Motherboard for newest build

[ascarytiger]

Hey everyone, I'm looking to build my third system (first since 2002), and I need some opinions on motherboards. I figured I'd post here since I always get good responses from you guys.

I'm trying to decide between the eVGA 680i mobo, and the ASUS P5N-E SLI board.

Here's what I'm putting with it:

C2D E6300 (WILL overclock)
2 GB DDR2 800 RAM (probably some standard corsair XMS2)
8800 GTX or GTS (I havent decided yet, will eventually SLI)
WD Raptor X HDD (probablty RAID 0)
Zalman 9500
Antec 650 Trio PSU
Antec 900 case
Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit

I've read that the eVGA board is incredible, but also comes with many problems. I like the price of the ASUS, but comes with less options, or so it seems. Has anyone had any experience with these boards, especially with Vista. Also, is there any reason why I should NOT use the 64 bit version of vista?

Let me know if you have any suggestions, tips, stories, etc.

Cheers.

 

[jeff_2087]

I think most of the EVGA's problems have been solved in the P24 bios. I'm not totally sure though, because I stopped reading about the problems when I got my 680i and it worked fine. The Asus board can only run SLi in x8/x8, not full x16/x16, so if you want to get absolute maximum SLi performance, the 680i is the way to go. But really, x16 won't be drastically different than x8, even for fast cards like the GTX.

So extra features on the 680i aren't earth-shattering. It's just stuff like dual gigabit ethernet, a couple extra USB slots, I think a couple extra SATA ports, LinkBoost and SLi Ready Memory. I have the latter two disabled anyway because they don't seem to do much at all. Although, the 680i overclocks slightly better apparantly. Not owning an Asus 650i I can't directly compare.

I must ask, though, if you're going for the big cards (8800 SLi), why settle for the slowest C2 in the lineup instead of the midrange e6600?

 

[LiquidFlame]

Yea definitely get the E6600. As to the motherboards, I’m in the same spot as you. Both boards have their problems, but if you’re considering getting the ASUS one, you should get the P5N32-E SLI Plus. Here are some reviews on it.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/02/06/asus_p5n32e_sli_plus/1.html
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTI3NiwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

Right now I think I’m going to go with the eVGA because of its great warranty and customer service and depending on which version you get (AR or TR) the price of the eVGA 680i is either going to be about $30 more then the P5N32-E SLI Plus (not that big of a difference) or actually cheaper then the P5N32-E SLI Plus. I think if you going to spend lots of money in the first place, you might as well get the best that you can and at this point it seems that eVGA’s is the best on the market.

 

[ascarytiger]

The reason I got the E6300 is because I work at best buy, and we have an intel employee purchase program. I got a C2D E6300, an intel mobo (which I am selling), and Vista Ultimate for $220. That's good enough for me to keep the 6300.