Need help choosing a motherboard

[seungklee]

Hi guys,
I haven't been on this forum for a while. I'm still doing my homework to see which motherboard would be good enough for me in terms of reliability, overclocking potential, SLI capability, etc. I been highly considering nForce 700 series boards such as 780i, 750i FTW. However, they have a major problems with video corruption issues and companies like EVGA and XFX have released bio fixes, but it seems not reliable. So, I'm hesistating and can't make up mind. One part of me, is like, get the 700 series boards, regardless of problem, and I really SLI capability, but other part of me is like, that major video corruption bug is like a problem. I'm sorta considering P35 or P45 chipsets, are they good for gaming as well? If you guys can help me out with some suggestions and advices, that would be awesome, thanks.

[DaddyRabbit]

I'm usually an "Intel on Intel" guy. IMHO, and depending on your situation, the P35/45 are good boards. You also mentioned SLI, one option would be an X38/X48 board with two HD4850 cards in Crossfire. You would have some kickin performance at a good budget point.

[seungklee]

Thanks for your reply.

I'm fan of NVIDIA graphics cards, and I've already purchased xfx 8800 GTS g92 512 MB alpha dog extreme edition...
so I'm not gonna consider buying ATI cards for crossfire..but I do respect your suggestions, thanks!
I'm really hesistant in getting which motherboards now, so I do not know. I want to get nForce 700 series boards, even though it has many problems. But I still like them haha. SRY SRY.

[DaddyRabbit]

"Ain't Nuthin' But A Thang"

If you already have the Nvidia card (and can't return it ) no biggie, I have been with Nvidia since the initial 8800 release (was an ATi fan before due to Nvidias IQ issues) and had a Shuttle SFF with an Nforce2 chipset with an Athlon64 that was a "dream" little shoebox rig that I had no problems with. I'm agnostic when it comes to chipsets etc as long as it "just works" but still think that Intel chipsets are better with Intel CPUs in regular use. Even with the G92 I think the Intel chipset boards are a better bet at the moment and, if you wish to switch to AMD/ATI (read some reviews on the latest AMD/ATi released cards) later a P45 will allow for 8x - 8x Crossfire down the road should you change your mind. If not then the NV 7xx series is your best bet if you are planning to SLI in the future.

No need to apologize to me, I'm just another "goober" on the net spouting his opinions

[Kougar]

I personally would never use an NVIDIA chipset in my life, but that is because I tend to overclock and there are data corruption issues with their boards at some ranges. Also there are issues with Samsung drives and ASUS Xonar sound cards, and generally more driver issues. NVIDIA has made some rather poor designs in the past such as with their hardware firewall that never actually was fixed. Their chips also just run hot.

All of that said, if you want NVIDIA and must have SLI then they should be decent enough. Just don't expect it to be problem free... However I don't know what video corruption bug you are referring to, usually that is a GPU issue more than anything else.

[FXW48]

hey im also looking to buy a new motherboard but i not to sure on which 1s so could anyone help.
if possible 1 that supports the intel core duo E8400 and the ati HD4850 radeon within a budget of 100 euro or a small bit more

[vicaphit]

I am not sure what it would cost in Europe, but I have an ASUS P5KC that supports LGA775 chipsets, works with dual and quad cores, and crossfire. It cost $140 about 4 months ago.

[DaddyRabbit]

Currency Converter tells me 100.00 Euro = 158.30 USDNot sure about VATs and all that stuff or how the resellers are in Europe in your area but there are a couple at the Egg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131296 will support the 8400 and HD4850 plus will allow for 4850 Crossfire down the road (8x8 only though)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131295 If you are sure you never want to Crossfire and want to save a couple of bucks.

If you wanted to go a bit more (120-130 euro) you could probably look at an X38 board that could do Crossfire at 16x16

[FXW48]

ive been looking in to egg and seen cheap stuff but they dont ship to europe,correct me if im wrong but if there is another cheap website that ships to europe cheaply and you can get good bargains tell me thanks

[DaddyRabbit]

Tigerdirect is OK, I had no problems with two orders from them, and they ship internationally, look at this FAQ under "shipping " for a list of where they ship to. Not sure what VAT or other taxes will do to you though
http://www.tigerdirect.com/sectors/help/faq3.asp

They have these in P45 (I wouldn't get the Biostar):
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... 0&name=P45

These in X38 (only the Abit supports DDR2, the others are DDR3)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... otherboard

Always make sure to check memory support (DDR2 vs. DDR3)

EDIT - I provided the Egg links for reference only and am not sure how shipping, taxes etc are to Europe so YMMV

[FXW48]

cool man thanks again