Please help

[gvayl]

Hi,
I have no idea what motherboard to buy. I am getting the C2D 6420 in week...but motherboard I have no clue? I want to run DDR2 6400 ram. I want to overclock.
At first I thought maybe go with 680i mobo...but they are very expensive...and the thing is they don't work very well according to some people. So then I thought 650i? or the intel 765 or 775? I don't know.

One thing I would like it to run my Ram at 1T timing. I have gotten 2 sticks of patiot extreme llc 6400s.

Anyhow I'd appreciate some help...I know different people are asking what to get. In their and my defense there are not a lot of reviews on anandtech lately...I don't now why? Also these different chipsets are giving everyone a headache...

Thanks in advance.

 

[moosey]

Well #1 I'd only spend the money on a 680i if I NEEDED SLI, otherwise I think you'd be better saving some money there. There is a cheaper 680i called 680i LT, which is pretty new. Initially, those boards did have problems, but I think a lot have been worked out now, can't speak from experience though. 650i SLI is the next step down from the 680i but it still offers SLI (just not x16x16). Then after that is the plain 650i Ultra (non-SLI) which can be had for cheap. Think of what you need and check the nvidia chart...
http://www.nvidia.com/page/nforce_600i_features.html

The Intel chipsets are the P965 and 975X, with P965 being more recent. P965 boards can go from around $100 to $200+, depending on feature set. I personally prefer Intel chipsets for an Intel processor (I have a 975X board). Generally, the P965 boards reach a higher FSB on overclock than the 975X. However, some people have had trouble with the 965's JMicron IDE controller which isn't an issue with the 975X. So you may want to see if you're really using a lot of PATA devices. Also, Intel chipsets don't support SLI, only Crossfire.

Hope that can get you started

 

[gvayl]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. I didn't know that intel P965 is newer then 975X....
Anyhow I don't need SLI, so that makes me think I should aim for the P965 boards?
I am guessing that they are better then the 650is?

Edit: I just read the Evga 650i Ultra review. They mentioned that it overclocks slightly better then the P965 boards and they support memory > 6400 for ~$100. Anyone had any experience with these boards? I can't seem to fine one on newegg?

 

[troutinator]

I've read good reviews and lots of forum posts saying that the ASUS P5N-E SLI is a good board. It can run SLI graphics with PCI-E at 8x, its using the nvidia 650i chipset, supports 1333Mhz FSB for upcoming processors as future upgrades, its a good OC board, its been out for awhile now so the bios drivers have stabilized (it had some initial problems but they have been cleared up). Its the board I'm most likely buying to build my rig mid-march.

 

[gvayl]

But...if I will never use SLI....why would I want the ASUS? I mean wouldn't it be better to get the eVGA Ultra?

 

[troutinator]

If you will never use SLI, then perhaps the eVGA Ultra might be a better pick. What I know is that the ASUS has matured for 5-6 months now where I as I can't find a 650i Ultra board for sell anywhere. And if you really don't ever want dual PCI-E 8x, then I have heard people say the Gigabyte DS3 is an awesome stable board.

More on that later, I have to leave for church. I'll be back on this afternoon with more.

 

[gvayl]

troutinator: thanks I really appreciate the help.
I read the anandtech review for the eVGA Ultra and was quite impressed. Also their Bios utility was quite nice. In eVGA forums they say that this board should come out soon. Since this is a 650i chip I'd think they would have had experience with the 650i SLI boards that this would just be a stripped version(without extra pci-e 8x slot). Anyhow I guess, hardware wise do you believe that the ASUS is a better board? I know anandtech was saying how the eVGA could be better if it had: as memory voltages to 2.2V, CPU VTT / GTL Ref voltage control, Firewire, and maybe a six-layer board design. Does the ASUS have this?

Anyhow thanks for your help.

 

[troutinator]

Not sure off the top of my head about those specific things, let me check a couple:

• Firewire: One on back panel and one on board for connecting to a front panel (ASUS Product Page).
• Memory Voltages: 1.920V ~ 2.517V in various increments (AnadTech Review). Default 1.8v see below for details).
• CPU VTT / GTL Ref voltage control: Not that I can find. Maybe in a future BIOS update. But I haven't seen anyone complaining about it not being there.
• FSB Max Voltage: 1.74v (<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTI0OSwyLCxoZW50aHVza
  FzdA==---">HardOCP Review</a>)
• Six-layer PCB Board: Not that I can find, but neither does the ASUS 650i Ultra board, don't know about the other manufactures. (I think it will only be on the 680i boards.)

Here are few details that everyone should know before buying the ASUS.

• To get RAM running at 1T command rate, they DIMMs need to be placed in the back slots (2 & 4), atleast this was the last I've heard. People are still waiting for BIOS to fix this. However, if you don't plan to run with 4 DIMMs at the moment then its not an issue.
• It defaults the RAM to 1.8v, some people have had issues with no-posts because the RAM couldn't run with 1.8v. A few fixed that by booting the first time with only a single DIMM in, entered the BIOS and upped the RAM voltage to mfg specs.
• Early bios problems have been worked out, current bios is .505
• Intial 412.5 MHz FSB cap was removed.
• NB has huge heatsink that needs to be actively cooled for high OC. Should most likely be removed, cleaned, and reapplied with AS5, or entire replaced (optional)
• SB has no cooling, for high OC it needs atleast some form of passive cooling. For active cooling the VANTEC CCB-A1C HSF has a very low profile, so it will allow SLI. Other passive HS have been used succesfully such as the Thermalright HR-05 (a bit pricey) or some of Zalman's chipset coolers.
• Supports 1333MHz FSB for Intel's up-and-coming processors. (also good for OC'ing)
• IDE controller doesn't use the J-Micron chip, instead it uses 650i-MCP, so no J-Micron issues (AnandTech Review).

I'm planning on trying to do a series of posts comparing the mid-range $100 to ~$150 dollar motherboards by aggregating all the information I can find in reviews and on forums. Should be helpful to a bunch of people but is going to take a lot of time as the amount of info on just the P5N-E SLI is a ton. Once I get that done I will have all my claims backed up, instead of this where I don't have the time to track down everything I remember reading.

Hope some of this helps.

edit: I post on to many forums, can't keep their formatting straight.