Did I buy parts that are incompatiable for a motherboard?

[nX07]

Hi there,

I'm building a system, its my second systtem I am building from the ground up and the first time around I basically was heavily guided by sales people who I think screwed me over, so this time I am going for parts all by myself, but I don't know if I bought parts that are meant for different motherboards.

Basically, I have bought:

Intel Q6600
nVidia EVGA 8800GT
4GB of OCZ Platinum XTC PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL5-4-4-15 DDR2

What really is the big factor of what motherboard you'll have to get. I always thought it was just the CPU that decides what motherboard to get, but I was told that RAM and the Video Card also plays a role. Is this true? If so, have I got myself in a knot?

 

[badge]

'Latest' MB chipsets which will work with your Q6600, 8800GT and PC6400:

Intel chipset: Any Mfg.'s X38 is the latest Intel chipset, P35 is also recent.

Nvidia chipset: Any Mfg.'s 680i/650i. The 780i nvidia chipet will be released within weeks. That would be the latest.


There are other MB chipsets that will work, but the ones I listed are latest. The Mfg. you choose is personal preference, (ASUS, Gigabyte, etc.)

 

[Pollux]

You're fine. The only reason you need to be careful with the motherboard regarding graphic cards nowadays is if you're running SLI/Crossfire.

You have a pretty common memory as well, so virtually all motherboards should be able to support that. If you want to be sure, look at the motherboard specification and check compatible RAM. Most likely yours will appear.

Are you looking for an Nvidia or Intel chipset?

 

[nX07]

thanks for the info =)

To be honest I am not too enlightened in regards to chipsets aside from Intels X38 has PCIe 2.0...

I don't know if I want to get an X38 or a 780i, the newest chipsets because last time I invested in the "latest chipset" (925XE) I felt I got shafted since there was never a beneift I experinced.. but perhaps that is because I built my machine near the ending of the single-core era (2004ish).

I would probably buy an nVidia chipset though because I want to do SLi later on, since I have a 8800GT I might get another. With that said though, will the X38 or the 780i be a fly-by-night chipset with nothing really spectacular, only to be followed by the next chipset with an emmense amount of goodies?

 

[badge]

The x38 and 780i will support the new 45nm Intel processors coming soon (Penryn). Great upgrade path with these.

 

[Pollux]

I'd say go for an X38 unless you want to do SLI. The reason is X38 has been around for quite a while now and it's pretty overclockable no matter which manufacturer you choose. Also it's a pretty stable chipset with good compatibility. For 780i, it's still unknown really how stable it will be, given the rumours about current [stability] issues (hopefully will be worked out by release date) with penryr processors among other things. I got an X38 and I couldn't be happier with my choice

 

[nX07]

I see I see,

Do you figure if I buy the X38 chipset now, three years from now if I wanted to over-hall my CPU and RAM to the latest and greatest CPU and DDR3 memory I could do so without replacing my mobo?

 

[badge]

I see I see,

Do you figure if I buy the X38 chipset now, three years from now if I wanted to over-hall my CPU and RAM to the latest and greatest CPU and DDR3 memory I could do so without replacing my mobo?

No way, sorry. Penryn will be the last processors made for socket 775 boards. Nehalem (after Penryn) will require a new chipset. Your good for penryn coming soon with the X38. X48 will show up soon if you are interested.

 

[geofelt]

The parts you bought will be fine for a number of motherboards. They will all perform about the same.
I am not a fan of multi vga cards, unless the fastest single card will not do the job today. You pay more for the mobo and psu, while getting only 10% to 60% improvement, depending on the game. At upgrade time, sell the 8800GT, and use the proceeds to get the then best card.

For the candidate mobo, check that it supports the Q6600. For some mobo's, there will be a newer revision that is needed; be careful there. If the cpu is a go, then go to the OCZ site, and use their configurator to verify that the memory os ok in your selected mobo.

 

[Pollux]

Also, notice that motherboards support DDR2 OR DDR3. I've only heard of 1 motherboard (Gigabyte P35C-DS3R) that has DDR2 and DDR3 memory slots, however, will support up to penryn processors.