Mobo for a Core 2 Duo Vista Build

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GamingDaemon

GamingDaemon

Senior member
Apr 28, 2006
474
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I am looking to build a C2D box for Vista with an nVidia 8800 video card. Don't ask why, you already know the answer :)

So, I checked out the AnandTech mobo thread on C2D mobos, but when I looked up the reviews in NewEgg, I was somewhat disappointed.

I am looking to spend about $75 to $130 on a mobo. It has to have a 1394 port, be upgradeable to some degree, and MUST have good support for overclocking.

What's the consensus?

TIA!

 
GamingDaemon

GamingDaemon

Senior member
Apr 28, 2006
474
7
76
*bump*

I know this is a common question, but the nVidia 8800 card is not so ordinary. Also, I really want to OC, and that seems to be hard to pin down on these motherboards.

TIA
 
GamingDaemon

GamingDaemon

Senior member
Apr 28, 2006
474
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76
Thanks moosey and Hajpoj!! This is good stuff.

Do either of you have perosnal experience with any of these particular boards?
 
U

us3rnotfound

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2003
5,334
3
81
Originally posted by: GamingDaemon
I am looking to build a C2D box for Vista with an nVidia 8800 video card. Don't ask why, you already know the answer :)

So, I checked out the AnandTech mobo thread on C2D mobos, but when I looked up the reviews in NewEgg, I was somewhat disappointed.

I am looking to spend about $75 to $130 on a mobo. It has to have a 1394 port, be upgradeable to some degree, and MUST have good support for overclocking.

What's the consensus?

TIA!
Click to expand...

Take Egg reviews for a grain of salt.
 
M

moosey

Golden Member
Apr 18, 2001
1,331
0
76
Originally posted by: GamingDaemon
Thanks moosey and Hajpoj!! This is good stuff.

Do either of you have perosnal experience with any of these particular boards?
Click to expand...

No personal experience, I have the BadAxe2. Did you see this today? I hope..
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2914

Seems as though they like (1) P5B-Dlx (2) DS3 (3) Biostar or Foxconn.
(Biostar doesn't use the Jmicron controller for PATA if it matters to you, I don't know how good the VIA one they use to replace it is though...just a note)

Also, check the forums over at XS as they have some good threads relating to o/c and setup with some of these boards.

Personally, I'd probably take the DS3
 
C

cougar1

Member
Dec 5, 2006
31
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0
You'll be hard pressed to find everything you want for <$130. Especially, the 1394 is hard to find on a sub-$130 board. Your best bet is probably to spend a little more (still <$150) for either the ASUS P5B-E or P5N-E. Both are good overclockers and highly upgradeable. The choice really boils down to whether you want to go with the intel (P965) or Nvidia(650i) chipsets. The P5N-E has more IDE but fewer SATA connections and is slightly cheaper. It also has only 5.1 channel sound rather than 7.1 if this matters to you.

If you can give up the 1394 port, the Gigabyte DS3 is a great board and would be my pick, since it's a little cheaper and a great overclocker. Another board to consider is the MSI P965 Platinum. It has a lot more features (1394, ICH8R RAID, 16+4 PCIe slots) than most boards in its price range. Unfortunately, it has only modest overclocking ability. If you only want to dabble with overclocking and will mostly just run at stock speeds, this board probably gives the most bang for the buck. Besides, who knows, maybe a future BIOS update will fix this and you'll have the best of all worlds.
 
V

Vette73

Lifer
Jul 5, 2000
21,503
9
0
The Gigabyte S3 with a add in firewire card seems to fit best IMO. If you wait maybe more Nivida 650i boards will come out.
 
H

hkklife

Diamond Member
Jul 29, 2003
5,889
0
76
I 2nd the vote for the P5B-E if built-in firewire is crucial for you.

I have a P5B Deluxe non wi-fi edition and it's rock solid, especially since the last 2 BIOS updates.

 
GamingDaemon

GamingDaemon

Senior member
Apr 28, 2006
474
7
76
This is all great information. The firewire is important because I use it to attach to my video camera which I use to make movies of my baby. But I can always add firewire support with a PCI card, so it's not that big of a deal. And since I have two speakers and a sub-woofer, I don't need 7.1 support (5.1 works just fine). Besides, this rig is intended for work and for serious DX10 gaming.

So that really just leaves overclocking. I've tried OC'ing with my AMD 4200+ dual core and have had mixed success, but I've heard it's easier to do with the core 2 duo chips. So while I know I want to play around with overclocking, I am by no means a demanding OC'er. But on the otherhand, I don't want to buy a board that limits me when I learn the ropes either.

So it sounds to me like the ASUS P5B Deluxe or the Gigabyte DS3 would work fine for me. Or even the MSI P695 Platinum if it gets a new a BIOS.

And since I am already planning to dish out $640 for the video card and $200+ for the processor, what's another few dollars for a good mobo, right?

So that leaves, memory. I would like 2GB or memory, and am thinking DDR2 667 that I can OC to DDR2 800. Or am I dreaming?


 
GamingDaemon

GamingDaemon

Senior member
Apr 28, 2006
474
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H

Hajpoj

Senior member
Dec 9, 2006
288
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Originally posted by: GamingDaemon

for serious DX10 gaming.


So that leaves, memory. I would like 2GB or memory, and am thinking DDR2 667 that I can OC to DDR2 800. Or am I dreaming?
Click to expand...

Get the P5N-E SLI all the way if you are serious about DX10 gaming. And on nv650 chipsets you don't have to run the ram synced with the FSB. You can get away with ddr-667 on that board.

 
GamingDaemon

GamingDaemon

Senior member
Apr 28, 2006
474
7
76
Originally posted by: Hajpoj
Originally posted by: GamingDaemon

for serious DX10 gaming.


So that leaves, memory. I would like 2GB or memory, and am thinking DDR2 667 that I can OC to DDR2 800. Or am I dreaming?
Click to expand...

Get the P5N-E SLI all the way if you are serious about DX10 gaming. And on nv650 chipsets you don't have to run the ram synced with the FSB. You can get away with ddr-667 on that board.
Click to expand...

Thanks Hajpoj! I researched the 650 chipset and it seems to be a better bet for the nVidia 8800 and DX10. But you mentioned that the ram doesn't need to be sync'd with the FSB. How's that possible?
 
D

Dutchmaster420

Golden Member
Jan 22, 2004
1,116
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can somebody please give me a link explaining everything about these new 650i sli boards or whatever there called


thanks
 
GamingDaemon

GamingDaemon

Senior member
Apr 28, 2006
474
7
76
Originally posted by: Dutchmaster420
can somebody please give me a link explaining everything about these new 650i sli boards or whatever there called


thanks
Click to expand...

Check out the motherboard forum (do a search on 650i). You should also read this.
 
LintMan

LintMan

Senior member
Apr 19, 2001
474
0
71
I just got a P5B Deluxe, myself, with my new C2D E6700 and 8800GTX. I looked at the DS3, but don't think it has 1394 support. The more expensive DQ6 does, but I think it has an issue with the backplates on some of the bigger hest sinks (ie: Zalman 9500/9700) not fitting without doing some modding. The MSI might, as well. I'f you're planning on getting a big sink with a back plate and if you don't want to do mods, check first to make sure it'll fit easily, before you buy an MB. (BTW, The Zalman 9700 fits fine on the P5B Deluxe).
 
D

Dutchmaster420

Golden Member
Jan 22, 2004
1,116
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0
Originally posted by: GamingDaemon
Originally posted by: Dutchmaster420
can somebody please give me a link explaining everything about these new 650i sli boards or whatever there called


thanks
Click to expand...

Check out the motherboard forum (do a search on 650i). You should also read this.
Click to expand...




thanks man
 
GamingDaemon

GamingDaemon

Senior member
Apr 28, 2006
474
7
76
Originally posted by: LintMan
I just got a P5B Deluxe, myself, with my new C2D E6700 and 8800GTX. I looked at the DS3, but don't think it has 1394 support. The more expensive DQ6 does, but I think it has an issue with the backplates on some of the bigger hest sinks (ie: Zalman 9500/9700) not fitting without doing some modding. The MSI might, as well. I'f you're planning on getting a big sink with a back plate and if you don't want to do mods, check first to make sure it'll fit easily, before you buy an MB. (BTW, The Zalman 9700 fits fine on the P5B Deluxe).
Click to expand...

Now I am leaning away from the P5B Deluxe and instead going with the ASUS P5N-E SLI because of the nVidia 650i chipset. Would you agree that might be better for overclocking and taking advantage of the 8800 video card?
 
H

Heidfirst

Platinum Member
May 18, 2005
2,015
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There will be several more 650i chipset mobos out in February (abit, Gigabyte & MSI all due).
The Asus is the only 1 at present & it's good but not perfect - there are rumours of a revised Plus model coming.

Another board worth looking at is the abit AB9 QuadGT because it can do very high fsb (500+) whilst still on the 1066 strap (most 965s switch to the 1333 ~400fsb & the P5N-E SLI ~423) giving it a performance advantage.
 
GamingDaemon

GamingDaemon

Senior member
Apr 28, 2006
474
7
76
Originally posted by: Heidfirst
There will be several more 650i chipset mobos out in February (abit, Gigabyte & MSI all due).
The Asus is the only 1 at present & it's good but not perfect - there are rumours of a revised Plus model coming.

Another board worth looking at is the abit AB9 QuadGT because it can do very high fsb (500+) whilst still on the 1066 strap (most 965s switch to the 1333 ~400fsb & the P5N-E SLI ~423) giving it a performance advantage.
Click to expand...

I will be waiting until the end of February to begin buying parts for this build, so I will be interested to see the other mobos coming out with the 650i chipset.

Can you explain the 1066/1333 strap reference? That has to do with the northbridge FSB right?
 
GamingDaemon

GamingDaemon

Senior member
Apr 28, 2006
474
7
76
Well, back ot my original question, what mobo should I get for the C2D proc? I keep hearing that people are still having trouble with the 650i chipset.

So, should I forget the 650i for now and get the Asus P5B Deluxe, or the Gigabyte DS3?

Or maybe an Intel 975?

I want to do some overclocking, and I want the best support for DX10 games.
 
vailr

vailr

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,365
55
91
The Gigabyte DS3 will very soon have a version 3.3 out.
So, if you order today, you'll probably only get the older version 2.0 or even original version 1.0.
The version 3.3 is designed to support Intel CPUs that won't be available for another 6 months.
 
F

FreedomGUNDAM

Platinum Member
Jun 14, 2006
2,405
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I'm also looking to upgrade my motherboard. I'm looking at the Asus P5N-E sli, Intel Bad Axe 2, Gigabyte DS3 rev3.3
 
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