Is the 650i SLI/Ultra worth waiting for?

[racerboywonder]

So I'm finally buying my system now that prices have pretty much settled (except crazy-ass RAM prices) and things have had some time to mature. Just as I'm about to pull the trigger, I read about the 600i series motherboards, and now I'm wondering if I should wait again. The 680 is really nice...but I don't think I want to spend $260+ on a motherboard (unless convinced otherwise), which leaves the 650s. I read somewhere that they're going to be released in December, but I'm not sure if I want to wait another 2 weeks! Is it worth it to wait, or should I just get a 965/975 board now? Is there any current board that is generally quirk free out of the box?

 

[niz]

So I'm finally buying my system now that prices have pretty much settled (except crazy-ass RAM prices) and things have had some time to mature. Just as I'm about to pull the trigger, I read about the 600i series motherboards, and now I'm wondering if I should wait again. The 680 is really nice...but I don't think I want to spend $260+ on a motherboard (unless convinced otherwise), which leaves the 650s. I read somewhere that they're going to be released in December, but I'm not sure if I want to wait another 2 weeks! Is it worth it to wait, or should I just get a 965/975 board now? Is there any current board that is generally quirk free out of the box?

If you're not worried about SLI then the 975 isn't bad. I don't think any intel or nvidia motherboards really have 'quirks'. What are you afraid of?

 

[Guest]

I would suggest a 965 board, they've been out for a while, most of the 'quirks' have been worked out. And they're pretty cheap and OC well, the Biostar looks pretty good.
Anand article

Toms comparison

 

[racerboywonder]

Niz...the quirks I'm referring to are things like having to boot with a slower stick of RAM to adjust the BIOS the first time, or IDE-controller problems, or SATA issues. I just want a mobo that will work right out of the box. No major issues, just running.

Labbbby, I am in fact looking at the P5B Deluxe right now...that or maybe the DS3. I saw the Anandtech article earlier and was a little surprised by the results. Didn't even consider MSI until recently, but even now I'm not so sure about it. Not sure about Biostar either...nice price, but the feature set seems kind of lacking.

I really want to build now, but I just don't want to have buyer's remorse because my board is a pain in the ass to get running right/overclock, or because the 650 turns out to be a champ...you know how the game goes.

 

[Doughbuy]

If you wait, there will also be the RD600 coming out from ATI soon (maybe... haven't heard any more definite news about this... goddamn ATI and AMD...) which should also be competitive, however, that's prolly the same price range as the 680i...

I would say, if your not going to go XFire or SLI, get a P5B-E right now, which is a great board with a great OC ability. Even against the 680i, it already holds up pretty well, since it uses ADI sound chip which is better than the Realtek chip... and the 650i will also only have 1 gigabit port, so that wouldn't make a diff either... Only thing is that it won't support 1333MHZ FSB, but unless your going to buy the new 45nm proc, that's not going to matter either...

 

[racerboywonder]

The problem is finding the latest revision of the P5B-E board (1.02g)...if I knew where to get one, I would, as it's cheaper than the Deluxe...

 

[Doughbuy]

True, don't know why it's not widespread here yet... Asus probably wants to clear the stock of P5B's before phasing in P5B-E's? shrug

 

[rwaritsdario]

The 650i SLI is expected to be priced at what the high end P965 are priced now. Definetly waiting for since it might overclock just below the 680i, also the price will drop considerably in Intel chipset once the whole 6X0i line is out.

 

[racerboywonder]

So you'd wait for it over a P5B Deluxe or a DS3? I was going to order tomorrow...it could be a month!

 

[rwaritsdario]

it could be a month!

I could be two, it could be three...
P5B dlx if youre in a rush.