Help in deciding on a quad core motherboard

[Kylon]

Alright, I've been having problems looking around at different motherboards recently. I keep going around continuously on newegg between the same 6 motherboards without deciding because either one or the other has a problem of some such.

the ASUS p5k deluxe has known raid issues, the gigabyte GA p35 dq6 has a problem where a video card any larger than 9 inches in length will dissallow use of some of your ram slots. and from there, reviews seem to joyfully continue to go downhill.

Could someone out there please help me in my decision on a motherboard?

Im wanting:
■Core 2 quad compatable
■DDR2 1066 standard. hell for the sake of it, if you can find a more stable motherboard that runs DDR2800 i might just go with that one instead.
■2 PCIe slots both running 16x, i hate how some motherboards run the second at a lower speed
■Enough room to buy a video card of any size and not worry about it getting in the way of everything else.

If I could get some assistance with this, it would be great. Thanks everybody.

 

[Maziar]

XFX 680i SLI , EVGA 680i SLI , ASUS STRIKER EXTREME , ASUS P5N32SLI-E , these boards have 2x16 and SLI ,

 

[aevm]

Or just wait a couple of weeks and see what X38 motherboards have to offer. They won't support SLI officially though, and only some of them will support DDR2. However, they'll be great for Crossfire at 16x+16x from what I hear.

If you're in a hurry I vote for the P5N32-E SLI.

 

[red_devil]

+1 P5N32-E SLI

It has all the performance features of the Striker Extreme and for a lot less, the only things missing are 2 e-sata ports and the LCD display in the backpanel (i think).

 

[chookman]

Unless you are using SLI or Crossfire, there is no real reason to have a motherboard with 2 pcie slots running at 16x.

My first question would be are you going to use SLI or Crossfire if not why do you want full speed 16x slots?

 

[Kylon]

Yes i plan on using SLI in the future, but right now i want to just get the base components that would support it, for the time being im going to just get a single cheap card for about a month or two until i have the cash together to invest in two SLI'd cards.

Also, on the sake of the P5N32-E SLI boards, newegg has two listed, the P5N32-E SLI, and the P5N32-E SLI plus. any real difference or care between the two besides 25 bucks worth of pricetag?

 

[Ozoneman]

My son has the Gigabyte 680i board with a 8800Ultra video card and a quad 6600. The video card doesn't block the ram slots. It has most of what you want.

And by the way, I have a Gigabyte P35-DQ6 and a long video card doesn't seem to be a problem with the ram slots.

 

[aevm]

Yes i plan on using SLI in the future, but right now i want to just get the base components that would support it, for the time being im going to just get a single cheap card for about a month or two until i have the cash together to invest in two SLI'd cards.

Also, on the sake of the P5N32-E SLI boards, newegg has two listed, the P5N32-E SLI, and the P5N32-E SLI plus. any real difference or care between the two besides 25 bucks worth of pricetag?

The short answer is no. The Plus is a hybrid between 650i and 680i, while the other one is based on 680i. I hear that the Plus overclocks better. Both support SLI at 16x+16x.

 

[Maziar]

P5N32SLI-E

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=397&l4 =0&model=1459&modelmenu=1

P5N32SLI-E PLUS
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=495&l4=0&m odel=1567&modelmenu=1

Doesnt have much difference