What\'s the best socket 775 micro atx board?

Intel's G45 chipset would offer excellent performance and decent onboard graphics if that is what you are lookig for. A PCIE 2.0 16x slot is available to upgrade the graphics processor if needed.

Cheers Badge,

I have a seperate high spec GPU so the onboard graphics are not required which is why I was looking at the Maximus ii Gene with its P45 chipset which I assume is very similar to the G45 but without the integtrated graphics.

Any further thoughts as to whether there are any socket 775 micro ATX borads out there which are better than the Maximus ii Gene.

Cheers,

Mat  

Generally, but not in every instance, the P45 chipset is ATX, not mATX and supports 8 x 8 xfire. The G45 has an onboard video chip and is mATX form factor. My P45 performs very well when it's not being RMA'd. Post a link to the board you are referring to if possible.

Hi,

here's a link to the Maximus ii Gene.....

http://uk.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=o9cMT9ZnTj9ujsZ9&t...

I guess that this board, having the P45 chipset, is going to run more like a full ATX board which is exactly what I'm after.

I've seen a Lan Party board with similar spec but have always had Asus boards in the past so I figure go with what I know.... unless there is a much better micro atx board out there.

Cheers,

Mat  

That looks like a real nice board. Wish I had one. Yeah, not sure about the voltage regulation on an ATX P45, but ASUS included the necessary power design that should certaily manage some pretty nice OCing ability on the mATX design if that is what you want.

Quote from the link:

Power Design
- 8-phase CPU power
- 2-phase DRAM power
- 2-phase NB power

Cheers for your input Badge,

I'm not even going to try to pretend I know anything about overclocking computer components but as a base for a fairly high end, small, computer you reckon it's a good board?

For me, having the option to upgrade to 16GB RAM is a winner.

Mat  

With saving you a lot money in mind, Windows 7 64 with a 2 x 2 GB kit will be more than enough system memory for normal computing tasks. sixteen gigabytes would not even come in to play with most video editing software or multi tasking of any nature. Unles you are a professional and need that much RAM for a particular software requirement, 4GB is enough. Here is a shot as we speak of my current RAM usage. And I am busy multitasking on the computer today.

http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/6514/currentramusage...

Hi Badge,

cheers for your concern on the financial front.

I do use my computer for high end work, 3D modelling and animation, partical and dynamic simulation, digital video compositing etc. Initially I intend to use my current 8Gb RAM with the option to upgrade to 16Gb if necessary in the future.

With each software update system requirements become more and more demanding, currently I can chug along nicely with what I have but who knows in a year or two.

Thanks,

Mat