Need help picking a new MB

I've been an Abit user for many years with no difficulties. But my last
board (still in use) was/is the AI7, and I kept track of the problems
reported on Abit after the time of this board (wondering if the company had
hit a turning point for the worse). I'm looking to move up but I'm wondering
if I should stick with these guys. My needs and desires at this point...

- P35
- Stable in OC. I'm willing to get to 90% of the theoretical best OC state
if the board can do so and run like clockwork.
- Reliable
- Able to migrate slowly to new components. I'll be starting with my current
ATI AGP board and DDR2 mem, so it has to work well with older gear for a
bit, including IDE drives.
- Able to run 24/7. My IT5 had run and current AI7 runs 24/7 and the AI7 has
done so for years without a lick of trouble.
- Well laid out with PS conx toward the top where they should be.
- Able to do SATA raid with proven reliability.
- Must support IEEE1348
- Excellent on board Ethernet performance

I'm currently looking at the Abit IP35 Pro, the Asus P5K-E LGA, and the Giga
GA-P35-DS3 (but I'm not sure I really understand the diff between the P, R,
and L). I know they are all rated pretty well by Newegg buyers, and I know
there are plenty of fans for each here in this group, but I need to find out
if one would be the preferred choice to suit my N&D list.

"Tony" wrote in message
...
I've been an Abit user for many years with no difficulties. But my last
board (still in use) was/is the AI7, and I kept track of the problems
reported on Abit after the time of this board (wondering if the company
had hit a turning point for the worse). I'm looking to move up but I'm
wondering if I should stick with these guys. My needs and desires at this
point...

- P35
- Stable in OC. I'm willing to get to 90% of the theoretical best OC state
if the board can do so and run like clockwork.
- Reliable
- Able to migrate slowly to new components. I'll be starting with my
current ATI AGP board and DDR2 mem, so it has to work well with older gear
for a bit, including IDE drives.

There are no Intel P35 boards out there with an AGP slot, and I can assure
you there never will be. So you won't be migrating slowly to a new video
card. Ditto for your IDE hard drives. The ABit, Asus and the Gigabyte all
have one single ATA133 or ATA100 port. So decide if you want your burners on
that port or maybe it's time to say goodbye to your IDE HDD's at the same
time.

Tony wrote:
..
- Must support IEEE1348

Ok, I give up...

"Fishface" ? wrote in message
news:1Vvpj.2292$eD3.1530@trndny05...
Tony wrote:
.
- Must support IEEE1348

Ok, I give up...

I'm beginning to think this is a deliberate troll.....

No, this is not a troll post, but I did write in haste last night and made
some errors. So forgive me and let me make some corrections. I know I
sounded like an idiot, but let's just chalk it up to exhaustion and a bit of
dyslexia. If I was as dumb as the original post sounded I wouldn't have been
too successful building my own systems for the last 20 years. :-)

I meant IEEE1394, of course, not 1348.
Delete the AGP request. Was looking at too many boards over the past few
days.
I don't see IDE as being a problem. My burners are all in external drives. I
will either keep them there or swap them with the hard drives so they'd be
internal.

After you're all done throwing dead fish at me I would still appreciate the
help.

"Tony" wrote in message
...
I've been an Abit user for many years with no difficulties. But my last
board (still in use) was/is the AI7, and I kept track of the problems
reported on Abit after the time of this board (wondering if the company
had hit a turning point for the worse). I'm looking to move up but I'm
wondering if I should stick with these guys. My needs and desires at this
point...

- P35
- Stable in OC. I'm willing to get to 90% of the theoretical best OC state
if the board can do so and run like clockwork.
- Reliable
- Able to migrate slowly to new components. I'll be starting with my
current ATI AGP board and DDR2 mem, so it has to work well with older gear
for a bit, including IDE drives.
- Able to run 24/7. My IT5 had run and current AI7 runs 24/7 and the AI7
has done so for years without a lick of trouble.
- Well laid out with PS conx toward the top where they should be.
- Able to do SATA raid with proven reliability.
- Must support IEEE1348
- Excellent on board Ethernet performance

I'm currently looking at the Abit IP35 Pro, the Asus P5K-E LGA, and the
Giga GA-P35-DS3 (but I'm not sure I really understand the diff between the
P, R, and L). I know they are all rated pretty well by Newegg buyers, and
I know there are plenty of fans for each here in this group, but I need to
find out if one would be the preferred choice to suit my N&D list.

"Tony" wrote in message
. ..
No, this is not a troll post, but I did write in haste last night and made
some errors. So forgive me and let me make some corrections. I know I
sounded like an idiot, but let's just chalk it up to exhaustion and a bit
of dyslexia. If I was as dumb as the original post sounded I wouldn't have
been too successful building my own systems for the last 20 years. :-)

I meant IEEE1394, of course, not 1348.
Delete the AGP request. Was looking at too many boards over the past few
days.
I don't see IDE as being a problem. My burners are all in external drives.
I will either keep them there or swap them with the hard drives so they'd
be internal.

After you're all done throwing dead fish at me I would still appreciate
the help.

Ok...I'll take you at your word. Try this one on for size....
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130097

Has firewire, DDR2 support, ATA100 IDE support, 6 SATA, nicely optioned out.

'Tony' wrote:
| No, this is not a troll post, but I did write in haste last night and made
| some errors. So forgive me and let me make some corrections. I know I
| sounded like an idiot, but let's just chalk it up to exhaustion and a bit
of
| dyslexia. If I was as dumb as the original post sounded I wouldn't have
been
| too successful building my own systems for the last 20 years. :-)
|
| I meant IEEE1394, of course, not 1348.
| Delete the AGP request. Was looking at too many boards over the past few
| days.
| I don't see IDE as being a problem. My burners are all in external drives.
I
| will either keep them there or swap them with the hard drives so they'd be
| internal.
|
| After you're all done throwing dead fish at me I would still appreciate
the
| help.
_____

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.

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.

"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.

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.

Phil Weldon



Phil Weldon

"Tony" wrote in message
. ..
| No, this is not a troll post, but I did write in haste last night and made
| some errors. So forgive me and let me make some corrections. I know I
| sounded like an idiot, but let's just chalk it up to exhaustion and a bit
of
| dyslexia. If I was as dumb as the original post sounded I wouldn't have
been
| too successful building my own systems for the last 20 years. :-)
|
| I meant IEEE1394, of course, not 1348.
| Delete the AGP request. Was looking at too many boards over the past few
| days.
| I don't see IDE as being a problem. My burners are all in external drives.
I
| will either keep them there or swap them with the hard drives so they'd be
| internal.
|
| After you're all done throwing dead fish at me I would still appreciate
the
| help.
|
| "Tony" wrote in message
| ...
| I've been an Abit user for many years with no difficulties. But my last
| board (still in use) was/is the AI7, and I kept track of the problems
| reported on Abit after the time of this board (wondering if the company
| had hit a turning point for the worse). I'm looking to move up but I'm
| wondering if I should stick with these guys. My needs and desires at
this
| point...
|
| - P35
| - Stable in OC. I'm willing to get to 90% of the theoretical best OC
state
| if the board can do so and run like clockwork.
| - Reliable
| - Able to migrate slowly to new components. I'll be starting with my
| current ATI AGP board and DDR2 mem, so it has to work well with older
gear
| for a bit, including IDE drives.
| - Able to run 24/7. My IT5 had run and current AI7 runs 24/7 and the AI7
| has done so for years without a lick of trouble.
| - Well laid out with PS conx toward the top where they should be.
| - Able to do SATA raid with proven reliability.
| - Must support IEEE1348
| - Excellent on board Ethernet performance
|
| I'm currently looking at the Abit IP35 Pro, the Asus P5K-E LGA, and the
| Giga GA-P35-DS3 (but I'm not sure I really understand the diff between
the
| P, R, and L). I know they are all rated pretty well by Newegg buyers,
and
| I know there are plenty of fans for each here in this group, but I need
to
| find out if one would be the preferred choice to suit my N&D list.
|
|
|

"Augustus" wrote in message
news:8_Opj.10097$C61.8435@edtnps89...

"Tony" wrote in message
. ..
No, this is not a troll post, but I did write in haste last night and
made some errors. So forgive me and let me make some corrections. I know
I sounded like an idiot, but let's just chalk it up to exhaustion and a
bit of dyslexia. If I was as dumb as the original post sounded I wouldn't
have been too successful building my own systems for the last 20 years.
:-)

I meant IEEE1394, of course, not 1348.
Delete the AGP request. Was looking at too many boards over the past few
days.
I don't see IDE as being a problem. My burners are all in external
drives. I will either keep them there or swap them with the hard drives
so they'd be internal.

After you're all done throwing dead fish at me I would still appreciate
the help.

Ok...I'll take you at your word. Try this one on for size....
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130097

Has firewire, DDR2 support, ATA100 IDE support, 6 SATA, nicely optioned
out.


Hmm, it does look nice, and with the rebate it's at a decent price. I've
heard good things about MSI as being a respectable MB builder without
necessarily the kind of spotlight Asus and Abit sometimes get. I am a little
concerned about the reviews which touch on the possible BIOS issues and
"slowness". What's the broader consensus on how it may stack up in that
regard?

Is there anything (apart from price) that would lead me away from the IP35
Pro or P5K-E?

"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

Is there anything (apart from price) that would lead me away from the IP35
Pro or P5K-E?
Just the fact that Newegg is currently out of stock on that particular
item....however, they usually get stock fairly quickly and there are other
vendors.