Northbridge & Southbridge Chipsets

[Fielder]

So I'm about to buy a whole new quad-core rig. But I'm unsure as to which of the nbridge/sbridge chipset combination I should be considering. I've read up a bit on the nForce 600 series nbridge, but I guess I'm confused as to what the real differences(advantages) are between nbridge nForce X00 and sbridge nForce430i,610i,630i etc...

On newegg when I select nbridge nForce 600, I'm then limited to only sbridge 430. I was expecting it to limit me to the 610, 630 chipsets.


Im really looking for good gaming system that won't break the bank, and I don't particularly care about raid and firewire. Must have gigabit ethernet though. And being able to buy and connect 2 video cards together in the future would be nice. That way as gaming graphic requirements increase over the next few years I can keep up by dropping in another card (instead of buying a new $300 card).

Thanks.

 

[Nickel020]

You're pretty much limited to just one southbridge when you choose a northbridge. Every northbridge usually has a matching southbridge released with it, sometimes more than one (like the Intel ICH9 and ICH9R for current Intel chipsets).
But don't worry about what southbridge to get, rather look at what features you need.

If you want the option to drop in another video card, get a board with either the Intel X38 (ATI video cards) or Nvidia 750i/780i (Nvidia cards). P35 boards do sometimes have 2 video cards slots, but thte second slot is only a 4x slot, so they're not really suited for multi video card setups.

 

[DSF]

If you want my advice, don't bother with SLI if that's how you intend to use it.

Two years from now $200 will buy you a better graphics card than two of today's $300 cards. SLI is most useful for people who need to combine two top of the line cards to drive a large display. When you take all the hidden costs into account, it's really cheaper to buy one good card now, and one good card later.

First, you save as much as $50-100 on the motherboard. You also save some money on the power supply, and of course the graphics cards themselves. If you don't go for SLI, you can even recoup some of the cost of the new card by selling your old one. (Not to mention that your system will use less power, run more quietly, and create less heat.)

Good gaming systems aren't hard to put together for less than $1000 nowadays, and you don't need SLI to do so. Get a motherboard like the Gigabyte P35-DS3L or Abit IP35-E for less than $100, and get a nice fast video card like the 8800GTS. In two years time, use the savings to buy a new card that would wipe the floor with two 8800GTSs.

 

[Fielder]

That's good information DSF... I am more interested in saving money now on my new system, and can certainly shave off $ without SLI. I imagine that the 8800GTS you mention will handle todays games very well, and tomorrows games for the next 3-5 years decently.
I havent built a system in about 5 years so I'm having to learn all the latest technologies, can't keep up with it regularly anymore.

I've been eying those 2 motherboards because of their high ratings and specs. on newegg. I'll keep looking around. Any recommendations is appreciated. Most interested in a fast video card, and gigabit LAN for the Intel Quad core.

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: Fielder
That's good information DSF... I am more interested in saving money now on my new system, and can certainly shave off $ without SLI. I imagine that the 8800GTS you mention will handle todays games very well, and tomorrows games for the next 3-5 years decently.
I havent built a system in about 5 years so I'm having to learn all the latest technologies, can't keep up with it regularly anymore.

I've been eying those 2 motherboards because of their high ratings and specs. on newegg. I'll keep looking around. Any recommendations is appreciated. Most interested in a fast video card, and gigabit LAN for the Intel Quad core.

Another piece of advice. Since it seems to me that you have more questions than just the motherboard selection, you might want to post a thread in General Hardware. There are a number of helpful people there who will give you advice on all of your component choices, but they don't swing by the Motherboard section as often. Read Blain's stickied thread in General Hardware and answer those questions in a thread of your own.

(Plus, reading the other threads in General Hardware will give you a good idea of what people are building for $1000.)