Need help picking a new MB

'Tony' wrote:
| That's how I got to the ones I did. If you can recommend something that
you
| think would be comparable to the IP35 Pro, P5K-E, or P35-DS3 - or for my
| purposes better - at less cost I would be happy to know about it.
_____

Well, my current overclocking motherboard is an EVGA 680i. I am well
satisfied with the performance, BUT.

1. nVidia's nTune has a 'hands-off' overclocking function; it is worse
than useless. Not only does it hang after making no progress, but the
so-called 'system load' that it uses is hardly more than 10 or 15 percent
load (a 3D window that covers only about 1/6 the screen. ) On the other
hand, I don't think ANY 'hands-off' overclocking function from ANY
motherboard manufacturer is any more useful.

2. nVida's chipsets allow for changing more overclocking parameters
than any other chipset (seven voltage, three frequency reference, one CPU
Clock : Memory Clock ratio, twelve memory timing, and a partridge in a pear
tree.) On the other hand, the manual is none too clear, and no further
information can be weaseled out of nVidia or EVGA. At the moment I have an
E4300 installed running at 2.7 GHz with a core voltage below specification
and DDR2-1066 memory running at DDR2-1200. The maximum overclock is limited
by CPU temperature as I need a high CPU core voltage to get above ~ 3.1 GHz,
and the bother of better cooling isn't worth the trouble with an E4300.

3. Nice motherboard cooling system (nVidia reference board); a
Southbridge heatsink connected by a heatpipe to the Northbridge heatsink
that has fins and a fan.

4. Two gigabit LAN ports

5. Two PCI-e X16 slots, one PCI-e X 8 slot, two PCI-e X 1 slots, one
PCI-e X 8 slot (physical X 16), two PCI slots, one IDE ATA connector, one
floppy connector, six SATA/SATA3 connectors (w/RAID , six USB 2.0
connectors, 1 IEEE1394a connector, and an SPDIF.

6. The 680i is expensive ($197 US) as is the newer EVGA 780i
motherboard ($250 US). The EVGA 680i LT ($170 US) drops the PCI-e X 8 slot
and one of the two Gigabit LAN ports. The MSI P6N SLI-FI 650i nVidia
chipset motherboard is $85 US at newegg.com has a similar connector set to
the EVGA 680i LT, but adds a second IDE ATA connector. {I've never owned an
MSI motherboard; just aBit, Intel, and now EVGA.}

The choice I face in continuing to overclock is
EITHER
replace the E4300 with a Q6400 and stick with that for a few
years
OR
keep the E4300 until 'Nehalem' and replace the CPU, memory, and
motherboard
AND ON THE THIRD HAND
fool around with water cooling (already have the components) and
put off making a decision as long as possible B^)



Phil Weldon


"Tony" wrote in message
. ..
|
| "Phil Weldon" wrote in message
| ...
| Well, just to add to your troubles, with in the next 12 months the
| 'Nehalem'
| CPU line comes out; new socket new motherboards, new chipset, new memory
| required. So perhaps you should keep in mind that you may really,
really
| want a new new system less than a year after THIS new system. I'd
suggest
| a
| relatively inexpensive motherboard and CPU, and be satisfied by a good
| overclock. That way you will be more willing to go for the next latest
| and
| greatest.
|
|
| I tend to stay just behind the bleeding edge when it comes to putting
| systems together. I'm not a heavy gamer, but I do a bit of work in digital
| photography and MATLAB simulations. I've found that staying with something
| that's had a chance to be wrung out has worked well for me. My AI7 is
going
| on 4-1/2 years. I expect my next choice to go at least this long.
|
| Back to your original post:
| "Stable in OC. I'm willing to get 90% of the theoretical best OC
state
| if the board can do so and run like clockwork."
| There IS no 'theoretical best OC'. Each CPU produced can have
| different
| overclocking potential. There is a probability curve for the overclock
| that
| can be expected, but no guarantees.
|
|
| Understood. I guess the point I wanted to make was that I would rather
move
| toward a board that had a decent OC record without enetring into the area
of
| being able to push a chip a little bit more than another board - at the
| expense of higher risk. I recognize a lot of success in OC'ing is based on
a
| given CPU, but some boards have absolutely poor records in being able to
OC
| while others are at the top end of the scale for serious OC junkies. I'm
| looking to be juuust a bit behind that front line.
|
| "Able to migrate slowly to new components."
| Well, WHAT new components? There isn't much to be gained with new
| CD/DVD drives, but that really isn't a problem because almost ANY new
| motherboard can support two IDE ATA drives. DDR2 RAM will work in any
| motherboard. ISA sockets have already gone away, and PCI slots are
going
| away. If you end up using two video cards, it is unlikely ANY
| motherboard
| will have more than one PCI slot available. There just aren't that many
| components other than memory, CPU, and video card to plug into a
| motherboard
| any more.
|
|
| Looking to get a new system up quickly, meaning I will use my older DDR2
and
| IDE/PATA drives, and will migrate to "newer" (for me) components as
| necessary.
|
| Since you wish to overclock, I'd suggest you look through posts to this
| newsgroup in the last year and choose a motherboard based on those
posts.
|
| That's how I got to the ones I did. If you can recommend something that
you
| think would be comparable to the IP35 Pro, P5K-E, or P35-DS3 - or for my
| purposes better - at less cost I would be happy to know about it.
|
| -Tony
|
|