Core 2 Duo Mobo Choice

Post by **DMB2000uk** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 7:48 am

I will be building a core 2 duo rig sometime in the near future, *fingers crossed* (september/october time), and I think I've narrowed down most of the components that I'll be getting:

17" Digimate monitor
antec p180
antec 500w NEO HE
E6600 Core 2 Duo
WD Caviar 250GB
LG DVD+-RW
XFX 7600GT
1GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400

Feedback on these would be appreciated too

But I'm unsure what mobo to get. I'm more or less trying to wait till ATI xfire 3200 xp IE is out to decide (hopefully i can wait that long!) as I really like the idea of a cool chipset solution (i.e. not the furnace that is nforce), but don't like the idea of only being able to have crossfire multi gpu (as of yet i don't know if i will ever go multi gpu, but its nice to have that option

)

The main motherboards I will be thinking of getting are these:
- ASUS P5W DH Deluxe
- AW9D-MAX (because i like the idea of both xfire and sli (is that definatly officially supported though?)
- crossfire 3200 express Intel edition

I suppose that its too early to make a fair assumption as two of the boards aren't actually out yet but at the end of the day, I'm going to have to wait a while anyway, so i guess i just wanted to know what you guys thought of my choices

Dan

Post by **DMB2000uk** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 7:50 am

Forgot to mention, I would like to overclock to 400Mhz FSB

so that I can get a 3.6Ghz core 2 duo, though anything above 3.3Ghz (370FSB) will be awesome...

Dan

PS. If anyone over in the states would like to help me out and let me give you the money so you can use LR's awesome Mushkin discount to get me 2GB CL4 6400 Mushkin stuff (instead of 1GB ballistix) and ship it over to me here in the UK that'd be awesome. How much does it cost to airmail these days?

AgentJ · Post by **AgentJ** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 4:19 pm

I'm pretty sure the base AW9D (non-MAX) also uses the dual-GPU option on it (SLI-Xfire)... pretty sure I read it on their site.

The rest looks good. I'd probably get 2GB's of memory, 2 of the same stick pref. Thats a good 10% deal on Mushkin... wonder how long its good for... and shipping/tax details (for US+Cal). Either that, or get this for 185$: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... 5-5&ps=ho1

Problem is I dont know if they or Newegg will ship outside the US, Newegg has the same thing but its 4$ or so more. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145590

Also deciding if the 2 to 4MB cache is worth it for the cash... 100$+ for 7-10% or so performance increase... I might end up going with the E6300 or 6400. (or AM2 4200/4600... if the new intel MOBOs end up costing like 250$)....

Are you sure your Avatar isnt the trump winner dude? Damn, if not you sure look like him:

Post by **dicecca112** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 4:34 pm

I would wait on the mobo well at least the abit. the boards all seem to have there issues. Especially the Abits. The bioses are limiting overclocks. I would either keep an eye on the abit forums, or PM me in a week or so, and I'll let you know what my guy over at Abit tells me about the overclocking of the Aw9 series. if its anything like the aw8d you want to avoid it.

Oh and niether newegg or zzf ship outside the US.a

Post by **DMB2000uk** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 5:25 pm

Im definately not him

A strange looking picture of me to prove it (click to enlarge):

There is a bigger pic of my avatar on the show your member thread on the LR Country Club.

I'll be sure to PM you next week then dicecca, cheers for the advice

Dan

Post by **dicecca112** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 5:40 pm

NP, hopefully skou has the board and has tested it out by then. He's a mod over at the Abit Forums, and he's said he's gonna test a bunch of ram for me.

AgentJ · Post by **AgentJ** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 1:42 am

Including the overclocking maybe you can list any other problems with it if they arise? (like if certain types of memory dont happen to work with it... *snicker*)

I'd appriciate the info too!... I really hope it ends up being a good all-around board though, otherwise I dont know what the hell else im going to end up buying for Core2Duo..

Hopefully something with:
At least 4 SATA slots
At least 1 IDE
At least 2 PCI-E x16 video slots (I guess 2 X8's would be ok... nForce 570-SLI would be perfect, whatever that has)
A 975X chipset
Four X DDR2 667/800 slots
And 1-2 PCI slots (also 1 or 2 PCI-E x1/x4 slots)

I dont know what good motherboard brands are besides Asus or Abit...

(DMB - You do look different in the other two pics, but that first one sure looked like Trump guy, heh)

Post by **DMB2000uk** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 7:03 am

yeah, I've decided that the first picture of me isn't very good

You could wait round till RD600 (ATI board) is out for Intel and see what thats like, but however we play it looks like we're gonna have to wait a bit.

Dan

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 7:50 am

The ASUS P5W DH Deluxe looks like the best of the ones listed

The Asus P5B Deluxe also seems to clock high for some over on XS

Asus P5B Deluxe 506X9 no mods

There's also the Gigabyte board (GA-965P-DQ6)

AgentJ · Post by **AgentJ** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 11:19 pm

DMB2000uk wrote: You could wait round till RD600 (ATI board) is out for Intel and see what thats like, but however we play it looks like we're gonna have to wait a bit.

Dan

Have a question about that... the RD600 you mention its an ATI board. I know one GeForce card will work with Crossfire or ATI chipsets... but if I get another down the road (if I go on a tangent), both wont work /w SLI, will they?... or is there something im missing..

If thats so, im going to need to wait for a nForce based motherboard with SLI.... (Wait a tick, almost all of the Intel motherboards currently out that have two PCI-E videoslots, and dont list Crossfire, are still ATI Crossfire right?)

On the Asus P5W DH Deluxe...... its nice, I'd buy it... but not for 260$... I think thats a major pricehike. I'd rather wait till more mobo's show up or until they decide to lower it down to a more reasonable price.

Post by **DMB2000uk** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 7:55 am

The world of computers can be a crazy place sometimes...

If the Intel board is a 965 one, it doesn't support dual anything, even if it has 2 PCi-e slots. (Someone tell me if im wrong

)

if the Intel board is a 975 one it supports crossfire, sli is not officially supported. So the ASUS p5W will only support crossfire. But then companies like ABit throw a spanner in the works and the AW9D will support both (but may not be a good overclocker!)

The SLi boards will only work with SLi

And I agree, Intel boards are way expensive at the minute.

Dan

injun · Post by **injun** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:22 am

I've got the ASUS P5W DH Deluxe. It seems to be the best one for overclocking and support for several kinds of Intel CPU's and all sorts of goodies. Also has the 975 chip set. It's worth the extra price if you are an OC'er and/or want all the add ons. Just look at all it's features and you will see why it costs over $250. You can add any amount of FSB frequency from 100 to 450MHz. If you wait long enough I'm sure another feature rich Mobo will come along in the future but the ASUS P5W DH is the one to have now for Core 2 IMHO.