Best value/performance 965 Board (and memory)

[leousb]

Greetings, Next week will be buying an E6400 processor, and haven't made up my mind about what mobo to get. read reviews in AT, Sharky, etc and found this at Sharky's " we find the MSI P965 Platinum ($145), ASUS P5B ($145), ABIT AB9 Pro ($150), and ASUS P5B-E ($155), so the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 is well positioned against this competition. "

I am basically looking for these features:

- P965 chipset
- value between 150 -200$
- stability and maximum memory compatibility (will buy the cheapest PC800 ddr2 available)
- WON'T be doing any OverClocking at all
- Capable to boot from SATA HD and preferable the least prone to conflict with IDE drives (dvd burners and such)

I've checked several reviews (not that I have not read) and was leaning towards Asus P5B family (maybe de WiFi/AP version, although a bit pricey), and GB GA-P965P-DS3 but at least the official DS3 thread reveals that a lot of people are (or were) having lots of different problems with it: memory compatibility, no boots, etc, still considering them though

Please recommend in your experience the best Mobo (memory too if possible) WITHIN these characteristics previously stated

Thanks a lot

 

[lopri]

If you're sure about not overclocking, why not just get one of the Intel branded boards? There are so many of them and they're cheap, too. (a little bit north of $100)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...%3A22485&PropertyCodeValue=717%3A23779

 

[gorka]

if you aren's overclocking and obviosuly on a budget.

get the asus p5b-e. BIOS is mature already and stable.

Save some more money and get DDR533. no OC'ing right? so why DDR800?

 

[Heidfirst]

If you aren't oc (even though it's capable) imo the AB9 Pro offers better value than the Gigabyte but only if you need/want the extra features (better cooling, far superior fan control, ICH8R, firewire) but the MSI is worth a look too.
If you don't need the extra features then the S3 is hard to beat in vfm terms although abit's IB9 & Biostar's 965 are also worth consideration..

 

[leousb]

Heidfirst: would you please comment on that "extra" features please?
gorka: How are real life apps and games affected by going DDR533 instead of DDR800?? Will I actually see a difference??

Thanks everyone for comments, still gonna wait a few more days to see if I get more input. So far 3 different opinions: Intel, p5b-e and AB9 Pro.

 

[leousb]

More opinions are very welcome!!

 

[wadewood]

Biostar 965PT; $105 at newegg. It uses a Via IDE chip, which does not have the issues the JMicron IDE with the other boards on your list. It will also boot from SATA device.

 

[hardwareking]

I agree with wadewood.The biostar board is a solid one.Also uses a decent ide controller.It'll save u about $50 but u'll have to give up the possibility of raid but i don't thinku were gonna use it anyway.
ANd if u ever feel like OCing this is still a gr8 board.With the $50 u save u should be able to get urself 2 gigs of quality ddr2-800 ram.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: wadewood
Biostar 965PT; $105 at newegg. It uses a Via IDE chip, which does not have the issues the JMicron IDE with the other boards on your list. It will also boot from SATA device.

No parallel port? WFT?

 

[leousb]

Interesting option, although it was not in the list, should be taken into consideration.

 

[The Sauce]

I just bought the DS3 for $122 at the egg.

 

[leousb]

5 different opinions, hhhmmmm not getting a clear Idea here, will wait for a few more. Thanks everyone who has share his thoughts.

 

[Rio Rebel]

Love my Gigabyte S3.

You could probably come off cheaper if you're 100% sure you're not going to overclock, and buy a board based on the 945 chipset. And then you can save on the ram, too.

I suspect you'll change your mind about overclocking eventually. These C2D chips are just TOO sweet, and you can likely get to 2.5ghz without even increasing any voltages and going with the stock cooler.

 

[emilyek]

I'm currently running E6400 on the S3 and 2 Gigs of the inexpensive GSKILL DDR2 800 5-5-5-15.

(It's on sale at Egg for less than $200 now I think.)

My rig is humming along at 3.2g 4-4-4-12 timings.

I'd vote for the Biostar board or the S3.

 

[FreedomGUNDAM]

I just ordered a DS3 rev3.3 from clubit.com

 

[leousb]

Ordered Yesterday the DS3 (along with a E6400 and a eVga 8800 GTS 320MB ), the balance was clearly leaning towards it.We´ll See how that turns out. Thx everyone

 

[josh609]

Asus P5B Deluxe! Mine is rock stable and even overclocked to 3.4Ghz ( I had it up to 3.6Ghz stable too). I have Corsiar XMS2 667 memory.

 

[josh609]

I'm always late to the party...........