Best Mobo for Intel's Extreme Edition QX6700

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shadez3

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I was just about to dump $7 grand on a custom Alienware system with the QX6700...then decided I should see how much I'd save if I built one...

I've always been an AMD fan so I'm new to the Intel chipset....I know I want the QX6700...but what is the best Mobo I can buy for it...

My machine will have dual SLI 8800 GTX's with 4 gigs of ram...

Purely a gaming rig....

Any advice is welcomed...
 
shinigamiX

shinigamiX

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I was just about to dump $7 grand on a custom Alienware system with the QX6700...then decided I should see how much I'd save if I built one...

I've always been an AMD fan so I'm new to the Intel chipset....I know I want the QX6700...but what is the best Mobo I can buy for it...

My machine will have dual SLI 8800 GTX's with 4 gigs of ram...

Purely a gaming rig....

Any advice is welcomed...
Click to expand...
Try the EVGA 680i.
 
niz

niz

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Actually the 6800extreme is has a faster clock and overclocks better, and is cheaper.
Given that most games aren't multithreaded, thats pretty important.

These gaming benchmarks prove that the 6800 extreme and not the quad is the one to get for a pure gaming rig.

http://www.planetx64.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=419&Itemid=14&limit=1&limitstart=4

The other issue is that if you're planning to downgrade from XP to Vista (yes I know what I said) you may find that a "normal" vista licence will only cover/enable two cores unless you go for a very expensive server version of vista.

I just built a system with dual watercooling loops, passive and active cooling, two watercooled 8800 GTX's, striker extreme, 6800ex CPU, 2GB of corsair dominator 8888, enermax galaxy 1000w psu, 2 150GB raptors, for around 4 grand.
 
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livingdead

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The other issue is that if you're planning to downgrade from XP to Vista (yes I know what I said) you may find that a "normal" vista licence will only cover/enable two cores unless you go for a very expensive server version of vista.

I agree 100% with the vista downgrade comment. Vista Home and Biz limit you to two physical processors not 2 cores. 4 cores will work and function on those machines. However ultimate has enhanced task scheduling for multi core cpus.

As for the gaming rig Quad cores won't be used for gaming for some time. Only a few game studios have talked about using a third [/i]or fourth core for physics processing and all of them said it would only be for games not currently in development. So in short I would wait a few years before considering a quad core for gaming.
 
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Brutuz

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Seems pretty good Taco, No Improvements I can think of atm
also, I can tell why they let you have 2 CPUs in Basic, etc *Cough AMD Cough* :lol:

Anyways, Where do people get the money around here?!
I'm having trouble paying for a AU$1570 upgrade (I hate our Taxes, etc) and I've seen more than one person on here asking for the absolute best. :cry:
 
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rjbgames

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I too am building a new system. I have all the parts EXCEPT for the MB. I was looking at something that is 680i based but after following the forums at EVGA for a couple of weeks I have serious doubts...

At least EVGA is trying to resolve their issues, ASUS on the other hand doesn't seem to be doing much.

I have been looking at one of the Giga-Byte offerings ( 965 based ). It doesn't look too bad and seems to run well and does decent OCing. Not my first choice by any means but after seeing the 680i issues I'm very tempted to say if someone suggests a 680i based MB, run, run as fast as you can in the other direction... 8O
 
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shadez3

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Wow you guys work fast....been at work so this is the first time I get to read the goodies...

I forgot to mention why I said alienware in the first place, I've not dabbled in video card, ram water cooling yet....so I was just gonna try them with a 3yr warrenty to play with...

Thru Newegg.com alone I could build a similar machine for about $5grand....and with Taco's layout I just might....its just I'm worried about the water cooling...

And I did plan on picking up full Vista Ultimate...mainly for the DX10 and multicore processing support...

So the mobo that Taco suggested is my best bet for a gaming intel-based mother board???

Thank you again for the fast info
 
dasickninja

dasickninja

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Hmm...
coolit-tec-water-cooler-3.jpg

coolit-tec-water-cooler-5.jpg

coolit-tec-water-cooler-4.jpg

I think I've found my next cooler...
 
Valtiel

Valtiel

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http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1075792

Here is some real data. Now you can make up your own mind.

I know it happens to be 5 months old but the highest stable clock on the X6800 with phase change is like 3.8 @ 1.65Vcore. It's not as though they can suddenly clock up 700 more Mhz and be stable. I'm hoping Penryn will be amazing like that but we will see 8)

qx6700's up to 5ghz stable
Click to expand...

Impossible. Show me proof and I will believe you. 4 Cores = a lot of margin for error. Even if someone did get such a miracle chip there's just no way in hell you can expect that kind of clock on the QX6700.

I don't mean to be mean or anything its just 4.5Ghz is VERY dreamlike.
 
Valtiel

Valtiel

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That's not stable. Prime 95 stable(at least) I meant. Something you could use in the real world not just for looks or how fast you can run SuperPI. Something that has application.
 
Valtiel

Valtiel

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It's not P95 Stable because I cannot see P95 in the background. SuperPI is not a stability tester. You wouldn't be able to run stable at that speed in a game would you?
 
Valtiel

Valtiel

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That doesn't change the fact that I'm still not seeing that as P95 Stable.

SuperPI is a benchmarking utility. P95 is a stability tester. They are different. Don't compare apples to oranges, please.
 
Valtiel

Valtiel

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Alright thanks. It always rubs me the wrong way when people post things they can't back up. No hard feelings. 4Ghz is incredible to be stable. Must be one miracle chip.
 
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Tyhr

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Just a note for the Q6700 - If you're running a Quad processor, the last time I checked, the Intel chipsets OC'd the FSB the best by a large margin.

(sorry - no links to back it up. I think it was on the xtremesystems forum. I'm not trying to state a fact, rather advice to check a little further if you decide to go Quad over Dual)

The Commando (965) was around 450Mhz+
Some Bad Axe2's (975) got over 400Mhz
The RD600 barely hit 350Mhz
The 680i's struggled to get 320Mhz

Again, note, this is with the Quad cores, not the Duals. As well, BIOS updates can come fast and possibly fix any of these (I was shocked at how low RD600 scored).

- SLI is out for 965 (well, you can sort of run it on the gen 2 boards, but it's not 16x16 - I think it's 16x4?)

- 975 boards do not officially support SLI - although the hacked drivers are not hard to find

- RD600 - again no SLI, but I'm sure hacked drivers will surface someday (and I'm guessing 16x8)

- 680i - the only one to officially support SLI, but also the slowest performer with the Quad core (last I seen). This is not an issue if you get the E6800 though...

Rumors are spreading that the Intel chipsets will soon officially support both Crossfire and SLI - but I'd never buy a computer based off of unconfirmed rumors.

Your budget is insane! If you really have money to burn, check out Tom's review of custom made cases: http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/25/making-a-custom-pc-enclosure-with-protocase/
 
D

dalbert89

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Just a note for the Q6700 - If you're running a Quad processor, the last time I checked, the Intel chipsets OC'd the FSB the best by a large margin.

(sorry - no links to back it up. I think it was on the xtremesystems forum. I'm not trying to state a fact, rather advice to check a little further if you decide to go Quad over Dual)

The Commando (965) was around 450Mhz+
Some Bad Axe2's (975) got over 400Mhz
The RD600 barely hit 350Mhz
The 680i's struggled to get 320Mhz

Again, note, this is with the Quad cores, not the Duals. As well, BIOS updates can come fast and possibly fix any of these (I was shocked at how low RD600 scored).

- SLI is out for 965 (well, you can sort of run it on the gen 2 boards, but it's not 16x16 - I think it's 16x4?)

- 975 boards do not officially support SLI - although the hacked drivers are not hard to find

- RD600 - again no SLI, but I'm sure hacked drivers will surface someday (and I'm guessing 16x8)

- 680i - the only one to officially support SLI, but also the slowest performer with the Quad core (last I seen). This is not an issue if you get the E6800 though...

Rumors are spreading that the Intel chipsets will soon officially support both Crossfire and SLI - but I'd never buy a computer based off of unconfirmed rumors.

Your budget is insane! If you really have money to burn, check out Tom's review of custom made cases: http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/25/making-a-custom-pc-enclosure-with-protocase/
Click to expand...

Here is a link, http://www.legitreviews.com/article/412/19/

Intel Bad Axe 2 OC QX6700 to 3.73 Stable.

This is no surprise considering the Intel Bad Axe 2 was built for the QX6700 and possibly the new line up of Quad cores.

Just out of curiosity though, why on earth do you want to OC the QX6700? You would not be able to gain any performance except for encoding and similar applications. The games now are no were near using the full potential of the QX6700.

This is why I think intels Penryn and AMDs K8L are a bit pointless. Its going to takes years for games to utilise all cores efficiently. Although, Im still getting one when Intel introduce the new price cuts.
 
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