Selecting a Motherboard

[Rigamortis]

I am building a new system for the 1st time in 3 years and Im trying to figure out what motherboard to buy.

Here are the components i have so far:
Intel core 2 duo 9650 CPU
2 PNY GeForce 8800 GT 512MB DDR3
2 2G sticks of DDR2 6400
2 500 GB Seagate Sata hard drives
Corsair 850

Ive been looking at the Abit IP35 pro and it seems like its a solid MB, but it doesnt have PCI express 2. What i really want is a solid reliable board that you would that uses PCI express 2, but doesnt have heat issues.

i like the ABIT IX38 Quad GT but multiple reviews say that the chipset get to hot. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/abit-ix38quadgt_3.html

I dont want to go water cooled, and i dont plan on doing any overclocking.

 

[Andrius]

Since you want the Q9650 (3GHz) and not the QX9650 (extreme edition for $1000) you'll have to wait untli July. By that time P45 boards will be widely available. Also check some reviews for the Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4 and Asus P5E as an alternative choice to the Abit.

PCIE v2.0 has no value right now.
A current top performing single GPU card uses a bit more than half the available maximum bandwidth of the PCIEx16 v1.x slot. There is no performance penalty for v2.0 cards. That might change with the next generation (not the one comming out this summer) but it's unlikely to be a major handicap for at least 2 years. At that point the rest of the system will likely limit top perfroming cards more than the lack of bandwidth anyway (just my 2 cents).

 

[xpherex]

well the abit board is poor acording on most reviews go with GigaByte EX38 or x48, or just w8 for the p45

 

[Rigamortis]

My chip is the QX9650 extreme edition for $1000. I won it in a contest.

 

[coa]

On what contest?

 

[Andrius]

@rigamortis
Congratulations! (I've misread the post first time)
In that case get an ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA X48 ($290 perfect fit for QX9650) or if that's to expensive a Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4 ($200 or whatever you like in between). As said above Abit is not the best brand to pick. Since you won't be overclocking it doesn't really matter what you get. You could also get a SLI capable board for better graphics performance (if that's your game).

Also what Corsair PSU do you have? I don't think there's an 850W model.

 

[Shadow703793]

Imo, unless SLI you won't need 2 nVidia GPUs.

 

[Andrius]

^I need to learn to read more carefully.
It has to be a SLI board for 2x PNY 8800GT.
750i ($150-$200 range)
ASUS P5N-D
MSI P7N Platinum
EVGA 750i FTW

780i (over $200)
ASUS STRIKER II FORMULA
ASUS P5N-T
EVGA 780i
MSI P7N Diamond
...

 

[Rigamortis]

I like the price tag on teh ASUS P5N-D, but the fact that i cant find any legitamate reviews bothers me. Also, it only has 4 sata ports.

The power supply that Im looking at is a corsair 850w. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371009

 

[Andrius]

^The link is for an Antec (a very good one).
Alternatives:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-tx-750w-atx-12v-power-supply/q/loc/101/206178325.html

I recommend you read the short reviews on newegg.com (at least the low rated ones) to see what the issues are.
I don't think any 750i board has more than 4 SATA ports so that's that at this price point.

 

[Shadow703793]

^I vote for the PP&C 750.

 

[Rigamortis]

What about the GIGABYTE GA-X48-ds4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128336

Has anyone seen any reviews? I dont plan on overclocking it. My main concern is stability and heat. I dont want anything thats going to heat up the room.

Any ideas what the difference is between the GA-X48-ds4 and the GA-X38-ds4. Or between the GA-X48-ds4 and the GA-X48-DQ6?

 

[Andrius]

X48 doesn't have SLI support for your 2 8800GT cards. That means lower graphics performance and basicly 1 useless graphics card.

The X48 is the same as the X38, just a revision and some trivial bugfixes.
Both have the same basic features.

GA-(E)X38-DS4 : older X38 chip
GA-X48-DS4 : newer X48 chip
GA-X48-DQ6 has some additional (mostly useless) features over the X48-DS4 like "better" cooling with 1 more heatpipe and more accessories.

 

[Shadow703793]

Unless OP plan to game on 1600*1200 or higher SLI performance gain is not worth it.

 

[Andrius]

I agree.
I would sell one 8800GT and get a Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 or ASUS RAMPAGE Formula. A 4GHz quadcore ... yes please.