choosing a Conroe 2 motherboard with firewire

[dtechlogic]

Hi guys,
I am not good at choosing motherboard for my computers. I would like some advice from you guys, since you are expert at motherboards. I have decided that i am going to buy the e64 Conroe 2 and Geil 1GB DDR2 memory. But not sure what motherboard to get. I want one with fire 400/ 800 because i have a RAID 500 that i am using with my mac and i would like to connect it to my computer so that i can transfer all my files back. I will appreciate if you guys have any suggestion for a mobo I have a budget of 500 dollars i will pay 150 for the mobo because the rest will go for memory and the cpu. Please your help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Avalanche]

GA-965P-DQ6

 

[dtechlogic]

I don't care about SLI. That' a good mobo is there others out there that will be good for this cpu.

 

[sillywabbit]

ABIT AB9 Pro

ASUS P5B-E Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel

 

[sruane]

My Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 has a firewire port that I use with my digital camcorder. Works good.

 

[mdmoy]

I could not fine a mobo that was conroe-ready (now kentfield?) that had 1394b (firewire 800), so I purchased intel d975xbx - it suits my needs (I don't overclock), and I use the 1394a port for my scanner. I have a 1394b card that has 2 firewire 800 ports and 1 firewire 400 port - my external disks are attached to his card. At some point I'll migrate to eSATA but I already had 1394b card and firewire 800 external drives from my older PC, so it was a no-cost migration to the new PC, and the firewire 800 interface is pretty quick for backups, etc.

 

[cptblackeye]

I have the Intel DP965LT mobo and it comes with one 1394a header and one 1394a rear connector for only $109. I do a lot of video capturing from my miniDV camcorder and this mobo works great. Ignore the newegg reviews because I had no problems setting it up. get the latest drivers and BIOS updates and you'll be fine. You need to run 1.8v ram in this mobo. This Patriot 2 GB kit works great. I got it $80 cheaper 2 weeks ago. This mobo does not natively support RAID but a add on card for this can be had relatively cheap. I do not use raid but I do have a Rosewill card that I used to add SATA to my old computer. Something to look into.

 

[rwpritchett]

I'm afraid what you want doesn't exist yet. Just buy a Conroe ready motherboard and an add-on Firewire 800 1394b card. That will open up a whole lot of possibilities.

 

[glockman]

I really like this board:

http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__Intel_Single_Pack_ATX_G965_Exp_Chip,__24582167/sort_type=bottomline

Like the other poster said, buy a firewire 800 card if you need it - otherwise this board has everything I need; RAID, Dolby Surround, Gb Ethernet, Core 2 support, etc.

http://support.intel.com/products/motherboard/dg965wh/index.htm

 

[dtechlogic]

ASUS P5NSLI Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI Intel Edition ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

GeIL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model GX21GB5300DC - Retail

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model

So far this is what i am going to buy. I just wanted to know if that mother Asus P5NSLI Socket T will be a good buy. Help me out guys give me your feedback on that motherboard i choose is there another one better then that one. I am going to buy a controller card for the firewire.

 

[rwaritsdario]

I agree that an add-on card would be the better option since the motherboards that have a 1394a are out of your budget. The Gigabyte DS3 would be my recommendation, rock solid at stock speeds and great overclocker.

 

[dtechlogic]

What wrong with this motherboardASUS P5NSLI.

Here are my other options:
GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

GIGABYTE GA-965G-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel G965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

I am planning to go with the S3 because the DS3 has bad reviews from user and owner from newegg. Also what's not good about the asus p5nsli.

 

[rwaritsdario]

What wrong with this motherboardASUS P5NSLI.

Here are my other options:
GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

GIGABYTE GA-965G-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel G965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

I am planning to go with the S3 because the DS3 has bad reviews from user and owner from newegg. Also what's not good about the asus p5nsli.

Nvidia Intel edition chips arent very good at overclocking therefore they wont be very stable at stock speeds.

Dont listen to newegg reviews, theyre major n00bs who have no idea what theyre doing. Take a look at this review. And get the 965P if youll go for it, the G has onboard video wich you prolly dont need.

 

[dtechlogic]

Thanks, That a nice motherboard. I am reading the Article you provided. I am sure that i am going to be satisfy with the mobo. So far this is what i
have and let me know if that's a good combination.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13GHz

GeIL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Chann...Kit Desktop

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

This will be my buy. I am sure that i am satisfy with this. now the only thing is missing will be a power supply because the one i have is 20 Pin 480 WATTS. If i should get a power supply which will be the best one to buy with it. Thanks for your help.

 

[rwpritchett]

Hello again dtech,

Do you still have a budget of ~$500? Looks like you're pretty close to that right now.

For a PSU, try to get Dual 12V rails, PFC, and a PCIe connector with enough juice to power that 7900GT.

Here are some suggestions:

Budget PSU: HIPER 4M480 ATX 480W Power Supply 100 - 120Vac / 200 - 240Vac cUL,TUV,CB,CE,FCC - Retail $55.99

Better PSU: ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail $99.99 (MIR)

High-End PSU: OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply - Retail $129.99 (MIR)

Also, you can use your existing 480W PSU with the 20-pin and your PCIe adapter. The DS3 user manual says that it has the extra 4 pins blocked off for this purpose and you need to remove the cover to use a 24-pin. See if it works and then maybe decide to buy a new PSU.

 

[TPLAT]

Thanks, That a nice motherboard. I am reading the Article you provided. I am sure that i am going to be satisfy with the mobo. So far this is what i
have and let me know if that's a good combination.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13GHz

GeIL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Chann...Kit Desktop

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
This will be my buy. I am sure that i am satisfy with this. now the only thing is missing will be a power supply because the one i have is 20 Pin 480 WATTS. If i should get a power supply which will be the best one to buy with it. Thanks for your help.

I went through two of these motherboards from Frye`s Electronics. The first one had a small circuit or something fry on it right after it powered up then was dead, the second one ran fine but had a driver problem that prevented it from being able to burn a dvd disc to a second dvd burner, I had two dvd burners installed and was only able to burn to one of the dvd burners, a tech support guy at Gigabyte told me that I had another motherboard with a defect. These are two boards I`m looking at but am still in the learning process here for motherboards. As for a PSU I like the modular type as you only hook up what you need for power wires.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128323

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127011

 

[dtechlogic]

Hi Guys,
Fry's has the Asus P5N SLI motherboard With E64 Conroe 2 as Combo for $349.99. Is That a good deal or just cntinue with what i have mention before. Because my total at newegg for cpu and mobo is $366.99. What do you guys think. Let me know your opinion.

 

[TPLAT]

I just picked up a Gigabyte DQ6 and just got it set up and really havent had a chance to play with it yet, still trying to figure out how to change the SCSI drivers my two dvd burners are to IDE drivers. I think I got out the door for a little over $300.00, the advantage to getting a motherboard at Fryes is that if there is something wrong with it you can take it back and exchange it or get a refund instead of having to ship it back to an online retailer like Newegg.com

Well not sure how or what I did in the BIOS settings but got my two dvd burners to use IDE drivers.

 

[rwaritsdario]

Hi Guys,
Fry's has the Asus P5N SLI motherboard With E64 Conroe 2 as Combo for $349.99. Is That a good deal or just cntinue with what i have mention before. Because my total at newegg for cpu and mobo is $366.99. What do you guys think. Let me know your opinion.

The P5N SLI is $30 cheaper than the DS3 so actually youre paying $15 more...

Does the kit youre going for has 4-4-4-12 timings? If it doesnt, you should change to one that does. The CL4 kit will be able to reach DDR2 800 CL5.

Go with the E6300, with the DS3 and this memory you can match the E6400 speeds with even the stock cooler. Even that for further than that I recommend the Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro for its great $/performance.

The OCZ GameXstream 600W is an amazing PSU that doesnt lack of anything.

 

[dtechlogic]

I am gettinga antec 500 watts powr supply from my friend. He just switch all his stuff to water coolent. The computer that i am going to use will be for gaming only and some dvd ripping and applications but mostly for gaming and the memories are 4-4-4-12 so it will be okay i think. I am still reading more reviews on other motherboards. I was thinking of amd but since i never used amd before i don't know how is the setup or what kind is out there so i will stay with intel since it is easy to know which is the best one and the low end one. Thanks for your help guys and keep providing what will be the good mobo for me to buy With a Budget of 500 dollars in total for the cpu,mobo, and memory.
Also i bought a pci card Firewire 400 for 12 dollars at compusa since they were closing out. and everything was on special.