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#1
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Which motherboard?
I have to buy a new motherboard but want to keep the same CPU (Pentium D 945),
which I'm very happy with. This is what I've narrowed down to: ASRock Penryn 1600SLI-110dB - Nvidia nForce 650i chipset (2 IDE & LPT) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157120 Asus P5Q SE - Intel P45 chipset http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131333 Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R - Intel P45 chipset (LPT header) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128359 Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L - Intel P35 chipset (LPT) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128337 MSI P7N Platinum - Nvidia nForce 750i chipset (2 IDE) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130159 MSI P7N SLI-FI - Nvidia nForce 750i chipset (2 IDE) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130175 The ASRock Penryn is the only board that's got everything I want on it, but I'm a little wary of the 650i chipset. Shortcomings on other boards can be overcome by adding a PCI card on those that don't have two IDE connectors and a USB to LPT adapter cable for those that don't have a parallel port. Right now, I'm leaning more toward the Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L since it at least has a parallel port and an Intel chipset, which I'd feel more comfortable with than Nvidia. Any opinions? Or maybe other motherboards I should consider? I want something that supports Pentium D obviously, has four memory slots supporting at least DDR2 800, has three PCI slots (two are OK if it has two IDEs) and has a floppy connector. Ideally, the board would have a parallel port and two IDE connectors. All the boards on my list have a three years parts and labor warranty except MSI, which has three years parts and two years labor. That's good since I never tend to keep the same board in my main system for more than three years anyway. Thanks for any help. Larc |
#2
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Which motherboard?
"Larc" wrote... I have to buy a new motherboard but want to keep the same CPU (Pentium D 945), which I'm very happy with. This is what I've narrowed down to: ASRock Penryn 1600SLI-110dB - Nvidia nForce 650i chipset (2 IDE & LPT) Asus P5Q SE - Intel P45 chipset Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R - Intel P45 chipset (LPT header) Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L - Intel P35 chipset (LPT) MSI P7N Platinum - Nvidia nForce 750i chipset (2 IDE) MSI P7N SLI-FI - Nvidia nForce 750i chipset (2 IDE) Any opinions? Or maybe other motherboards I should consider? I want something that supports Pentium D obviously, has four memory slots supporting at least DDR2 800, has three PCI slots (two are OK if it has two IDEs) and has a floppy connector. Ideally, the board would have a parallel port and two IDE connectors. Biggest obstacle is already overcome -- you decided which features are important. Next question is whether you will ever use SLI. If not, then any of the above will work. I'm happy with my Gigabyte DS4s (1 P35 and 1 X48). If you are sticking with your old IDE Hs, a plethora of SATA ports may not be important to you, so the EP35-DS3L should work just fine for now. You can find IDE adapters in either PCI or PCIe x1 (less popular, but with a eSATA bonus in http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16816124022), unless you need more than a single additional IDE port (2 devices). Tom's Hardware has a good nForce 650 review at http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ster,1566.html. Though it was written 18 months ago, it kept up with the then-current MoBos. So, the final question is, which is more important to you NOW -- price and backward compatibility, or future upgradability/tweakability (PCIe 2.0, higher RAM clock)? If the former, your AsRock choice seems appropriate. |
#3
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Which motherboard?
On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:16:36 -0400, Blattus Slafaly
wrote: | I have an AS Rock and I like it. Before this I was an MSI advocate and | they worked the best for me. I use AMD processors. | I am also surprised by a PCChips board I have which works quite well. I've owned more MSI boards than all others combined and have always liked them. But in this case it's the Nvidia chipsets I'm concerned about. The only time I ever strayed away from Intel chipsets, I got burned (VIA). And that was a Tyan board I paid more for than any other board I ever bought. I wish MSI made a P45 board that supports Pentium D or a P35 that otherwise meets my needs, but they don't. Larc |
#4
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Which motherboard?
On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:07:16 -0700, "John Weiss"
wrote: | "Larc" wrote... | I have to buy a new motherboard but want to keep the same CPU (Pentium D 945), | which I'm very happy with. This is what I've narrowed down to: | | ASRock Penryn 1600SLI-110dB - Nvidia nForce 650i chipset (2 IDE & LPT) | Asus P5Q SE - Intel P45 chipset | Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R - Intel P45 chipset (LPT header) | Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L - Intel P35 chipset (LPT) | MSI P7N Platinum - Nvidia nForce 750i chipset (2 IDE) | MSI P7N SLI-FI - Nvidia nForce 750i chipset (2 IDE) | | Any opinions? Or maybe other motherboards I should consider? I want | something | that supports Pentium D obviously, has four memory slots supporting at least | DDR2 800, has three PCI slots (two are OK if it has two IDEs) and has a floppy | connector. Ideally, the board would have a parallel port and two IDE | connectors. | | Biggest obstacle is already overcome -- you decided which features are | important. | | Next question is whether you will ever use SLI. If not, then any of the above | will work. Never! It just happens to be on the Nvidia boards. I couldn't find anything comparable in the ASRock and MSI stables without it. | I'm happy with my Gigabyte DS4s (1 P35 and 1 X48). If you are sticking with | your old IDE Hs, a plethora of SATA ports may not be important to you, so the | EP35-DS3L should work just fine for now. You can find IDE adapters in either | PCI or PCIe x1 (less popular, but with a eSATA bonus in | http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16816124022), unless you | need more than a single additional IDE port (2 devices). Looks nice, but a local computer shop has a PCI card with two IDE connectors for about $20. A big plus with that is if it doesn't work right, I can have it back in the shop in ten minutes. | Tom's Hardware has a good nForce 650 review at | http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ster,1566.html. | Though it was written 18 months ago, it kept up with the then-current MoBos. That makes me feel a little better about Nvidia, but it also says the 650i is older technology now. | So, the final question is, which is more important to you NOW -- price and | backward compatibility, or future upgradability/tweakability (PCIe 2.0, higher | RAM clock)? If the former, your AsRock choice seems appropriate. You've nailed the big question. In the past I've made a habit of buying more "seasoned" technologies. That has usually meant I've had to buy a new motherboard and sometimes even new RAM with every CPU upgrade. Since I'll probably be moving from the Pentium D to Core 2 Duo or Quad sometime next year, I thought it might be a good idea to prepare for that now. That's why all the boards listed, even the ASRock, could handle an upgraded CPU. Of course, DDR2 800 RAM would be max on that and on the MSI boards. Both Gigabytes and the Asus would allow RAM upgrades. The latter three have more OCing options as well, but that's not a consideration for me. BTW, do you know if there are significant performance penalties if a PCIe 16x 2.0 video card is used in a regular PCIe 16x slot? Decisions, decisions! Thanks for the great info, John. Larc |
#5
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Which motherboard?
"Larc" wrote:
| So, the final question is, which is more important to you NOW -- price and | backward compatibility, or future upgradability/tweakability (PCIe 2.0, higher | RAM clock)? If the former, your AsRock choice seems appropriate. You've nailed the big question. In the past I've made a habit of buying more "seasoned" technologies. That has usually meant I've had to buy a new motherboard and sometimes even new RAM with every CPU upgrade. Since I'll probably be moving from the Pentium D to Core 2 Duo or Quad sometime next year, I thought it might be a good idea to prepare for that now. That's why all the boards listed, even the ASRock, could handle an upgraded CPU. Of course, DDR2 800 RAM would be max on that and on the MSI boards. Both Gigabytes and the Asus would allow RAM upgrades. The latter three have more OCing options as well, but that's not a consideration for me. If you're going to go for a 45nm CPU any time soon, you better check the compatibility on any older MoBo. Some of the P35s promised it with future BIOS upgrades, but I've been burned by that promise in the past. If you are looking at a CPU upgrade in the near future, the P45 is a much better option. Also, RAM clock will be a chokepoint if you upgrade the CPU but are limited to DDR2 800 RAM... BTW, do you know if there are significant performance penalties if a PCIe 16x 2.0 video card is used in a regular PCIe 16x slot? I suspect you won't notice it if you aren't a gamer using a high-end card or a pair of cards. |
#6
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Which motherboard?
On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:56:30 -0700, "John Weiss"
wrote: | If you're going to go for a 45nm CPU any time soon, you better check the | compatibility on any older MoBo. Some of the P35s promised it with future BIOS | upgrades, but I've been burned by that promise in the past. If you are looking | at a CPU upgrade in the near future, the P45 is a much better option. In the list of supported CPUs, Core 2 Duos to the E8600 (3.33GHz Wolfdale) and Core 2 Quads to the Q9650 (3.0GHz Yorkdale) are shown for the P35 Gigabyte. In all, it's a rather impressive list of supported processors assuming it's right. http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/M...ProductID=2778 There are probably some areas I missed, but I haven't been able to dig out many differences between the P45 and P35 other than P45 support for PCIe 2.0 and 16GB of RAM as opposed to a max of 8GB for the P35. Since I'm pretty much married to 32-bit XP, I don't anticipate needing more than 2GB for the foreseeable future. Larc |
#7
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Which motherboard?
I finally got tired of weighing the pluses and minuses and just ordered the one
I wanted most: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R with Intel P45 chipset Thanks very much for all the help. Larc |
#8
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Which motherboard?
"Larc" wrote...
I finally got tired of weighing the pluses and minuses and just ordered the one I wanted most: Good plan! :-) Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R with Intel P45 chipset Should do you well! |
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