NVIDIA Graphics card -i680 or P965?

[deeve]

have been looking, reading, researching and scratching my head on this one and need a little direction. I am building my own system and will be using a E6600 as the CPU.

From what I have read the NVIDIA 8800GTS seems like a really good card for the money (sub$400) and good future proofing with DX10. I am pretty much decided to go with one of those cards so I only have to buy a graphics card once and will be able to game at the best settings.

My problem is I would like a motherboard that will have what I need, again without having to upgrade later. My question is, how likely will the need to go with SLI in the future? The reason why I ask is that if there is a good chance that SLI will be something I might want to look at later then my choice on motherboards is significantly lowered. NVIDIA's i680 seems to be the only choice if I want more than 4 SATA connections and good speed. I am looking at more than 4 SATA's because I plan on having two SATA drives, possibly three, and a SATA DVD-RW. I like several of the Intel P965 Express/Intel ICH8R (no SLI) motherboard too, as they are quite a bit less expensive than the i680's w/o the SATA hard drive issue that I have read about.

Also, what else would you really use a PCI-E 16X for if I do not SLI or Crossfire?

Thanks!
Dave

 

[Xazax310]

Those SATA HD issues have been adressed in a not to recent bio's update.

It just depends how much you willing to spend?

680I because it the best money can buy

975X for great reliability(but bad OCing ability)

P965 For good OCing and and good pricing.

 

[IcY18]

Those SATA HD issues have been adressed in a not to recent bio's update.

It just depends how much you willing to spend?

680I because it the best money can buy

975X for great reliability(but bad OCing ability)

P965 For good OCing and and good pricing.

The 975x is one of the best intel oc'ing boards out there, it has the the best feature set and although finally starting to show its age should never be labled as bad oc'ing capability

To the OP you will never use SLi for reasons

1) its not worth the price from the performance you get from it
2) in 3-5 months time 1 single card will be able to outperform your dual card setup thus making all that money you've spent a big waste, when you could've upgraded later for better performance at a cheaper price

Also SLi should only even begin to be considered when gaming at resolutions atleast 1600x1200, more likely even 1920x1200 and beyond...

 

[airalex1919]

The 975x is one of the best intel oc'ing boards out there, it has the the best feature set and although finally starting to show its age should never be labled as bad oc'ing capability

true, i totally agree, but the 680i is the best overclocker on the market and has tons of features. the 975x would be the next best chip though.

 

[deeve]

I do not think I would end up being a heavy overclocker anyway. This PC would be the first one I have ever had that I would even consider OCing.

I can save 40-100 bucks by going with a P965 and probably save myself a lot of issues by not getting a board that has so much adjustability it gets me in trouble.

 

[airalex1919]

well if your not really an enthusiast and don't know much about overclocking, then i recommend you save yourself the money and buy the 965.


i recommend this board for the p965 chip:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128323

 

[deeve]

well if your not really an enthusiast and don't know much about overclocking, then i recommend you save yourself the money and buy the 965.


i recommend this board for the p965 chip:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128323

Thats one is on my short list.

I am also looking these others:
ABIT AB9 Pro LGA 775 Intel P965 Express
MSI P965 Platinum LGA 775 Intel P965
ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 775

There are mostly feature differences from what I can tell, otherwise they all stack up the same...

 

[LiquidFlame]

Have you considered the 650i? In recent reviews the 650i has proven to be as good and sometimes better then the 680i. http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2894
Also it's pretty cheap: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131142

 

[Valtiel]

Have you considered the 650i? In recent reviews the 650i has proven to be as good and sometimes better then the 680i. http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2894
Also it's pretty cheap: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131142

The north bridge gets hot when overclocking. Be sure to buy an aftermarket cooler to increase your overclocking ceiling.

 

[deeve]

Have you considered the 650i? In recent reviews the 650i has proven to be as good and sometimes better then the 680i. http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2894
Also it's pretty cheap: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131142

I have, but it only has 4 sata's and one esata (how many should I want?) I would like more than that for future add-on ability. Really, the popular 680i board is only $50 more than the 695's I am looking at. I am more interested in having a board with room to grow, rather than cutting edge overclocking.

Thanks for all the advice/suggestions. Dave

 

[ottopw]

The best 965 is The Asus Commando. I own one myself. It has all the options of a 680i board with a more stable and well proven chipset.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131149

ewiz.com has it for $215

If you want SLI wait until there is a new version of Nvidia's dual GPU card and run that on a 965 board.

 

[Valtiel]

If you want SLI wait until there is a new version of Nvidia's dual GPU card and run that on a 965 board.

What? Why? The 7950GX2 was a failure...

Edit: and I think the Asus Commando is out of stock on eWiz I was really thinking about getting one at that price.

 

[ottopw]

Thats why I say wait until theres a new version. You know they will try it again.

 

[IcY18]

Not sure how you consider it a failure? At its time of release and when drivers were finally stabilized the 7950GX2 proved to be one of the most powerful graphic cards on the market. Since ATi had nothing to counter the 7950GX2 sales we're great.

one thing many people confuse with the 7950GX2 as being a failure is the fact that it could get beat by a X1900XTX at lower resolutions, a card that had already been out long before the GX2. well this conclusion is stupid to say the least since the GX2 already had a healthy number of fps and when you crank the resolution up the GX2 separated itself. Quad SLi never was as powerful as he could've been because of game/driver support.

Regardless SLi in general is more times than not a waste of money, but the idea of 2 cards for a single slot is great one, usually offering a lower price, no extra cost for a support mobo and just simplicity altogether whilst still providing a very powerful graphics card. Right now i doubt you'll ever seeing any type of 8800GX2 since there is no market for it right now, we're not on the end of a generation there's no current competition and there is lots more performance to be extracted from the 8xxx series.

 

[Valtiel]

They ran incredibly hot, 1Gb of VRAM was worthless...

I'll agree with you it was innovative (two cards for one slot, what could be better?) but it just seemed like it was out of the spotlight a lot it never really had a strong market you know?

I can't base this on anything I'm simply writing my mind but that is my two cents.