Core 2 Motherboard

[JE78]

I'm going to be upgrading to a Core 2 Duo system either before or after the holidays but i'm having a heck of a time deciding on a motherboard. Here are the one's i've been looking at.

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3

GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3

MSI 975X Platinum V.2

ASUS P5B-E

I'm not looking to overclock that much. I'd like to a little but nothing too extreem or on the verge of killing the CPU. I'd like something stable but with some flexability

As of now I don't have any SATA drives which is why I was leaning twards the MSI board with the 2 IDE connections. But I'm almost out of space on my 2 200gb IDE drives so a SATA upgarde is in the near future, plus I could always get a IDE controller card so I could still use the 2 IDE HDD's if I wanted. Also, since i'm new to SATA can I get a SATA HDD and still use my 2 IDE drive as slaves and the SATA as the master? Or how does that work?

I have a n Enermax 460 watt PSU (20pin connector) but have been told that it would work fine on a 24pin board.

Any info on these boards would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[LouPoir]

I would suggest DS3 or P5B-E

The 975 boards are not worth the money.


Lou

 

[JE78]

Thanks, I've been going back and forth between them 2 and was only considering the MSI for the 2 PATA ports.

Anyone else??

 

[AirForceElite]

I just ordered a complete C2D system this friday (should be here by thursday) and I have chosed Gigabyte DS3

i chose it based on INSANE number of good reviews it had.
I have been using Asus board in my current AMD 3200+ rig for the past 2.5 years and i am not satisifed with Asus at all.
I remeber when I first got this board, i went to asus.com to download chipset drivers and what do you think..the website was down for like 2 weeks.
i have been checking daily
at one point i got annoyed and called them and they said i should checked the Taiwanese version page (oh, how lovely). Glad i knew a guy who used to play same game with me (Diablo 2) who was from taiwan, so he was able to assist me.
I know this is just a small incident, but I dont like Asus

hell, my motherboard has only 3 slots for RAM..how retarded is that?
I cant dual channel my ram because you need even number of slots.
When i first got ths board, i didnt know it wouldnt let me use dual channel.

also another problem, is my built in audio drivers uninstall themselves every 2-3 months or so
and so does my network card
i was annoyed, so i just went and bought a separate network card.

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: LouPoir
I would suggest DS3 or P5B-E

The 975 boards are not worth the money.


Lou

I disagree, 975X are better boards and they can be bought at around the same price. I own the MSI 975X Platinum PowerUp Edition (V.2) It's a very good board specially for the price and I did consider earlier getting the Asus P5B-E Vanilla.

975X > P965

 

[msarp]

ASUS P5B Deluxe Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard
$182.99

3 Business Day Shipping $6.94

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131045
ASUS P5B Deluxe ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail at Newegg.com

 

[msarp]

The ASUS P5B DELUXE is a proven excellent MB.

 

[n7]

If you need that extra IDE channel, the MSI is a fine motherboard, although it will not OC as well if you want to heavily OC an E6300/E6400.

The P5B-E is what i'd pick though.

Nice n cheap, but OCs like a mofo, especially if you get the 1.02 revision.

I can't recommend the DS3 due to the multitudes of issues it's had & still has in some cases, & the S3, well it's actually not too bad for the price.

 

[Howard]

P5B is the cheapest board with the ADI 1988B chip. Superior to the Realtek for games.

http://techreport.com/etc/2006q4/onboard-eax/index.x?pg=1

Irrelevant if you're using a discrete sound card, though.

Most motherboards will support at least 2 IDE devices, which is fine for your 2 IDE hard drives.

SATA doesn't use master or slave, you would be using your IDE drives the same way as before. Each SATA device has its own port.

 

[JE78]

Thanks guys. The ASUS P5B Deluxe is a little out of my price range, I wanted to keep the mobo between $100 and $150. I will be using the 6400 C2D as the CPU.

I've read alot on the DS3, it sound like a good board, for the most part but I see alot of memoy issues mostly. I was set to get this board but then price went back on on Newegg so I guess i'll check out the P5B-E.

 

[rb56]

I understand the added price of the deluxe may be and issue but I can tell you it is a great board. I've had mine now for about a month and have no issues period. Installed windows and drivers and have never looked back. Spend the extra thirty bucks and enjoy!
rb56