Motherboard check

[phillyman36]

Hey I just wanted to see what mobo everyone is using for the new Yorks and wolf cpu? Did you go p35, x38 or x48. Im waiting for my Q9450 to arrive and am using a Asus p5k E wifi (p35) and an using mine for more video editing than gaming

 

[Winterpool]

P35 (Abit IP35-E), mainly owing to price. Found plenty of punters who were running Penryn cpus successfully on P35, so why pay more, especially since DDR3 is so costly? I'm a conservative overclocker (at best), so I don't require superfast bus support (1600 MHz!). I just built a new machine and would have considered X48 if it gave me some futureproofing, but none of the current boards are going to fit Nehalem anyhow.

My Wolfdale (Xeon E3110) runs fine on the Abit board so far, but it's only day three (touch wood). Stress testing hasn't taken place yet.

I think you'll find 75+ per cent of the builders here are using P35 boards for their Penryns, and of the remainder more are probably using nVidia than Intel.

 

[Xpoc]

Im running my Wolfedale on a X38-DS4, and my Q9450 Yorkfield on my asus P5E(x38).

 

[UpstartXT]

Yeah I'm real interested to see what people post here, I'm about 4 weeks out from building my new rig and I have been researching for a week and cannot for the life of me find a board for an e8400 that people undeniably recommend.

Some boards need a BIOS update before you can use the wolfdale, some revert to stock settings when you overclock, some have loose or just bad functionality when it comes to setting memory timings, some have terrible customer support, etc. etc. etc.

I can't even narrow it down to a chipset (all I want is a board that is good for overclocking, stable as hell, works great with a e8400 and vista 64, ddr2 ram, raid, and good onboard sound, don't care either way about SLI)

 

[Winterpool]

Why not try the Abit IP35 Pro? It's currently $170 - 70 rebate on Newegg. Had the rebate been available last month, I'd most likely have selected this board rather than the IP35-E. It's similar to the IP35-E (beloved of more thrifty geeks) but offers FireWire, eSATA, 6 SATA ports, dual RJ45 jacks, S/PDIF in (in addition to out), and I believe ALC888 audio (very highly regarded for onboard sound). SATA RAID is available through Intel's ICH9R southbridge. The IP35 Pro was a champion overclocking board on AnandTech and X-bit labs' P35 reviews.

I don't know what would qualify as 'stable as hell' for you, but plenty of punters are running Wolfdales without issue on even cheaper P35 boards (eg the Abit IP35-E and Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L), though they lack onboard RAID.

I used to think going with a top brand like ASUS was sufficient, but plenty of people have suffered issues with the cheaper ASUS boards. So to some extent you get what you pay for (though Abit and Gigabyte clearly stand out amongst the sub-$100 P35 boards). If you want eight-phase power, that won't be available on the Abit IP35 boards, but you'd have to spend $200+ (really more like 300) for a truly 'pro' board from ASUS et al.

Nothing is perfect, even if you have unlimited $. The ones that are recommended again and again (and that you see in our builds) -- well, there must be something to it, no?

 

[aigomorla]

you asked therefore you shall recieve:

http://i125.photobucket.com/al...aigomorla/IMG_0900.jpg

DFI LT X38-T2R /w QX9650 :]

 

[ghitz]

@aigomorla That looks like a sweet setup.

G.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: ghitz
@aigomorla That looks like a sweet setup.

G.

thanks im still in the build process. The second HD3870 came DOA. Its in an RMA and i should be getting a new one soon.

If you guys want my advice on the best board i have played with, and believe me, ive been though quite a bit.

My favorate is the DFI LT P35 for non x-fire, X38 or X48 for xfire. Then its the Gigabyte P35-DQ6 series.

Avoid nvidia unless you want low overclocks but massive gpu power. This is my 2cents.