P35 MATX motherboard that oc's well

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: Skott
One poster over at HF says he has a 8800GTX video card and a 7.1 PCI card on his G33M-DS2R mobo so I'm gussing there wouldnt be any issues with a X-Fi card neither.

I'm sure there wouldn't be an issue with the physical fit (I can't think of any video card that extends over a 3rd slot), but I'm more concerned if there's a partial blockage of the fan and the effect on temps.

I think it would depend heavily on exactly which PCI sound card we're talking about (and if it's a full height one). Also, the 8800 GTS is pretty short (comparatively, that is :laugh: ), the GTX is significantly longer. I'm not sure of the size of the 2900s, but I think they're between the GTS and GTX.

Anyways, if I moved my Audigy 2 ZS into my 1st PCI slot, it would extend to almost exactly halfway across the GTS intake hole. There isn't any physical contact between the video card and sound card, but there could be issues with the airflow. I'm not sure of the size of the X-Fi, but I would be surprised if it were smaller than the Audigy 2 cards.

Course, the GTX may be so big that no PCI card in existence is long enough to obstruct it . I'd have to pull up the specs.

EDIT: I found 10.5" on the GTX and 7.2" on the X-Fi (XtremeMusic version). I don't own either, so other people are going to have to verify if those numbers are right. So that's 3.3" inches from outer edge to outer edge. Which would be fine if the HSF on the GTX extended all the way to the edge, but it may not from the pictures I've seen.

 

[Skott]

Okay, I see what your talking about now. I'll keep my eyes opened for any such posted problems but so far I havent heard of any but the mobo is still very new and not alot of people have them yet.

Btw, the X-Fi XtremeMusic version has been discontinued supposedly. Although there are a few different versions of the X-Fi I believe the XtremeGamer is the closest version to the XtremeMusic. Card is probably the same length though. Might want to look into that.

 

[Skott]

Originally posted by: Gary Key
Just to let you know, we have seen two early G35 uATX boards running around 475FSB.

Gary, can you give some specifics? Like which mobo exactly? CPU and RAM used?

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: Skott
Okay, I see what your talking about now. I'll keep my eyes opened for any such posted problems but so far I havent heard of any but the mobo is still very new and not alot of people have them yet.

I think it's a possible problem with pretty much any motherboard with an extremely limited number of slots, where the PCI card would have to be side by side with a dual slot PCIe card (i.e. the majority of mATX boards) -- it's not just the case with the G33M-DS2R. And it's the reason why in my case, I couldn't go with the ABIT Fatal1ty F-I90HD despite its nice OCing capabilities, and had to settle for second best as far as board choice.



Here's an example of the type of mATX slot layout I prefer (this is a MSI G965 board):
[PCIe x16] --> [PCIe x1] --> [PCI] --> [PCI]
MSI, Foxconn, and some Intel ones use that configuration.

The other board makers use a configuration where the video card slot is too close to the PCI slots for my liking:
(Gigabyte, some Intel, some ASUS, Biostar)
[PCIe x16] --> [PCI] --> [PCI] --> [PCIe x1]
OR
(ABIT)
[PCIe x1] --> [PCIe x16] --> [PCIe x1] --> [PCI]
OR
(some ASUS)
[PCIe x1] --> [PCIe x16] --> [PCI] --> [PCI]



I think a better layout may be this though:
[PCIe x16] --> [PCI] --> [PCIe x1] --> [PCI]
I personally haven't seen any of the board makers use that one though, so there may be some issue with that layout I'm not considering. In this case, you lose the 1st PCI slot. PCIe x1 cards tend to be small and many are half-height, so there wouldn't be any airflow issues with one being side-by-side with a dual slot video card. And you're free to use any size PCI card in the last slot because of the nice gap provided by the PCIe x1 slot.

If you water-cool your video card, then all that might be moot . (I've actually seen pictures on HardForum of people doing that with their SFF systems )

 

[perdomot]

Is it just me or is this mobo a bit expensive for a matx form factor?

 

[Skott]

Originally posted by: AmberClad

Originally posted by: Skott
Okay, I see what your talking about now. I'll keep my eyes opened for any such posted problems but so far I havent heard of any but the mobo is still very new and not alot of people have them yet.

I think it's a possible problem with pretty much any motherboard with an extremely limited number of slots, where the PCI card would have to be side by side with a dual slot PCIe card (i.e. the majority of mATX boards) -- it's not just the case with the G33M-DS2R. And it's the reason why in my case, I couldn't go with the ABIT Fatal1ty F-I90HD despite its nice OCing capabilities, and had to settle for second best as far as board choice.



Here's an example of the type of mATX slot layout I prefer (this is a MSI G965 board):
[PCIe x16] --> [PCIe x1] --> [PCI] --> [PCI]
MSI, Foxconn, and some Intel ones use that configuration.

The other board makers use a configuration where the video card slot is too close to the PCI slots for my liking:
(Gigabyte, some Intel, some ASUS, Biostar)
[PCIe x16] --> [PCI] --> [PCI] --> [PCIe x1]
OR
(ABIT)
[PCIe x1] --> [PCIe x16] --> [PCIe x1] --> [PCI]
OR
(some ASUS)
[PCIe x1] --> [PCIe x16] --> [PCI] --> [PCI]



I think a better layout may be this though:
[PCIe x16] --> [PCI] --> [PCIe x1] --> [PCI]
I personally haven't seen any of the board makers use that one though, so there may be some issue with that layout I'm not considering. In this case, you lose the 1st PCI slot. PCIe x1 cards tend to be small and many are half-height, so there wouldn't be any airflow issues with one being side-by-side with a dual slot video card. And you're free to use any size PCI card in the last slot because of the nice gap provided by the PCIe x1 slot.

If you water-cool your video card, then all that might be moot . (I've actually seen pictures on HardForum of people doing that with their SFF systems )

You have a very valid point and its well taken. Oh, and I'm glad you didnt go with the ABIT F-I90 HD mobo. Its not proving to be as good as we hoped. It has a high failure rate IMHO.

 

[Skott]

Originally posted by: perdomot
Is it just me or is this mobo a bit expensive for a matx form factor?

By many they are considered too expensive. I dont think we are going to see good overclocking Conroe mATX mobos for under $100 for a while though. The manufacturers seem to be setting prices above $100 so far. Maybe once we get into another generation or two of these better mobos they'll dip below $100? Just my guess though.