Looking for a New mobo

[mchad1403]

Ok, so i currently have an Asus P5P43TD Motherboard. It is nice and all, but i am looking for a motherboard that has dual PCIe slots, SLI Ready, Socket 775, and supports DDR3 RAM. Most motherboards i can find have all but the DDR3 RAM, i really don't want to replace 8GB of DDR3 dual channel Corsair Dominator 1600MHz with DDR2 memory.

I've found two online, the EVGA nForce 790i Ultra and an XFX MBN790IUL9. Both these have what i need, but they are really expensive for me, and they are nearly impossible to find.

I'm looking for one that has what i need, and is around $200. I was looking at an ASUS Maximus II Extreme, but i heard they have had some reliability issues.

 

[someguynamedmatt]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128433&cm_re=socket_775-_-13-128-433-_-Product
That's the only thing I can think of when it comes to what you're looking for... I don't see many requests for LGA775 boards. It packs a x8/x8 or x16/x0 setup.

This may sound a little strange, but what processor do you have? It may be possible just to buy you a whole new processor and board, which would give you a lot better upgrade since you're only running a 775 system right now. Any thoughts on this? AMD has some really good offerings right now.

 

[randomkid]

^According to his member configuration, he got a Intel Core 2 Quad 2.33 GHz Yorkfield. So that must be a Q8200.
He already got a 9800GT so he must be looking at getting a 2nd one to pair it up in SLI.

@mchad1403:
Do you want to spend the $200 on motherboard so that you can improve your GPU by doing SLI with the 9800GT? Unless you already have the 2nd 9800GT, I think it will be better just to keep your motherboard & buy a single HD5850 ( assuming you got $200 budget for the motherboard and another $100 for the 2nd 9800GT ). If you are able to sell your 9800GT then all the better.

Meanwhile, the Q8200 will still be in good balance with the HD5850 but it will definitely help if you can overclock it a bit.

Anyway, what is your monitor resolution?

 

[someguynamedmatt]

Agreed. It would be a fair amount cheaper to get a single 5850 than it would to get a different motherboard plus a 9800GT. And there's no way that the Q8200 would be bottlenecked by a single HD5850.

 

[mchad1403]

Resolution is at 1024 x 768. And i dont have a 2nd 9800GT. But another small question. Can you SLI two different GPU's?

 

[theilan]

You can't mix and match different GPU's for SLI configurations. Check out the nVidia FAQ.

http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html#c16

 

[randomkid]

Resolution is at 1024 x 768. And i dont have a 2nd 9800GT. But another small question. Can you SLI two different GPU's?

For your resolution, your single 9800GT is more than enough. What do you really want the SLI for if you got a low resolution monitor and do not have a 2nd 9800GT anyway?

 

[mchad1403]

i have a nice 22" HDTV/PC monitor coming in that i am going to use my PS3 on as well, and i am starting some schooling in graphic design/3D modeling and i'm guessing that i would need something a bit stronger than a single 9800GT

 

[randomkid]

As suggested earlier, no need to change your motherboard. Instead, just get an HD5850 and sell your 9800GT. Maybe there will be takers among your students.

But even if you are not able to sell it, it will still come out the same as a new SLI motherboard+ 2nd 9800GT to SLI with.

 

[mchad1403]

Best answer selected by mchad1403.