E8400 owners...what mobo do you use?

[DarkRogue]

From what I've seen, it either takes none, or very little vcore boost to get E8400's (and I assume the E3110's too since they have tighter voltage ranges) to 400x9. I was a bit discontent at having to up my vcore a few steps (1.225v -> 1.250v) but alas, not all CPUs are the same, and it seems 1.25v is still relatively low compared to the 1.3-1.4v other people give it to squeeze it past 4GHz.

 

[Lurker501]

Winterpool, is there an SLI board out there that you think would be as good as the P35? As far as I remember, the P35 doesn't do SLI. I figured an SLI of 2 8800 GTS 512Meg boards (G92 chip) would be a better performing solution for the price. Or am I off here?

DarkRogue, thanks for the explanation. Same question to you DarkRouge, SLI or no?

Thanks!

 

[DarkRogue]

Only nvidia's nForce chipsets can do SLI IIRC, because they're unwilling to share the specs with anyone else. Intel and AMD's chipsets do Crossfire most of the time. I think the exception may be Skulltrail? Not sure on that one.

Anyway, as far as SLI'ing cards go, I believe 2x9600GT's do pretty well. Mobo-wise, if I were to do something like that, I'd go for some sort of 780i or 790i board. They're expensive, but you don't want to skimp on something as central as a motherboard.

This is of course, what I'm saying ahving done absolutely no prior research into SLI, as it was ruled out very early on when I built my new rig. Maybe I can do a bit of research into it and see what's a 'better' SLI board.

 

[OLpal]

Not really sure, as this is 1st. iv'e heard of that !! Like stated,, i'm on BIOS F8 & guess i should flash to F12, but i hate trying to fix something that is running so fine !! ha ha !!

Now i did read somewhere, that the newer energy saver board EPDS3R had some initial problems with F1 for awhile !! Newegg & many forums is a good research point !!!

Ol'Pal

Originally posted by: asintu

Originally posted by: OLpal
Gigabyte P35 DS3R , really like it & it was 1 smooth build with vista64 premium..
Have had nothing but joy, haven't even seen need to flash BIOS YET !!
If you don't need dual video cards [why] this is the one to get.. IMHO

Ol'Pal

read a newegg review done in february that the e8400 was not recognized automatically. Did they update the bios in the meantime?

 

[OLpal]

Darkrogue & winterpool gave some good tips on the Gigabyte p35 boards & E8400, as they have a sweetspot @ 3.6ghz that just kills most pretenders [stock volts & runs cool]... Of course they'll OC over 4 gig but why stress your system for very little gain !!

On SLI the same applys why run SLI & use all that electricity, heat build-up & possible complications just to pick up a couple of frames per second over a good Quality single card setup !! Iv'e quit using nvidia motherboard chips over problems iv'e had with builds !!
Maybe i'm just not a real hard-core gamer where i have to brag about 121 fps over 109 fps , which my ol'eyes would never notice anyway !! Which is why i chose the DS3R P35 Gigabyte motherboard for using only 1 video card... makes a nicer build on the board !! Everyone has their own preferences, just thought i'd share mine with you !!

Ol'Pal

Originally posted by: Lurker501
Winterpool, is there an SLI board out there that you think would be as good as the P35? As far as I remember, the P35 doesn't do SLI. I figured an SLI of 2 8800 GTS 512Meg boards (G92 chip) would be a better performing solution for the price. Or am I off here?

DarkRogue, thanks for the explanation. Same question to you DarkRouge, SLI or no?

Thanks!

 

[dadams312]

Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R

No problems, worked right out of the box. OC'd to 3.6 easily.

 

[Lurker501]

OLpal, what 1 card solution would outperform a 2 card 8800 GTS 512 in SLI? I mean, I noticed in tests that the 8800 GTS 512 outperformed the GTX even since the chip was newer on the GTS 512(G92)

Considering you can get a GTS 512 for around $200, what 1 card solution can outperform it for $400 or less?

Thanks

 

[Winterpool]

Well, remember, you're going to pay extra for an SLI motherboard, so you should include that in your price differential. Spending $500+ takes you into 9800 GX2 range.

Spending $400+ on video gets into fairly exotic territory for me, so I can only point you towards the usual benchmarking sites. I don't see a lot of 8800 GTS SLI test, however, just 9600 GT and 8800 GT. I believe the 8800 GTS SLI outperforms the 8800 GT SLI by about 10 to 15 per cent.

I do have a suspicion, owing to the plummeting prices of 'midrange' enthusiast cards, that SLI might actually make sense at this point in the market and tech cycle. Personally, even if I could afford it, I'd probably shy away from multi-GPU setups, SLI or on-card, owing to their peculiarities, problematic multi-monitor support, etc. Unless you've a fever to play -Crysis- on the big screen, it seems to me one would do better to buy an 8800 GTS now and see what the next generation brings over the summer and afterwards, as we finally move beyond G80/G92 technology.

Anyhow, a more in-depth discussion of the merits of SLI is perhaps better taken to the video and graphics forum.

 

[DarkRogue]

To me, it seems nVidia really aimed the 9600GT at SLI. For less than $150 you get a very decent card that actually scales very well with SLI, the savings of $100 or so from having to buy 8800 GTS's or whatnot can offset the higher cost of an SLI board.

Still, it's roughly $600 right off the bat for those 3 items, so it's quite pricey. motherboard aside though, $300 for SLI is more economical than previously possible, I mean the 9800 GX2 is nearly $600 alone.

But getting back to the point, I'm fairly certain even SLI mobos should be able to handle E8400's - out of the box or not though, I have no idea.

 

[Lurker501]

OK, assuming I go with the single video card solution, lets say the

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814134042
ECS N9800GX2-1024PX-F GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB (512MB per GPU) 512-bit (256-bit per GPU) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

What motherboard would I be looking at? The 2 card solution would have cost me say (i'll be generous) $400 for the 2 video cards (I actually see I can get 2 ECS for $170 ea) and say $250 for a motherboard that is capable of handling the E8400 processor and SLI. So it's around $650 for the total of the 2 card solution. Now the 9800 GX2 is $500 so that would leave around $150 for a motherboard that is capable of handling the E8400 processor and the 9800 GX2.

Any suggestions? I'm looking for stability and possible overclockability (is that a word?)

Oh, I will also be putting 4 Gig of memory on the MB.

 

[alfa147x]

E8400 on GA-P35-DS3L at 3.753GHz
stock cooling temps stay below 65

 

[OLpal]

Here is Tom's charts for video & as you can tell , it just depends on which test you run; how good sli is over 1 card ..

http://www.tomshardware.com/ch...4%2C1584%2C1617%2C1563

Sometime 1 good card can outperform SLI , while other games or intense programs will fare better with SLI !! Which is why i don't build w/ SLI boards anymore, but i don't try to discourage friends & buildees, i just give them my thoughts, so they can make good judgement call on what suits their needs..

Cost of electricity being what it is SLI with 2 watt-craving video cards just is kinda wastefull to me !! Unless your hobby, game, business or job can utilize & justify these SLI setups..
But again that's just my 2 cents worth..
Also i like the nvidia boards for their features, eye candy up the whaZoo !!

DarkRogue makes a good case for the SLI 9650, which can't be disputed, I'd have to look @ SLI 8800GT for my money as they kick ass for less then $200 each !! In fact a single 8800GT ain't no slouch either !!

Ol'Pal Gary

ps; just like some have to wring every mhz & ghz out of their prized processor to the edge of burning them up their will be someone who has to have a 120 fps SLI over his buddys 109 fps.. It's just our nature & how much money your willing to spend !!!

Originally posted by: Lurker501
OLpal, what 1 card solution would outperform a 2 card 8800 GTS 512 in SLI? I mean, I noticed in tests that the 8800 GTS 512 outperformed the GTX even since the chip was newer on the GTS 512(G92)

Considering you can get a GTS 512 for around $200, what 1 card solution can outperform it for $400 or less?

Thanks

Asintu sorry for getting off topic, broke one of my own i rules , i did !! Your Thread & Post ! Ol'Pal