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whats a good motherboard pairing for 8800gt

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emfiend

Member
I'm probably going to take my chances on an 8800gt (if i can find one) next week. At the same time, I'm getting a new MB, CPU, memory, HD, case, etc (full raging upgrade). Since the 8800gt is pci-e 2.0, is it worth it to shell out extra 100 bucks or so for a x38 chipset? Any advice or thoughts on whether the 8800gt should be able to exploit the pci-e 2.0?

I've been waiting for about a month to buy this system and I don't think I'll have the patience to wait for the x48. My choice is between p35 or x38.

Would appreciate your thoughts.
 
I honestly don't think PCIe 2.0 is going to make any difference even with next-gen hardware, let alone the current. You can get a pretty solid P35 motherboard like the ABIT IP35 (or the Gigabytes) for $120-something. The IP35-E is even cheaper, coming in at around $80 with rebates/deals. The cheapest X38 motherboards cost around $250. From all I've seen so far, two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots is the only main attraction. You might as well take the $100+ savings and 1. Keep it 2. Put it to use elsewhere

As for overclocking, the best P35 motherboards clock just as high as the X38s. And I think X48 is the same thing as X38 except it supports 400FSB CPUs - there will be a $1500 Extreme Edition coming out in February '08, IIRC, but no idea when we will have mainstream CPUs that will need that support.

For single-GPU rigs, I don't see the point of X38. The premium is not worth it.
 
I think we will need PCI 2.0 next fall when the new high end cards come out. Early next year is a GX2 allegedly and should be fine also. The 8800GT will have no problem on PCI 1.1.
 
I don't think it'll make any difference at all. Remember the jump from AGP 4x to AGP 8x? Yeah, no difference in FPS.
 
Thanks for your advice. Seeing as how my current computer is a P4 478 system with a 6800 Ultra, my upgrade frequency is about once every 3 yrs. If I can get away with just upping to a new GPU, say, in early 2009, and reusing the MB, would the x38 be worth it then?

And also, wouldn't I get the benefit of the 150W through the slot? (save a molex, save the world?... 🙂 )
 
Although if nVidia goes toward more shader power and less brute force with Geforce 9, we might not even need that high power requirements 😱
 
Originally posted by: emfiend
Thanks for your advice. Seeing as how my current computer is a P4 478 system with a 6800 Ultra, my upgrade frequency is about once every 3 yrs. If I can get away with just upping to a new GPU, say, in early 2009, and reusing the MB, would the x38 be worth it then?

And also, wouldn't I get the benefit of the 150W through the slot? (save a molex, save the world?... 🙂 )
Click to expand...

I might lean towards getting the x38 under those circumstances. There is no doubt we will need PCI 2.0 in the next 3 years. Hopefully you are buying a quad to pair with it. The quad will be fine for 2-3 years also if you OC it.

If the 8800GT is the only video card you are going to buy for the next 3 years I would just get the P35. I would only get the X38 if you plan on upgrading the video card at least 1-2 times in the next 3 years. I also plan on getting the fastest 8800GT on Monday which I think will be the EVGA, but XFX might come out with a monster XXX card.
 
Considering the cost of an X38 board, you would be better off financially getting a P35 board now, and if needed, getting a P45 board in the future.

Trying to "future-proof" yourself in this situation isn't worth the money.
 
future proofing is never worth it... why spend lots of money NOW to get something that MIGHT be needed in the future but can't be used now?
When the future comes you could buy that same something for a fraction of the cost... or whatever other tech succeeds instead of it.
 
Unless the X48 or whatever ends up costing more. But there will probably be a mainstream board with PCI 2.0 cheaper next year. Some people don't like changing motherboards alot and I am one of them. Once every two years is all I like to do it. It depends on your preferences and if you don't mind "wasting" a little money. Just pop in the new video card and you're done.
 
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