cmmcnamara

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Hey guys I'm in the process of building a new PC. Here's what I got so far:

Apevia X-Navigator Case
Apevia Iceberg Power 680W PSU
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU
Patriot Extreme Performance 4GB (1GBx4) 4-4-4-12 DDR2 800 RAM
EVGA 8800GT Superclocked (650/1900) Video Card
Creative X-Fi Platinum Fatality Champion Sound Card
Seagate Barracuda 3.0 SATA 7200 RPM HDD
Windows XP Professional SP2C OEM

Basically my dream gaming rig, except I've missed something haven't I? The motherboard. I'm so confused on what to do. Initially I wanted the 680i chipset for a possible SLi rig later when 8800 GT prices drop. But then the P35 will support the new 45nm CPU's and DDR3 whereas the 680i does not but its the Crossfire setup (NVIDIA fanboy here) and has less to offer in terms of technology (less PCIe lanes and slots, no PATA support, only single gigabit LAN) just the lure of upgradablility. Seeing how I'm still in the process of saving for it (maybe one more month and then the remainder goes to my credit card) maybe the 700 series will be out and comparable to X38. The X38 and 700 series will both be PCIe 2.0 compliant which is good and the 700 will have the more features again but only one board will have the DDR3 capabilities and the price for the 700's will be insane (like the X38's now). So what do I do? I love NVIDIA's feature sets but this just seems like a bad time to build a new PC as far as motherboards go. Do I go with the P35 for a feature and GFX ability cut for the possiblity of future upgrades? Or skip the PCIe 1.1 mobos completely and wait for the two PCIe 2.0 boards to emerge first and then pick? And if I do wait is it the X38 or the 700 series as no doubt both will be initially expensive? Right now my PC is priced at about $1000 so I don't mind shelling out up to $300 more for a mobo as long as I get some longevity (although I'd like to stray from that pricetag as much as possible.)

EDIT: And what of this fabled X48? Is what does that comprise of or is it too much further in the future to care about?
 

rgeist554

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I'd wait a while for more information to surface on the 700 boards. I think it's up in the air right now as to whether or not they will support the new intel chips. There is some kind of argument between Intel and Nvidia over SLI at the moment, so it's hard to say. I'm citing this from memory so I could be misinformed, but I'll try to find a solid source for you to confirm this.
 

cmmcnamara

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Yea I've heard that. I guess NVIDIA wouldn't sell Intel the rights to use SLi on their motherboards so Intel ended up having to support ATi's Crossfire because of a former agreement with them before they were bought up by AMD, but now they are supporting their adversary in a sense. I read that the 680i will definetly not support 45nm CPU's but if I remember correctly, it does support DDR3 memory. The stuff about the 700 series I've read sounds good but according to the articles, only one out of the four new 700 chipsets, an extreme version, will be supporting a 45nm process CPU. Which undoubtedly will cost more for the extreme designation. I really am a fan of the NVIDIA stuff. While the SLi isn't a huge thing for me (it's mainly just for later when I need a little extra graphics boost or if there is a really good sale on my same card. I'm perfectly fine buying a singe card) it still would be useful but my interest is in the features and the larger amount of PCI-E lanes and links as well as a third open slot for an AEGIA PhysX PPU if I ever decide to get one. I'm definetly going to wait for the 700 series emergence but then I still have to compare between it and the X38. And on a side note this is bullshit with X48 chipset, Intel should really think about a backwards compaibility factor for the consumers, X38 debuted just 2 and a half months ago and there's already the 4 series chipsets when most manufacturers haven't even got their feet wet with the X38? Ridiculous.
 

akhilles

Splendid
X38 is a rushed product & its successor X48 will be the one that the X38 should have been. Like Windows 98 SE or even XP to Windows 98 (no USB support). In short, if you're in the market for an Intel mobo for years to come, it should be at least X48.

EVGA will release a bios update for 680i for 45-nm cpu support. The 780i will support the new cpu. You can go to Evga or any official sites & they'll tell you the same.

The most pressing issue is the psu which isn't a great one. Get a Tier 1/2 for that high-end system:

http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Tiered+PSU+Listings?t=anon
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
NT4.0 didn't support USB, but win98 did. I think 95 does to, but you might need a later edition for that.

I'm not sure what you should do. The 700 isn't set in stone, nor do we have "common" shipping benchmarks to know how good it is. The P35 is good, the 38 isn't better enough to warrant the extra $$$. The 680i isn't bad, but it is getting long in the tooth. I personally would get whatever will work a 45nm. Don't worry about SLI support, you can usually upgrade to a newer card for less.

And as was mentioned, avoid that PSU. The case is fine if you like it, but the Apevia/aspire PSU are junk. If you are getting a high end rig, make sure you get a high end PSU.
 

cmmcnamara

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Thanks for the heads up on the power supply. Any suggestions for a good one between 650-700 watts? Ahh I see about the X38 now. I was not aware that the 680i will have BIOS update for 45nm. The 680i actually seems nice now minus the DDR3 being unsupported. Well for now I'm still saving so hopefully I'll be comparing X48 and 790i when it comes time to purchase (and hopefully DDR3 prices have dropped for high end.)
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
I wouldn't bother moving to DDR3. DDR2 is just as fast due to the increase in latency. When the 400MHz/1600MHz effective FSB chips come out, you can still safely run DDR2-800MHz with those. Even if you need something faster, there is still DDR2-1066. Just like when DDR2 came out, DDR(1) was still fine to use. (heck, DDR2 came out with DDR2-3200, the same exact speed as DDR1) I wouldn't worry about moving to DDR3, it will be some time yet.
 

cmmcnamara

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I actually just got approved for a higher limit credit card so I'm ordering this rig next week. I decided on the ASUS P5K Delux/WIFI-AP which has Penryn support but not DDR3 but after reading some reviews, DDR3 isn't worth it yet, nor does it look like it will be (3 fps increase on DDR3 1333? Please...)