Motherboard suggestions?

J

John D

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Messages
106
HELP!!

I'm looking to get a new motherboard to replace my Intel DG965WH.

I want a ATX board with DDR2 support, P35 or X38 chipset, two 16x PCI Express slots and built in Intel network card. Seems the Intel network card is the sticking point for most boards. Anyone have suggestions?
 
http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/DX38BT/index.htm

Otherwise you are pretty much SoL due to that Intel NIC requirement. (not that it is a bad requirement, just one that severely limits the choices)

Consider you could put an Intel NIC card in any X38 and meet your goals if you can stand the expense (the really nice NIC is $85).



oops!!! DDR3 - nevermind.
 
Try Asus or Gigabyte boards. There are many price points for your needs and they are both easy to maintain. :)
 
The Intel P35 motherboard uses DDR2, but only has one x16 PCI-E slot.

The only other board besides Intel's own that has a built-in Intel network adapter is the ECS P35T-A. It even has two x16 PCI-E slots (one x4 electrically, as with all P35's with two slots). That would, technically, fulfill all your requirements.

That said, getting that board is not recommended; I'd suggest a Gigabyte, abit, or ASUS, and just getting a separate PCI or PCI-E Intel NIC.
 
Supermicro boards are not known for their overclocking ability, but they come out with more unique combinations (slots, capabilities, etc) that make them just different enough from the competition.

This one has dual x16 slots and an Intel gigabit NIC.

http://supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Core2Duo/X38/C2SBX.cfm

They are definitely solid and reliable. This gives you two PCI-X and two PCI slots, so it makes it a good choice for older periperhals. Only one PCI-e x1 slot though.

-Robert
 
Well the Intel NIC is certainly superior to all the other integrated NICs but why are you hung up on that? You could always buy a PCIe Intel NIC and use that instead if you are really hung up on that.

ASUS, abit, Gigabyte, ECS, DFI, and most other companies all use Broadcomm, Realtek, or Marvell solutions because they are far cheaper, and are still good enough to get the job done. Having an Intel NIC won't improve your online gaming experience if you are into that sort of thing. Your internet connection is likely far slower than even the crappiest onboard NIC. So I wouldn't worry about it too much.

If you want true dual x16 PCIe slots than the P35 gets tossed out of the race because that chipset doesn't have enough PCIe lanes to be configured that way. You'll need an X38 chipset based board in order to meet your requirements. (Which again, unless your planning on a Crossfire configuration with higher end ATI cards the requirement seems silly.
 
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