965? 975x? 680? Need a lil help

[Xoios]

Hey guys, I am building a new computer and need help on picking a motherboard type.... I am thinking of overclocking a 6400 and was wondering what kindof motherboard should i be looking for? I am a beginner overclocker... and I think in the trends that newer chipsets are better!... am I wrong?

Which one should I go for? I am assuming 965 < 975x <= 680...

I am thinking of buying the MSI Platinum 975x v2 Powered up (Editors Choice HEHE)

THanks guys.

 

[Infanity]

if your planning on SLI go for the 680i as both cards run at 16x insted of 8x,as far as i know the 8800gtx can utilize 16x and would be slowed down with 8x imo.

 

[Xoios]

nah.. i am running 1 graphics card only... got myself a BFG 7900 GS OC from boxing day sale in Canada... soo... what I really wanna know is the difference in 965 and 975x... cause my deduction is bigger number = better chipset... or am I ignorant? Please tell me! thanks!

 

[Infanity]

the 975x will be your best bet.

 

[PSYCHoHoLiC]

You'll Generally hit a higher FSB with the 965 over the 975X.. Performance at a given bus speed is almost identical.

 

[terror112]

Id use the evga 680i if i was overclocking or using sli.
Id never use the 975x now that the 680i is out(it is just not worth the same price for lower performance)
EDIT: now if you want cheap mainstream performance with plenty of features and moderate overclocking go for the P965.

 

[roblob]

the 965 performs better than 975x and is cheaper, so unless your doing crossfire go with 965

 

[cb62fcni]

In a nutshell, the P965 was designed as a budget C2D chipset, whereas the 975 was touted as being an enthusiast platform. However, since the 965 is newer, it outperforms the 975 in a number of categories, especially memory bandwidth and overclocking. It had some issues when first released, but BIOS revisions have fixed all issues and increased the performance of the chipset. Both the 965 and 975 offer good storage options. If you're only running one gfx card, just get the 965. The Gigabyte DS3 is an excellent board, as is the DQ6, which offers Xfire and Quadcore support. The ASUS P5B series is also excellent, though get at least the P5B-E or up for the best overclocking performance.

The 680i, although a superb performer, is also an insane power-hog. I would only recommend it to those who are intent on running an SLI setup or who demand the best regardless of cost.

 

[Xoios]

Thanks for the replies man... was great help... can anyone give me a few more opinions? cause the opinions so far is shooting me at 965! I am going to run a 6400 at 3+ ghz... 1g or 2g pc6400 (OSZ)... a single BFG Geforce 7900 GS OC... in an Antec 900... THanks lots!

Ya... I think I am shying away from 680 now... so only 965 or 975x

 

[cb62fcni]

What cooler are you looking at? I was able to get a 6600 on a DS3 to 3.4Ghz with a Big Typhoon without going over 55C load in a 900, so 3 Ghz with a 6400 is definately do-able.

 

[Xoios]

I am trying to score a Tuniq 120... but that thing is hard to find in Toronto... the Zalman 9700 is available... but I heard its not the best... anyone suggest a step up in air cooling from Zalman 9700?

 

[PCAnalyst]

As far as Mobos go... the 965 is more than adequate for what you will need with your components... ASUS P5B-E is a sound choice for the features it has.

The Tuniq T-120 is a great cooler... low noise and one of the best for air cooling...

I found mine HERE and it looks like they still have some... hope your able to get from there.

 

[cb62fcni]

The Tuniq is probably the best, the Big Typhoon, Zalman 9700, or scythe ninja will all get the job done.

 

[darkstar782]

The 680i, although a superb performer, is also an insane power-hog. I would only recommend it to those who are intent on running an SLI setup or who demand the best regardless of cost.

Well at just 11W more than a 975X, I guess you also unplug your monitor when not using it rather than leave it on standby in order to save power right?

Christ... a single 80mm fan uses 11W

 

[cb62fcni]

The 680i, although a superb performer, is also an insane power-hog. I would only recommend it to those who are intent on running an SLI setup or who demand the best regardless of cost.

Well at just 11W more than a 975X, I guess you also unplug your monitor when not using it rather than leave it on standby in order to save power right?

Christ... a single 80mm fan uses 11W

I don't know where you got your numbers, but go here:

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2891&p=6

It uses 64W more than the 975 at idle, and 40W more under load. How many 120mm fans is that? And no, I let my monitor go to standby, but my girlfriend usually comes around and shuts it off when I'm not paying attention, she's even worse than I am.....

 

[tomhole]

Thanks for the replies man... was great help... can anyone give me a few more opinions? cause the opinions so far is shooting me at 965! I am going to run a 6400 at 3+ ghz... 1g or 2g pc6400 (OSZ)... a single BFG Geforce 7900 GS OC... in an Antec 900... THanks lots!

Ya... I think I am shying away from 680 now... so only 965 or 975x

I have the P5B Deluxe with an E6700 in it. I'm not a savy overclocker, but with a stock cooler, I'm running it at 3.2 GHz with an 8x CPU multiplier and 400 MHz FSB. That puts my Corsair XMS 6400 memory at its advertised 800MHz and 4-4-4-12 timing. I'm also running stock voltages. At idle, it's 45C. Full load (Orthos) it's 64C. If I enable PECI in the BIOS and only look at the ASUS temp data, it's actually 16 deg C cooler than that, but the ASUS data with PECI enabled is just wrong.

I have a Scythe Infinity on the way. Once I get it installed, I plan to up the voltages and go for 4GHz. I got it to boot and pass Memtest at 4GHz with higher voltages and 4GHz, but anything above idle heats up the CPU real fast.

Anyway, I haven't found anything that the P5B Deluxe can't do. I love the SATA options. I have 4 x 250 gb HDD I'm running in RAID 0+1. I also have a SATA DVD plugged into the Intel RAID controller. They get along nicely. I also have an IDE HDD that I use for data backup. And I have an external ESATA/USB HDD that I have plugged in for data swapping. Even with all that, I still have 2 open SATA ports and 1 open IDE slot. That's a lot of drives.

Only thing that the P5B is not really good at is sound. Actually, it sucks at anything but stereo. If you want 5.1 or better, buy a sound card and disable the on board sound. It's useless.

Hope that helps.

Tom

 

[mpkonig]

They also have the new 650i series coming out...i think asus has the only one out at the moment...but the other companies are expected to release theirs within the next 3 weeks..

dont know if toms did a test or maybe Anandtech but they were testing the 680i and the 650i against the intel boards...and for 140 bucks...the 650i was performing just as good if not better than the 680i in alot of the test...so that might be a way out also...

might want to wait to see what the other companies boards offer performance wise

 

[cb62fcni]

Yea, the 650i is a good board also if you don't mind waiting. The ASUS is probably the only one that will differ much from the reference board though.

 

[Tyhr]

I'm still afraid of the 680i due to all the SATA hard drive corruptions I've been reading about. Anyone know if this has actually been fixed - and I mean not what the Nvidia representative said, but are the actual users with the problems stable yet?

Also the higher energy consumption of the 680i is a minor concern. I'm not worried about the extra $20/year or so it costs to run, but more concerned about the extra heat.

Unless the vapor-RD600 ever sees the light, I'm thinking the 965 is the best solution. (And the best 965 oc's better than the best 680i).

Anyone know when the new versions of the 965 are being released (like the Asus Commando)? I heard January, but that was in November/December...

 

[darkstar782]

The 680i, although a superb performer, is also an insane power-hog. I would only recommend it to those who are intent on running an SLI setup or who demand the best regardless of cost.

Well at just 11W more than a 975X, I guess you also unplug your monitor when not using it rather than leave it on standby in order to save power right?

Christ... a single 80mm fan uses 11W

I don't know where you got your numbers, but go here:

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2891&p=6

It uses 64W more than the 975 at idle, and 40W more under load. How many 120mm fans is that? And no, I let my monitor go to standby, but my girlfriend usually comes around and shuts it off when I'm not paying attention, she's even worse than I am.....

Clicky

And here we are showing the difference as under 20W, idle or load.

20W is nothing really. An increase of 20W in CPU power consumption is an issue as it means you have to cool it, but an overall 20W more system power consumption could as easily be due to less Vdroop than more chipset comsumption.

 

[dean7]

Read this THG article on southbridge performance:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/03/the_southbridge_battle/

After reading this I would go 965. But, then, RAID performance is important to me and it might not be a consideration for you. Anyway, I hope that helps and good luck.

On a side note: I don't really think you can go wrong with any of those because they are all nice chipsets.

 

[Xoios]

well... i blasted into my neighbborhood computer part store and saw a Asus p5n-e SLI 650i... and I bought it.. hahaha... was cheap! Its pretty good so far i guess.... (don't think I can tell good from bad)

 

[cb62fcni]

I wonder why there's the discrepancy in power consumption numbers? They're both reputable sites that rarely make mistakes. Maybe new bios revs somehow dropped power consumption for the 680i? I'd also say that 20W is relatively minor, 60W is rather pushing it though. Especially with the way the 680i is laid out, with the extra wattage being dissipated off of the Vreg heatsinks...

As far as 680i RAID corruption, it basically seems to be a completely random issue. I wouldn't worry about it terribly much, though exchanging motherboards is a hassle. I've yet to hear any updates on it, but I'm confident it's an issue that Nvidia will address quickly.

I also agree that the 965 remains the single best chipset available for non-SLI using overclockers. The Commando is supposed to be Q1 07 last I heard. The DS3 is probably a better buy, those ASUS RoG boards are crazy expensive for what you get. Gigabyte just released a new F9 bios for their 965 boards that further optimizes their overclocking ability (And officially adds quad support). 505 FSB = Sweet. Andandtech has more if you're interested.