E8400 mobo recommendation

zhadows

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Dec 6, 2007
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Hello, I made a post a few hours ago about having P35-DS3L issues, finally talked to a tech and he said it might be a faulty mobo. [GG 15% Restocking fee+Shipping fee] (Issue was that mobo was stuck on splash screen and it wasn't responding to keyboard strokes)


I just need a recommendation for a new motherboard (E8400 Capable), I am willing to pay up to 150-170$ish or a bit less if possible, just need something that would work well and fit's a GTS nicely.

=( DOA Mobo on first build, :pfff:
 

Moondrinker

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Sorry for the faulty board lad. . Always a shame :(

I assume your next board wont be a Gigabyte? ;)
You write E8400 capable does that mean you want it to support the CPU natively or just if you flash the BIOS? Only a few boards will support E8400 out of the box when we deal with the P35 boards but some claim to have been lucky and get a board that supports the CPU without a BIOS upgrade - some do not (i guess it's relevant wether it's a newer board or older like a rev 1.0 and a rev 2.0 of the same board).

Try have a look at MSI neo2-fr and P5K, speaking of the last one it is highly popular. Both motherboards are fairly cheap (same price range as the DS3L). There's not much to say about them, every motherboard today preform almost the same performance wise, it's the features and overclocking ability that makes them speciel allthough when you're in the same price range the boards ain't that far apart speaking featuring wise.

Something that you might want to take into account when buying a new mobo - Is it a easy manual that provides what you need? (you can DL them)

Hope you make up your mind. Cheers! :)
 

Moondrinker

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Why is it that everyone mention the P5K-x series? and not the ordinary P5K?
 

bardia

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The MSI P35 Platinum and the P35 Neo2 are beasts (same board actually). You can get a Neo2 for under $100. It's easily my all time favorite board ever.
 

CNeufeld

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I had something similar happen as the OP, but on an Asus P5K-E WiFi board. I fired up the machine after rebuilding it, and it got stuck somewhere between the splash screen and the POST. I popped in my old E6300 processor, and flashed the BIOS; still no go.

Eventually, I figured out that if I had my mouse plugged into the back USB ports, it would refuse to POST. If I plugged it into the front, it was OK. And from there, I determined that there appeared to be some sort of conflict between my mouse and a KVM; if both of them were plugged into the back, then it wouldn't work. So I ditched the KVM, and it's been working fine since.

But I think the kids learned a few new words that night!

Clint
 

Jake_Barnes

Splendid
Since mobo compatibility seems to be another issue with the new E8400, I've been reading posts on other forums. One board seems to be "good to go" (without bios flash) with the e8400.

GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3P rev. 2.1

Can't guarantee anything - but several posters indicated that the new chip just dropped right in without any problems.

I'm thinking of returning my Abit IP35 Pro and exchanging for the EP35-DS3P (rev 2.1) - but I'll read more while I'm waiting on the chips to come back into stock.