Hardest harware decision I have ever had to make?

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Scotch77

Gawd
Joined
Jul 27, 2005
Messages
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Hardest hardware decision I have ever had to make? sorry for typo


I am looking to Build a new system Still currently running a system like such.
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Intel P4 2.4c
asus p4c-800e deluxe
9600XT
2gb ocz pc-4800

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Now I am looking to build a system with a Intel E8400 and a Nvidia 8600GT, as well as 4gb of memory. The hardest part is by far choosing the motherboard. There are just so many options and none are perfect. I know that I want these features in order

-Stability(the board I mentioned above had to be rma'ed 9x) I don't want that again.
-Raid 0/1/5 maybe more
-Overclockability
-Needs to fit in my LIAN LI PC-61 - I worry for the sata ports that are parralel to the PCB, will they fit with the HDD enclosure in my case.
-FDD connector.


No i have been looking at only mainly the P35 and X38 chip sets. I am not to much a fan of the Nvidia. Every time I look at a motherboard, it seems to be what I want, but then I read forum or newegg reviews and they say its bad. I have always bought my motherboards from Asus, but now all I read on newegg reviews is DoA, DoA, now I don't know if most of these people are noobs, and they just don't know what they are doing, or this is actually a reflection of Asus quality. I have never used another brand, but would be willing to try a reputable one. I just need stability, thats my main focus.

I know I could just go buy a Intel Mobo and have stability but they don't have the raid features I want and the DX38 is kinda expensive for what you get in comparison to other brands. I do enjoy Overclocking also, I did it to my current PC and hit close to 3.9 Ghz. So even thogh I may not drasticly overclock I still want the ability to do so.


I am a CS Major and I do alot of computation based stuff. I used to play games, but dont much anymore, but still want the ability to do so. I do alot of computation, in things such as bioinformatics and data mining, so I need computation power, but I cant have motherboards dying on me 9x again. 9x may seem like alot, and I have built well over 700 computers in my life, but most were with low end parts for customers. I tend to care a little more for my personal pc.


So if anybody could help me narrow this down, I would really appraciate it.

Thanks all.
 
Scotch77 said:
I am looking to Build a new system Still currently running a system like such.
---------------------
Intel P4 2.4c
asus p4c-800e deluxe

<SNIP>

So if anybody could help me narrow this down, I would really appraciate it.

Thanks all.
Click to expand...

DITTO!!!! AND which boards will fully function right out of the box with little or no fiddling to get a decent speed -- FULL speed of the CPU and bus and memory without having to set voltages and experiment a lot -- stability right out of the box. (OC'ing can come later)

MikeSp
 
Would the applications you use benefit from 4 cores? If so, you'll definitely want to get that. Also, there are better videocards than that 8600GT for games. At the very least, an ATI 3850
 
MikeSp said:
DITTO!!!! AND which boards will fully function right out of the box with little or no fiddling to get a decent speed -- FULL speed of the CPU and bus and memory without having to set voltages and experiment a lot -- stability right out of the box. (OC'ing can come later)


MikeSp
Click to expand...

[stability and ease of use like that P4C800ED -- still going strong!!]
 
I'm in the same boat as you. So far I'm looking at the Abit ip-35 pro board. Duno if it fits in your case though.
 
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