Need help finding a motherboard for my new computer

Ice2

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Jul 29, 2007
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Hello, i need help finding a motherboard for my new computer im building. I already have RAM, case and power supply. I just need help finding a motherboard.

here are the specs.

Processor: E6750-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115029

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148138&ATT=22-148-138&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r&nm_mc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r&cm_mmc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r-_-Hard+Drives-_-Seagate-_-22148138

DVD/CD Drive: Asus- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135156

now im thinking of a motherboard that has 2-3 pci 16x/2.0, i need at least DDR2 800 and yea..a price range around $200-270 or a bit more..

Thanks

also, a quick question, which one is better 780i or X38?
 

Ice2

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Jul 29, 2007
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Not be overclocking, I run windows Xp home, and i will have a Ati 1900XT..

nothing special, but i want to keep my options open, so SLI is a must.
 
How about Crossfire? Right now the fastest card available is an ATI, believe it or not.

OK, let me try to list some options. If you have (or will have) a 1920x1200 (or bigger) monitor, then I'd go for one of these:

eVGA 780i SLI with an 8800GTS G92 512MB, so you can add another GTS later
eVGA 780i SLI with an 8800GTX, so you can add another GTX or even two later (the GTS doesn't do Triple-SLI)
Gigabyte GA-X38-DS4 with an HD 3870X2, so you can add another X2 later and use Crossfire

A good PSU for any of these 3 options would be PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W Crossfire Edition. (The Crossfire edition has 6/8-pin connectors so it supports GTS/GTX but also X2).

If you are staying at 1680x1050 or less for the next two years or so then there's absolutely no point in SLI or Crossfire or PCI-E 2.0 and I'd recommend GA-P35-DS3R (or DS3L or DS4) or aBit IP35Pro with either GTS G92 or 3870X2. In this scenario a Silencer 610W is plenty.

Edit: On second thought, for 3 8800GTX cards you may want an Enermax Galaxy 1000W. Who has that sort of money though :(
 

Ice2

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i have a 20" monitor, so it is 1680x1050, but in the future i want my motherboard to still have the cabability of doing sli, you gave some great boards, but all of them don't have true x16 on both sides..which i would like, now..an evga board like the 780i board does, and it gives me the option to go sli or triple-sli.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188024

This is what im thinking of, I just don't know if should wait for 790i or get a P35, or just settle with the 780i....

mmmm what to do
 

akhilles

Splendid
Ok, I see your point: upgradability for GPUs for bigger monitors.

ASUS PN5-T is another option. The only caveat with EVGA mobos is their BIOSes are not that great, if you stop by their forums. For some users, a new bios breaks more than it fixes.

http://www.evga.com/community/messageboard/defaultmb.asp

Not to say that you steer clear of EVGA. FWIW, some users have switched to XFX 680i bios for their EVGA 680i for more overclocking stability.

790i is not out anytime soon. If you wait, it's gonna be a long wait. By then, X48 & P45 may have been out.

You're wrong about not true 3X PCI-e at x16. They are.

http://www.evga.com/articles/383.asp
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_780i_sli.html
 

Ice2

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Jul 29, 2007
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Where could i buy the ASUS PN5-T, cause i have checked and i can only find it on like 2 sites...i would like to see it, and hopefully buy it from zipzoom, newegg, or buy.com..
 

akhilles

Splendid
Sorry, my bad.

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=610

Another caveat with EVGA 780i and similiar design is that the northbridge overheats at stock. It's rated at 100'C, but some users got 80'c out of the box. You could use arctic silver on the chipset & drop the temps by 10-20'c, to 60'c. Or you could RMA & wait for 1 month. They're blaming nvidia/evga, which is the wrong party. The right one would be Foxconn, Taiwan, who is the outsource for manufacturing the 6x0i & 7x0i boards.

I don't know what aevm is talking about. That may be 680i. Asus uses confusing names for their products. I don't even know if he knows anything about 780i, other than 3XSLI.

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=1&model=1981&l1=3&l2=11&l3=610&l4=0

nvidia released 780i to support 45nm. Basically, it's a slight upgrade from 680i, which supports only Wolfdales with bios update, but not Yorkfields. (I'm aware of a cheap & new 650i board that does 45nm, that's the exception)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NForce_700#nForce_780i.2F790i
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_780i_sli.html (click specs)