Intel Chipsets

[rspaulding]

I am considering getting an Intel E4500 C2D (OC'ing to 3ghz) and now I am looking at potential motherboards for it, however I am confused by al the different chipsets out there, NORTH and SOUTH bridge.

What is the best combination nowdays for this setup?

 

[SuicideSilence]

Well, it depends on what you want to do. The Differences between the north and south bridge are:
North bridge generally controls/manages things like the cpu,memory,vga card. Things that need to go fast basically. The south bridge controlls things like sound cards, I/O cards, and harddrives. Those are the main differances.

As for wich combo is best, it really depends what you want your machine to do . I dont know much about the southbridge choices today, but for the northbridge a p35 is a nice solid chip. It overclockes very well also. But say you want to build a hometheater pc. The a g35 would be better. It all depends. What will you use your computer for?
Also keep in mind, Nvidea makes northbriges also, which are needed for sli.

 

[homerdog]

The Intel P35 is the most recommended budget overclocking chipset these days. The P35 is the northbridge, and the ICH9 or ICH9R is the southbridge that is usually coupled with P35 boards.

If you want a great overclocking board for a great price then I would recommend the GIGABYTE P35-DS3L.

 

[GeoMan]

If you're on a bit of a budget P35 northbridge, if u'r not on a budget then X38's are great, if you have cash to burn for no good reason then an X48 northbridge, but really that's only if you would rather donate money to intel instead of literaly setting it on fire.

For south bridge, ICH9 and if you want to set up raid ICH9R.

 

[rspaulding]

For south bridge, ICH9 and if you want to set up raid ICH9R.

So the ICH9 South bridge on the board that "homerdog" mentioned will not support any RAID configuration?

 

[homerdog]

So the ICH9 South bridge on the board that "homerdog" mentioned will not support any RAID configuration?

The DS3L won't do RAID, but the slightly more expensive and otherwise identical DS3R will.

 

[Shadow703793]

No. The DS3L and ICH9 will not support RAID. For raid you will need a DS3R and ICH9R or a 3rd party RAID PCI card.