Looking for New MB for New Build

May 8, 2007
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Currently looking at building a Q6600 system w/ a DX10 capable card (likely a 8800 GTS). I dont think Im really all that interested in OCing my PC, but more just getting the performance I expect from the other parts.

I talked to a guy at frys today and he told me to stay away from ECS MBs. What would you guys recommend? I dont think Im really going to try to OC (esp w/ a quad), and I want something that will last me a good while.
 

fredhe12

Senior member
Apr 6, 2006
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I've heard the same thing about ECS. I've used them before, but they seem to be budget mobos.

I'm building a new CD2 system, and it came down to three boards for me:

ASUS, Gigabyte and Abit. I went with the P35 chipset, which is probably what you'll want with the Q6600. Most folks around here are recommending the Gigabyte boards, with a fair number of folks also recommending ASUS. The Abit has a decent reputation as well.

In the end, I went with ASUS. The consensus is that they're very stable, have good support from ASUS, and are good peformers. I currently have an ASUS and have no problems whatsoever, so I trust them. I went with the P5K Vanilla.

Do a quick search and you'll find plenty of threads on these boards. The main AnandTech site also has some reviews. Good luck.
 
May 8, 2007
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Ya, but what price range of an ASUS should I be looking for? And does the board layout need to be considered

I was at frys this morning and saw

ASUS p5n-E $148
ABit IL9 Pro $80
ABIT IB9 $109

One guy said I HAD to have a EVGA NForce 680I Lt SLI for $199 which seemed a bit outrageous but i dont really know too much

does it really matter which of those I choose?

 

SerpentRoyal

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May 20, 2007
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Most ECS boards run fine at stock speed. A few (KN1 lite/939 NF4) are also excellent overclockers (50% bump in FSB). I'm still using my 49% overclocked KN1/Opteron 146 rig as my primary computer. No fancy voltage adjustment. Bump up Vcore and FSB, change HTT/memory divider and voila...2.0GHz to 2.9GHz. System is as stable as the best Intel rig. On the bonus side, I get two IDE channels, COM and printer ports, RAID, and PCI-E for $45.

All my e-mails to ASUS support go un-answered. I have no problem buying Asus MBs if they are competitively priced.

Asus is living on past reputation. Horrible after-sale support. BIOS can be a tad confusing. Their high-end boards come with a lot of bells and whistles (like 8-phase power module) that consume more power and generate more heat. Why pay for the price premium when the competition could achieve 500MHz FSB stability with only 4-phase?

A good board is stable at high FSB (450 to 480MHz) and cheap. It should be able to control 2/3/4-pin fans from 50% to 100% speed. Bonus points if it runs cool and quiet.

I would not recommend the IB9. Overclocking is limited to only 360MHz. BIOS is very buggy. If you can overlook the double boot at startup, then the $107 Abit IP35-E is one of the best in this price bracket. It's available for viewing at Fry's.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/vie...a=BA23929&RSKU=BA23929
 
May 8, 2007
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Thanks, thats defiantly something in my pricerange (esp w/ the rebate), now I just need to decide a few more components and ill be set ^^.