I'm in the process of building a new machine (need to have everything invoiced by the end of the year for tax purposes), and I need some help with the motherboard selection. I currently have a Q6600 (G0 Step) and 2 x EVGA 8800GTS (G92) cards on order, and at one point was going to go with an ASUS Striker Extreme mobo. I have never dealt with any overclocking, but would like to later on, after I've got the system built and working (and I have some time to do it). I was pretty sure about going with the Striker, but now I'm really starting to loose confidence after reading the various problems people have had with that mobo and ram. Plus, a new wrench has been thrown in the mix with the release of the 780i boards. (My brain is about fried btw). So, what I'm looking for is some help with the decision. I would like to have a motherboard that will be stable when I first build the system, and will be "noob" friendly when it comes to overclocking (if there is such a thing). With all that said, I have a few questions. First off, should I go with a 680i or 780i mobo? I was thinking of going with EVGA's 780i board, then stepping up to the 790i when it comes out. (btw, will the Q6600 run on the 780i/790i?). If I should go with the 680i, what board would you suggest? (not real concerned about price)

Once the mobo question is decided, what RAM should I get? I will be running Windows Vista 64bit, and I'm looking to install 8GB of RAM.


I appreciate everyone's time, thanks alot!

Going with the 780i would be good because the board will support intel's new 45nm processors that come out in January, the 680 boards won't support the 45nm processors so upgrading in say, a year, would require a whole new motherboard.(Though EVGA is pretty cool with upgrades as people with 680s can upgrade to 780s for a mere $90).

The big selling point for the 780i is Penryn support.

There has been lots of stories/rumors/guessing about the 780i, but the big selling points will be fully support for all Penryn processors including the Quad-Core.

The 680i will not support Penryn Quad-Cores, though they may support Penryn dual core with a BIOS upgrade.

So will the Q6600 work with the 780i board?

The 780i supports PCI-E 2.0 which may be good for upgrades down the road.

Both the 680i and 780i support the Q6600, and both are sensitive with memory.

i am in the exact same position. suuuuucks trying to build just before a new sli mobo release. Anyone expect issues with the 780i on release? i.e. bios problems... harware issues... etc. I have never really payed attention to mobo releases so I dunno if it is common for them to make acouple revisions to work the kinks out

The 780i has been released, but is not in stock anywhere that I can find.

But to answer your question, if the 780i release is anything like the 680i release, then yes, there will be bugs.

However, the 780i is very similar to the 680i, so many of the issues *should be worked out already.

But its just speculation on my part. I am going to wait till after xmas before purchasing anything. I want to wait for some "facts" to develop.

Newegg has the 780i in stock...I ordered one last night,and as of now they still have them
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813188024

ya I noticed the NewEgg stock. I'm a Canadian so I can't grab newegg products, but their price increases due to demand were very... interesting... to say the least. I wonder if we can get demand versus price figures to see if their black box pricing model is being opportunist. Kinda like gas stations during the summer.