Going to dump my current system--need some motherboard reccomendations.

[TrevorRC]

Well ladies and gents, its nearing that time... and I realized it wouldn't hurt me much to dump my motherboard, RAM and CPU now before the inevitable price crashes.

So, I need a reccomendation--I know I'll be getting the 805 [and overclocking the spit out of it. w00t for water], what I don't know is, what is a great [or the best] overclocking motherboard for Intel that WILL BE COMPATIBLE WITH CONROE.

The Conroe part is almost as important as the overclocking bit, if not moreso

Also, does memory bandwidth matter at all on Intel systems? [Is it the bottleneck?] I know in Windows, it isn't. Meaning, do I need to splurge on super-fast memory, or can I do the same thing as I do with AMD?

Also, memory dividers--do Intel boards have those otpions?

I'm quite qualified with overclocking on the AMD side, but I've never ventured over to Intel [not in the past 5 years, anyway.]

I just figure I'll sell my current system at almost the value I paid for it, rather than after the price crashes.

Thanks.

--Trevor

Oh yes--DDR2 & PCI-E.
No AGP for me. Haha.

 

[v8envy]

Been searching for a retail 975 xbx board all morning. Can't find one for love or money. I'm just thinking of using a cheap disposable board with an 805 for now, sell both for whatever I can get once Conroe is out.

Not sure if that's worthwhile in your instance. I don't have AMD gear to dump while the getting is good. But I agree -- eject the DDR rig while it's still worth something to someone.

 

[Henny]

Right now it's the Intel D975XBX Rev 304. It does have native overclock features in the BIOS and you can unhide many more options in the BIOS by using ITK. The board has great reputation.

The only way to get one is B&M because you need to make sure it's Rev 304 for Conroe compatability. (I've heard Fry's has them).

There will be many more Conroe MB's starting to be released over the next few months.

 

[Mr Vain]

Originally posted by: TrevorRC
Well ladies and gents, its nearing that time... and I realized it wouldn't hurt me much to dump my motherboard, RAM and CPU now before the inevitable price crashes.

So, I need a reccomendation--I know I'll be getting the 805 [and overclocking the spit out of it. w00t for water], what I don't know is, what is a great [or the best] overclocking motherboard for Intel that WILL BE COMPATIBLE WITH CONROE.

The Conroe part is almost as important as the overclocking bit, if not moreso

Also, does memory bandwidth matter at all on Intel systems? [Is it the bottleneck?] I know in Windows, it isn't. Meaning, do I need to splurge on super-fast memory, or can I do the same thing as I do with AMD?

Also, memory dividers--do Intel boards have those otpions?
I'm quite qualified with overclocking on the AMD side, but I've never ventured over to Intel [not in the past 5 years, anyway.]

I just figure I'll sell my current system at almost the value I paid for it, rather than after the price crashes.

Thanks.

--Trevor

Oh yes--DDR2 & PCI-E.
No AGP for me. Haha.

I have found these motherboards for Conroe.
Asrock list in the new products section 775 Conroe boards
http://www.asrock.com/index_english.html


Asus has this mobo (core duo) means Conroe basically
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=54&l3=0&model=1092&modelmenu=1


These dudes using MSI mobo to overclock Conroe CPU.
http://fanboyreview.blogspot.com/2006/0...thanks-to-coolaler-for-letting-me.html

 

[Henny]

Originally posted by: Mr Vain

Originally posted by: TrevorRC
Well ladies and gents, its nearing that time... and I realized it wouldn't hurt me much to dump my motherboard, RAM and CPU now before the inevitable price crashes.

So, I need a reccomendation--I know I'll be getting the 805 [and overclocking the spit out of it. w00t for water], what I don't know is, what is a great [or the best] overclocking motherboard for Intel that WILL BE COMPATIBLE WITH CONROE.

The Conroe part is almost as important as the overclocking bit, if not moreso

Also, does memory bandwidth matter at all on Intel systems? [Is it the bottleneck?] I know in Windows, it isn't. Meaning, do I need to splurge on super-fast memory, or can I do the same thing as I do with AMD?

Also, memory dividers--do Intel boards have those otpions?
I'm quite qualified with overclocking on the AMD side, but I've never ventured over to Intel [not in the past 5 years, anyway.]

I just figure I'll sell my current system at almost the value I paid for it, rather than after the price crashes.

Thanks.

--Trevor

Oh yes--DDR2 & PCI-E.
No AGP for me. Haha.

I have found these motherboards for Conroe.
Asrock list in the new products section 775 Conroe boards
http://www.asrock.com/index_english.html


Asus has this mobo (core duo) means Conroe basically
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=54&l3=0&model=1092&modelmenu=1


These dudes using MSI mobo to overclock Conroe CPU.
http://fanboyreview.blogspot.com/2006/0...thanks-to-coolaler-for-letting-me.html

The Asus board (N4L-VM) is for mobile CPUs. (ie socket 479) The Asus board you need is P5B - Deluxe but it isn't out yet. P5WD2-E may also support Conroe with a BIOS and design rev.

 

[v8envy]

Interesting list. Drilling down on the Asrock on their site does not list Conroe compatibility, nor does the 'egg product detail on this $74 board. So I presume that's a 'to come' feature of some revision of this board. The '+' perhaps?

The Asus core duo is a socket 479 board. Not a bad idea to just upgrade to the mobile version of the chip on the desktop, but there is a serious price premium going that route both now and presumably in the future.

Couldn't find the 975X Platinum 2.A for sale anywhere, but sounds expensive.

Thanks for the help. Looks like the boards we're looking for will be here Any Day Now.

 

[Mr Vain]

Originally posted by: v8envy
Interesting list. Drilling down on the Asrock on their site does not list Conroe compatibility, nor does the 'egg product detail on this $74 board. So I presume that's a 'to come' feature of some revision of this board. The '+' perhaps?

The Asus core duo is a socket 479 board. Not a bad idea to just upgrade to the mobile version of the chip on the desktop, but there is a serious price premium going that route both now and presumably in the future.

Couldn't find the 975X Platinum 2.A for sale anywhere, but sounds expensive.

Thanks for the help. Looks like the boards we're looking for will be here Any Day Now.

:thumbsup: Look again

Asrock global site list these with Conroe compatable.
http://www.asrock.com/product/775XFire-eSATA2+.htm

http://www.asrock.com/product/775Dual-VSTA.htm

http://www.asrock.com/product/775Twins-HDTV%20R2.0.htm

 

[TrevorRC]

Only board revision 304 and higher are Conroe compatible, (XBX [bad axe] 304)
Check XS.
--Trevor

 

[v8envy]

775XFire-eSATA2+ vs eSATA2 on sale. Still, won't be too long until the '+' is being sold retail I imagine.

The Dual and Twins boards look very interesting. VIA chipset, but supports both DDR and DDR2. I wonder if Conroe would perform better with lower latency DDR than higher bandwidth DDR2. Ponder ponder.

 

[Mr Vain]

The only thing to remember with the dual board (AGPx8 - PCI-E combo) is the PCI-E is 4x instead of the x16.

 

[n19htmare]

Dont waste your money. just wait for chip to be released or at the least wait until June 6. Maybe more affordable boards will be available.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: n19htmare
Dont waste your money. just wait for chip to be released or at the least wait until June 6. Maybe more affordable boards will be available.

QFT

Buying any dual core Intel chips is a waste of money right now as well. Yeah, That PD 805 is cheap, but you'd have to OC it to 4Ghz+ to equal an A64X2. For the cost of the water cooling setup, you might as well buy an X2 and run it with air cooling. Probably run cooler than the OC PD.

 

[v8envy]

Originally posted by: Bateluer

QFT

Buying any dual core Intel chips is a waste of money right now as well. Yeah, That PD 805 is cheap, but you'd have to OC it to 4Ghz+ to equal an A64X2. For the cost of the water cooling setup, you might as well buy an X2 and run it with air cooling. Probably run cooler than the OC PD.

Except for most uses (other than epeen growth) you don't *need* a 4 ghz netburst P4. That cpu at 3ghz is plenty for gaming and all but setting folding records.

So for someone needing a machine ASAP, the way to fly is a migration path to Conroe and a dirt cheap 'make do' CPU. What does the Intel path provide? A PCIe slot and DDR2, socket compatible with an as-of-yet unreleased CPU which will probably receive model/speed upgrades for at least a year.

The AMD solution? Obsolete DDR ram, declared dead by AMD socket939 platform with no upgrade path.

So it's not quite correct to say that going Intel now is a waste of money. It depends what the primary usage for the PC will be today, and 6 months from now.