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Today's Solid Motherboard?

I

iJeff

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 1, 2004
Messages
297
Hello,

I'm looking into a new computer build this summer. I've been out of the market for a while and am now wondering who makes the "solid" motherboards -- I built my last computer about three years ago and went with DFI Ultra-D -- this thing is an unwieldy beast. It has a ridiculous amount of overclocking options I don't use and if you don't put precise memory combinations in, it will rip your head off.

That being said, I'm in the market for motherboards that are solid, and by that I mean won't be terribly difficult with various hardware components that I decide to use in the future. I am not concerned about overclocking -- I won't do it in the near future. I'm willing to pay up to $200, but prefer less.

Techreport.com's February system guide suggests the ASUS P35 Pro for their Sweet Spot system (approximately in my price range, http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/14225/6). I've never used an ASUS motherboard but from what I've read they've always seemed the solid alternative to the uber-overclocking mobo.

I've read the ASUS vs. DFI thread and there are a lot of overclockers there suggesting DFI. But is DFI still wild and crazy with their motherboards?
 
I'm a huge fan of ASUS, having built both Socket A and 939 systems using their boards (A7N8X and A8N32-SLI), but they just don't currently have a board with all the features I want and at a good price point for Socket 775. Just like your link suggests, I went with the IP35 Pro this time around, and it's a pretty nice board. Every single capacitor is high-quality, solid state. The board's beautiful, the layout of the PCI-E and PCI slots suited my needs, it had dual LAN which comes in handy in a dorm, and I really like the angled SATA ports on the side. Also, NewEgg had a pretty good deal on it last week that put it at the same price as the ASUS P5K-E/WiFi.

That's not to say ASUS boards aren't good; they're still amazing. However, it comes down to the features and they layout that you want, at the price you want. Find a board that looks good and read plenty of reviews on it or get opinions specifically about it on the forum.
 
Alot of forum readers are having good results with Asus and Abit Motherboards. I don't think DFIs are "wild" but yeah, I own one and don't dare to touch 1/2 of the bios tweaking options as I don't know what they are and can't be bothered. The DFI P35 motherboards are very stable. I'm running a DFI P35 DK T2RS and haven't had a single BSOD yet. It was pretty effortless to OC an E8400 with this board, and I recommend it especially if you've owned a DFI Ultra-D (I had one three years ago too) as I'm sure you won't be overwhelmed by the bios.

Be warned that if you go from an Ultra-D to a P35 DK T2RS you'll be missing alot of features though, firewire, extra SATA ports, etc. If you get one of the UT or LT boards you'll probably get all of the nice features of the Ultra-D less Nvidia SLI support.
 
I currently have a Gigabyte X38 board which is very good but do recommend Asus for P35.
I havent bought an Abit board personally for a while but they used to be on par with Asus and I would still buy from them without hesitation.
 
I like the ABIT IP35 Pro, its a good solid motherboard. If not I still hear good things about DFI
 
Just got the DFI LP LT X38-T2R and I can say this... I had my e6750 plugged in to an ABIT AB9 Pro... and had a hell of a time getting to 3.6ghz stable... hooked up this board and now I'm rock solid and looking for the possibility of 4ghz! ( after I wc :-P )
 
If I had to point to brands to buy, the first on my list would be ASUS and Gigabyte.
 
After an exhaustive search, I just bought an Abit IP35-E for $69 A/R. I did lots of research and found nothing but rave reviews on this board & its "Pro" counterpart. I was actually looking for a reason not to buy it but was unable too. Lol.
 
scratche said:
Just got the DFI LP LT X38-T2R and I can say this... I had my e6750 plugged in to an ABIT AB9 Pro... and had a hell of a time getting to 3.6ghz stable...
Click to expand...
hardly fair comparing a mobo with a 2 generation old chipset that wasn't designed for 1333 fsb CPUs against a new 1 that was.
The AB9 runs the 1066 strap - I bet that your DFI X38 doesn't at that speed.
 
BUFF said:
hardly fair comparing a mobo with a 2 generation old chipset that wasn't designed for 1333 fsb CPUs against a new 1 that was.
The AB9 runs the 1066 strap - I bet that your DFI X38 doesn't at that speed.
Click to expand...
I was running the beta23 bios which enabled the use of 1333 fsb chips :D
[edit] don't get me wrong... the ab9 pro served me very well! I just was able to get a greater and more stable OC out of the DFI board! YMMV [/edit]
 
Gigabyte gets my vote. Make sure your getting the right model, they're selling some cheaper boards that lack OC ability, but for a few bucks more you can step up to a better model.

I've seen such awesome reviews for the Biostar Tforce boards, but I'm pretty disappointed by the Tforce 7050M2 I just picked up.

BIOS is buggy, temp readings are totally fubar, etc..
 
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