Help me pick a motherboard

[heavenz_hitman]

I am upgrading my pc... just to hold off when Vista becomes more prominent like in 2008 or something.
My current specs:
ASUS P4VP-MX
256 mb RAM DDR
Some crappy 32mb vid crad
P4 2.4 ghz

Upgrading to:
Core 2 Duo E6400 3.4 ghz
Geforce 7600GT 256 mb
2x512mb RAM DDR2

Now i just need a good solid mobo which i don't have to change when i upgrade in 2008. I would prefer if it is in 100-175$ price range.

Any recommendations?

 

[TabrisDarkPeace]

What are you planning to upgrade to in 2008 ?

And what quarter of the year ?

What PSU, CPU, GPU, and quantity of RAM are you looking at in 2008 ?

 

[heavenz_hitman]

I think the holiday season. Q4 2008

I am looking for 2gb ram and a high end graphics card, maybe the 8800GT, if it gets cheap or the card below it.

 

[Newf]

These will overclock very well. The DS3 gives you better caps for the extra $36.

Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 LGA775 965 Conroe $145+6 1/06/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128012

Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 LGA775 965 Conroe $109+6 1/06/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813128017

 

[heavenz_hitman]

ummm... i don't know how to overclock. But i think i can learn

 

[Newf]

ummm... i don't know how to overclock. But i think i can learn

OK, I just assumed it because of the 3.4 GHz...

Upgrading to:
Core 2 Duo E6400 3.4 ghz
Geforce 7600GT 256 mb
2x512mb RAM DDR2

If you take overclocking out of the picture, then just about any name-brand motherboard will work. I recommend one based on the P965 Intel northbridge, (like the Gigabytes above). You also will have an easier time of it by using 1.8 volt DDR2/533 value ram such as this:

Kingston value DDR2 2G 533 KVR533D2N4K2/2G $218+0 1/06/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144157

Kingston value DDR2 CL4 1.8v 2x512 KVR533D2N4K2/1G $117+0 1/06/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144152

Other motherboards to consider:

Intel BOXDP965LTCK LGA775 P965 ATX Conroe $107+7 1/06/2007
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813121035

MSI P965 Platinum LGA775 ATX Conroe $135+7 1/06/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130055

MSI P965 Neo-F LGA775 965 ATX Conroe $92+6 1/06/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130052
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=P965_Neo-F&class=mb
Hardwarezone Review MSI P965 7/21/06
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?id=1987&cid=6&pg=1

Of course, in almost 2 years (=14 years for dogs and computers) from now you may want something else anyway...

 

[TabrisDarkPeace]

By Q4 2008 DDR2-667 will be standard, and DDR2-800 will be commonplace (and it'll be standard voltage DDR2-800 too).


Since 1333 FSB will be 'the norm' come Q4 2008, I would recommend Dual-Channel DDR2-667 now, using 2 x 1 GB sticks, then adding another 2 x 1 GB sticks (idential if possible, so Kingston recommended here because of the massive time delay on the planned upgrade).

1333 FSB x 64 bits wide = 10666.67 Billion Bytes / Sec

667 DDR2 x 64 bits wide x Dual-Channel = Also equals: 10666.67 Billion Bytes / Sec


FYI: The Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 runs at 2.13 GHz on a 1066 FSB, but you'll likely want to upgrade to a Core 2 Quad on a 1333 FSB by Q4 2008, right ?

As such you'll want a "Quad-Core Ready" mainboard, likely using the Intel i965P chipset (as recommended above), or an nVidia nForce 680 series chipset based mainboard.

 

[Newf]

Xmas '08 is so far away in computer time that we all might be back to AMD systems by then...

 

[TabrisDarkPeace]

We all might be, but the 'Original Poster' doesn't seam as likely to change plans, especially it they only want to allocate finite funds to their project.

They've made a smart move IMHO since they'll get good longetivity and cost effective upgrades out of a Core 2 Duo system.


Their best option would be a Core 2 Duo E6400 (2.13 GHz), but on a 1333 FSB, to overclock to 2.67 GHz, without needing to worry about other parts running out of spec.

2 x 1 GB DIMMs of DDR2-667 (aka: PC2-5300/5400) will assist with that 'overclock' (of CPU only), and ensure they're ready for 1333 FSB 'standard' parts around Q4 2008 - when they'll be much cheaper.

ED: 2 GB of RAM (or 2048 MB) is what Dell are recommending (and everyone else) as the 'heavily suggested' quantity of RAM to run Windows Vista x64 editions, in 2 years time that is most likely what many consumers will want to be running (if not much sooner than that).