In a quandry about which mobo to get..

[jaythe]

Right now i'm trying to piece together what i want to buy for a gaming rig, already have in mind the cpu and gpu i want to get but i am unsure of which mobo these would go well with.

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130318

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115029

The mobo i'm looking at right now is http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048&Tpk=Gigabyte%2bGA-P35C-DS3R

Any ideas for memory as well?
The case I have already is: http://thermaltakeusa.com/product/Chassis/fulltower/armor/va8003bws.asp

I have been going over and over these forums trying to find a good combination and everytime i think I find one I see some negative reviews on one of the parts. Of course I know there will always been negative reviews as that's the nature of the beast, but I could really use some advice right about now.

Thanks In Advance!

 

[Xtreeme]

Not up on intels but I will say NEVER base your descion on those newegg reviews. Some folks just shouldnt assemble pcs or give reviews. Like Its bad product mine was DOA. LOL ok.

 

[jaythe]

I take the newegg reviews with a grain of salt, however I take these forums seriously and hope someone can help me out.

 

[Gravemind123]

Very good choices on parts, only thing I'd look at changing is the motherboard to the DDR2 only version of the motherboard, the P35-DS3R, as DDR3 offers little performance boost at a lot more of a cost.

For memory, get a 2x2GB kit of DDR2-800 if you can afford it, or get 2x1GB now and another 2x1GB later so you end up with 4GB in either case.

 

[grieve]

I realize you were asking about the MB not CPU.. But I would go for this one, for $30 more it is a far superior CPU…

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

 

[jaythe]

I'll take any advice on anything, this will be my first build. And I was planning on getting a 4gigs of memory to start off with, no sense in just getting 2 ya know?

Thanks for the advice already posted!

 

[jaythe]

I realize you were asking about the MB not CPU.. But I would go for this one, for $30 more it is a far superior CPU…

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

If I were to get this cpu instead of what I originally posted would I have to completely reconsider my mobo choice?

 

[Gravemind123]

No, the P35 chipset was intended for use with 1333FSB 45nm processors, which not all P965(chipset it replaced) boards could use. It will still be a good motherboard choice.

 

[jaythe]

Thank you for the information Gravemind, helps to set my mind at ease. I have another quick question, i saw on another forum that for the 8400 cpu to work with the gigabyte mobo i would have to flash the bios, what exactly is flashing the bios?

 

[Gravemind123]

Flashing the BIOS is writing over the current BIOS with a newer version that has more features/support/bug fixes.

The process can be as simple as using a program inside of Windows, or you may have to make a DOS boot-floppy and flash it using a program after booting from the floppy. It varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, but the last two boards I have had(1 MSI, 1 Asus) have had a program to flash from within Windows.

Whether or not you need to flash it depends on what BIOS your board ships with, some boards might already have the Wolfdale supporting BIOS, but some might not.

You may not be able to have anything start with your CPU if it does not have an updated BIOS. You would then need to have another s775 CPU to use until you can flash the BIOS. It might be that the processor lets you boot but is not properly identified by the older BIOS and you can flash with it and then everything will work out.