680i Motherboard. Price not a concern....

[psychp]

So I have the rest of my system sitting in my room at home; however, I am missing the motherboard. Current specs:

E6700
XFX 8800GTX
2gig Corsair Dominator DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12
Couple o' Raptors.
ZALMAN cooling

Now, I had ordered a Striker Extreme from ATACOM. Unfortunately they, like everyone else, seem to be backordered. My question is: Is the Striker that much better to warrant waiting for it to come in, or, would another board suffice?

I've read of the eVGA but I'm concerned about the BIOS support going forward. Also, it's just a reference board so there's not much special about it.

So what I want to know, as objectively as possible, what are the best boards (top 3) to purchase? Am I best to wait on the Striker? Any pros/cons to one board as opposed to the other?

I'm investing quite a bit here and want to make sure my investment lasts me for awhile and keeps me satisified. I DO want to o'clock to at least 3.6 so please keep overclocking in mind.

Thanks in advance!

 

[psychp]

One other board to consider.

Thoughts on the ABIT AW9d-Max? Is it compatible with the NVIDIA cards?

 

[gondo]

Definitely Abit. They have been my favorite board since 1998 when they started off and also a favorite in my store...it's all I'll stock.

No particular model though, jsut choose the one with the chipset and features you want.

 

[tool_462]

From what I have seen the AW9D-Max is possibly the top board for the 680i chipset right now. I haven't heard any bad things about it yet, though the time hasn't been allowed for many bad things to happen yet I love Abit, their customer support and all the products I have owned are top notch!

 

[psychp]

Ok, so the AWD9-MAX IS a 680i board?

I was starting to compare this to the p5n32-e SLI board from ASUS... Thoughts between the 2?

 

[gondo]

Asus has their Bios menus different from everyone else. They don't use the standard blue screen with 2 columns of menus. They have their menus along the top. Its sux.

Asus's website is also frequently down making it a nightmare if you format and want drivers but you can't download them.

Asus RMA is a joke and nowhere's near as good as Abit. ABit RMA can be filed online and a replacement board can be had in less than a week.

I don't care how good Asus is supposed ot be, I'll admit they make a high quality board perhaps the best. But the experience of using and oowning an Asus is less enjoyable than an ABit.

Abit wins hands down no competition. And the uGuru rules. The external uGuru module is a cool option as well.

 

[psychp]

Odd question. I don't think the AW9-max is 680i.

It is 975x which, as I understand, is NOT the same.

What am I losing by going w/ 975x and not 680i?

 

[Featherstone]

I am Fairly confident that theAWD9-MAX is not an 680i board.

Newegg states that the chipsets are

North Bridge Intel 975X
South Bridge Intel ICH7R

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

 

[echoplex]

I *LOVE* my eVGA board....just throwing this in there. It's got everything I need and overclocks like a sunuva*****. Have my e6400C2D @ 3.0Ghz rock solid with stock cooling. eVGA board is very easy to use. I see no problems with this board whatsoever. All my hdd's are SATAII as is my DVD writer. Lots of USB ports. Great product. Knowing eVGA, they'll want to keep their fanbase considering this is their first 680i mobo. They have great customer service and 24/7 tech support. Board support down the road will continue, you can bet your bottom dollar on that. Just my 2c.

 

[komplexKaos]

The AWD9-MAX is not a 680i MB. The IN9 32X-MAX is a 680i MB.

 

[McParty]

Here's another place to get a little more information

http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/index.html

They've reviewed the EVGA and the Striker and I think they reviewed the ABIT board you mentioned.

By not going 680i chipset....does that not let you upgrade to Quad Core down the road?? or is there another chipset that lets you do both??

Right now...Asus is the only company out that has their own 680i chipset Board I believe. All the others...evga, biostar and 2-3 others are all reference boards.

 

[VelFog]

just got my striker extreme yesterday and its a very nice board

the only issue for me was installing the cpu cooler (scythe katana) as the heatpipe jungle was making it almost impossible to tighten the screws on the retention bracket

will have everything up and running soon but i reckon its a feature packed board and the leds add to the bling factor

 

[echoplex]

just got my striker extreme yesterday and its a very nice board

the only issue for me was installing the cpu cooler (scythe katana) as the heatpipe jungle was making it almost impossible to tighten the screws on the retention bracket

will have everything up and running soon but i reckon its a feature packed board and the leds add to the bling factor

I would hope so...you paid a bling and a half for it!