Help on P35 board choice for a gamer.

[zzglenn]

Here is the build so far...

PSU: Antec earthwatts EA500 ATX12V v2.0 500W Power Supply - Retail $78.99
CASE: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $50.00 Mail-in Rebate $119.99
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail $279.99
Cooler: Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler - Retail $45.99
MB: ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $179.99 - $30 MIR 149.99
Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (4x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ $99.98 ($49.99 each)
VIDEO: Nvidia 8800GT 512 something? Still waiting on a good deal. $280?
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $119.99
DVD: SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B - OEM $33.99

I am torn on which motherboard to chose. According to this site the ABIT IP35 Prois an editors choice. I see a lot of GA-P35-DS3R($129 on newegg) and ABIT IP35-E (can't find cheap any more) being posted. I normally buy Asus, but haven't heard of their boards really peaking that aren't $300. I am somewhat price sensitive. I would like to OC, but have never done it before so I would like to make that as painless as possible. I would like to have raid as an option for later use.

Any thoughts on a motherboard or any items for that matter?

 

[Denithor]

The IP35 series is extremely easy to overclock and are known for hitting 500MHz fsb if your cpu/cooling can handle it. On a current-generation quad that's probably not going to happen, but anyway.

I would actually recommend getting either an e2140 ($75) or a Celeron 420 ($43) and overclocking it to 2.5-3GHz and using that for the next couple of months. The Penryn quad-core processors will be launched in January: they feature SSE4 (helps with video encoding), 12MB cache and will run cooler than the current quads (even the G0 chips). (Link)

These benefits would make it well worth the wait, to me anyway. I recommend going with the e2140/420 now just to get started and get comfortable with overclocking C2D systems before you get your $300 quad. You can always either keep the lesser chip as a backup or else resell it (FS forum here or eBay).

 

[brencat]

That $150 AR price for the IP35 Pro is among the lowest I've seen and a good deal. While the Gigabyte P35-DS3R is also a good choice, one of the things I've never liked about GA is how they display voltages in their bios. Like when you raise/lower for example, it's always displayed as +0.1, +0.025, etc. relative to a reference level (which is not displayed) as opposed to selecting the actual voltage (i.e. DDR2 2.0v, MCH 1.50v, etc like the Abit, Asus, and most other boards do).

The Abit bios is straightforward and intuitive, and the uGuru utility on the IP35 Pro is one of the best features anywhere. No brainer....

And I also concur with Denithor. Get a budget chip to flog for the next 6 - 9 mos, then drop a Penryn in there in 3Q/4Q08 when they dip < $200. That's my plan.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

I see no real world advantage with RAID 0 for 95% of the users. KISS. A quality 7200 rpm drive is the best solution. IP35-E offers tremendous value for $60-$70 AR. 2nd option is the sister board Abit IP35 with RAID, 1394a, and two additional SATA ports. It's available at MWAVE for $95 AR.

If you have $ to burn, then get IP35 Pro.

 

[zzglenn]

Thanks guys for the responses.

I think I will go with the Abit board.

I guess I have one last question regarding this. You guys mention waiting until next year for a CPU. Would it be to my advantage to put off buying the entire system until say spring? Are there going to be huge increases in performance with prices dropping that I should wait and see on the x48 boards (improved) with Penryn? Or is now the time to buy and hold off on the cpu?

Sorry I guess thats a couple of questions and they are crystal ball questions too 🙂

 

[brencat]

With DDR2 prices near lowest levels of 2007 and P35 mobos the best choice for a Penryn upgrade path (as well as best OCing chipset for current C2D chips), my view is now is the time to buy the major components as well as a budget CPU with the goal of upgrading to Penryn when they are more mainstream, more choices, and cheaper in 2H08. And you won't be CPU bottlenecked with these budget CPUs if you have a good vid card either provided you OC them to 3.0ghz or higher (which most can reach easily). DDR2 prices won't be this low forever as the industry transitions to DDR3 and the major memory makers continue to cut their 2008 capex budgets in the wake of too much supply and slowing economic growth worldwide. Lower capex = less supply in channel = higher prices.

Also...we've already seen benchmarks showing around a single digit performance increase with X38 and DDR3 vs. P35 and DDR2...but for a LOT more money. Most X38 boards are $230 - $300ish, plus 2GB of DDR3 will cost you hundreds, not the $50 AR for quality OCing DDR2 like Crucial Ballistix or similar right now. To me, that's not a good trade for a depreciating asset like PC parts.

You can wait of course, but you can always wait and wait and wait for something better. Your call but I believe now is the time to secure the main components based around P35 + DDR2.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

I may sit on the fence. Why? Cause I'm spoiled with $60 IP35-E and $60 E2140. We may see IP35-E again at NewEgg for $70 or less. That's the time to buy. I'm not comfortable paying $95 for a board with bells and whistles that I will not use.

 

[brencat]

Deleted

 

[zzglenn]

Thanks again guys. I will reconsider my CPU selection. I would like to see the IP35-E up for that price. Maybe I will wait a week or 2 and see if some come in. Thanks a ton for your assistance.