Ads

Tom's Hardware > Forum > Motherboards & Memory > Motherboards > [Solved] Another, "What motherboard should I buy?" question

[Solved] Another, "What motherboard should I buy?" question

Forum Motherboards & Memory : Motherboards [Solved] Another, "What motherboard should I buy?" question

Best answer from jaquith.

I'm planning on upgrading to Windows 7 from XP. Along with that, I'm going to upgrade the mobo, memory, boot drive, and processor as well as replace a finicky power supply. I'm keeping the case, sound card, storage drives, and graphics card. I gotta start with a good motherboard......

I searched around the forum and looked at the builds at top, but still a bit confused.

I'm pretty sure I want a socket 1366 board because i want to use a i7-950 processor.
I'm keeping my Antec case (don't know type, holds ATX board, large case, lots of fans)
I'm keeping my Radeon HD 5870 graphics card
I'm keeping my 2 Velociraptor hard drives for storage
I'm keeping my SoundBlaster XFI Extreme music card

I'll probably be getting a OCZ Vertex 2 SSD of some sort for a boot drive for Windows 7 64bit.
I might play with overclocking at some point down the road but not now.
I might play with RAID in the future but not now.
I doubt I will ever SLI or Xfire the video cards, although I do like to game once in a while when a new title comes out.

That's all the information I have for you go to on. I will likely keep this mobo for 3 years or so, so I don't mind paying extra for a good quality board that will last and some amount of "future proofing" in it. I want a board that is compatible with the stuff I'm keeping above as well.

I've been reading the internet a bit and some reviews. I was looking at the following boards:

GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128423
This is supposedly a Tom's Hardware best buy, but the newegg.com reviews didn't look too promising. About a 1/3 of the reviews gave it 3 eggs or less, and there seemed to be some reliability issues?

ASUS Rampage III Formula LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131666
This is the best rated board on newegg.com, but it is almost $300. It's also "best of the best" on Maximum PC. I don't necessarily mind paying that much for a quality board that I will likely keep for a few years, but there were many cheaper boards and I don't know if I'm getting ripped off by the $300 price tag.

There were a couple of other boards on newegg.com that had comments like, "Customer Choice Award Winner" and such, but I want to get a good quality board without getting ripped off.

Thanks for your opinions...........

Message edited by ualdriver on 11-08-2010 at 06:02:28 AM

Corsair 750W {OC + 1 HD 5870 + 3 SSD/HDD} $90 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139006
Corsair 1000W {OC + 2 HD 5870 + 3 SSD/HDD} $220 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139007

PSU configuration - http://www.corsair.com/psufinder/default.aspx

Use Corsair's - Reliable {Japanese Capacitors, 1 Rail (better), Fault+Power protection}

It sounds the Rampage is overkill for your needs. You'd be paying for 3 way SLI and DDR3-2200. If you have no plans to SLI or Crossfire, why not save some money and go for an 1156 board like with a i7-870? If you are dead set on the i7-950, I would go with the more modest Asus Sabertooth.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to djsprinkle

Out of the two, definitely the the Asus board.

Reply to hell_storm2004

djsprinkle wrote :

I was thinking that a socket 1366 board would be better for "future proofing" as I will keep this motherboard for a few years. I figure I will update the processor before I update the board and the 1366 would have future faster CPU's. Is that incorrect logic? This is only my 2nd build and I am no expert.

Thanks form pointing out the $100 cheaper Sabertooth. It seems like a better board for my needs value-wise. I was reading on the newegg.com reviews that there seem to be many DOA Sabertooth boards or Sabertooth boards that are having problems recognizing all available memory. Is that something I should be concerned about with this particular board?

Message edited by ualdriver on 11-08-2010 at 07:42:53 PM

Reply to ualdriver

Just get the memory which is mentioned in the Qualified Vendor list and you should be ok!

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to hell_storm2004

With both the HD 5870 and RAID 0 + the other misc components the ASUS P6X58D-E or ASUS P6X58D Premium.

NEVER GA-X58A-UD3R -> http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ot-failure

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to jaquith

jaquith wrote :

With both the HD 5870 and RAID 0 + the other misc components the ASUS P6X58D-E or ASUS P6X58D Premium.

NEVER GA-X58A-UD3R -> http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ot-failure

OK, thanks for confirming my suspicions. That seemed like a lot of failures. I'm sure a certain % of every type of component fails, but I wasn't sure if it was just a bunch of angry people posting making it look like there were disproportionate failures. I'll check out those 2 boards you mention. thanks!

Message edited by ualdriver on 11-08-2010 at 07:59:25 PM

Reply to ualdriver

hell_storm2004 wrote :

Just get the memory which is mentioned in the Qualified Vendor list and you should be ok!

When you mean the "qualified vendor list" do you mean make sure I get the correct compatible memory for the motherboard? Or is there a list somewhere that ranks memory that I should consult? I'm open to suggestions for memory as well if you all have any. I was going to post over in the memory forum after I figured out a motherboard but I'll take suggestions now too

Thanks!

Reply to ualdriver

Google GA-X58A-UD3R +RAID +BSOD

For my office pseudo Workstation I use the ASUS P6X58D-E {SSD, RAID 1 HDD, i7 930, TR3X6G1600C8D, H50, 1/8 with CF HD 5770}. My Gaming rig is EVGA but too is expensive. I've had zero issues with the ASUS P6X58D-E running 4.1 GHz, they all run 3.5+GHz all day.

Message quoted 2 times

Reply to jaquith

jaquith wrote :

Wow! Thanks for that info. I can cross that board off of my list. That's why this is a great forum.

Reply to ualdriver

jaquith wrote :

After your suggestion, it looks like I'm going to go with the P6x58D-E. I was going to go over to the memory section and ask some questions, but I see that you are over there a bit too answering questions, so I was wondering if you could advise me:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 3x6g1333c9

I was looking at getting that memory for the board. I have a BB gift card to burn up, and I think that was the best memory I could find over there at BB that was compatible. Considering my rig, is that good memory to use with your suggested board? It took me a while, but I figured out what a Qualified Vendor List was and it appears this linked memory above is on that list.

Also, do I have to install DDR3 memory three at a time? Should I be looking to use DDR1600 memory instead because it is faster?

Message edited by ualdriver on 11-09-2010 at 08:10:22 AM

Reply to ualdriver

The RAM you want are the Corsair Dominator TR3X6G1600C8D (3x2GB) 1600, and with a $30 price drop in the past 3 days a steal.

TR3X6G1600C8D http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145224

Comparison Module #1: Mushkin Redline 996805 6-8-6-24 1600MHz
Comparison Module #2: G.Skill Pi Series 7-8-7-24 1600MHz
Comparison Module #3: Mushkin 998687 8-9-8-24 1866MHz
Comparison Module #4: Corsair Dominator TR3X6G1600C8D 8-8-8-24 1600MHz
Comparison Module #5: Kingston HyperX T1 9-9-9-27 1600MHz
Comparison Module #6: Mushkin Blackline 998677B 7-7-7-20 1333MHz
Comparison Module #7: Patriot Viper II Sector 7 9-9-9-27 1800MHz

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to jaquith

jaquith wrote :

The RAM you want are the Corsair Dominator TR3X6G1600C8D (3x2GB) 1600, and with a $30 price drop in the past 3 days a steal.

OK, I'll add that memory to the shopping cart, thanks again!

All I need is a new power supply and I'll be ready to go. I'd love to stay around $100 or so. Suggestions considering my rig above? I have a large Antec case.

Message edited by ualdriver on 11-09-2010 at 05:37:52 PM

Reply to ualdriver

Best answer

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to jaquith

jaquith wrote :

Thanks!

Now will you come over and build it for me?

I owe you an adult beverage of some sort if we ever cross paths at the bar!

Reply to ualdriver

Thanks & Good Luck on your Build!

Reply to jaquith

Best answer selected by ualdriver.

Reply to ualdriver

Tom's Hardware > Forum > Motherboards & Memory > Motherboards > [Solved] Another, "What motherboard should I buy?" question

Go to:

Help |
Forum rules

There are 1754 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here.

Page generated in 0.755 seconds

Please mind

You are about to answer a thread that has been inactive for more than 6 months.
If you still wish to proceed, please ensure that your posting is original and does not duplicate or overlap any prior responses to this thread.

Add a reply Cancel

Ads

Latest best answer

Difference in installed RAM, computer properties

By smorizio, 1 hour ago:

windows 32 bit has a 4 gig limit and with parts on the bios shadowing some of the ram...

[Solved] Another, "What motherboard should I buy?" question

Forum Motherboards & Memory : Motherboards [Solved] Another, "What motherboard should I buy?" question

Motherboards

Memory

Chipsets & Bios

Abit

Aopen

ASRock

Asus

Chaintech

Corsair

DFI

Elitegroup

Epox

FIC

Foxconn

G.SKILL

Gigabyte

Jetway

MSI-Microstar

Shuttle

Soyo

Supermicro

Tyan

Please mind