comes time. The 650i boards are looking to preform just as well the 680i boards@ stock settings. The Nvidia boards are out preforming the P975 and P965 boards now with less problems then those chipsets still have.
Check out the Asus P5N-E SLI @ under $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131142R
The MSI SLI Platnium P6N @ under $155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130081
Out of the 5 boards I suggested your Audio needs will be the real deciding key to the right board.
I can 2nd the QuadGT.
might also watch the user feedback on the FP-IN9 SLI as it starts to come in.
might also watch the user feedback on the FP-IN9 SLI as it starts to come in.
Gunny I really think your best solution is going to be,
The: Asus Striker with the ADI 1988B w/anolog audio riser-card supporting 7.1, 6-SataII w/ Raid 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and 10, 2-IDE channels and a floppy, Support for the upcoming 1333 Penryn processors, SLi 2@16x + 8x for a physics card or second monitor, four slots of SLi-Ready 533-1200Mhz DDR2 in Dual channel with overclocking options if implemented that are the current King.
Or The: MSI P6N Diamond with the same features except; Creative X-Fi 7.1, 6-SataII w/ Raid 0, 1, 0+1, 5, 10(+ 2 SataII Hardware Raid 0, 1) 2-IDE channels and a floppy, 4 PCI-e 16x slots.
EDIT
The board in it's early preview seems to be on par or slightly better than the Striker. Overclocking is a mystery at this point and the price is also unknowen, but is said to be cheaper than the Striker atleast after mass availability.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/22/...therboard_comparison_part_2/page5.html
There are several other features on these boards not mentioned here. I dont want to sell either one short. I have mearly mentioned the things gathered from your input that make the most impact on a gaming rig.
On a personal note: What I'm looking forward-to throwing in my friends face.
1) Can you imagine 2-10,000RPM Raptors on a Tru on-board "Hardware Raid" running in raid0, and 3 to 6 more drives running in raid5? I wonder if there is a bios setting to allocate memory? It would be nice if it ran off a seperate single stick of sd-ram or ddr, but thats dreaming.
2) I can't think of a legitimate in-your-face claim that they may not already have or have a speculizmed knock-down to. But to have so much native on one board is certianly worth some bragging room and a grin from ear to ear as I feel beads of sweat form on my forhead from pure glutainy.
3) Well if I couldn't think of two I certainly can't think of three, But I can always bring back up on-board hardware raid and leave them in a wanton hush.
As the ultimate gaming rig is a matter of preferance what makes you happy is whats going to be the best. If performance numbers are close and features you will actually ever use are present, then many if's, and's & butt's can arise as to which is the best in a quick debatable discussion arising faster then a mixture of baking soda and vinegar. The P965's and P975's have come to an end as the performance champion. No matter what someone that just spent thier money on an Intel based chipset mobo may say. The only advantage to going with the Intel chipset was the Nvidia 600 series isn't worth the money. That too has come to an end. As the 650i boards are now in the $100 to $160 range and the 680i going from $199 to $335 and falling every week.
Seems comical that everyone HATED! Intel just a six months ago. Bashing Bill Gates was a recreational past time for some. I know! I've seen it. Now you can't seem to find more than a handful ready to give it up. I don't know if I've ever really seen a poser but the word certainly comes to mind.
I hope this helps you make a decision.
P.S. reading early customer reviews come from those people that spend the highest price with no regard to forwarning and the intellegnce level to jump in head first without poking the water with a stick for rocks. This may make you stop and think of thier abilty to build a system. Obviously the Nvidia chipset had some issues But with more people today then ever before attempting to build thier own systems and running straight to a forum and posting a question rather than doing a little reading and research makes you wonder how many of those grips were legitimate. The P975 and P965 were even a bigger pieces of junk than the 680i and 650i according to early customer reviews if you do a little research on it. So don't let people that love thier equipment fool you in making your product decision that you have to live with. That includes me too. I have just presented information to you. I know what I'm going to do. I have about 15 good friends faces that I want to rub that onboard hardware raid system into. Being MSI it is going to overclock very very well. If not then I dont need it and that means the reviews will drop in its favor and the price will drop right along with it. I do expect some bugs in the bios at introduction, What in todays PC market would expect me to think otherwise. But I'll stand behind MSI as a long time user and know they will fix thier problems giving me a quality product. I could only hope for some problem in the bios that made the early numbers shoot down dropping the initial price of the board. But I won't hope for that the more sales the more support along with Vdimm and vcore how-to mods from the community.
The: Asus Striker with the ADI 1988B w/anolog audio riser-card supporting 7.1, 6-SataII w/ Raid 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and 10, 2-IDE channels and a floppy, Support for the upcoming 1333 Penryn processors, SLi 2@16x + 8x for a physics card or second monitor, four slots of SLi-Ready 533-1200Mhz DDR2 in Dual channel with overclocking options if implemented that are the current King.
Or The: MSI P6N Diamond with the same features except; Creative X-Fi 7.1, 6-SataII w/ Raid 0, 1, 0+1, 5, 10(+ 2 SataII Hardware Raid 0, 1) 2-IDE channels and a floppy, 4 PCI-e 16x slots.
EDIT
The board in it's early preview seems to be on par or slightly better than the Striker. Overclocking is a mystery at this point and the price is also unknowen, but is said to be cheaper than the Striker atleast after mass availability.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/22/...therboard_comparison_part_2/page5.html
There are several other features on these boards not mentioned here. I dont want to sell either one short. I have mearly mentioned the things gathered from your input that make the most impact on a gaming rig.
On a personal note: What I'm looking forward-to throwing in my friends face.
1) Can you imagine 2-10,000RPM Raptors on a Tru on-board "Hardware Raid" running in raid0, and 3 to 6 more drives running in raid5? I wonder if there is a bios setting to allocate memory? It would be nice if it ran off a seperate single stick of sd-ram or ddr, but thats dreaming.
2) I can't think of a legitimate in-your-face claim that they may not already have or have a speculizmed knock-down to. But to have so much native on one board is certianly worth some bragging room and a grin from ear to ear as I feel beads of sweat form on my forhead from pure glutainy.
3) Well if I couldn't think of two I certainly can't think of three, But I can always bring back up on-board hardware raid and leave them in a wanton hush.
As the ultimate gaming rig is a matter of preferance what makes you happy is whats going to be the best. If performance numbers are close and features you will actually ever use are present, then many if's, and's & butt's can arise as to which is the best in a quick debatable discussion arising faster then a mixture of baking soda and vinegar. The P965's and P975's have come to an end as the performance champion. No matter what someone that just spent thier money on an Intel based chipset mobo may say. The only advantage to going with the Intel chipset was the Nvidia 600 series isn't worth the money. That too has come to an end. As the 650i boards are now in the $100 to $160 range and the 680i going from $199 to $335 and falling every week.
Seems comical that everyone HATED! Intel just a six months ago. Bashing Bill Gates was a recreational past time for some. I know! I've seen it. Now you can't seem to find more than a handful ready to give it up. I don't know if I've ever really seen a poser but the word certainly comes to mind.
I hope this helps you make a decision.
P.S. reading early customer reviews come from those people that spend the highest price with no regard to forwarning and the intellegnce level to jump in head first without poking the water with a stick for rocks. This may make you stop and think of thier abilty to build a system. Obviously the Nvidia chipset had some issues But with more people today then ever before attempting to build thier own systems and running straight to a forum and posting a question rather than doing a little reading and research makes you wonder how many of those grips were legitimate. The P975 and P965 were even a bigger pieces of junk than the 680i and 650i according to early customer reviews if you do a little research on it. So don't let people that love thier equipment fool you in making your product decision that you have to live with. That includes me too. I have just presented information to you. I know what I'm going to do. I have about 15 good friends faces that I want to rub that onboard hardware raid system into. Being MSI it is going to overclock very very well. If not then I dont need it and that means the reviews will drop in its favor and the price will drop right along with it. I do expect some bugs in the bios at introduction, What in todays PC market would expect me to think otherwise. But I'll stand behind MSI as a long time user and know they will fix thier problems giving me a quality product. I could only hope for some problem in the bios that made the early numbers shoot down dropping the initial price of the board. But I won't hope for that the more sales the more support along with Vdimm and vcore how-to mods from the community.
AstroDogg
Thanks for taking the time to write such an indepth review/ opinion off a few of the top boards out or soon to be. I'm leaning towards the Asus Striker with the ADI 1988B w/anolog audio riser-card supporting 7.1, 6-SataII w/ Raid 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and 10, 2-IDE channels and a floppy, Support for the upcoming 1333 Penryn processors, SLi 2@16x + 8x for a physics card or second monitor, four slots of SLi-Ready 533-1200Mhz DDR2 in Dual channel with overclocking options. But you make a good argument for the MSI P6N Diamond.
Again I thank you for all of the input.
Freejack2
Thanks for the reply the ASUS Commando LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard looks like I nice board.
Heidfirst
ABIT IN9 32X-MAX LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX are also very good choices.
Thanks for taking the time to write such an indepth review/ opinion off a few of the top boards out or soon to be. I'm leaning towards the Asus Striker with the ADI 1988B w/anolog audio riser-card supporting 7.1, 6-SataII w/ Raid 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and 10, 2-IDE channels and a floppy, Support for the upcoming 1333 Penryn processors, SLi 2@16x + 8x for a physics card or second monitor, four slots of SLi-Ready 533-1200Mhz DDR2 in Dual channel with overclocking options. But you make a good argument for the MSI P6N Diamond.
Again I thank you for all of the input.
Freejack2
Thanks for the reply the ASUS Commando LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard looks like I nice board.
Heidfirst
ABIT IN9 32X-MAX LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX are also very good choices.
At this time the ADI 1988B and the X-Fi are cutting edge have you heard either one of them to base that evaluation on?
Why spend $60 on something that comes on the board or for the simple reason that Creative is due for the next generation of cards supporting pci-e or pci-x. The $60 card is stripped down and isn't going to sound one bit better.(Lets not confuse that PCi-x backward supports PCi so no change of Creative's interface is most likely)
My reasoning for onboard audio is simply because I never bought the X-Fi card the reason for that is because Creative never adapted it to a pci-e card. So I guess to-bad for creative stupid move on thier part they don't get my sale. I needed an audio card for the pci-e slot in my GA-8N-SLi Quad Royal and they never made one for me. I'm not about to throw away money now for a card thats 3 years old. Like I said the sound on these two boards is going to sound just as good as that watered down card you speak of. Creative for the second time in a row has not followed the movement in the market. Besides that thier website thier drivers and thier high Ego suck to high Heaven.
In Creative's defense there is none: They're greedy and just hording in the money. Because; They have no competition they don't bother to make any real advancement in design. Thier implementation of Dac's or the dac I should say is pitiful. Channel seperation should be 500x better. If that card was really that good people wouldn't be using a $500 home recivers to process the signal. I don't think you want to get into an audio debate with me. I put up with the crumbs of scraps Creative feeds us because thats all there is. My home stereo is dedicated to my TV Im not buying another $1000 receiver for my computer not even a $400 unit. I goto Lan-Parties my system remains inside the case and totally portable.
Now with that said here is the real reason (e.g. the Asus Striker or any 680i board(giving exception to the P5B-E SLI LBA)). The first slot is a PCi-e1x. Take an 8950GTX put it in the second slot. Put a cooler on it that takes up the neighboring slot with the heated exhaust flowing directly out the rear of the case through the cases expansion slot. Emmensly saving the ambient air temp inside the case from soaring, hot enough to make little Pilsbury Doughboys. The intake comes from the fourth slot which is unused, so not to restrict airflow of a would-be 5/32" clearence from the card to the cooler inlet. So I dont have to RMA the card when it burns up in 2 days. Now in the Fifth slot is a PCi slot that could hold an audio card, but if I want a physics card it's going to have to go here. In the sixth slot is another 8950GTX the next slot is used by the cooler and the next slot; well there isn't one were all out of little piggy's.
Now lets look at the MSI diamond. The first slot holds the 8950GTX the second and third slots are left open for the first card. The fourth slot is a PCi-e 1x. In the fifth slot goes the second 8950GTX and the sixth and seventh slots are left open for it. As you can gather This board has no usable PCi slot for an audio card and I better hope someone makes an 1x Physics card. Now MSI has Retracted all photos of the MSI P6N Diamond I was looking at them last night on both MSI's website and on Tomshardware along with several other sights but the board has disappeared over night. There really is no other way they can configure 4 PCi-e 16x slots other than which two of the four slots contain the native 16X SLi configuration and what the forth slot consists of PCi, PCi-e or PCi-x.
The only other remedy is to go water-cooled. With the mobility I need for the Lan Parties at the local shop. I'm not the most willing to subject myself to springing a leak inside my case. The trip is a lot rougher on a pc than one will imagine. Or maybe I'm a just related to Dick Trickle and Steve Burgess. Oh that reminds me of funny story with Herm Johnson but thats to long for here.
P.S. garkon8 In your defense I'm no fan of onboard audio, but I'm even less of a fan of a company that corners the market and doesnt produce because there is no need to. Before you cry Turtle Beach I'm going to cry Knock-off. They have no R&D and Creative doesn't use thiers. They can't knock-off something that isn't there. So were stuck on waiting for Creative to feel good and ready to pop out a 32-bit audio card with three Dac's on it. I don't see them using multiple Dac's they have no compition to force them to do that the cost is just to high when they can get away without it.
There is more than enough reasons to satisfy that question.
garkon8
Thanks for the Info but to answer your question Why would you want on-board audio? I spend 99% of my time gaming with my head phones on my head (USB Plantronics DSP 500s with noise canceling). In the same room I have a SONY DAV-DX255 Home Theatre System that cost me $300. Why spend the $60? My current on-board audio
on my IC7-G MAX II sounds great for what I do.
P.S. In the past I have been very happy with Creative Labs but that was a few years ago when Sound Blaster Live came out.
Thanks for the Info but to answer your question Why would you want on-board audio? I spend 99% of my time gaming with my head phones on my head (USB Plantronics DSP 500s with noise canceling). In the same room I have a SONY DAV-DX255 Home Theatre System that cost me $300. Why spend the $60? My current on-board audio
on my IC7-G MAX II sounds great for what I do.
P.S. In the past I have been very happy with Creative Labs but that was a few years ago when Sound Blaster Live came out.
Other than saying that it's for gaming you haven't really stated what your needs are (or indeed other intended system components) & that makes it kind of hard to make appropriate suggestions.
I'm not a fan of spending for features that will probably never be used which is why I didn't mention the IN9 32X (or indeed any of the 680is).
I'm not a fan of spending for features that will probably never be used which is why I didn't mention the IN9 32X (or indeed any of the 680is).
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