Wife's Xtmas gift

[PKing1977]

I am set on getting my wife a http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115017 processer this christmas. However, this will be the first intel chip I have ever bought. My question is not about the process, but I would like to know about the motherboard. I am not sure what intel boards are good. She will not game much, so SLI is not a big deal at all.

Any ideas?

Thanks

PKing

 

[Quiksilver]

Well, sames it seems some of the reviewers on newegg are still receiving the B3 Steppings from newegg I would purchase it from here as your guaranteed a G0 stepping which runs much cooler.
http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A1938452

(Club IT also offers a OEM version of the q6600 G0 stepping if you plan on using a aftermarket cooler)

If SLI is no big deal I will recommend a p35 chipset and specifically this motherboard mainly due to the great results it gets, its cheap price, and there is a massive thread in the motherboard section talking about its problems and updates. For what it is worth it looks well worth it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813127031

 

[MarcVenice]

That abit mobo seems to have a LOT of compatibility issues though. But for 70$ it's a real bargain. Asus p5k-se or gigabyte ds3l might be worth looking into as well.

 

[wittangamo]

The Abit IP35-E QuicksilverX1 recommends is an excellent low-cost choice.

I wouldn't worry too much about B3 vs GO steppings on a Q6600. Unless you're planning to seriously overclock your wife's new computer (in which case you'll be spending more time playing with it than she will,) it's not a big deal.

It's fast at default settings, and even with the stock Intel cooler you can almost always get 3.0 ghz with little trouble.

Just hope she appreciates the thought that went into the gift. At my house, anything that plugs into the wall draws ho-hum reviews. The only way I could get by with giving her a cpu would be if I hung it on a platinum chain and wrapped it in a blue box from Tiffany.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
That abit mobo seems to have a LOT of compatibility issues though. But for 70$ it's a real bargain. Asus p5k-se or gigabyte ds3l might be worth looking into as well.

Only with the use of non-JEDEC 1.8V RAMs...usually OCZ stuffs. It runs fine with the cheap $10/GB HP DDR2 667 RAMs and all 1.8V DDR2 667 or 800 RAM from Crucial or Kingston. I've also seen issues with some Antec PSUs except Earthwatts (so what's new), and possible conflict with some high-end Corsairs.

No problem with my Antec SP 350, Utra V400, V500, X-Finity 500, X-Finity 600, Enermax EG 495P, and Earthwatts 380/430/500.

Plenty of folks with Abit IP35-E and E21x0 and E4xx0 north of 3.0GHz.

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2099932&enterthread=y

 

[Killrose]

Originally posted by: wittangamo
Just hope she appreciates the thought that went into the gift. At my house, anything that plugs into the wall draws ho-hum reviews. The only way I could get by with giving her a cpu would be if I hung it on a platinum chain and wrapped it in a blue box from Tiffany.

LOL! Thats what i'm thinking too. Unless your wife is a computer geek and has mentioned wanted something like this, I would'nt even attempt to get her any computer related item, unless of course, it is about the 10th place on the most expensive items x-mas list of gifts you get her.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: Killrose

Originally posted by: wittangamo
Just hope she appreciates the thought that went into the gift. At my house, anything that plugs into the wall draws ho-hum reviews. The only way I could get by with giving her a cpu would be if I hung it on a platinum chain and wrapped it in a blue box from Tiffany.

LOL! Thats what i'm thinking too. Unless your wife is a computer geek and has mentioned wanted something like this, I would'nt even attempt to get her any computer related item, unless of course, it is about the 10th place on the most expensive items x-mas list of gifts you get her.

Yup . . . a CPU would rank right up there with a vacuum cleaner and bottle of toilet cleaner around here . . .

 

[zagood]

Hah...next is going to be a water cooling loop. "Buy honey, I added PINK dye! Look you can see it through the side window..."

My wife has/had an old HP that I tinker with. I upgraded it with an e4300 + ECS combo from Fry's, used the same DDR and AGP card she already had, added an intake fan and installed a copy of my MAP Vista Business. She's a happy little camper with those upgrades, and wouldn't know the difference with a quad.

EDIT: back to the point, yeah, P35 chipset.

-z

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: PKing1977

I am set on getting my wife a http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115017 processer this christmas. However, this will be the first intel chip I have ever bought. My question is not about the process, but I would like to know about the motherboard. I am not sure what intel boards are good. She will not game much, so SLI is not a big deal at all.

Any ideas?

Thanks

PKing

care to tell us your budget on the board?

Also you never stated if you were going to overclock it or not.

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo

Originally posted by: Killrose

Originally posted by: wittangamo
Just hope she appreciates the thought that went into the gift. At my house, anything that plugs into the wall draws ho-hum reviews. The only way I could get by with giving her a cpu would be if I hung it on a platinum chain and wrapped it in a blue box from Tiffany.

LOL! Thats what i'm thinking too. Unless your wife is a computer geek and has mentioned wanted something like this, I would'nt even attempt to get her any computer related item, unless of course, it is about the 10th place on the most expensive items x-mas list of gifts you get her.

Yup . . . a CPU would rank right up there with a vacuum cleaner and bottle of toilet cleaner around here . . .

I got away with a 8800GTS for one of my X-GFs on her bday. She was a WOW addict tho. I personally cant stand WOW.

 

[daveybrat]

Originally posted by: PKing1977

I am set on getting my wife a http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115017 processer this christmas. However, this will be the first intel chip I have ever bought. My question is not about the process, but I would like to know about the motherboard. I am not sure what intel boards are good. She will not game much, so SLI is not a big deal at all.

Any ideas?

Thanks

PKing

My biggest question is this......why in the world does she need a quad-core processor??

I'm sure a nice cheap Core2Duo cpu (e2140-e2160) or an AMD X2 4200-4600+ would be more than sufficient. You said she isn't playing any major games, so maybe you can elaborate on why she needs more power than your current system.

Unless of course it's the old buy your wife a bowling ball for christmas with the finger holes suspiciouly drilled out to YOUR size hand

 

[PKing1977]

HAHHAAH love the responses.. Your right, at this time she does not "need" a quad core. However, she has always complained that my computer got the good stuff and everything she had was a hand me down... Since my computer does everything that I want it to do very well, I guess It is time to splurg and make her feel like she has the new and best thing.

I picked the quad core because we do have a good number of home movies of our daughter that she can tinker around with. At least encoding and such does benefit from more cores..

I dont plan to OC that much, I doubt she would care anyway...

I see newegg has some deals going with memory

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820145034
for example. i notice that might not work with the board recommended. Since that ram is that cheep, ad there are others.. I just want to make sure it works with what ever board.

Thanks for hte help !!

PKing

 

[wittangamo]

This is what I'm using with my IP35. It's a little cheaper after rebate, it's CAS 4 and has some OC headroom.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820220144

The quad will make a difference on video encoding.

 

[Dkcode]

I vote for the Intel DP35DP. No overclocking features, No multi GPU support but rock solid, great layout and excellent build quality at a good price. The on board devices are decent too (Intel gigabit Lan, Marvell PATA controller).

I advise flashing to the latest BIOS release as it fixes many niggles.