Core 2 Duo X6800 Motherboard: Asus P5W DH?

[InterMurph]

I have ordered a Core 2 Duo X6800, and 2GB of Corsair XMS2 DDR2-1066 (PC2-8500) RAM.

I plan to do some minor overclocking, but nothing that would involve liquid cooling, etc.

I am not a gamer. I mean that I never play games on my computer; I spend my days building code, rendering video, and watching HDTV.

I am planning on ordering an Asus P5W DH motherboard, except that it doesn't have onboard video, so I would have to spend/waste some money on a video card.

What alternatives are there in the same class?

Thanks.

 

[mikepaul]

This whole upgrade thing has become a serious budget-buster. The plan for a AMD AM2 setup with on-board everything and a $90 motherboard cost has become $265 just to get ahold of the DH Deluxe within a reasonable timeframe.

When I couldn't easily locate another P975 motherboard (including graphics) so I can stick with PATA drives without hassles, I bought a $99 card from Best Buy and told myself it would just be until I could find a better one.

Like I did 6 years ago when I got a StarFighter board after they went belly-up and used it ever since, because my needs are light too.

It (can't recall what I ended up with right now) did say HDTV on the package, so maybe it'd feed one when I need it to. It's not near my existing set, so I might not find out how well it works for years...

 

[soydios]

For HDTV and Windows Vista, you really do need to have a discrete graphics card. Windows Vista's AeroGlass feature requires a decent DirectX-9 graphics card, and decoding HDTV requires GPU acceleration. I would recommend this one:

Sapphire ATi Radeon X1600Pro HDMI - $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102032

It has an HDMI output, so you can use it to play HDCP-protected content and connect it to an HDTV. Use the HDMI-->DVI converter with an LCD, though (avoid using the blue VGA connector).

I have an Asus P5W-DH Deluxe, but I don't have a processor for it yet (Core2Duo E6600 on its way from TigerDirect). Based on just about every single review and comment on it I've seen on the net from people that have actually used it, it's a very nice motherboard.

 

[InterMurph]

I should mention that I already own an ATI HDTV Wonder card. It works fine with my current NVidia GeForce 6200, which is a low-end AGP card.

 

[VivienM]

If you're not in a hurry, wait for the G965 boards... The onboard video on those does support Vista's Aero Glass stuff.

 

[mikepaul]

OK, my card is a NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&CMP=OTC-GOOGLEBASE

Certainly cheaper than I paid, but them's the breaks...