975X or P965? Which motherboard for my Conroe sytem?

[holcar]

Looking for a motherboard that can support my E6600 Core 2 Duo from out the box... no BIOS flashing like the P5W seems to need.

Is there much difference in a mobo with a 975X chipset than a mobo with P965?

Things like DDR2-800 support and support for crossfire come in at a bonus as my budget is fairly tight. Prefferably under $200...

So... can anyone reccomend a mobo? Or will I wait until (... HOLY SHIT!!! tommorow!?!?! 8O ... just realised) and see if anything interesting or promising appears?

 

[RichPLS]

Here are two good articles that should guide you in your upgrade path...

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2797

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/05/22/six_975x_enthusiast_motherboards_for_today_and_tomorrow/page48.html

and here is about the best budget motherboard for Conroe...

http://sg.vr-zone.com/?i=3779

 

[phreejak]

975x chipsets (the conroe compatible ones) will be the higher end chipsets that use ich7 southbridge. Typically, they will only have 4 sata connections and 2 usb connectors in the motherboard (plugs for additional usb attachments like frontbay buses or card readers). 965 was made specifically for conroe and uses the ich8 southbridge. On the 965 boards, the PATA connection will be via some 3rd party chip as the ich8 does not support any IDE connections. Also, on 965 boards you can get anywhere from 6 to 8 sata connections and 3 usb plugs ON the board. It can support up to 10 usb ports in some cases.

If you are going to go less than $200 then you will be looking at boards like ASUS P5B Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 ($170), ABIT AB9 Pro Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 ($160), Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 ($150), ABIT AB9 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 ($150) and the Intel BOXDP965LTCK Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 ($140) - (Newegg prices)

 

[RichPLS]

Multi-posting in other forumz is a no no...
If you must, post one thread only, then start in another forum a thread with a link to you question, it acts sort of like advertising without screwing with posters who want to help you...
It is irritating to answer a post, only to find it also elsewhere.

 

[RichPLS]

Or this AsRock for $85...

http://sg.vr-zone.com/?i=3779

 

[holcar]

I wanted this one deleted >.>... because its not really about overclocking...

unless it can be moved =]

 

[holcar]

what makes that asrock board SO cheap :|?

Seems to have almost everything I need...

Im willing to spend an extra $100 if it will actually benefit me.

 

[phreejak]

It uses the 945 chipset, not as advanced as the 975 or 965. It's more like a waterdown version of the 975x chipset as it only has 4 sata connections. While it is crossfire ready, the PCI slot will operate as a 16x lane with one card - if you add a second card the lanes become 8x each. It also only supports DDRII 667/533 memory, unlike the newer chipsets which support ddr2 800.

 

[holcar]

read some other reviews and apparently the bios sucks... someone claimed there was no option to change the vcore :|