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Top rated mobos and chipsets for C2D/Quad Core?

J

jnmunsey

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Messages
337
Getting the itch to build a new system. I don't need one but I am bored. Plus it has been a couple years since I did one.

What are the ideal chipsets for stability, performance, and overclocking (in that order)? Also I will have RAID 0 & RAID 1 set up.

Any mobos in particular that are recommended?

I will probably mate it to a single 8800GTS 512mb... maybe a GTX. Also at least 4GB RAM. I will also run Windows XP...

Comments? ANy other threads I can visit.

Thanks
 
jnmunsey said:
What are the ideal chipsets for stability, performance, and overclocking (in that order)? Also I will have RAID 0 & RAID 1 set up.

Any mobos in particular that are recommended?
Click to expand...

You should probably be looking at the Intel P35, X38 or X48 motherboard chipsets.

I'd recommend the following boards:

abit IP35 Pro
abit IX38 Quad-GT

ASUS Rampage Formula
ASUS Maximus Formula/SE
ASUS Blitz Formula

Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6
Gigabyte GA-X38-DS4
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Rev 2.0
 
If you are going for RAID, forget the Gigabyte DS3L as it doesn't have the ICH9R. Get the -DS3R or -DS4 instead.
 
I'm very satisfied with the Asus Maximus Formula. Great overclocker!
 
Vix said:
I'm very satisfied with the Asus Maximus Formula. Great overclocker!
Click to expand...

Holy cow!!! They start at $230!!?? I've never paid more than $150 for a mobo and I went all out on that one.

Is there a board in the $150 range that works? What about under $200? I can afford more, but I don't want to spend it.
 
I wasn't sure what your price range was especially since you say you're considering a 8800GTS or 8800GTX.

I'm as much of a cheapskate as the next person when it comes to parts, but I've learned that your motherboard isn't something to skimp on. Performance isn't cheap. (unfortunately) :(
 
Vix said:
I'm as much of a cheapskate as the next person when it comes to parts, but I've learned that your motherboard isn't something to skimp on. Performance isn't cheap. (unfortunately) :(
Click to expand...

Well said.
 
jnmunsey said:
Holy cow!!! They start at $230!!?? I've never paid more than $150 for a mobo and I went all out on that one.

Is there a board in the $150 range that works? What about under $200? I can afford more, but I don't want to spend it.
Click to expand...

If you are looking for an Asus for under 150...

Asus P5K-E has given some reasonable results.

It's no frills but it's not bad.
 
I got a real shock when I built my last system and discovered that the latest boards for SLI (780is) started around 275 and went to about 350. I'm not proud to say it but I've owned a lot of ECS motherboards, but I can immediatly see that the $$$ is worth it for a good mobo after owning this XFX 780i.
 
vengence said:
I got a real shock when I built my last system and discovered that the latest boards for SLI (780is) started around 275 and went to about 350. I'm not proud to say it but I've owned a lot of ECS motherboards, but I can immediatly see that the $$$ is worth it for a good mobo after owning this XFX 780i.
Click to expand...

I haven't seen an impressive 780i SLI board yet. While I was working on the Skulltrail article I had plenty of problems with the 780i SLI board during testing. Mostly stability issues.
 
jnmunsey said:
Holy cow!!! They start at $230!!?? I've never paid more than $150 for a mobo and I went all out on that one.

Is there a board in the $150 range that works? What about under $200? I can afford more, but I don't want to spend it.
Click to expand...

The Gigabyte P35-DS3R is around $150. Also the Abit IP35 Pro (after rebate).
 
Maybe I'm just not use to the "leather and wood trim" in the bios coming from ECS boards :(
 
vengence said:
Maybe I'm just not use to the "leather and wood trim" in the bios coming from ECS boards :(
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, there are things I really like about the 680i/780i SLI boards. The BIOS is one thing that I think they really got right. Plenty of settings for tuning. The boards have a decent amount of features and perform reasonably well. However there are stability issues and a few other problems with quite a large number of those boards.

I'm not going to get started on the 680i SLI board problems. If you want to know more just do a search for 680i SLI posts and my name. You'll find plenty of information about that.

There are some things I don't care for on the 780i SLI reference boards. I don't care for the 6-phase power design or electrolytic capacitors. They also need more SATA ports or at least a couple of eSATA ports. The chipset cooling is also sub-standard though slightly improved from the 680i SLI reference boards. Also the slot layout isn't as good as it was on the 680i SLI board. With 3-Way SLI you have zero expansion slots available on the 780i SLI boards and on the 680i SLI boards you had at least one PCIe x1. Not that useful, but at least it was something. Since the voltage design of the 780i SLI reference boards is virtually identical to that of the 680i SLI boards I am concerned that they will die as quickly as the 680i SLI boards tend to do. I just have no faith in them. Plus I've experienced several 780i SLI board problems already and I've only barely started working with them.

Also the NVIDIA chipset boards don't tend to do well with 4x1GB memory modules. Most boards have some difficulty with that but the Intel chipset boards are still far better than the non-Intel chipset boards concerning this.
 
Well said Dan. The more I read, the more and more I'm coming to lean away from the 680i and 780i nVidia chipset boards. I've found (by reading only) that the P35 and X38 chipset boards have far fewer issues and might even be manufactured to a higher degree.

Questions for you...

#1. For motherboards, not video cards, is PCI-Express 2.0 really worth going from say a P35 to an X38, or shelling out the cash for an X38 over a P35 in a new system? I know the bandwidth is effectively doubled (according to specs anyway), but does that really show or otherwise have any benefit in todays systems?

#2. I see a lot mentioned about boards having trouble with 4 x 1GB. With out starting any RAM size debates, has 4 x 2GB shown to be problematic, as well?


Thanks,
- Joey
 
PanzerKrieg13 said:
Well said Dan. The more I read, the more and more I'm coming to lean away from the 680i and 780i nVidia chipset boards. I've found (by reading only) that the P35 and X38 chipset boards have far fewer issues and might even be manufactured to a higher degree.

Questions for you...

#1. For motherboards, not video cards, is PCI-Express 2.0 really worth going from say a P35 to an X38, or shelling out the cash for an X38 over a P35 in a new system? I know the bandwidth is effectively doubled (according to specs anyway), but does that really show or otherwise have any benefit in todays systems?

#2. I see a lot mentioned about boards having trouble with 4 x 1GB. With out starting any RAM size debates, has 4 x 2GB shown to be problematic, as well?


Thanks,
- Joey
Click to expand...

I'll start by stating that Intel chipsets are the best there are. The best drivers, best stability and the best performance. The 680i SLI and 780i SLI are slower than their Intel counterparts but if you are going to go SLI those chipsets make up for their deficiencies with SLI support.

PCI Express 2.0 isn't worth it today, but newer video cards are coming out in PCIe 2.0 so I'd say go for it. Especially if you aren't the type to change their motherboard a couple times a year or so. As for speed, as far as I know it doesn't do anything in today's games with today's video cards.

As for RAM 4x2GB configurations are probably slightly easier because those modules rarely exceed 800MHz speeds and have looser timings. The tight timings and high speed 1GB modules are the ones that will give you the most trouble. Regardless I think 4x2GB is a waste of money. There is nothing most people can do on their home computers that will tax 2GB of RAM let alone 4GB. I can see why gamers want 4GB of RAM but more than that is wasting your money. So I think 2x2GB is the way to go.
 
Vix said:
I wasn't sure what your price range was especially since you say you're considering a 8800GTS or 8800GTX.

I'm as much of a cheapskate as the next person when it comes to parts, but I've learned that your motherboard isn't something to skimp on. Performance isn't cheap. (unfortunately) :(
Click to expand...

But that doesn't mean you have to throw your money for extras you won't really use.

You can easily get a $100 dlls mobo that performs like a $200.
 
Stoly said:
But that doesn't mean you have to throw your money for extras you won't really use.

You can easily get a $100 dlls mobo that performs like a $200.
Click to expand...

Assuming the chipsets are the same, the main difference between cheaper motherboards and more expensive ones is features.
 
Like I wrote I just really need stability, performance, and overclocking.

I want to do RAID 0 with 2 drives and RAID 1 with 2 more.

Ok, I suppose a quiet motherboard is a bonus too, and I will pay a little extra for it so long as I don't have to buy anything aftermarket.

I will use an external sound card.
Gigabit is nice but not critical.
SLI is not a requirement.
Firewire is nice but not required

Anything else? What about DDR3 vs DDR2 ?
 
As long as you get a ICH8R or ICH9R motherboard, why run 4 drives? Intel MatrixRAID will allow you to run RAID0 AND RAID1 with just 2 HDDs.
 
I bought the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P Rev 2.0. I am pleased with it. I think it meets all the criteria that you have listed.

DDR3 is expensive for what it is. Go with DDR2.
 
Welp, my EVGA 680i board gave up the ghost after a years worth of service. I simply hit the power button and got the "--" on the POST code reader on the board. Kinda ended my plans on working on it today.Its too bad too cause it was a decent board. I really don't want to get another 680i board due to the problems I've read from other users, and the lack of stability on the 780i is a deal breaker for me. Guess I will head back to Intel for the chipset

Now I need to decide to go with either the Asus Maximus or the Abit IX38 Quad. Its frustrating to drop $250 on a quality board only for it to die in the same time span as a generic board. Dan's outline of top rated boards looks to be right on the money. Thanks Dan!
 
kiajoon said:
If you want to be more economical and do not need RAID get a Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L board. It costs $90 and can overclock to 450mhz easily. Of course you miss out the fanciful heatpipes and the extra cables that you will never use.

Link: http://www.custompc.co.uk/labs/137994/gigabyte-gap31ds3l.html
Click to expand...

The only problem with going for such a budget chipset is the memory expansion capacity. The P31's memory controller is limited to running four banks of memory total (this means two double-sided memory modules or four single-sided memory modules). Exceeding the supported maximum number of ranks would either result in the BIOS not detecting the full amount of memory (e.g. a fully-loaded "3GB" configuration being detected as only 1GB) or the system refusing to POST.
 
All I been doing for the past 2 months is reading review after review
and waiting for the deals to start pumping out ! time to build a new system
badly as you can see from my system specs Im running some fairly old
hardware! althought it does what I need it to do. But yeah theres something about
keeping up with the newest gadgets . So far im thinking about the Abit p35 PRO
The DFI LanParty UT P35-T2R . Of course i'll need to be able to fit my monster
heat sink Scythe Ninja Plus Rev. B CPU Cooler . As for ram I was planning to use
some G.skill at least 4 gigs , but im a little confused! can I use ddr2 pc8000 or 8500
memory in the newest boards? I might cheapout on a videocard for now as i'll be stuck
with this monitor for at least another half year and wont be playing games on it or anything
untill i land the big 24 inch monitor im searching for. This system is to be run with the E8400.

Thanks
 
Vix said:
As long as you get a ICH8R or ICH9R motherboard, why run 4 drives? Intel MatrixRAID will allow you to run RAID0 AND RAID1 with just 2 HDDs.
Click to expand...

I move a lot of files on my system. Going from drive to drive is a lot faster than from partition to partition. Also despite the fault tolerance, I like to do lot of backups, so I backup from my C to D and vice versa, as well as to an external drive. Not everything, just the important stuff.

Plus, I need more than 2TB, so for the moment I will need more than 2 drives in RAID...
 
In the past, I've been an Abit and AMD fanboy but ever since I built my current system with a gigabyte motherboard and an intel chipset ICH9 I have been a convert. This Gigabyte P35-DS3L is fast and rock solid. I've very happy with it and I have heard lots of good things about the Gigabyte P35-DS3 series of boards.
 
jnmunsey said:
Like I wrote I just really need stability, performance, and overclocking.

I want to do RAID 0 with 2 drives and RAID 1 with 2 more.

Ok, I suppose a quiet motherboard is a bonus too, and I will pay a little extra for it so long as I don't have to buy anything aftermarket.

I will use an external sound card.
Gigabit is nice but not critical.
SLI is not a requirement.
Firewire is nice but not required
Click to expand...
abit IP35 Pro is widely regarded as 1 of the very top P35 mobos & should be available ~$150.
The IP35 meets all your needs & should be even cheaper than the Pro version - it just doesn't have some of the "nice but not essential" features of the Pro (e.g. Crossfire support, uGuru, onboard power/reset buttons & external clearCMOS switch).
 
If storage is of extreme importance, perhaps consider SCSI RAID instead of SATA RAID. The drives and controller are a bit pricey, but for large file transfers it's probably your best bet. I maintain a "play machine" built to game and overclock, but all of my critical information and files go on a Q6600 rig with SCSI RAID.

Just curious though, what type of machine are you trying to build... 8800GTS/8800GTX says gaming rig. RAID and large file transfers seem to indicate server rig. Torrents? Movies/multimedia files? Graphics/porn? Just curious...

Overclocking and stability don't often fo hand in hand. If you want performance and stability, the price can be steep, so I'd recommend QUALITY parts vs. mid to low end parts. It would also help to know what type of budget and timeframe you have for this project.
 
Vix said:
If storage is of extreme importance, perhaps consider SCSI RAID instead of SATA RAID. The drives and controller are a bit pricey, but for large file transfers it's probably your best bet. I maintain a "play machine" built to game and overclock, but all of my critical information and files go on a Q6600 rig with SCSI RAID.

Just curious though, what type of machine are you trying to build... 8800GTS/8800GTX says gaming rig. RAID and large file transfers seem to indicate server rig. Torrents? Movies/multimedia files? Graphics/porn? Just curious...

Overclocking and stability don't often fo hand in hand. If you want performance and stability, the price can be steep, so I'd recommend QUALITY parts vs. mid to low end parts. It would also help to know what type of budget and timeframe you have for this project.
Click to expand...

You could do what I did and get a SAS/SATA controller and then you can use either SAS disks or SATA disks.
 
having run a 680i for over a year, frankly, I will NOT go nvidia chipset again. period.

All the hype, not here at [H] pers e, but in general, my experience has been that nvidia is crap with chipsets. lots of promise, lots of features, VERY short on support and stability.

sux. But Intel chipset based boards are definitely the way to go.
 
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