What next?

[Sniper82]

Got a GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 rev 1.3(I think it is) this time last year. Well I am going Quad now and this time I need my system to last me for a couple years aside from a GPU upgrade here and there. On my list is 4gb of memory and Vista 64bit.

What I would like to know is should I upgrade my motherboard aswell or do I just drop 4gb in it with the Quad? What are some new features that I am missing with newer boards if any? Also is DDR2 PC6400 still enough? Been out of the mobo loop for the past year.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

If you're planning on upgrading gpus every so often it couldn't hurt to get a board with pci-e 2.0. Maybe something with a 1333/1600mhz fsb, and ddr3 or ddr2 1066/1200

 

[Sniper82]

is PCI-E 2.0 a big deal?

 

[badnewcastle]

PCI-E 2.0 is the next generation of PCI-Epxress 16x, it will have twice the bandwidth as the current generation, but nothing utilizes 1.1 or 1.0 to the max yet. New GPU's (including 8800gt and 3870 are 2.0 compliant) coming out will run on 2.0. I don't know how many mobos are available with 2.0, like popn said, try to get 1333/1600 mhz fsb compliant mobo.

 

[Sniper82]

any suggestions on what to get? Whats a good chipset nowadays? I do like to o/c.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Just drop in 4GB and the quad. No need to upgrade mobos, PCI-E 2.0 isn't a big deal, all PCI-E 2.0 video cards are backwards-compatible with 1.0 slots.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

Doesn't pci-e have higher electrical supply wattage? Some cards may start allowing no plug-in wires because of it...
check out dfi, gigabyte, and asus for good oc'ing boards, esp for the 1600/1333MHz