Pure Perfomance (+ affordability)

[Pearlallica]

Hey guys. I just bought a Radeon 9800 Pro, An Intel P4/800 and I picked up 2 gigs of PC3200/400Mhz DDR RAM.

I already own a Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 Platinum, and a network card. I want to buy a top performance motherboard for gaming and doing graphics work. After looking over Tom's benchmark tests, I learned that the Intel 875P chipset is the way to go. (ie. Asus P4C800-E Deluxe). This card has audio and network in it, which I don't need. Is there a board which will give me 875P performance without all the bells and whistles (RAID is useless to me.. also)

thanks guys for your input!

 

[lagger]

look at the p4p from asus .. uses the springdale (865) with performance similar to the 875 (canterwood) a very good value for nearly 1/2 the price

<b><font color=red>Just because you are ignoring those voices in your head doesn't mean they aren't talking about you</b></font color=red>

 

[Pearlallica]

Thanks for the excellent Advice, lagger. I researched the Asus board you suggested, and I think I'll take this route and save a hundred bucks. But, you might be able to save me an additional 60 bucks by answering one last followup question. I'm debating between the P4P..- standard and the P4P-deluxe.

Deluxe basically gives me "AI-Bios". Asus describes this as folled: "The AI-Series enhances system stability based on this pioneering technology. When BIOS corruption occurs, the CrashFree BIOS 2 feature reboots the computer and perform a recovery procedure by using the motherboard support CD when the original BIOS fails."

I'm a graphic designer and gaming hobbyist, not enthusiast. I don't OC, I rarely touch the BIOS unless I have to. Will this feature save my neck, making this a must-buy feature? Or am I best to save my money from this option??

 

[HardWareBoss]

YA Abit IS7.

 

[twofruitz]

go the P4P800 standard if you do not require extra features. i would recommend the deluxe though because you never know when you will need these features or OC. btw OCing is great and i never imagined i would do it but now im the craziest OCer around

<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=6973142" target="_new">3dmark2001</A>

2.4C @ 3.0G
Asus P4C800
Corsair 2x512 3200
Sapphire 9600pro @ 500/700
80G Seagate S-ATA150

 

[HardWareBoss]

Love to brag.