Replacing my Dead NOE2 Platinum Going Intel.

Hey all

I am leaving AMD and jumping back onto the the Intel Band Wagon.. :-).. I read the article on the E2160 while I was looking for a replacement for my dead AMD K8N NEO2 Platinum MB. Smoked it after trying out the Koolance memory cooler. It leaked and smoked my memory slots... My advice is don't try it, the bags are to easily ripped. Well anyway I am now looking for a new system and I want to OC. I have a Koolance PC3 720 water cooled case along with another separate full 1/2" system cooling a Swiftech MCW6500-775T CPU TEC cooler (used a 939 bracket for my FX-55), and the MCW60-T GPU TEC cooler on a 6800GT. I know I want to get a MB that has a future like the NEO2 did. I got 4 years and 5 different CPU's out of that board.. " Moment of silence please... "

Well anyway my plan is to purchase the Best Video card, Motherboard, and ram now along with the e2160 or 2180. I want to make sure though that I will be getting a MB that will be strong when I go to a Quad core chip in the future. Also I wonder if any of the MB's out now will be able to run the newer Intel CPU's with the 12mb cache that are due out soon.
So P35, X38, or 6X0i......?????
I like what I have read on the ASUS Blitz Formula and Extreme MB's, though I think DDR3 isn't for me right now.
The EVGA 680i SLI boards seem good also. So many opinions though.

GPU: I'm thinking about getting a 8800 Ultra card, but which one Im not sure. Depending on the motherboard choice though, maybe a ATI 2900. Hell for the cost of one Ultra I could get two 2900'ds. But I wonder if I would really see a difference? I've never really liked ATI, but then again I used to be a staunch AMD man.......

Memory: I like the Corsair Dominator ram, but don't see a lot of people overclocking with it so Im open to any suggestions.

This PC is just to play on. Gaming and overclocking is all it will be for.

Well I didn't mean to be so long winded. I am looking forward to chatting and learning from you all!

Trek6500

what about the ASUS Blitz MB's?? any thoughts? Though hard to find I've read they are great OC MB's

Video wise I wonder what new cards loom on the horizon. I read that Nvidia had something new due out at the launch of Crysis.

Which speed RAM? I'm Ok spending a lofty sum on the MB, Video and RAM. I was gonna go with the e2160 or 2180 and play around with it until the dust settles in the Quad arena. So many RAM choices though. I'm looking for a solid OC capable RAM. Do you think I should go 2 or 4 GIG with Vista Ultimate 64? or stay 2 with win XP SP2?

Thanks for the return..

The art of overclocking to me is to buy the cheapest & get the most out of it. That's just me. Surely there are better overclocking products for premiums. That makes overclocking easier & ergo takes away the joy of overclocking - spending hours after hours to find the perfect combo of numbers for a stable o/c.

You want to pair a cheap cpu with a high end mobo? Why not? It'll be easy to achieve high o/c's. The low cache in the cpu doesn't matter very much for overclocking & gaming. A high o/c compensates for low cache.

I 2nd what Maziar suggested in the 1st reply:

e2180 (higher multiplier, M0 stepping = higher max temp)
ASUS P5K WIFI DELUXE (No contest. The best overall P35 overclocker, IMO)
Any DDR2 with Micron D9 chips (2x1GB is most popular. It's cheaper & faster if you memtest it. heck, some use even less ram like 256mb/512mb to save time on memtesting)
8800GTX (overclock it with rivertuner)

If you wanna leave AMD, do it. **** ATI HD 29*0. **** 'em to hell. Your OP is contradicting yourself. When Intel becomes a monopoly, we all will happily cought up $1000 for a celly.

akhilles

I want to hit the ground running persay. As I get older I don't want to mess around as much trying different out MB's, I just wanna get to the meat and taters.. . I would stay with AMD, but they aren't showing me much right now. That could and will change Im sure , but now is when I want to build a new PC. No different than when 3DFX shot themselves in the foot years ago. Man I owned every damn card they made until the Geforce cards hit. I still have them sitting in a box. Just dont have the heart to throw history away. Maybe Im just a pack rat..

I have come to the conclusion throught the years that stability is everything. So I want to start with the most stable MB I can, thats all. I dont mind starting with a cheaper chip and playing with it. That gives time for the more expensive chips to come down and newer ones to come out.. I want to play games and I like the Eye candy. I have found in the past that OC'n my GPU can post great numbers in 3DMark, but suck ass in real world gaming. So I figure I'll buy the best card out. Just so happens there are a few out that look good so I thought I would ask around.

I guess I should'nt say I'm leaving AMD since I have several other PC's all running A64's. Im just ready for a change.
There are know label loyalties, just the best product for the best price..
Regards

I recommend 8800GTX over 2900xt , however new drivers have helped 2900xt alot (both in crossfire and single )

about the RAM, well here is my RAM:
http://www.ocztechnology.com/produ [...] gb_edition

As u see it says 2.1 , and in BIOS i set it to 2.1 and its fine (You have to be careful when setting the voltage of the RAM, anything higher than the specs of the RAM may cause trouble)

Well Hello to you too Mrs. Bytch.

Ya know, I could go on and on as too my ability with PC's and overclocking, but who cares.
I wont argue with you either, I know my short comings. I have read these forums for many years and finally decided to post. It seemed to me that the folks on these forums like to talk and to bounce ideas off of one another. I guess you are the exception.

akhilles

Yeah I agree with your thoughts on the C2D. I wonder if I should just go with the Q6600 and forget the E21xx series. I need to read that article on L2 cache maybe that will give me more direction in my purchase decision. I do very much appreciate your helpful input!!

Yeah man thats what I was thinking about originally doing, but it seemed that so many people had one thing or another that they didn't like on the EVGA MB's. I could get the e2180 for now with and EVGA 680i SLI and a 8800gtx or ultra card. Im just not sure which one.

You say the A1 huh?

What about this EVGA Black Pearl MB. Already setup for water cooling..

get tge e2180 with rvga 680i with a 8800GTX, i have told u many times that 8800ULTRA is an OC'd 8800GTX,and u can always OC a 8800GTX to beat a 8800ULTRA (look @ mine ) and even if u dont OC a 8800GTX , the difference isnt noticeable , if u dont believe me , here are becnhmarks :
http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/428/
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?a [...] ype=expert
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] treme.html

Lows:
Relatively small advantage over GeForce 8800 GTX;
The cooling system casing may not let you install this solution onto some mainboards;
May be incompatible with some mainboards/chipsets;
Relatively modest accessories bundle;
High price.

Sorry the Black Pearl is just out so not many people have experience with it, let alone overclock it. A1 is guaranteed best 680i. Though evga is best at customer service, they will replace the non-A1 with A1. Probably just pay one-way shipping. I'm not sure if a watercooled & used board can be replaced.

Maziar

Where did you purchase your OCZ ram from? I have found the HPC version but not in 4gb cas 4

Yes the Maximus looks nice! The PCIe 2.0 slots don't mean much to me though. I will already have purchased my video card or cards and as far as I know there aren't any 2.0 cards due out any time soon. Matrix RAID seems interesting, its been around for some time now from the few articles I have read. Do you use it? If so how does it act when overclocked?

I still love AMD, I have a Opty 165 with a CoolIT FreeZone on it Overclocked to 2.34Ghz. Would go higher, but its my MEDIA PC and the wife likes her shows to be recorded without a system lock-up.. As far as ATI is concerned maybe it because I have never truly embraced them, but they have never made me go oooh. I understand and have read that they are doing much better with there driver updates, but I don't want to be a driver tester for ATI. I wish there was something that could really show me that ATI will not crap out and forsake there customers by not keeping up with driver and card support like they have done in the past.

I like the Q6600 too, but what about the new 6 and 12mb cache chips coming out in Nov-Dec? I figured I'd get the E2180 and play with it till mid 08 and make a decision then. Thats where picking the right MB really worries me.

You're right, it would be cheaper for me to get two 2900XTs, or a little more for the 1GBs than it would to buy one 8800 Ultra. Though as Maziar says, the Ultra is just an ocd GTX. This is the conundrum I have. If I pick the wrong MB I could be shooting myself in the foot next year if per say I went Nvidia on a Crossfire MB and ended up wanting to go SLI. Sigh decisions decisions...

You and I have a lot in common. I too have used several Asus boards in the past, but for some reason I have spent the past few years with MSI. "don't ask me why" all my Asus MBs were solid performers. My kids are already fighting over who gets the FX-55 and the Geforce 6800GT.

(offtopic a little)
I currently have running for myself the following boards
1-P5WDG2-WS-Pro E4300 @ 3.2 Ghz
2-P5W64 E6400 @ 3.0 Ghz

I enjoyed your post. It is good food for thought, but it has just put me further on the fence in my decision making process.

I didn't have time to read ALL the posts, but if you're not going to SLI two graphics cards, your best bet is the P35. Loads of stuff on the P35 can be found on this site, look to the E6750 overclocking article and the P35 motherboard comparison article for ideas.