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Choosing a replacement motherboard....

H

HitMan-sC

Gawd
Joined
Feb 19, 2003
Messages
987
OK, this might be a long thread so just bear with me, as I could really use some good suggestions here, guys.

What has happened so far: I bought the Intel system in my sig from newegg about a month ago. After installation, I ran into some problems with the Mushkin I had bought (BSOD's). After RMA'ing (failed Memtest) and receiving a replacement set, I got random reboots and crashes. Memtest fails yet again, so I RMA for Corsair XMS PC3200. Earlier today, further testing shows the system will only post with one stick of Corsair, the other will not boot with my other systems. Research on Abit, Mushkin and Corsair forums suggests compatiblity issues. I decided I had it with the motherboard, so I called newegg to RMA both the motherboard and the memory for a completely new combination.

What I plan to do with my system: I figured I might as well clear up what this system's main purpose will be. I want to get into some heavy gaming, MP3/Movies, and perhaps media creation (DVD's, basically).

What I want in a motherboard

- Stability! I will sacrifice some overclockability for stablity and reliablity, no doubt.
- A nice feature set: an 875P or 865P board with plenty of goodies.
- Low number of compatiblity/known issues.
- High user satisfaction.

Motherboards I have been looking at:

- Asus P4C800-E Deluxe
- MSI 875P Neo-FIS2R
- Chaintech 9CJS Zenith
- DFI LANParty Pro875B
- Intel D875PBZLK 1.5

What I want in RAM:

- High performance, definately.
- Stability, yet again.
- Super-tight timings arent essential; overclocking headroom would be nice.

RAM I have been looking at:

- Mushkin PC3200 2-2-2 Special (I'm really risking it, here.)
- Kingston Hyper-X (no particular model, as of now)
- Corsair XMS (not sure if I want to do this again, either.)
- OCZ (tarnished reputation is pretty much scaring me off)

Well, there you have it. I'm really open to suggestions here. Past experiences with any of these products is very welcome! I would really like to make the right decisions before I plunge into another month of headaches. I really appreciate any help, guys!
 
Out of all of the mobos you have listed, I have worked with three: the Asus, MSI, and Intel.

The most stable out of all of these is definitely the Intel, but there is literally no overclocking headroom ... you can get maybe 100 extra MHz out of your 2.8, but that's it.

I have a bit of a beef with Asus lately because of their P4P800 and P4P800S boards ... apparently we got a couple bad batches of them at work, because they were fuckin' failing left and right. There were big-ass failures like IDE controllers just poofing out of existence, and less significant failures like the audio refusing to work. However, the P4C800-E Deluxe was the fastest (stock) board I have worked with. I tested it with a 40GB hard drive and 1GB of PC3200 before putting what the customer requested into it ... it ended up with a 3.0C GHz Pentium 4, 2GB of Kingston HyperX PC3500, and a pair of Western Digital WD2500JB drives in RAID 0 on the southbridge.

Because of my beef with Asus I have been recommending MSI to people, simply because we have had fewer problems with MSI boards where I work. They seem to be decently stable and quick, and they have that nifty (and sometimes ass-saving) D-LED feature. I know Asus used to have the POST Reporter (maybe they still do) but it's hella annoying to hear a computer say "System completed power-on self test, computer now booting from operating system" whenever you turn it on.

For RAM I'd recommend Kingston HyperX PC3500 or higher. I've got a pair of 'em on my D875PBZLK and the system has been stable since the day I put it together. Fucking nice.
 
Well then I guess I won't go for the Intel board, I'd still like some headroom to push my 2.8C. Apparently there have been issues with the P4P800, but I haven't heard much about the P4C800, which is what I am really leaning towards.
 
Originally posted by HitMan-sC
Well then I guess I won't go for the Intel board, I'd still like some headroom to push my 2.8C. Apparently there have been issues with the P4P800, but I haven't heard much about the P4C800, which is what I am really leaning towards.
Click to expand...

The only reason you've heard of issues with the P4P800 is because they're so damn popular :D More boards = more problems. I haven't heard from the guys I sold P4C800 boards, though ...
 
What about the memory? I couldn't find any forums on asus's website so that I could check for known compatiblity issues. I'm seriously considering some Hyper-X, though. I don't want to risk going with Mushkin again, even though it seemed like some really high-quality RAM. Any experiences with Asus boards & other brands of high-end memory?
 
Intel boards are the most stable but no overclockability. I just bought a new Gigabyte GA-8KNXP board with a 3.0c and i love it. Its one of the most feature rich boards out. I havn't had a single issue with it yet.

As for RAM get Mushkin. Mushkin is the best whether you got some bad sticks or not. Mushkin makes the best PCB's, their the most overclockable, and they run the tightest timings.

Save your money and get the Mushkin PC3200 lvl 1 though instead of the special 2-2-2. I'm running the lvl 1 in my Gigabyte board and its flawless at 2-3-2-5.

The Gigabyte board supports a 6 phase voltage regulator so its the most stable power to the CPU you can get. There is always a backup 3 phase regulator if something happens to one.

Gigabyte boards also have a dual BIOS. Its great if you ever have any problems in your BIOS or a virus attacks your BIOS. It will automatically revert to the backup without doing any more then restarting your system.

It also has an in windows BIOS update utility. You can just run the utility and download the newest BIOS and install it without ever using a floppy and working in DOS ever again.

Those are just a few of the reasons i picked the Gigabyte board.

Also if it means anything, this Gigabyte board appears to have gotten more 5 star ratings on Newegg then any other 875p board.
 
Hmm...my Gigabyte AMD board has been treating me very well. Perhaps I'll look into that.

UPDATE: Looks like the board also has problems with Corsair memory....damn, everyone has problems with them, or vice-versa. Strange...there seems to be a number of other problems with the boards. I'll look into those later.

I'll check back on this thread after I get back from SATs tomorrow morning. Wish me luck :(.
 
I am using an Asus P4C800E Deluxe, 2 512 sticks of HyperX4000 and a 2.8C at 3.5 at def V core.

The RAM is 1:1 at 2.65V and the board overvolts the processor a little bit (1.58V-1.6V).

Rock stable in all games I have thrown at it. I have no complaints at all I would recommend the same setup to you.
 
Originally posted by HitMan-sC
UPDATE: Looks like the board also has problems with Corsair memory....damn, everyone has problems with them, or vice-versa. Strange...there seems to be a number of other problems with the boards. I'll look into those later.
Click to expand...

Where are you looking at thats showing these problems with the board?
 
User reviews on newegg, mostly. I haven't had a chance to check Gigabyte's forums. I'm leaving for SATs in about 30 minutes. I'll check them when I get back, but a lot of user reviews on newegg complained about their Corsair XMS causing hell with their boards.
 
Originally posted by HitMan-sC
User reviews on newegg, mostly. I haven't had a chance to check Gigabyte's forums. I'm leaving for SATs in about 30 minutes. I'll check them when I get back, but a lot of user reviews on newegg complained about their Corsair XMS causing hell with their boards.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't pay much attention to some of those dimwits on Newegg lol. They are think their professional builders and most of them can barely plug piece A. to B. right.

Then THEY screw up and say THIS BOARD SUCKS all because they didn't do the research before they ordered.

I've been building comp. systems for about 10 years. Most of the time i use Intel or Asus boards but this time i decided to get Bigabyte since i heard so many good things about it. This is about to change tho. I'm using P4 2.8E Prescott CPU, GEIL 2gig DDR3200, 420W Thermaltake PS, ATI 9800Pro 128MB, 80gig WestDigital 7200RPS. Everything loads and instal without single problem. After full istalation or windows, all drivers and internaet system overheats a little but still works stable ( no overcloaking). I max the colling fans to cooldown the CPU etc. 2min after i ran the 1st game check the down time, loading and frames the wholes systems goes down because Power Supply blowed. whyat i do is fast check for any shortcuts, bios setup check to make sure its no overcloaked, I took out DPS2 card what takes off about 24W from the system. I repalced power supply for 550W and try it again. Windows runs great, internet too but when it logs on to the game it only worked for few min because the power supply blowed up. XXX?!?! Its not even overcloaked and everything connected right as the manuals shows. Video card? nehhh its new card tasted on my other 3 computers with the same software so i dont think so. Prescott CPU maybe not compatibile with the baord? but then what does that have to do with blowing my 2 power supplys. After all i figured out its the board, bye bye Gigabyte. Sorry but from this experience i wont be trying this kind of type of board again.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:

A lot of features and rock solid stability for any Intel 533 & 800 platform. Reason why I gave the motherboard a 3 (really a 3.5 but there's no option) instead of a 4 or 5 is because I intended to overclock my 2.8C to 3.22 GHz (14x230FSB). The board couldn't handle the load. I even tried 3.01 GHz and it couldn't stabilize. But putting the board back to standard settings everyone was happy. Running two SATA drives is sweet (no RAID on SATA) and the GigaRAID chipset for IDE RAID is awesome, 2x WD1200JB's @ 235 GB ain't to shabby. Fastest RAID setup I've experienced.
Click to expand...

It can guarantee that wasn't the boards fault. It was ither his RAM or CPU or the settings he was trying to run in the BIOS. The Gigabyte board is a good overclocker and supports up to 1.76 Vcore in revision 2.0 up from the 1.6 Vcore in the first revision.

Nearly every customer rating has been 5 stars since September and with 108 votes with 4 stars overall.

But if your worried about the Corsair XMS there is a simple solution, GET THE MUSHKIN! Its better anyways and most likely cheaper. I got my 1GB dual pack for just $203 on Newegg. I believe its went up since a week ago though.

EDIT: Actually i would get the Mushkin PC3200 "222 Special" since its $2 cheaper now for some crazy reason. It must not be selling as well as the lvl 1.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=0&submit=Go&description=mushkin,pc3200
 
I will seriously consider the Mushkin again, even though I'm a bit weary. I really liked the feel of the RAM - pretty high quality. The strange thing is, it would fail Memtest left and right (both sets) if put in my IC7-Max 3, but would do just fine in my Gigabyte board. Goodbye, Abit....I could really use some more opinions on the P4C800....that's my main contendor.
 
I've had similar problems. Getting the right memory is the trick.
I have had no problems with my P4C800 Deluxe. But when I used Corsair Value Select Ram on a similar board for a system built for a friend I had nothing but issues.
 
Originally posted by Sir-Fragalot
I've had similar problems. Getting the right memory is the trick.
I have had no problems with my P4C800 Deluxe. But when I used Corsair Value Select Ram on a similar board for a system built for a friend I had nothing but issues.
Click to expand...

What type of memory are you using right now?
 
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