Need Mobo suggestions for a new setup

Sygonic

n00b
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Jul 12, 2010
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So I decided to get the Core i7 875k (1156), so I need some suggestions for motherboards.

Am going to use SLI (2 different cards though), 200$ and below.

Found these till now:

1. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131621


2. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3128400&cm_re=P55-UD4P-_-13-128-400-_-Product

3. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...bb3r-_-Motherboards+-+Intel-_-ASUS-_-13131400

Also I understnad that 3 way SLI with USB 3 and SATA 6GB have issues because they all have the same bandwith to share, which makes the new faststandart irelevant as it actualy decreases performance both for the SLI and the USB/SATA when combined. My question is does it happen to 2 way SLI (8x+8x)as well as for 3 way SLI? lynnfield 1156 wize. Thanks!
 
From the reviews I've been reading on newegg I think all P55 based motherboards will steal bandwidth in one way or another. The way gigabyte and asus handle it are different. I think gigabyte drops the PCIe to 4x/4x if you sli/cf while the asus keeps 8x/8x but you cannot use sata3/usb3.0 at all.
 
I got another Q, is it possible with those mobos to combine different G cards? like a 9800GX2 and a GTX 470? if not then with which mobos is it possible? Thanks again
 
Definitely go with an Asus.

I used to be a Gigabyte enthusiast until they ripped me off on a board. Now I'm loyal to Asus.
 
Got it. If anyone has a better suggestion plz go ahead. And about the SLI thing?
 
From the reviews I've been reading on newegg I think all P55 based motherboards will steal bandwidth in one way or another. The way gigabyte and asus handle it are different. I think gigabyte drops the PCIe to 4x/4x if you sli/cf while the asus keeps 8x/8x but you cannot use sata3/usb3.0 at all.

That's not true. Gigabyte P55A boards can run X8/X8, while USB 3.0/Sata III through a single PCIe 1.1 lane off the P55 chipset (via the DMI) ie; USB 3.0 runs @ 2.5Gb/s aka more than 5 times faster than USB 2.0. It's only Superspeed/Turbo USB 3.0/Sata III which take 8 PCIe 2.0 Lanes.

Here's my post on how it works.
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1035805792&postcount=6

Edit: Op, I'd either grab Gigabyte's P55A-UD4P or P55A-UD6. The Asus boards use a PLX chip, which use bandwidth via the P55 chipset and can potentially anything running off it including your OS Drive.
 
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That's not true. Gigabyte P55A boards can run X8/X8, while USB 3.0/Sata III through a single PCIe 1.1 lane off the P55 chipset (via the DMI) ie; USB 3.0 runs @ 2.5Gb/s aka more than 5 times faster than USB 2.0. It's only Superspeed/Turbo USB 3.0/Sata III which take 8 PCIe 2.0 Lanes.

Here's my post on how it works.
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1035805792&postcount=6

Edit: Op, I'd either grab Gigabyte's P55A-UD4P or P55A-UD6. The Asus boards use a PLX chip, which use bandwidth via the P55 chipset and can potentially anything running off it including your OS Drive.
What does it mean when they say - "Note: When dual graphics cards are used in 1st and 2nd PCIex16 slots, SATA3 / USB 3.0 (Marvell 9128 /NEC USB 3.0 Controllers) will work at normal mode" ?
 
What does it mean when they say - "Note: When dual graphics cards are used in 1st and 2nd PCIex16 slots, SATA3 / USB 3.0 (Marvell 9128 /NEC USB 3.0 Controllers) will work at normal mode" ?

Normal mode means its not running at Superspeed (Turbo). No sata III/USB 3.0 Drive is going to soak up the non Superspeed (Turbo) speeds anyway, at least not for a very very long time imo. This is been a known since last fall, and this is probably the 100th thread I'm posting this info in. A lot of people who own these board aren't even aware they have this option and as seen on the P55A-UD6 review done on [H], it wasn't even mentioned once!! If you really want to understand it, some threads start by miahellen over at XtremeSystems.org


Quoted from Gigabyte via the linked miahellen.
""There are two ways that our USB/SATA 3.0 works: one way is Turbo mode where it uses PCI-E lanes to communicate directly with the CPU for best performance. The other way is through the P55 chipset where it is limited to PCI-E gen 1 speed (2.5Gb/s) – when turbo mode is disabled. The point is that Gigabyte P55A boards are all about options: we provide options for the user to decide if he wants 5Gb/s SSUSB for high-speed backup or if he prefers SLI/CFX while still enjoying USB/SATA 3.0 – albeit at a lower speed. And in auto mode the system will decide for the user, i.e. if there is a 2nd VGA card then SLI/CF takes precedence, but if there is only 1 VGA card and a device is plugged into a USB/SATA 3.0 slot then superspeed data transfer takes precedence.

Key to our design is the DMI bus (10Gb/s) between the CPU and P55 chipset because any device that is connected to the chipset (audio card, RAID sub-system, even the drive with your OS) will have to share that bus. So if you’re loading the chipset’s SATA, USB 2.0 and PCI-E bandwidth then it makes sense to use Turbo mode. Adding a bridge chip (such as the PLX chip) doesn’t provide extra DMI bus bandwidth, so there is a potential bottle neck!" - source inside Gigabyte Co. Ltd."


well my buddy had one for about 2 hours and the cpu socket melted down :p
Well I've owned two and they never gave me any problems. :)
 
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Normal mode means its not running at Superspeed (Turbo). No sata III/USB 3.0 Drive is going to soak up the non Superspeed (Turbo) speeds anyway, at least not for a very very long time imo. This is been a known since last fall, and this is probably the 100th thread I'm posting this info in. A lot of people who own these board aren't even aware they have this option and as seen on the P55A-UD6 review done on [H], it wasn't even mentioned once!! If you really want to understand it, some threads start by miahellen over at XtremeSystems.org


Quoted from Gigabyte via the linked miahellen.
""There are two ways that our USB/SATA 3.0 works: one way is Turbo mode where it uses PCI-E lanes to communicate directly with the CPU for best performance. The other way is through the P55 chipset where it is limited to PCI-E gen 1 speed (2.5Gb/s) – when turbo mode is disabled. The point is that Gigabyte P55A boards are all about options: we provide options for the user to decide if he wants 5Gb/s SSUSB for high-speed backup or if he prefers SLI/CFX while still enjoying USB/SATA 3.0 – albeit at a lower speed. And in auto mode the system will decide for the user, i.e. if there is a 2nd VGA card then SLI/CF takes precedence, but if there is only 1 VGA card and a device is plugged into a USB/SATA 3.0 slot then superspeed data transfer takes precedence.

Key to our design is the DMI bus (10Gb/s) between the CPU and P55 chipset because any device that is connected to the chipset (audio card, RAID sub-system, even the drive with your OS) will have to share that bus. So if you’re loading the chipset’s SATA, USB 2.0 and PCI-E bandwidth then it makes sense to use Turbo mode. Adding a bridge chip (such as the PLX chip) doesn’t provide extra DMI bus bandwidth, so there is a potential bottle neck!" - source inside Gigabyte Co. Ltd."



Well I've owned two and they never gave me any problems. :)

I found this though:
"For Intel systems, we have to recommend that you pay much closer attention when it comes to motherboard selection. Since 16 PCI Express 2.0 lanes are more than enough for a single graphics card, PCIe switches like the PLX device used on Gigabyte’s P55A-UD7 and MSI's P55-GD85 can accommodate the bandwidth requirements of additional USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 controllers by dynamically allocating bandwidth from the P55 PCH when a pair of graphics cards is already monopolizing the processor's available second-gen PCI Express. These two boards show that this flexible bandwidth allocation remains a good solution, even if two graphics cards on x8 PCI Express 2.0 connects tax the PCIe bandwidth in CrossFire mode. Any motherboard that comes with added USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 hardware should be running a PCI Express switch to administer the available bandwidth efficiently."
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/usb-3.0-sata-6gb,review-31844-8.html
So?
 
I got another Q, is it possible with those mobos to combine different G cards? like a 9800GX2 and a GTX 470? if not then with which mobos is it possible? Thanks again

No, SLI only works with identical cards (model numbers) regardless of the motherboard. Hydra is an up and coming technology that claims to allow this to work though.
 
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