cheap core 2 board? (805 build with future)

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DrFreeze

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Feb 3, 2007
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hi guys, first time poster, long time reader here, im also somewhat of an intel n00b (been amd !!!!!! since forever :eek: )

anyway, i spotted a boxed 805 for cheap on a local auction i might pounce on (its currently going for € 62.50, if it stays on 70 i might try to take it) for a cheap experimental / server / HTPC build im considering

so i am looking for a board for this 805, i know that even if i want to OC i dont need an extraordinary board (yay for 533 mhz fsb... ahem) but i might want to do a drop in upgrade with a cheap allendale/conroe down the road some time, so im looking for the cheapest option for a conroe board, and this is as far as ive come:

Intel chips: only the 965 and 975 have C2D support, 945p is mentioned in some cases, but the official stuff on the intel site says no no to C2D on 945p

Ati: dont have a clue, as i might also dabble with linux on this machine and ati has a less then stellar rep for linux drivers, im inclined to not go this way, suggestions are welcome though

Nvidia: the only NV intel boards i can find are SLI and a tad on the expensive side, can anyone point me to a geforce 6100 / NF4 based 775 board? if they even support C2D at all

i would prefer to stay away from the likes of SiS and Via, my past experiences with these two werent all that positive, and as i said, id like the option for running linux


so is it possible to have a C2D board for say, 70-80 bucks? i dont care much about whether its AGP / PCI-e / DDR / DDR2, just so long as it has the option for a seperate vga card (TV-out and all)

if this doesnt work out, what would you guys say about picking up one of Asus' 865 based Pentium D boards (im thinking P5PE-VM)

thanks for any info!
 
i got a p5n-e, its about $130... it supports quad core though so it offers a lot of options. Plus 1333 fsb.
 
looks like a nice board, but spending twice the price of the cpu im oogling on the mobo seems rather overdone, for the same money i can have an amd x2 3800 on a decent am2 board

im really looking for a cheap board here guys
 
well this is odd, the support section of the Asus website seems to suggest that the p5pe-vm also supports C2Ds since a certain bios, with the only limitation that using onboard vga will limit the fsb to 800 mhz...

is it even plausible that an 865g based board can run conroes?


btw, linky to asus website: http://support.asus.com.tw/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx (select search by cpu, socket 775, p5pe-vm)


edit: newegg reviews seem to indicate this board DOES support C2Ds, given the propper bios (new shipments support conroe OOTB, need a flash for allendales), so this probably is the board im going for if i pick up that 805

sorry to clog up the forum with a few useless posts, but it might be interesting for people with high end AGP cards and lots of DDR to know that a C2D upgrade is only a $55 mobo away :D
 
The ASRock Dual VSTA board supports a lot of different options (DDR1/DDR2 and PCIe/AGP). Maybe look at that board.
 
wow, that asrock board is VERY impressive, AGP, pci-e, DDR, DDR2, its got it all

im quite pleased really, i thought you needed a intel 965 or better board to use C2Ds, but Asus and Asrock seem not to care

i think ill go with the asus board though, i can pick one up almost around the corner next monday. now just to try and win that 805 for less then 70 euros, and im golden :D
 
DrFreeze said:
..
im quite pleased really, i thought you needed a intel 965 or better board to use C2Ds, but Asus and Asrock seem not to care..
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It has nothing to do with the chipsets , its about the VRM.There are plenty of 865PE boards that support Conroe and that chipset was out in early 2003.
 
cool, as i said, im a bit of an intel n00b, put me in a room with an AMD system and ill have it figured out in no time flat, but the most up to date intel ive messed with is a P3-733

my impression was always that although intel might be a bit less trigger happy with socket upgrades (well lately anyway, i do believe AMD stuck with socket 7 for ages, same for 462, but i could be wrong), but chipset compatibility would always come and ruin the party, but it seems i was off by that

thanks for all the intel intel, if all goes well i should be tweaking that 805 next week
 
bleh, i just got outbid on the 805 auction one frigging minute before closing time (due to clock sync issues i didnt dare bid less then 2 minutes before closing)

no 805 fun for me :(
 
sorry i forgot to mention this, but im european, so no newegg for me

i already checked all big online retailers here, no 805s for any decent price, i can get a 820 for €85, but somehow i prefer the 805

i also found amd x2 3800 bulks for 100, so that looks like a bargain
 
DrFreeze said:
sorry i forgot to mention this, but im european, so no newegg for me

i already checked all big online retailers here, no 805s for any decent price, i can get a 820 for €85, but somehow i prefer the 805

i also found amd x2 3800 bulks for 100, so that looks like a bargain
Click to expand...

That's not a bad price. AM2 or s939?
 
DrFreeze said:
AM2, 939 is pretty much dead except for some good 3700 deals, hardly any duallys
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X2 3800+ is hard to find in s939 unless you're buying used. I've seen it for as low as $135 or so here in the states in AM2.
 
for your price range, you'd be looking at 945p / 945g chipsets. If you do your research, you can find ones that'll be able to o/c your 805 pretty well. But in terms of c2d, unless you go the e4300 route and go up to 266fsb (which is really a puny o/c in and of itself...), it won't fair too well for you. Then again, there are a lot of via chipsets in your price range, but you said you wanted to veer away from those (and I understand completely!!). Then again, those don't o/c c2d's well anyway so just stick to 945 if you're sticking in your price.

If you do want a more decent board for a little more money, there's the biostar 965pt board that's around $105 last I checked. I know it's a little out of your budget so I'm not trying to coerce you into getting it.

You could also look into open box motherboards from newegg. Sometimes you get just a bare board (my last one was..), but most of the time, it comes with most of the goodies, and usually at least a back plate (although mine didn't). Depending on luck, you might be able to find a p965 for about your price range if not just a tad more. You'd be kind of pushing luck a little bit in terms of hoping to get all the stuff, or at least the backplate (most important part in my opinion).

Hope this helps.

Also, personally, I've owned the asus p5lmx board, which is matx and 945g. It supported my e6400 fine for the month that I had the board. Didn't really like to scale in fsb though, so I pretty much just ran it at stock.
 
ziddey, thanks for all the advice, but it doesnt really matter, i didnt win the 805 in the auction, so i dont need a 775 board anymore, and as i said, im european, so newegg isnt an option

and kirbyrj, this isnt for my main rig, i already have a 939 x2 3800 running in my main rig, its just that the idea of picking up a dually (even if its the worst one) at 70 bucks was very attractive
 
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