Recommend Intel mobo for performance?

[Catul]

I'm putting together a new system which will be used primarily for image editing (Photoshop, etc.), some video editing (Premiere Pro), and the other usual tasks - no gaming. I'd initially thought of getting an AMD X2 4400+ but my video-editing card (Matrox RT.X100) doesn't support the nForce4 chipset, so it will have to be a Pentium D 830. I'd like 4Gb of fast RAM too. Video card will likely be a Matrox PCIe one.

So, what's the best board for highest performance (without having to get dual Xeons)? I've read good things about the Asus P5WD2 Premium - is that pretty much the way to go? Which memory will give me the best performance, given that I will be using 4 sticks?

If the system will handle it, I sure wouldn't mind overclocking it a little too.

Thanks for any pointers!!

 

[Cooler]

Asus P5WD2 Premium Is what I Have and it just great.

 

[Fenuxx]

Asus P5WD2 Premium. All of the reviews that I've read on it say its pretty great for Intel . Basically anything on the 955X chipset or the nForce4 SLi Intel Edition is gonna be the way to go.

 

[danklumpp]

Definately go with Asus, you can never go wrong with them (except their nForce4 chipset fans)

 

[Catul]

Ok, the Asus P5WD2 Premium with the Pentium D 830 it is then - seems unaminous, guess you can't go wrong with this board. So now, which memory is the best to use in a 4x1Gb dual-channel configuration? What will give me the fastest memory performance, whether or not I can overclock a little?

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated!!

 

[Cooler]

At least get somthing that is DDR2 667 or DDR2 800 otherwise DDR2 benifit will not be noticeable vs DDR .
Plus Asus P5WD2 Premium comes with TV/Radio Tuner stuff .

Also if your going OC a PD
Thermaltake VA7000BWA Shark Series Full Tower Case Is Great It for ocing on Air.
Got mine 3.8 stable.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

I have a P4P800-e Deluxe and it's been rock solid.
But hey, an LGA775 might be a better choice though, just like you said: P5WD2/P-D.

 

[Catul]

Ok, buying the memory is turning out to be a big hurdle - can't quite figure out what I should get. The OCZ 667MHz Dual Channel Enhanced Bandwidth Platinum (OCZ26672048EBDCPE-K) is supposed to be awesome, but it's impossible to find; plus it's over $500 for 2Gb (2x1024) sticks.

Which 667MHz sticks are you running? Any other specific memory I should look at?

Do you have your OC settings listed anywhere? I'd love to know your BIOS tweaks to get to 3.8 stable.

 

[Cooler]

All I had to do was change the mult up some in bios so it was easy. This is only for the 840EE model. Yours you would have to up the FSB some for a 830.

 

[Bingo13]

Board- Intel D955XBK or Asus P5WD2.

Memory- Patriot Extreme Performance 2gb kit- DDR2 700 or 800 kit, about $369 at Newegg. I have not had any issues running this memory at 4-3-3-8 at DDR2-667 and it will do 3-2-2-4 easily at DDR2-533.

 

[Catul]

Originally posted by: Bingo13
Memory- Patriot Extreme Performance 2gb kit- DDR2 700 or 800 kit, about $369 at Newegg. I have not had any issues running this memory at 4-3-3-8 at DDR2-667 and it will do 3-2-2-4 easily at DDR2-533.

That's very helpful, thanks - I will check out this memory! I'm trying to figure out what will give me better performance with Photoshop etc., lower timings at higher FSB or higher timings at lower FSB? Your info above is exactly my dilemma - run at DDR2-533 at 3-2-2-4 or DDR2-667 at 4-3-3-8? BTW, what is the actual FSB speed at DDR2-667MHz memory speeds?

Thanks again, much appreciated!

 

[Bingo13]

That's very helpful, thanks - I will check out this memory! I'm trying to figure out what will give me better performance with Photoshop etc., lower timings at higher FSB or higher timings at lower FSB? Your info above is exactly my dilemma - run at DDR2-533 at 3-2-2-4 or DDR2-667 at 4-3-3-8? BTW, what is the actual FSB speed at DDR2-667MHz memory speeds?

Thanks again, much appreciated!

You will have to experiment with the Memory timings and whether to run at 533 or 667 in Photoshop as your image sizing and manipulation methods will determine what setting is best overall. Your version of PhotoShop will also make a difference. CS2 is actually more performance oriented and multi-threading tolerant with the dual core or cpu setups than CS or 7.01.

Your FSB speed will stay at 800 with the "D" series cpu when using the 667 setting.

As a side note- If you order two 1g sticks separately of the Patriot DDR2-700 it will save you $69 instead of ordering the 2g kit at Newegg this weekend.