Is the 860i chipset worth it?

[ddregehr]

I building myself a new computer. My budget was $1500. Below are my components.

ASUS Striker Extreme motherboard
Intel® Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe Processor 2.4GHz, 1066FSB
Corsair TWIN2X2048-8500C5 2GB Kit DDR2-1066 XMS2-8500
WD SATA II 500 GB
ATI ALL IN WONDER X1900 PCIE 256MB VGA DVI-I TV-OUT
Liteon SHM-165H6S 16X Dual Layer DVD±RW Drive w/LightScribe

Case - Apevia Aspire X-Cruiser AL
PWS - Thermaltake W0117RU Toughpower 750W Power Supply w/Active PFC

I'm a little nervous now about the motherboard. There is a lot of negative regarding Nvidia's newest chipset. Is this going to be a problem or do you think this will be okay. Did I get too cutting edge with the hardware or do you think it will be stable enough?

 

[ddregehr]

I know that the ATI AIW X1900 is not the fastest card in the world, but it has the multimedia capabilities that I want like a TV tuner. I looked at other cards and the total costs would be more. I could get the Nvidia 8800 or the ATI 1950 XTX. I am mostly looking for upgradability. My biggest concern is over the 680i chipset at the moment. Looking for opinions on that chipset in particular. Should I have looked at the Intel 975X chipset instead?

 

[ottopw]

I too was looking at the Striker but am concerned about stability so I am waiting to get the Asus Commando due for release this month. It has the same features though it is base on the Intel P965 chip set. This board's stability and overclock ability has already been proven.

http://www.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=5291

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=307&model=1480&modelmenu=1

YOu can also google for tons more info.

 

[n8dogg]

My striker works freaking great, Not 1 problem from the start, great overclocking and I am very glad I got it

 

[tehrobzorz]

asus should release some newer and revised bios' by the time the commando comes out.. both the chipsets oc about the same and each has their own little specialties. i wouldnt suggest the i975x anymore at this time since 965 can prove to be more stable now. i would still wait a bit more to see the actuall reviews on the commando before jumping on that ship. the striker doesnt have stability problems, just sound when you are running sli, and memory with speeds of pc9200 or higher. otherwise that board is perfect.

Conclusion:

So what more can be said for this ASUS Striker Extreme motherboard other than it's high price. No no, not just high, it's the most expensive desktop motherboard I've ever seen. We're talking a retail price of right around $400! I thought $200-$250 was a lot for motherboards today, but $400 is way out there. It's too bad because I think that will really hurt this boards sales. If it was selling for $299 or less, I think it would really sell like hotcakes.

Other than price, and speaking directly of the motherboard and features themselves, it's an all out powerhouse. It's got every feature (plus 10 others) than I would want in a high end motherboard and some extras like the on-board power/reset/clr CMOS buttons and LED lighting effects.

I did not experience any issues with the ASUS Striker Extreme from the moment I booted it up the first time thru hours of looping benchmark programs and stress testing. Honestly I'm not surprised since ASUS is the world's premiere motherboard manufacturer.

I think the price is a bit high, even for what you get, but you know if there's only a couple things you should spend the extra money on it's the power supply and the motherboard to base the rest of your high powered gaming system off. Sure you can pick up a competitors new 680i SLI motherboard for a lot less money, but you won't get the ASUS exclusive features like the on-boards LED's, the Q-Connector, the LCD Poster, the EL backplate, the silent copper heatpipe cooling solution and 8-Phase power design among others.

This board has everything you could want in a high quality, high end enthusiast motherboard so I'm giving the ASUS Striker Extreme NVIDIA 680i SLI Motherboard an Editors Choice Award! There's many more deep down features that I just didn't have time to cover. Rest assured, I think this is the best NVIDIA 680i SLI motherboard currently on the market.

from this web: http://www.virtual-hideout.net/reviews/ASUS_Striker_Extreme/index7.shtml

hope it helped =]

 

[Nova46]

I wouldn't do it. My friend purchased an EVGA 680i board a few weeks ago and he's had nothing but problems with it. It's unstable, crashes a lot, doesn't even boot sometimes, and very hard to get it to overclock properly. The 680i is a great chipset, when it actually works properly. I would wait a few more months before getting a 680i, when they've worked out all the bugs and such.

You should get the Asus P5W-DH Deluxe. Has the 975X chipset, very good performance and overclocking, stable, and has great features.

 

[UAL3312]

in my honest to god opinion that board is WAY overpriced. get a eVGA 680i it performs very similar to the Striker but is half the cost, the latest P23 Bios is great also fixes 90% of the problems people are having, no one is complaining about sata errors anymore

 

[roblob]

Don't get 680i, it's overkill, but I'm not exactly sure where you are getting the idea of instability from it. Don't get 975x either, it doesn't perform nearly as well as 965p. That ram is also overkill. Don't get the all in wonder, especially if as you said your looking for upgradability. Once you upgrade from that all in wonder, there goes your tv tuner also. The cost of getting a normal gpu and a tv tuner would probably end up costing less also and perform better since the x1900aiw is a crippled card.

 

[tehrobzorz]

uhh have none of you seen the crappy layout of that board?
the front pannel connectors, the 24pin, the ide? wtf is that!?

for upgradability the 975 chipset really wouldnt survive much longer. sureee its all ironed out, good oc good stability but its like 2 years old!

also stray away from reference designs. they usually are just for show by the designer and arent meant to be practical.

time is your best friend. wait for reviews on the commando then make the decision. also the price of the striker may come down too.

 

[ddregehr]

You say it has a crappy layout, but all the experts including the link below
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTI0MywxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==
state this is a great layout. Personally I like the layout and features. When I have read the forums regarding stability on the 680i chipset many have had mix results. Some good and some horrible. I am not going to fork out $400 for an unstable system. I am contemplating going to the 975X or P965. One is the performance chipset and the other is more mainstream. Vendors have both high end and mainstream MB's which both chipsets. Which chipset would you go with if not the 680i?

 

[i_hate_flying]

Re: Is the 860i chipset worth it?

The BMW of chipsets. Too bad they skipped the 7-series. Those are my favourite.

 

[tehrobzorz]

:lol: :lol:


p5b deluxe.

i really would decide against the 975s due to the fact they wernt made for c2d and are only still in use because they were really high end and have cf support.

go with watever you want.

like i said before, if your not in a really big rush wait a bit more.

 

[UAL3312]

seriously, dont get the striker at 400 dollars it isnt worth anything. it may have over a reference board. the reference design is a very good board with a few bugs same as teh striker, however Most of these bugs have already been fixed thanks to eVGA and Nvidia working hard to bring BIOS updates P23 Bios fixed my system. i havent had one error yet caused by the motherboard, only from the damn 8800 drivers witch will also be fixed in time