Board and system opinion

[Shamrck]

I will be an OC novice. And I would like an opinion on what some of my choices are for an 875p system.

What choices for MB in the sub $135.00 range? All of these i chose from newegg based on # sold for Abit and the ratings on the other 2 since they dont have as much sold. Any preferences on:
Abit IC-7
Gigabyte 8IK1100
Epox -4PCA3+

For memory I was looking at Geil Value Series 512 DDR. Any suggestions on what would be better or dependant on each board? Looking to spend sub $100.00.

I am looking to get either a 2.4c or 2.6c. Using it for audio/video editing, some gaming, and PVR mostly. I am looking for something that has the least amount of issues but has features for when I am more accustomed to the OC world. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

EJ

 

[egale]

First the Asus P4P800 is an excellent board.

Second, if you are going to oc, you must have very good ram. Make sure you have a matched pair of whatever you purchase so that you can run dual channel. You can go with PC3200, not "value" if you are going to do a little oc but if you want to do more, your will need at least PC3500.

 

[Shamrck]

I was looking to go the 875 way instead of the 865. What is the disadvantage of going with a 865 over the 875 chips?

 

[KillaKilla]

Originally posted by: egale
First the Asus P4P8OO is an excellent board. Second, if you are going to 0C, you must have very good ram. Make sure you have a matched pair of whatever you purchase so that you can run dual channel. You can go with PC32OO, not "value" if you are going to do a little oc but if you want to do more, your will need at least PC35OO.

I concur. The Asus P4P800 one of the highest quality MBs I have ever gotten. IMO, it isn't worth it to get 875P over 865PE, the performance is almost identical. If you have no sound card, and need onboard audio, you can get the P4P800 Deluxe for $20 more...

 

[KillaKilla]

Originally posted by: Shamrck
I was looking to go the 875 way instead of the 865. What is the disadvantage of going with a 865 over the 875 chips?

No PAT (Performance Accelerating Technowogy). The performance detriment is unnoticable, IMO, maybe 1-3%? It's not worth it to get a lesser board just for PAT. 865PE has HT enable, BTW FYI.

 

[Shamrck]

So is getting the 865PE chipset over the 875 the prevailing majority here? Or just what you feel is best according to what I said? Most of the responses of the sticky threads are on the 875 boards. Any thoughts?

EJ

 

[KillaKilla]

Of course, for the about the same money you could get better performance than the $1175 CPU/MB combo: The Athlon 64 3000+. Total CPU(~220)+MB(~135)=~355. Gets better performance than the P4EE(~$1000)+P4C800-E(~$175)=~$1175. An added plus: the CPU gets even more performance once Windows XP 64-bit comes out.

 

[wicktron]

Originally posted by: Shamrck
So is getting the 865PE chipset over the 875 the prevailing majority here? Or just what you feel is best according to what I said? Most of the responses of the sticky threads are on the 875 boards. Any thoughts?

EJ

Not to me. 875P all the way. Performance difference is "unnoticable," but makes a huge difference when benchmarking. Plus, the 875P boards typically have more robust OC'ing.

 

[Shamrck]

Originally posted by: wicktron

Originally posted by: Shamrck
So is getting the 865PE chipset over the 875 the prevailing majority here? Or just what you feel is best according to what I said? Most of the responses of the sticky threads are on the 875 boards. Any thoughts?

EJ

Not to me. 875P all the way. Performance difference is "unnoticable," but makes a huge difference when benchmarking. Plus, the 875P boards typically have more robust OC'ing.

If you think the 875p boards are the way to go, which of the ones I originally listed would you suggest? Also, what board and RAM combination would you suggest?

EJ

 

[Shamrck]

Any more info?

 

[airfoil]

I'd recommend the 865 PE P4P800 deluxe, which can do everything the 875 P boards can, performance is almost identical as has been said earlier.

As far as PAT is concerned, Asus has found a way to enable this on 865 PE boards and calls it Asus 'Hyper Path'. There's nothing an 875 board offers that isn't available on the 865 PE, which retails at about $50 less.

I'd do a few searches on review sites for the Asus P4P800 deluxe if I were you - I ended up buying the board after I read all the good stuff about it and don't regret it.

This article (I know there are several more out there) may help you decide. While I value the opinions of end users of hardware products, I would base my final decision on buying a product based on a review by a reputed site.

 

[airfoil]

I missed the clincher: Look this up!

 

[Shamrck]

Originally posted by: airfoil
I missed the clincher: Look this up!

That was some great reading. So the gist of it is the Abit IS-7 is the value pick, the ASUS P4P800 is the mid-level pick and the a sleeper because of lack of availability is the Epox -4PCA3+? Sounds about right? Which RAM for which boards if anyone has a good idea?

Thanks again for all the help.

Eric