What if you had to choose today...

SkyDiver

Senior member
Aug 3, 2000
386
5
81
I would like to complete a build (a stable build) by Christmas. I'm basing it on the E6600, but not sure if I should go for the currently stable platform or go for the best feature set, which would be the 680i.

I plan to overclock maybe to 25% or so at night, but it has to be stable for a SqlServer application by day. So I need stability right off the bat, but I'd like to overclock too.

I've had good luck with ASUS, so I'm thinking I'll stay with them either on the 975 or 680i platforms. I hate to spend the money, but I plan to have the system for at least 3 years. I'd probably do fine with a 650i, but I don't want to wait until they come out and are stable.

Any pearls of wisdom would be appreciated.
 

KyleGates

Senior member
Oct 19, 2004
613
3
81
I have the 680i (From EVGA) and I love it, rock solid.....BUT, I am not an OC'er. My Brother has one as well and he is an OC'er....he's RMA'd twice now and is still having issues, as are many others. Not sure on the ASUS but if you hit up the EVGA forums, youll see all the trouble peeps are havin.
 

SkyDiver

Senior member
Aug 3, 2000
386
5
81
Thanks for the info, KyleGates. I had seen some of that, which is why I decided to stay with Asus.
 

nerdye

Junior Member
Jul 20, 2006
16
0
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I too plan on building a new rig in the next month to two, yet I may be more on the budget than you are. I noticed you didn't mention 965 mobo's as an option, they do overclock extremely well and are matured and stable, but you won't get quite the general system performance of the 975 and 680i which you'd want for sql server. I'm going asus 965 and conroe e6300 myself and budget ddr 800 (200 - 250$ ish). What kind of video card are you considering? With an e6600 you will need a burly graphics card, as whats the point not to with a killer cpu?. I'm curious what you guys would consider as far as graphics for a new build, for me the cheapest dx10 card is around teh 430$ level with the 8800gts, yet cheap dx9 cards like a 7900gs and x1950 pro are less than half that at full price and deliver enough performance for those of us without 2,000 $ monitors. What graphics solution are you planning?
 

KyleGates

Senior member
Oct 19, 2004
613
3
81
I'm using a 7600GT with my E6300. With my E6600 I have an 8800GTX now and a 2nd is on the way. The E6300/7600GT plays whatever I throw at it but the LCD with that PC is 1280x1024 max, so higher res may start to crawl. Of course the 8800GTX plays anything....very well...at 1920x1200.
 

shabby

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,782
45
91
If the 680i wouldnt be so damn expensive, 300+ for a mobo... fcuk that.
Where are the lower end versions of the 680i coming out?
 

imported_RedStar

Senior member
Mar 6, 2005
526
0
0
I have been trying to decide on a mboard since september....

And i still see all the boards with too many issues.
the evga 680i board seems to have too many sata issues and the cooling fan is said to be too loud, caps underside of board get in way of 3rd party cooling solutions.

overall general consensus seems to be...1/2 love it and other 1/2 have problems. I don't like those odds. Striker is expensive and has not reviewed well.

I thought i might backtrack to the asus p5b-deluxe or p5w -dh. But, now i am hearing of mysterious problems that impact certain games like oblivion with the p5b-deluxe.

So i have decided to wait until december 15th and see what the dfi rd600 based solution is like and forget sli. If that does not pan out ...i will prolly get the board i first looked at --the p5w -dh. I guess the main difference is that i now know just how good the 8800 series is and so don't really need sli.

bottom line: i too am having a hard time deciding on a motherboard this time around. grr :)

 

SkyDiver

Senior member
Aug 3, 2000
386
5
81
nerdye,

I was looking at Anand's "Base High-End Intel Core 2 Duo System" recommendation (from October) and he has a Sapphire X1900XT 512MB card for $318. Sounded like a nice card at the pricepoint I was looking for.

However, upon doing a search right now, I find that it is going for more like $399.

I don't need the absolute greatest card. I have 4 kids and a wife to keep me busy (not to mention the job), but I do want a card that will last the next year or more.
 

Farm

Member
Jan 29, 2002
104
0
0
What about a 7950 GT 512MB?
NE has some in the $230 range after rebate
Pretty similar scores on THG VGA charts
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,981
8,219
126
My system is in my sig. I've had 0 problems, and it's been tested with Orthos for 12 hours rock stable :thumbsup:
 

SkyDiver

Senior member
Aug 3, 2000
386
5
81
Farm, I did some comparisons and found that the 7950 GT seems to be between 5 and 25% slower than the X1900XT (assuming Tom's VGA Charts are accurate). Also, I found it at Buy.com for $307 after Google Checkout, so I went for it.

lxskllr: I think I'm leaning to the Asus P5W DH Deluxe which you have. I don't have time to mess around with an immature chipset.
 

Trader05

Diamond Member
Mar 1, 2000
5,095
20
81
i just ordered a whole system. im not really a gamer thus i ordered a XFX 7600GS 512mb for $100A/R lol, but i'd like to overclock a bit. i picked the Abit AB9 Pro, i always liked abit boards and the only thing i found that is quirky with this board is the IDE location.
 

Roguestar

Diamond Member
Aug 29, 2006
6,045
0
0
Ah. Should have read more reviews or the CPU/OC forum. I too loved Abit boards back in the day but they've since gone downhill; an Asus or Gigabyte would have been your best bet and for a whole lot cheaper...
 

Mark R

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
8,513
16
81
Presumably the 650i ultra is gonna he one heck-load cheaper than the 680i.

All I want is a few core2duo comps with 8800GTX/S cards. I don't need SLI, dual lan or stuff like that - but I do want a nice performer.

Any word on when we'll be seeing 650i ultra boards, or what their performance might be like?
 

SkyDiver

Senior member
Aug 3, 2000
386
5
81
I heard somewhere here in the forums that the 650i is supposed to be out by the end of the year. I'd like to wait for one of those myself, but I've got to build now.