Which mobo should i go for? for a C2D-E6600.

[CvP]

i wanna buy a new pc. core 2 duo E6600 is on my list. but im having trouble about deciding the mobo for it. :?

Here's what i want:
A mobo with the following abilities:

* support for Core 2 Duo i.e. 965/975
* i dont need SLi or Crossfire support
thus just ONE pci-e x16 for Gfx Card
* some other (optional) pci-e x1/x4 slots
* ability to OC C2D-E6600 to it's max level
o currently, i dont know the limit of E6600, but E6700 can OC to 4GHz easily (with the right mobo). i hope E6600 can go there too. anyone knows anything?
* support for 1067MHz FSB
* support for atleast DDR2-800MHz with nice timings
o i may later switch to DDR2-1067MHz, but now i want to use DDR2-800MHz
* atleast one IDE port(s) will be great
* sata (better if sata2) ports
* built in lan card (optional)
* built-in sound card (optional)
* built-in gfx card (optional)
* other things as usual

i like the ASUS-P5W-DH-Delux. but i dont think i need two pci-e x16 and/or the crossfire thing.
so, anything like this mobo, without crossfire/SLi should be ok.

anyone, any suggestions?
thanks in advance.

 

[177ine177ine]

My advice. Stick with the P5W DH Deluxe. Has all the features you asked for and is also a really good overclocker. Loaded with extra features. Had to make the same decision as you and even though I wasn't going to use the Crossfire/SLI, I still decided to get it.

 

[nukemaster]

I am getting the P5W as well...i just like all the features.....and in a review it was the best OCer

 

[The_Prophecy]

The P5W DH Deluxe is a good board, but if you want to save some money, go for the Abit AB9 Pro

 

[CvP]

any review of Abit AB9 Pro with c2d? esp e6600?
i wanna get a mobo that will atleast allow me to push upto 3.5GHz

thanks for the find. if i get it, it will really save $100 comparing to P5W-DH

i like the P5W-DH (everyone does!). but since il never go for a SLi/CrossFire,
paying extra for that support isnt a good idea as this mobo costs a lot.

do you guys think, may be at the end of this month, will there be more mobos available like these?

 

[The_Prophecy]

There should be more by the end of the month. I also read recently that Anandtech (or some other tech review website) got the fsb on a core 2 chip to 500 on the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3. Not sure how credible it is, but worth looking into. I'll go see if I can find that report now....

 

[CvP]

thanks man.

as only the 6800 version has unlocked multiplier, anyone with other version (eg e6600) should look for a mobo that can reach higher FSB easily.

 

[The_Prophecy]

That's what I was talking about with the Gigabyte board I linked to. Some review site got the fsb on a core 2 chip (not the X6800.... i think it was an E6600 they used) really high.... so the board seems to have the potential for some insane overclocks.

 

[CvP]

hi again.
would you please find me a link to that article?

 

[CvP]

ok. i found two reviews.
one for Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6
and one for Gigabyte GA 965P DS3

the DS3 costs $200 and DQ6 $270

i dont like the DS3's 3 phase power.
apart from the following, what else do i lose if i go for DS3 instead of DQ6?

i get an extra PCI slot (nice) but lose a PCI-E x4 slot
6 SATA instead of 8 SATA (r these SATA2? :? )
just a little less USB ports (doesnt really matter)
inferior sound card
no firewire (3 in DQ6) (i dont need firewire...atleast not now)

i think DQ6 has just the above mentioned advantages over DS3...
is it worth the extra $70?

EDIT: DS3 is $149 in newegg.com

 

[ocnewb]

First of all what are you planning on doing with this PC?
If you can wiat for the new nforce 590 mobos do so.
If you cant, id pick the DS3.. The OC's im seeing are insane on that thing.
a 2.1ghz e6400 hittin 3.5 on air is quite nice indeed.

 

[Doughbuy]

I still prefer Asus over Gigabyte, but thats probably a personal preference. Either way, if you don't have the CPU yet, might as well wait before deciding on a mobo. CPU prices will go down shortly and a lot more mobo's will come out with much better support.

 

[ocnewb]

Well you said u didnt need sli or crossfire, and if you get the P5WDH thats pretty much all your shelling the extra $100 out for. The Asus P5B is a single PCI-E but i hear the onboard sound is crap. I think the best bang for your buck is the DS3 or wait for the new stuff due out in a couple weeks.

 

[CvP]

everyday use, play games, work etc etc...
i dont need nforce as i dont want SLi/Crossfire

now more on DS3/DS4/DQ6
someone, please help me to clear my confusions.

Here's the individual specification of
DS3 ($149): http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2314&ProductName=GA-965P-DS3
DS4 ($???): http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2288&ProductName=GA-965P-DS4
DQ6 ($279): http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2295&ProductName=GA-965P-DQ6

here's their comparision:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_ComparisonSheet.aspx?ProductID=2295,2314,2288

please go through all these and confirm me about the following:
#which boards have SATA2 ? (im really confused about this)
#which have raid? (in comparision, under DS3, nothing about DS3)
#in comparision, x16[x8]. what does it means? x4 turns x8 and x16 turns x8 when used in dual gpu mode?
#in comparision, nothing about eSATA2 :?
#i think, all of them have same overclocking abilities.

and finally, which board would YOU prefer among these? and why?

PS: DS3 seems to have a LOT of problems.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128012
any comments?

and another model, S3...seems almost same as DS3
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2321&ProductName=GA-965P-S3

 

[The_Prophecy]

I should note that by "all" I mean the DS3 and DQ6, because I haven't seen any store (e-tailer or retailer) selling the DS4.

1. All of those boards have SATA2 ports
2. All of them have RAID as well. The DS3 support RAID 0 and 1. The DQ6 supports RAID 0,1,0+1 and 5.
3. When you get a Crossfire setup going, the DQ6 board only has 16 PCI Express lanes, which means that the cards will revert to x8 mode. Right now, this won't hurt video performance. Both SLI and Crossfire setups don't use that much bandwidth anyway.

Neither the DS3 nor the DQ6 have eSATA2. If you want that feature nativey on the motherboard, you will need to get either the Asus P5B, or the Abit AB9 Pro. If you really need eSATA2, pick up this eSATA add in.

4. I prefer the DQ6, because of the support for Kentsfield (Intel's upcoming quad core CPU).

5. Take Newegg reviews with a grain of salt. The most of the people who post those reviews are either biased in one way or another, or are simply complete morons.

 

[nikolokolus]

if you can stand to wait another month or two, DFI has a board based on ATI's RD600 chipset coming soon, just go to tweaktown.com to read the preview.

It's supposed to be a cool running, amazing overclocker (FSB 420 on a preview sample). Granted it's going to have features (presumably) that you don't need, but if it turns out to be everything promised it could be the best overclocker we have seen for conroe so far.

I'm waiting for either it or the Abit AW9D-max to come out before I take the conroe plunge.

 

[The_Prophecy]

When's the AW9D-Max coming?

 

[nikolokolus]

When's the AW9D-Max coming?

Rumor on the abit forums is end of August . . . we'll see.

That is one thing I actually kind of like about Abit - they may not be first to market, but damn if their mobos aren't stable as hell.

 

[CvP]

I should note that by "all" I mean the DS3 and DQ6, because I haven't seen any store (e-tailer or retailer) selling the DS4.

1. All of those boards have SATA2 ports
2. All of them have RAID as well. The DS3 support RAID 0 and 1. The DQ6 supports RAID 0,1,0+1 and 5.
3. When you get a Crossfire setup going, the DQ6 board only has 16 PCI Express lanes, which means that the cards will revert to x8 mode. Right now, this won't hurt video performance. Both SLI and Crossfire setups don't use that much bandwidth anyway.
4. I prefer the DQ6, because of the support for Kentsfield (Intel's upcoming quad core CPU).
5. Take Newegg reviews with a grain of salt. The most of the people who post those reviews are either biased in one way or another, or are simply complete morons.

1. nice to know. i guess, mentioned or not, 3GB/s means SATA2
and SATA2 are compatible with SATA1 drives, right?
2. is it possible to have raid, without hardware raid support? (just curious)
3. I guessed it. just asked to be sure. thanks.
4. me too.
5. im concerned about this thing.
"WARNING ABOUT THIS BOARD: IF YOU USE SATA RAID ANY IDE DEVICES REVERT TO PIO MODE. MAJOR ISSUE ON MANY FOURMS!"
as i WILL be using one/two IDE devices and man! i HATE POI mode.

DFI has a board based on ATI's RD600 chipset coming soon

ATI RD600 is for crossfire, right? does it means that i wont be able to use nVidia gfx cards with it? let alone SLi...
however, 450MHz FSB seems insane :twisted:

i will buy new pc in mid/end of september, i guess.
i hope, something great will be out by then...

 

[nikolokolus]

1. nice to know. i guess, mentioned or not, 3GB/s means SATA2
and SATA2 are compatible with SATA1 drives, right?

totally backwards compatible and so far not a whole lot of real world difference in performance between the two standards either.

2. is it possible to have raid, without hardware raid support? (just curious)

It's called soft RAID and in general it taxes the CPU pretty heavily and doesn't perform all that well (IMO). Try to find a a mobo with a SIL 3132 RAID controller built in, they are very good onboard solutions.

DFI has a board based on ATI's RD600 chipset coming soon

ATI RD600 is for crossfire, right? does it means that i wont be able to use nVidia gfx cards with it? let alone SLi...
however, 450MHz FSB seems insane :twisted:


The board is indeed a crossfire compatible board, but you can still use a single Nvidia card with it, just like you could use a single ATI card on an nforce based chipset mobo that has SLI. . . but you are right you would not be able to set up SLI with any RD600 based chipset.

The DFI board could also turn out to be a pile of crap (although with DFI's reputation I kinda doubt this), but I want to wait and see what it brings to the table before I shell out $200 to $270 dollars for a motherboard right now. I've always had pretty good results letting the early adopter crowd get hit with all of the bugs and idiosyncracies that come with brand new silicon; it's always best to wait a couple of months after a CPU/chipset launch to see what "the word on the street" really is before parting company with a pile of cash.

 

[CvP]

DFI has a board based on ATI's RD600 chipset coming soon

ATI RD600 is for crossfire, right? does it means that i wont be able to use nVidia gfx cards with it? let alone SLi...
however, 450MHz FSB seems insane :twisted:


The board is indeed a crossfire compatible board, but you can still use a single Nvidia card with it, just like you could use a single ATI card on an nforce based chipset mobo that has SLI. . . but you are right you would not be able to set up SLI with any RD600 based chipset.
somewhere i read that you can use Crossfire in SLi mobos. or may be SLI in crossfire mobos. i dont remember which one i read, but what do you know about it?

and i agree about waiting a bit...though conroe's availability is questionable.

 

[The_Prophecy]

somewhere i read that you can use Crossfire in SLi mobos. or may be SLI in crossfire mobos. i dont remember which one i read, but what do you know about it?

It's possible, but it gets broken every so often. If you really need SLI (and most people don't), wait for a Conroe supporting SLI board (shouldn't be far away now).

 

[windego]

5. im concerned about this thing.
"WARNING ABOUT THIS BOARD: IF YOU USE SATA RAID ANY IDE DEVICES REVERT TO PIO MODE. MAJOR ISSUE ON MANY FOURMS!"
as i WILL be using one/two IDE devices and man! i HATE POI mode.

That and other problems have been fixed in bios updates. You have to remember that the 965 express chipset is new, so there are bound to be more bugs than in mature designs. Asus boards also have many bios bugs.

I like the look of both the DS3 and the DS4. The DS4 however has a heatpipe running through the chipset, which looks nice.

 

[CvP]

5. im concerned about this thing.
"WARNING ABOUT THIS BOARD: IF YOU USE SATA RAID ANY IDE DEVICES REVERT TO PIO MODE. MAJOR ISSUE ON MANY FOURMS!"
as i WILL be using one/two IDE devices and man! i HATE POI mode.

That and other problems have been fixed in bios updates. You have to remember that the 965 express chipset is new, so there are bound to be more bugs than in mature designs. Asus boards also have many bios bugs.

I like the look of both the DS3 and the DS4. The DS4 however has a heatpipe running through the chipset, which looks nice.
r u sure? if yes, then great to hear it.
and yes, DS4 is better.
there is another problem. though it supports different volts for ram, it initially boots with 1.8v and if your ram needs some other voltage, u MUST use some other ram to boot and change the voltage first.
can it be fixed with bois update too?


@The_Prophecy: i dont want SLi/crossfire...u know that. i am just curious. it is always better to have some extra knowledge. thanks man.

 

[fishboi]

A quick question about the ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe mobo. Have anyone completed a build with the mobo in the Antec P180 case???

Also, will this combo work ok with this PSU???? APEVIA (ASPIRE) ATX-AS680W-BL ATX12V/ EPS12V 680W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817148022

Thanks!