Legit Reviews

I will need to replace my MB soon, what is the best 775 MB in the $100 range? I currently have a AB9 Pro that is overheating because it have been damaged.

AB9 Pro
2048 bufflo firestick
E6300
1600X Pro
74 raptor
160 sata

Think the Biostar P965 is good.

~Ibrahim~

There's also the Gigabyte 965P-DS3 Link
But it costs ~$135.


Moved to Intel Motherboard Section

Gigabyte S3 is in that range.

I would try and get the money for the DS3. Maybe even buy it used if I had to only spend close to $100.

No, not the DS3. If you are spending over $120, get the P5N-E SLi. Beats the DS3 in features and overclocking.

~Ibrahim~

Best I can find new for the Asus P5N-E SLI is over $145 shipped at Newegg and on Pricewatch. You may be able to find someone selling it used for $120 or under.

I am actually reviewing the Asus board right now. It is nice so far, but I have not gotten to the overclocking yet. More to com eon that!

Ooh, nice! I can't wait for the review.

It supposedly overclocks very nicely, 500FSB+, but vdroop on load is very bad, sometimes upwards of .08V...

Ah, the P5N-E SLI was on sale yesterday, $129. It is back up to $144.

~Ibrahim~

I really appericate all the help. I'll be looking out for the review. How do the 965 and 975 boards compare? Is there a reason to purchase one over the other?

I think any of the decent 975 C2D ready boards are pretty far above the range you stated. My Bad Axe 2 (which I'm very happy with, although haven't started overclocking with yet...) was $199 USD.

Advantages of the 975 (my opinions only but what caused me to buy)

1. Dual 8x Crossfire support (always been an ATI guy although I'm impressed with my 8800GTS. I do, however, see 2 R600s in my future at some point) and I don't read anywhere that dual 16x has that much of an advantage over dual 8x except in benchmarks, I didn't spend this much money to get "mondo scores" in 3DMark06 so I don't really care about that.

2. What some people call "long in the tooth" I call a mature platform (e.g. most of the "major" bugs are worked out). One of the major issues with the BX2 is that the secondary raid was switched to a Marvell controller and when disabled the HDD LED stays constantly lit (as compared to SATA drive corruption, fried RAM, and radical system instability I think I'll stare at the LED awhile )

Cons:

1. It's "long in the tooth"
2. most boards still a little pricey

Advantages of the 965

1. COST
2. ICH8 is supposedly better
3. Overclock better in most cases (than the 975).

Cons:

1. No "Real" Crossfire support
2. Requires the use of a third party SATA controller (further propagating the "F6 to load drivers PITA", and requiring at least a USB floppy to even install the OS.

I was all over the 680i until I started reading the horror stories and, like you, I want OOBE not hours of futzing around just to get a system that "kinda'" works but getting the boxes ready for the inevitable RMA return ship etc.

The 650i looks very interesting bit I finally decided to go with the tried and true so purchased the Bad Axe 2 for $199 and haven't been sorry yet.

I got the 8800 GTS vs. the GTX because of budget. While the 680i has been a struggle for Nvidia I think the 8800 series can be qualified as a "win" up to this point. There are some driver issues (I'm running on the CD provided drivers) however the cards perform well IMHO and Nvidia finally broke the Image Quality vs. Frame Rate argument between ATI and Nvidia cards. The IQ on the 8800 is pretty darned Shweet.... I'm sure that in 6 months the price will be much lower and R600 will be out and I might have a twitch of remorse but that's just the nature of the beast

I have no regrets with this purchase either (the 8800GTS).

This has not been an easy time to upgrade because of all the new stuff recently released and even more the stuff to be soon released. My problem is I am an instant gratification ho and can't wait. I honestly would recommend waiting for a while till the whole release cycle settles down and the user and site reviews start flowing (cant find a lot on the BX2 board at all ).

Either way best of luck!

Danno, Hard OCP, Anandtech, and Techgage have all reviewed the P5N-E SLI. It kicks ass, great overclocking, and a bundle of features. It beats the P965 hands down, IMHO.

~Ibrahim~

Man I got a deal. I found a ASUS P5W DH Deluxe on newegg for $166. I am using it to replace my AB9 Pro

haha, nothing like splashing out on more expensive stuffs!

Dan

ikjadoon wrote:Danno, Hard OCP, Anandtech, and Techgage have all reviewed the P5N-E SLI. It kicks ass, great overclocking, and a bundle of features. It beats the P965 hands down, IMHO.

~Ibrahim~

Ours is almost done... and I think you will like the board.... a lot!!!

I found a ASUS P5W DH Deluxe on NewEgg for $160. Sure it is an open box with a limited return policy but its great. It came in 100% working order with all the extras.

thanks for all the advice

can't go wrong with the Intel 975x chipset... It just works!