More Stable Motherboard......BadAxe2 or DS3 ??

[Tom33]

Looking for the MOST stable and painless to build.
E6600 CPU, NO Overclocking, NO Gaming.

Stock Cooler or Arctic 7 ?

Price is not a factor.

 

[Cheex]

Get the BadAxe2.

Cooler is up to you really. No OCing means no temp increase. My opinion is get the Arctic 7.

 

[miniMUNCH]

I'd say stock cooler...if you are not going to OC the stock cooler is fine and runs pretty quiet.

 

[Cheex]

Did Intel change their stock cooler or is it the same design as with the Pentium D?

 

[lopri]

You mean, the stock cooler for CPU? It's the same shape but the fins are aligned/spread slightly differently. The mounting mechanism is the same. 4 push-pin mounting. It's secure but can be tricky. As for the OP's question: 975X is the most stable chipset for Core 2 Duo at this time, and Bad Axe 2 is the pinnacle of it. It can be had for less than $200 and considering that 680i boards and high-end P965 boards command even higher price tags, there is no reason not to get this board if you want an easy and quick setup that'll last. I would recommend P965 only for people with E6300/E4300 or for folks on budget. (Biostar P965T received AT editor's choice award and cost just a hair more than $100) I would recommend 680i for folks who want to run SLI or folks who like to tweak things to squeeze out performance.

 

[Tom33]

Bad Axe 2 is the pinnacle of it. It can be had for less than $200

I'm finding the Retail for $247, and OEM for $216 @ NewEgg. MicroCenter has it listed for $199, I'm assuming it is for the OEM, but I don't know for sure.

I also see MWave has it for $195 + Tax & Shipping, never heard of them. Reseller Ratiing looks OK.

It looks like the Retail version has a 3 year warranty and the OEM has a 1 year warranty.

 

[Darien]

Originally posted by: Tom33

Bad Axe 2 is the pinnacle of it. It can be had for less than $200

I also see MWave has it for $195 + Tax & Shipping, never heard of them. Reseller Ratiing looks OK.

I've purchased a lot from MWave, both online and at their warehouse. No problems; highly recommended. I've found that a lot of their prices are much better than newegg's, and I've never had a problem with them.

 

[DaddyRabbit]

Originally posted by: Tom33

Bad Axe 2 is the pinnacle of it. It can be had for less than $200

I'm finding the Retail for $247, and OEM for $216 @ NewEgg. MicroCenter has it listed for $199, I'm assuming it is for the OEM, but I don't know for sure.

I also see MWave has it for $195 + Tax & Shipping, never heard of them. Reseller Ratiing looks OK.

It looks like the Retail version has a 3 year warranty and the OEM has a 1 year warranty.

I got my retail version from TigerDirect for $199.00. It's the BOX vs. the BLK version and has the 3 year warranty

I'm not overclocking my E6600 and am using the stock cooler. @ idle I run about 46-48c and under Orthos load I average 63-64C. I'll stick with the stock for now as I'm comfortable with these temps.

As far as the build... It's the easiest I've done and stable as a rock.

 

[hardwareking]

The bad-axe 2 is the better choice cause it doesn't have the IDE issues that most P965 boards using the JMicron controller has.
975x is the most stable board.Badaxe 2 offers good overclocks too.

 

[herbiehancock]

Originally posted by: Tom33

Bad Axe 2 is the pinnacle of it. It can be had for less than $200

I'm finding the Retail for $247, and OEM for $216 @ NewEgg. MicroCenter has it listed for $199, I'm assuming it is for the OEM, but I don't know for sure.

I also see MWave has it for $195 + Tax & Shipping, never heard of them. Reseller Ratiing looks OK.

It looks like the Retail version has a 3 year warranty and the OEM has a 1 year warranty.

Tom........kind new at this, aren't you. First, don't assume. MicroCenter's $200 BAd Axe 2 motherboard is the retail kit, not an OEM version. It's on their shelves in their stores for that price and is the same online. I don't think I've actually seen an OEM Bad Axe 2 at MicroCenter and I've been to three of their stores in the last few months.

While MicroCenter does indeed sell OEM products, they boldly post the fact the product is OEM....like their Samsung $25 DVD-RW's (IDE) or their $35 SATA Samsung DVD-RW's with Lightscribe.

Second, MWave is an old online reseller....darned near as old as Newegg. I'd have no problems ordering from them or form ZZF or Newegg. Lots of good companies out there. Granted, Newegg is a great online reseller but it's one of the last places I'd consider as having great prices, esp. with their stacking of shipping costs! Personally, I look to Newegg for information and buy elsewhere for better prices, including shipping.

 

[moosey]

I got my BX2 from Tigerdirect as well for $199 and it is the box version as noted above. I've got an e6600 also. My vote is for the Intel.

 

[idiotekniQues]

ive used mwave for years and they have always been reliable.

 

[Tom33]

Last question before I order the BadAxe from MWave.

I have a Gibabyte 7600 Passive Cooled Video Card, that has some big heat sinks. It appears that it will be a very tight fit in the first slot up against the NB Heatsink. The card I have looks to have bigger heat sinks than the card pictured in the link.

The manual states to run a single card in the first slot for best performance.

Anyone with experience fitting this type of card on the BadAxe MB ?

Or is using the second slot OK ?

 

[DaddyRabbit]

I belive if you run in the second slot you will run at x8 vs x16 but with one card I may be wrong. I don't know however if you could tell the difference in anything other than benchmarks.

The existing card may fit however, my 8800GTS fits fine but has no "backside" sinks...

 

[Tom33]

Just a follow up.

Ordered the BaxAxe2 from MWave....Great Price....Fast Shipping.

The Video Card just barely fit in the first slot. The heatsink was "high" enough that it didn't hit.

Arctic 7 also just barely fits up against the other side of the NB cooler.

Put everything together..changed a couple of BIOS setting that had to do with NOT using RAID.....fired right up. Loaded XP Pro and am doing updates now.

Thanks for the advice and help.

Tom

 

[Dolorous Dave]

I've used Mwave for years, they're a fantastic site that has managed to keep a low profile and super-high customer service.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: Dolorous Dave
I've used Mwave for years, they're a fantastic site that has managed to keep a low profile and super-high customer service.

Yep, Mwave was around way before newegg. They've always done me right and the one time I had to RMA something to them they were amazingly fast. Newegg sucks for RMA's.

 

[Shimmishim]

Originally posted by: Tom33
Just a follow up.

Ordered the BaxAxe2 from MWave....Great Price....Fast Shipping.

The Video Card just barely fit in the first slot. The heatsink was "high" enough that it didn't hit.

Arctic 7 also just barely fits up against the other side of the NB cooler.

Put everything together..changed a couple of BIOS setting that had to do with NOT using RAID.....fired right up. Loaded XP Pro and am doing updates now.

Thanks for the advice and help.

Tom

Can you cancel your order?

I got mine from microcenter for $175.99 + $11.99 overnight shipping! (no tax since there is no MC in my state). It's retail box as well.

edit: nevermind, i see you already started the build... oops...