Gaming Mobo: Socket 775, NVidia, and PCI-X. Where are you?

sesnard

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I am in the process of rebuilding a new gaming system, but I am having difficulty locating a mobo wich supports the following features:
1)ATX
2)New Intel Core2 Duo CPU.
3)SLI PCI-E 16 NVidia chipset for new 8800 video cards.
4)PCI-X slot to support my ultra-wide 15K RPM Seagate HD's
Does Asus or any other mobo manufacturer have any of these to be released son?
 
G

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PCI-X are only on server boards...You might be able to find some lower end server board for the XEON 30X0 series, these board are LGA775.

Intel 3000 chipset

S3000AHLX is the only one with a PCI-X and a PCIe 8X, I would hardly call that a 'gaming' board.

I would consider dropping that HD, even if it seams really good! I think you might get close to that with a couple of Raptor in raid0, probably wont suit you, just throwing it out there!
 

sesnard

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Thank you for the info. Don't want to get hung up on semantics, but Asus refers to the following mobos as "workstation" not "server" boards.
"Mea Culpa" if I mislead anyone in my original posting by indicating I was looking for a "gaming" board. The name reference is absolutely immaterial, I just want to optimize my resources.
The M2N32-WS Pro has PCI-X and Nvidia but supports AMD CPU, the P5WDG2-WS Pro has Core2 Duo and PCI-X, but no NVidia chipset. The Striker Extreme meets all my criteria, but lacks PCI-X.
I don't want to argue the merits of UW SCSI's performance and transfer rates vs other drives. Yes, they are more expensixe and have less capacity for the $. The following link explains performance of the SCSi HD's vs others if you want to check out:
http://www.barefeats.com/hard35.html
I already have the SCSI drives and SCSI adaptor. I just want to utilize my existing hardware.
I am sure if ASUS felt compelled to provide the two above mentioned mobos, (whether they are utilized for gaming or not) it will be only a matter of time before they provide another variation with PCI-X, Nvidia chipset and new Intel Core2 Duo CPU.
Thanks again for all your help.
 
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Cool, I understand the benefit of SCSI hd's, I was just mentionning that you might get more drawbacks for wanting to stick with SCSI but these board look pretty strong so it's all good!
 

Nedkt

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ASUS P5WDG2-WS PRO.
Sadly its the only one in its kind. But it has great OCability (better than the P5W DH at least).

I run this board atm. It OCs fine (402 FSB/3.61 GHz e6600 with 3/3/3/4 memory timings@1:1 --- 24/7) and is very stable. IMO it's the best board out right now, including the "beta" eVGA 680i board. The striker will probably beat it, but Striker isn't available yet and will probably cost almost $100 more initially.
 

Nedkt

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Thats a nice OC for 975X 24/7. Whats the maximun youve reached?

So far:
403/3.62 = rock solid stable
412/3.7 GHz = Orthos stable for only about 2-3 hours and with vcore higher than I will accept (1.6+).
423/3.8 GHz = Orthos fails in seconds or less but runs SPi 1M successfully
434/3.9 GHz = Orthos crashes computer, runs SPi 1M successfully.

Anything over that and it won't post or windows fails.

There is a huge vcore requirement right in the neighborhood of 400 FSB/3.6 GHz. My 403 just skirts the line. Any higher and Orthos will start to fail. Right now I can run it 48 hrs with no failure.

The price is that I run at 1.55 vCore at load (actual, not drooped or overvolted) but that doesn't bother me.
 

Nedkt

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Youre a fine specimen my friend. I still think you could go higher than 434 with some minor modding/optimizing.
Interested in any?

Well, I think the next step to OCing significantly beyond what I have is to go water or phase. I'm always open to optimizations and potential mods, though volt modding really only makes sense again with a higher level of cooling than a tower-120 with a 110 CFM fan. I have already stripped the mobo heatsinks and applied AS5, though I am using the ASUS stock heatsinks/pipes still.

My bigger concern than topping 434 FSB is actually better 24/7 OC though. I have always placed greater value on the highest possible 24/7 OC I can get rather than on one-time OCs.

I am sitting with MCH at 1.8v and vFSB at 1.4v (1.5v is destabilizing, or so it seems). vDIMM is 2.2 (with Mushkin max of 2.1). vDIMM is notched up to account for the fact I am running 4 gig of ram.

ASUS has issues with going lower CPU multis combined with high FSB that destabilizes the system so that's out.

I'll be trying a TTBT with a 220 CFM delta next week to see if I can scam some lower temps long enough to run an orthos session at 3.7 GHz.
This fan:
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/de12gf.html

But 3.7GHz needs in excess of 1.6 vCore for stability. I suspect that will remain the case more or less, so if I have to choose between 3.6 GHz @ 1.55v or 3.7 GHz @ 1.62v, I'll go 3.6 GHz.
 

rwaritsdario

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I guess youre missing some lapping. But if you do so, dont use AS5 its too thick. Use any white goop or Zalmans thermal compund.
Since youre feeding some mighty voltages to your MCH it would be wise to add a small fan on top of it too.
I am planning on placing the old HSF from an AMD Pro 2200+ CPU on my Northbridge if its needed and it fits :D
The BT is a great complete cooler, but as you know its not the best one for CPU temps. The problem is that adding that huuuge fan to a Scythe Inifinity or Thermalright Ultra-120 WILL be tough. Consider the Thermalright SI-128 tough, its better than the BT.
Sad that your CPU/mobo starts eating vCORE so early in the game... but I blame it on 975X! haha