Cannot Decide On A Motherboard

[Stg-Flame]

I originally had the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L selected, but I was told on a separate board that the P45 would suit my build much better. The only problem with the P45 is the two PCI-E slots. One 2.0 for the GPU and only one extra leaves me with little options for that last slot.

My roommate is building a gaming rig similar to mine and he ordered an Asus 780i or something to that effect. All I know is that he ordered a rather expensive mobo and is quite happy with it.

I welcome all input and opinions as I want the best for my money and for my build.

**My new specs**
Intel C2D e8400 3.0GHz CPU
GeForce GTX260
Corsair 520W PSU
GigaByte P35 Mobo ?????
Mushkin 4GB
Samsung 750GB HDD
Antec 900 Case
Vista 64-Bit OS

 

[ultra laser]

Gigabyte has absolutely horrible tech support, if something is ever to go wrong with your board.

They've been given an F by the Better Business Bureau: http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Fo...spx?CompanyID=13136347

 

[The Odorous One]

Whatever mb you decide to buy, try to use one that alot of people are using on the forums, that is where you will get the best info on configuration. As Ultra said, tech support from the manufactures is lame and the last thing you want is a board (no matter how great) with very few users.

 

[Stg-Flame]

I don't want a motherboard that everyone else has just because everyone else has it. I want one that will fit my build.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[ultra laser]

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666
I don't want a motherboard that everyone else has just because everyone else has it. I want one that will fit my build.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

The idea is that if a lot of other people have the same motherboard as you, you'll have a lot of people to ask if a problem comes up.

ASUS P5K Pro is a solid board if you want P35. Great price/performance ratio too.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Would that fit my build? My roommate is having a hell of a time getting his new hardware to work with the ASUS P5N-D Motherboard.

The P5K is a good price and it looks like it has what I need, but I want to know if my parts will work with it correctly.

 

[scruffypup]

What do you want from the motherboard is something you need to ask yourself. Many motherboards will be a good fit.

Do you want overclocking ability, raid, dual lan, does price matter, etc? If you want a good overclocker then I would look at what others have used and results and the repeatability of those results,.. that is where "what others are using" comes into play the most in my opinion as you can feel these out better.

Tech support,... does it matter? If you know what you are doing and the board is stable you don't need it,... if either of those are not met, then Tech support may not be of help anyways!

If stability is important, (which it should be foremost)... lean to the bigger manufacturers of enthusiast boards,.. not the combo fry's manufacturers (as I call em,... ECS -Elitegroup and such),..

If you don't need all the "whistles" (raid, dual lan, etc) why pay for them unless you want that "I have such and such" creed type thing or plan to somehow use in the future.

Now to what I think your main question was alluding to about the comparisons of P35 to P45 chipsets,... there is no real dramatic differences other than some that may come into play 1-2 years down the road at the earliest in my opinion,... P45 natively supports PCI-e 2.0 which is giving you more bandwidth and not even filled up on PCI-e 1.0 by the highest performing video cards just yet. It is also a bit better if you are going DDR3 in the near future as well in my opinion (but this is still more motherboard dependent). There is also some thought you might get higher RAM/FSB type of overclocks with the P45 due to looser timings,... though if this is what you are after,...and paying for high end all the way around,.. pay for the high end with raid, dual lan and all,.. might as well.

*EDIT*
The last thing I wanted to say,... with your roommate having a hardtime with the hardware is more likely the Vista 64x and 64 bit drivers,... hardware playing with other hardware or selecting a motherboard to play with other hardware is needless,... it will play nice if you have a decent OS and drivers,... hardware is basically independent of that.

 

[ThaJollyMan]

I ordered an XFX 780i ish9 mobo...cost was $250....but i havent had any problems with it AT ALL...didnt even need to update the bios. DO you plan on going sli anytime, is price an issue? Quad core maybe?

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: ThaJollyMan
I ordered an XFX 780i ish9 mobo...cost was $250....but i havent had any problems with it AT ALL...didnt even need to update the bios. DO you plan on going sli anytime, is price an issue? Quad core maybe?

Considering he's choosing between Intel chipsets, I doubt he intends on SLI or he's barking up the wrong tree. Any of the boards he's looking at will support a quad core chip, as will any new motherboard.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Originally posted by: ThaJollyMan
I ordered an XFX 780i ish9 mobo...cost was $250....but i havent had any problems with it AT ALL...didnt even need to update the bios. DO you plan on going sli anytime, is price an issue? Quad core maybe?

I do not plan on SLi or Crossfire in the future (or at all).

Originally posted by: scruffypup
What do you want from the motherboard is something you need to ask yourself. Many motherboards will be a good fit.

Do you want overclocking ability, raid, dual lan, does price matter, etc? If you want a good overclocker then I would look at what others have used and results and the repeatability of those results,.. that is where "what others are using" comes into play the most in my opinion as you can feel these out better.

I am going to overclock my CPU and GPU. My knowledge of motherboards and all their features is very limited, which is why I turned to Anandtech.

As for the features, I don't need all the bells and whistles. I just want something stable enough to overclock my CPU to around 3.4-3.6 GHz and support a heatsink with my GPU (GTX260 is massive).

At the moment, I don't even know what type of motherboard I want/need. I know ASUS have really good mobos, but I have also heard of them being rather faulty upon startup. Since I am building an entirely new setup, I don't think I will be running into any problems, but I want to be cautious.

 

[ultra laser]

3.4-3.6 on a E8400 is a fairly light overclock. You should be able to achieve on any P35 or P45 board.

Abit's IP35 Pro is a very good board, known for its stability. You can reset the BIOS with the push of a button, so it's really convenient for a first time overclocker. It has received editor's choice awards from tech report, xbitlabs, and anandtech. ( http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3142&p=1)

The IP35-Pro XE version is just a slight update, and it's on sale for $30 off at newegg right now. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813127050

 

[Stg-Flame]

The ASUS P35 Pro is looking to be my Motherboard. However, I was wondering two things about it.

1) PCI Express x16: 2 x PCIe x16 (blue @ x16 mode, black @ x4 or x1 mode) supports CrossFire Technology

What does the bolded part mean? I understand the blue PCI-E slot is a X16, but I have never heard of X4 or X1 modes. What would those be used for?

2) The IO ports on the ASUS P35 Pro does not have any type of (forgive my lack of technical vocabulary) monitor plug-in. Does this mean that if my GPU is faulty or is not receiving sufficient power, I will not be able to use my monitor? In other words, it seems my GPU will be the only way I can use my new monitor with the computer. If that's the case and I have a faulty GPU where I must get it replaced, I am pretty much SOL until it is replaced. Having only one vector in which I can use my monitor worries me a bit, but I don't think the missing 'monitor plug-in' is enough to deter me from the motherboard.

Again, thanks for all of the suggestions. If I had not posted here along-side the General Hardware board, I would have bought the Gigabyte P35 and probably regretted it.

 

[SolMiester]

Hi, I have the Abit IP35 standard with just the 1 pcie slot, so no wasted graphics slot....I believe the other slots on the Pro version can be used for other pcie expansion cards pr physics card...

The monitor plug-in...a new name for me, but no on-board video is available on p35 chipsets, you would need the g35 chipset..

 

[Stg-Flame]

So it looks like the ASUS P35 Pro will be my new motherboard.

Anyone have any reviews for that mobo they would like to add? I am ordering the rest of my parts (mobo included) on Wednesday and I would like as much information as possible before I spend the money.