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Mobo help for Q6600... firewire and # PCI slots needed?

G

Gooter74

Junior Member
Need help picking an Intel based motherboard for my Q6600. However, I am getting stuck on whether or not I need firewire and how many PCI slots (non-express) I really need. Maybe you can help me sort it out.

First of, here are my uses for this build... gaming, office applications, internet/email, family photo and video editing.

Now, before I finalize my build, please help me determine the following:

1. Not sure if I need firewire. What exactly uses it? Only device I would possibly use would be my Sony Mini-DV camcorder (not sure of model # but it is at least 3 years old). Is USB 2.0 better?

2. How many PCI slots do I need? I can only think of 2 components that would use PCI, soundcard and NIC. What am I missing?

I do not want to run SLI so that rules out the 680i boards. I believe the best that is left are the P35 boards. I'm torn between the Abit IP35 and Gigabyte DS3 models. Based on my above questions, certain models of these two brands can be eliminated such as the Gigabyte DS3P if I need more than 2 PCI slots or the DS3L if I need built-in firewire support. The Abit IP35 and IP35 Pro have 3 PCI slots plus built-in firewire but not sure I need all the extra bells and whistles. Also, not sure of Abit vs Gigabyte quality, double boot and cold boot problems I have been reading about. Something else to consider... once I get a system built and tested, I will try to mildly OC but nothing too extreme.

Thanks!
 
If you get a motherboard with onboard audio and NIC then you don't need any PCI slots. Firewire is nice to have but useless if you have no devices that require it. You can always add Firewire later on by installing a PCI card which are relatively inexpensive.

I personally went with the Abit IP35-E board for my Q6600. At $89 I feel it's the best bang for the buck when it comes to basic P35 motherboards. It doesn't have RAID or firewire but it does have onboard audio and NIC.
 
I should have clarified that it is a wireless NIC so I will still need a PCI slot for that. Also, I prefer to use a dedicated soundcard such as the CL rather than onboard sound. Just a personal preference.

What other devices use firewire besides my mini-dv camcorder? And, I'll have to look it up, I think I can transfer video from it using USB anyway so maybe I don't need firewire.

Thanks!
 
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