Which motherboard for a Core 2 Quad system?

[LightningRider]

I'm in the process of picking out parts for my new beast and I am having trouble deciding on the motherboard.

Here's the rest of the system:

-Q6600 or Q6700 (not sure but probably Q6600 unless I can find the Q6700 for cheaper)
-4GB Corsair XMS2 4x1GB
-OCZ GameXStream 850W
-GeForce 8800GTS 320MB
-Auzentech X-FI Prelude 7.1 Sound Card PCI

So far I've narrowed it down between these 3:

-ASUS P5K
-Gigabyte P35-DS3R (leaning towards this one right now)
-Abit IP35 Pro

Things I'm looking for are stability. I like a stable, high performance board that doesn't crash ever and has the features I like. I guess that's obvious. Anyway the things I want are 3 PCI slots, 2 doesn't seem to be enough, and enough SATA and USB ports. Most boards seem loaded with USB ports nowadays anyways so I'm not too concerned about that and even 6 or 8 SATA ports should be plenty.

All three boards seem to have the high quality capacitors which extend the life of the board supposedly so that's also a high point on all three. The P5K is cheap but I've heard it doesn't perform as well as the other boards. So far I really like the Gigabyte out of the three but it doesn't have Firewire or any bundled PCI USB plates which are nice (I have a lot of USB devices). Having no firewire is not a big problem but it is nice as an option in case I ever get a firewire capable device. The Gigabyte is more expensive than the P5K too. Finally the Abit IP35 looks nice though I'm not sure how it performs and how stable the board is and how reputable a company Abit is.

The board also needs to fit a Thermaltake MaxOrb. So there you have it, those are my requirements. I really don't want to give up the 3rd PCI slot, I like my PCI slots, and also I forgot to mention I don't need Crossfire.

So yeah, appreciate your suggestions!! If you have any other suggestion please feel free.

 

[Heidfirst]

It might also be worth considering the "plain" IP35 which still has ICH9R & firewire, a slightly more conventional layout (due to having only 1 PCI-E x16) & a lower nb heatsink (possibly important with your Orb?).
Fewer bells & whistles but it's also only $120 at places like mwave.

abit are fine.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Abit IP35-E @ MWAVE...only $72 AR.

 

[wwswimming]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813121059

the Intel 975XBX "Bad Axe" board, gets good thumbs up on the Wusy Core 2
OCing guide at TomsHardware.

more expensive, $200-ish.

 

[cmdrdredd]

IP35 vote here as well. Any of them will be good. Personally I'd get the Pro for the extra cooling (high FSB heats up the NB pretty heavily).

btw: where are you finding the -Auzentech X-FI Prelude 7.1 Sound Card??????

I cannot find it in stock anywhere. I'd actually like to find the Asus version of this card somewhere.

 

[LightningRider]

cmdrdredd, you can pre order them on www.ncix.com (I live in Canada) and you will be able to buy them sometime this week supposedly when they get them in. Supposedly they are shipping in to them this week and estimate the shipment around the 10th.

The IP35 does look nice, I am still having trouble deciding which one to get though. I'm maybe considering the P5K again as well.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: LightningRider
cmdrdredd, you can pre order them on www.ncix.com (I live in Canada) and you will be able to buy them sometime this week supposedly when they get them in. Supposedly they are shipping in to them this week and estimate the shipment around the 10th.

The IP35 does look nice, I am still having trouble deciding which one to get though. I'm maybe considering the P5K again as well.

preorder and supposedly = no thanks

Why pay more just to get a board with the Asus name on it?

 

[LightningRider]

Hm, I don't know, I have just always like ASUS boards, and they have all served me pretty well.

But then again I am still looking at the IP35 Pro, I'm having such a hard time pulling the trigger on any one of them for some reason. I read in the Anandtech P35 roundup thread that Gary said that the IP35 still had some bugs in them and I've also read on this forum that there are some speed issues with the Firewire. Firewire doesn't bother me that much like I said but I do want to have a relatively bug free board as much as possible.

The ASUS P5K is cheaper too, on sale at $147 compared to ~$180 for the Abit. Do the P5K's perform on par with the other boards?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: LightningRider
Hm, I don't know, I have just always like ASUS boards, and they have all served me pretty well.

But then again I am still looking at the IP35 Pro, I'm having such a hard time pulling the trigger on any one of them for some reason. I read in the Anandtech P35 roundup thread that Gary said that the IP35 still had some bugs in them and I've also read on this forum that there are some speed issues with the Firewire. Firewire doesn't bother me that much like I said but I do want to have a relatively bug free board as much as possible.

The ASUS P5K is cheaper too, on sale at $147 compared to ~$180 for the Abit. Do the P5K's perform on par with the other boards?

The P5K you're talking about is the non-deluxe. To get that would be $230 or thereabouts. The Abit IP35Pro is $180. That's their top of the line model. You're comparing prices of 2 non-identical models.

I have no problems with it at all. What specifically are you worried about?

 

[LightningRider]

Nothing specific, that is just what I read on the forums from one of the Anandtech staff members that it still had a few bugs to be sorted out. Mind you I've read good and bad things about all of them so maybe I'm just being paranoid. I saw that a BIOS update was released for it which supposedly fixes some things though, so that's good. Is there an option to flash the BIOS from a USB flash drive?

And yes, I was talking about the non-deluxe @ around $150.

http://www.ncix.com/products/i...ture=ASUS&promoid=1001

Btw, about the Prelude, I'm not preordering it either but if you are interested you can check it out later this week when they say they will have them in.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: LightningRider
Nothing specific, that is just what I read on the forums from one of the Anandtech staff members that it still had a few bugs to be sorted out. Mind you I've read good and bad things about all of them so maybe I'm just being paranoid. I saw that a BIOS update was released for it which supposedly fixes some things though, so that's good. Is there an option to flash the BIOS from a USB flash drive?

And yes, I was talking about the non-deluxe @ around $150.

http://www.ncix.com/products/i...ture=ASUS&promoid=1001

Btw, about the Prelude, I'm not preordering it either but if you are interested you can check it out later this week when they say they will have them in.

You can format a flash drive as a DOS startup disk and use that to boot from and run awdflash. There's no built in BIOS flash utility.

Also, because one person says "there are some bugs" without being specific or giving any details at all doesn't mean the board is bad.

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

The ASUS boards run hot and draw more power, and class-for-class are more expensive. Skip them.

I ended up going the middle road with the DS3R ($120 AR), 6-phase power, 100% solid caps, better NB heatsink than the lower models DS3L/IP35/-E.

The IP35 Pro is the best top-end motherboard for the money... it has 6-phase power, 100% solid caps, and good cooling.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: LightningRider
Hm, I don't know, I have just always like ASUS boards, and they have all served me pretty well.

But then again I am still looking at the IP35 Pro, I'm having such a hard time pulling the trigger on any one of them for some reason. I read in the Anandtech P35 roundup thread that Gary said that the IP35 still had some bugs in them and I've also read on this forum that there are some speed issues with the Firewire. Firewire doesn't bother me that much like I said but I do want to have a relatively bug free board as much as possible.

The ASUS P5K is cheaper too, on sale at $147 compared to ~$180 for the Abit. Do the P5K's perform on par with the other boards?

The IP35 Pro's BIOS is buggy, at least for me even with boot sector flash command. Fan control doesn't work at all with a 2-pin fan. IP35 is a much better buy if you need RAID.

 

[Ozoneman]

Originally posted by: Dethfrumbelo
The ASUS boards run hot and draw more power, and class-for-class are more expensive. Skip them.

I ended up going the middle road with the DS3R ($120 AR), 6-phase power, 100% solid caps, better NB heatsink than the lower models DS3L/IP35/-E.

The IP35 Pro is the best top-end motherboard for the money... it has 6-phase power, 100% solid caps, and good cooling.

How can you say the IP35pro is the best top-end? The Gigabyte P35-DQ6 has 12 phase power, 100% solid caps, and great cooling (plus other things).

 

[SerpentRoyal]

12 phase will use more power and does not guarantee higher FSB or greater stablity. The same with solid caps. Cooling is a relative term. Extreme oveclockers will generally put a fan on top of the RAM slots for additional cooling. This is generally adequate to cool the RAMs, NB, and SB.

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Originally posted by: Ozoneman

Originally posted by: Dethfrumbelo
The ASUS boards run hot and draw more power, and class-for-class are more expensive. Skip them.

I ended up going the middle road with the DS3R ($120 AR), 6-phase power, 100% solid caps, better NB heatsink than the lower models DS3L/IP35/-E.

The IP35 Pro is the best top-end motherboard for the money... it has 6-phase power, 100% solid caps, and good cooling.

How can you say the IP35pro is the best top-end? The Gigabyte P35-DQ6 has 12 phase power, 100% solid caps, and great cooling (plus other things).

I was taking price into consideration. The IP35 Pro (minus the buggy BIOS, apparently), would give most people everything they want for $50+ less than the other top boards. Ignoring price, a different situation of course.

 

[LightningRider]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: LightningRider
Hm, I don't know, I have just always like ASUS boards, and they have all served me pretty well.

But then again I am still looking at the IP35 Pro, I'm having such a hard time pulling the trigger on any one of them for some reason. I read in the Anandtech P35 roundup thread that Gary said that the IP35 still had some bugs in them and I've also read on this forum that there are some speed issues with the Firewire. Firewire doesn't bother me that much like I said but I do want to have a relatively bug free board as much as possible.

The ASUS P5K is cheaper too, on sale at $147 compared to ~$180 for the Abit. Do the P5K's perform on par with the other boards?

The IP35 Pro's BIOS is buggy, at least for me even with boot sector flash command. Fan control doesn't work at all with a 2-pin fan. IP35 is a much better buy if you need RAID.

See, it's posts like this that make me not want to buy it. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and get a DQ6. Or just get the DS3R, I probably won't even use firewire anyways.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

I don't see why you need to go with the IP35 Pro when the IP35 has a very stable BIOS, can control 2-pin fan, and support RAID. It doesn't use 100% solid caps but I'm sure it will outlast your desire to hang-on to the board.

BTW, the cost is only $120!

 

[LightningRider]

Well I might give this to my friend after my NEXT upgrade (which will probably be like mid 2009, Nehalem just looks too wicked to pass up), so I don't want the board's condition deteriorating too much when/if that happens.

 

[Heidfirst]

See, it's posts like this that make me not want to buy it. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and get a DQ6. Or just get the DS3R, I probably won't even use firewire anyways.

You can find someone with a problem for any mobo (I can certainly find you posts for the DQ6 or DS3R) - the perfect mobo doesn't exist.
Similarly what is a problem for one person can actually be an advantage for someone else - 2 sides to every story.

The IP35 Pro is very stable & it has certain things that some people will want & be willing to pay for (& others won't).
What bugs may exist in the BIOS are very minor.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Perhaps the Pro doesn't play nice with my hardware. However, I've benched both IP35 Pro and IP35-E with the same equipment. Primary active partition was deleted after each board. I've tested the Pro with various BIOSes. It's still buggy with my set-up. More bells and whistles = More failure modes. The IP35-E was rock solid out of the box (BIOS11), even with the supplied drivers.

 

[LightningRider]

Well I have read a few more reviews and that on the IP35 Pro and now I'm considering to just get this board after all. I mean it does have all the features. Everyone has said it is very stable (which is important for me). I guess a few bugs in the BIOS isn't so bad, especially since BIOS updates are a sure thing once Penryn is out.

As long as it's stable is what I really care about and the features I like as well obviously.

I think I will get this board then guys, thanks for all your input but if anyone has any other comments to add feel free.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: LightningRider
Hm, I don't know, I have just always like ASUS boards, and they have all served me pretty well.

But then again I am still looking at the IP35 Pro, I'm having such a hard time pulling the trigger on any one of them for some reason. I read in the Anandtech P35 roundup thread that Gary said that the IP35 still had some bugs in them and I've also read on this forum that there are some speed issues with the Firewire. Firewire doesn't bother me that much like I said but I do want to have a relatively bug free board as much as possible.

The ASUS P5K is cheaper too, on sale at $147 compared to ~$180 for the Abit. Do the P5K's perform on par with the other boards?

The IP35 Pro's BIOS is buggy, at least for me even with boot sector flash command. Fan control doesn't work at all with a 2-pin fan. IP35 is a much better buy if you need RAID.

So you diss the board because of fan headers? seriously...

use a real fan controller.

 

[LightningRider]

yea, I have a 5.25" fan controller anyways so it doesn't really bother me if that is an issue.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: LightningRider
Hm, I don't know, I have just always like ASUS boards, and they have all served me pretty well.

But then again I am still looking at the IP35 Pro, I'm having such a hard time pulling the trigger on any one of them for some reason. I read in the Anandtech P35 roundup thread that Gary said that the IP35 still had some bugs in them and I've also read on this forum that there are some speed issues with the Firewire. Firewire doesn't bother me that much like I said but I do want to have a relatively bug free board as much as possible.

The ASUS P5K is cheaper too, on sale at $147 compared to ~$180 for the Abit. Do the P5K's perform on par with the other boards?

The IP35 Pro's BIOS is buggy, at least for me even with boot sector flash command. Fan control doesn't work at all with a 2-pin fan. IP35 is a much better buy if you need RAID.

So you diss the board because of fan headers? seriously...

use a real fan controller.

No need to pay 2.5x the price for bells and whistles. Why should I put more $ into a $180 board when $70 will do the job? Both boards were able to take my E6320 to the same stable speed of 488MHz FSB.