Best Mobo for Intel's Extreme Edition QX6700

Try the EVGA 680i.

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&t...

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.

Whew 7 grand, I'm sure you could buy the same system, maybe not as stylish, for half price if you built it yourself.

Ze Taco is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Khokay, first, we choose ze cpu. I think the x6800 is better for gaming, but we shall oc your cpu to hell and back to make up for the difference, I think 4.5ghz is achievable with the cooling I shall have for you
this cpu is futureproof, it will last a full 6months! instead of the usual 3
ze motherboard
le ram, get 4gb of these
ofm, it's only $550!! get 2 of these
two of these, raid 0
os only
you need this for the os drive
weeeeeeeeeeee I found a case
just to be safe
thise should be enough though

cooling
cpu
I will create a custom loop for the rest, taco has you covered 8)

here's for the rest of the system (completely optional, but you would want some extreme cooling on the quad)
rad option 1
rad option 2
chipset
pump
tubing

I think that should keep you nice and cool

Also, you could change the ram to this (which happen to be $100 less yesteday :x ) that allows you to hook it up to a water cooler
ocz flexXTC
and then connect it using these
adapter
the proper size tube

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.

True, but the features that come with ultimate are endless, and also, you wouldn't want to buy two very expensive cpus, better off to buy it now and be done with it. Any suggestions on the builds I've compiled?

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*  

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.  

tell me about it, I can barely afford to replace my ram, and that only costs $300, I really could use some help to pay for it, but that's too much to ask people here for money

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

get this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681...

The rd600 should offer far more than the striker, only problem is that you can't run sli on it, you have to get crossfire r600's (if you can afford it)

If you know where to look and are smart enough, you'll be able to run "SLI" on it. That being said, who wants to run SLI/Crossfire as a day to day thing?

about time your back

But yeah, you could find a way around it

btw, what's better
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1682...
or this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1682...
same price, both great ocers

I'd go Crucial any day of the week.

Go with the Crucial.

so you think I can achieve 1200mhz cas4 with reasonable voltage on the crucial

I always wanted to go with the crucial, expecially when it was only $250 on black friday, but I couldn't find any reviews on it, and newegg only had 3 reviews (never trust newegg reviews I know, but their better than nothing) so I went with super talent. Now that I've seen the geil guaranteed on amd systems with the 590asus boards to reach 1200mhz cas4, I don't know what to get

I'll say i again. Go with the Crucial.

okay


I'm just hoping I can hit 1200mhz on the crucial, plus, I need to either rma my super talent, or sell it on ebay first

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

not necessarily, this is
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681...

But you'll either to get crossfire r600's or a hacked bios to run games at their full potential with dx10. You won't need water cooling, as I said, that's completely optional, just get this version of the 8800gtx instead
http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=4271
It's guaranteed by sparkel to run at 29dba and under 60*C, so you won't need to water cool the gfx cards for quite cooling, just maybe the chipset, so you can oc higher. But definately consider the phase change, they are pricey, but worth it, it will keep your kentsfield at sub-zero temps without having to worry about leaks etc that water cooling has, just make sure to insulate well. I'll walk you through that though

If you're worried about water cooling you could always buy this instead.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835702002
Its Ninja approved.

I'd have to disagree with you on this one, the gaming monsoon uses aircooled tec's, so their rated very weak (something like 80w or less), meaning that the performance of that isn't that much better than the tuniq towers, and not worth the price. I'd say this one is a better solution for tec cooling, as it comes pre-assembled and everything, and has 7 peltiers vs one
http://www.xoxide.com/coolit-systems-tec-water-cooling....

Hmm...



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

Stick with the phase change you were going to get, Dario and I have debated on this cooler for a long time now, and we've found that since it uses aircooled tec's, they only give you the performance of a triple fan rad or so that has very crappy cfm's on the fan. On the plus side, it's all assembled and quarantees you no leaks, or coolit will pay for another build. Your young taco is learning, but I just want to see your opinion on this

Ugly 8800GTX... Oh well doesn't matter when it's in your rig right?



No it's not. Not stable at least.

No it's not. Not stable at least.

Well, something tells on a rd600 with phase change running your cpu at sub zero temps, 4.5ghz is achievable. Correct the taco if he's wrong here, but considering people have gotten their qx6700's up to 5ghz stable with phase changes and ln2, 4.5ghz is entirely possible, especially considering the rd600 does a better job at ocing than the striker

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)



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.

Consider the Asus Striker Extreme and the EVGA/BFG 680i (if you want an nVidia reference board).

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36526
here's one site
I have seen about 6 or 7 more too, I'll find them, but just to let you know, ninja got his x6800 to 4.9ghz if that means anything to you, and that wasn't with phase change, ln2 or any of that stuff. Taco knows what he's talking about

here's a x6800 at 5ghz

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.

OMG Taco, is that a DFI board that doesn't have a cheap fan on the NB/SB? ...that uses quiet passive cooling? I'm duly impressed.

That doesn't matter, it's the chipset that does, just talk to 3lfk1ng about his, he'll tell you how amazing it, but right now he's telling everyone to wait until the review's out

And also, considering that the cpu is being chilled to sub-zero temps and it can run benchmarks, I don't see why you say it's not prime 95 stable

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?

I have usually found though that my oc's that pass super pi 1m are stable in prime 95, and the ones that aren't don't last 5 minutes in prime95 (usually memory limitations though)

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.

fine fine, I know they're different, but if you don't think that dropping a kentsfield down half a ghz to a whole ghz as stable on phase change, then I don't know what is, but I know that people have gotten conroes above 4ghz prime95 stable. As I said, ninja's highest oc was 4.9ghz on a x6800, but his best prime95 stable one was still above 4ghz if I remember correctly

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.

Incorrect. The chip WAS stable for a 48 hr Prime run at 4.9GHz

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-...

My bad ninja, but that just conferms what I'm saying about conroes hitting 5ghz stable, and that it is possible to run a kentsfield at 4.5ghz

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.

because the qx6700 performs worse than the e6700 in gaming and single threaded tasks at the same speed, just goes to show extra cache means nothing