Best current 875 motherboard choice?
 

I'm sure this has been covered before BUT I want to see what the current short-list for highly recommended 875 motherboards looks like (for a P4 Extreme Edition CPU). I'm interested in the feature set first, value second. Overclocking will not come into the picture since I'm going for quiet and don't want a single screaming fan in the setup. I appreciate any suggestions!

i'm running an IC7-G
all i can say is i love it


maximum PC rated the IC7 MAX 3 the best motherboard (875 based)

I just bought a Gigabyte GA-8I875 Ultra and I love the thing. Tonnes of features and runs great, worth checking out anyways.

[url]http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_Spec_GA-8I875%20Ultra.htm[/url]

SejinV

i would get the ic7-max3

Well, in terms of performance, it's about the same now across the board. In terms of features and overclockability, I would go with the Abit IC7-MAX 3. Hands down.

Here's my vote:

[URL=http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-8KNXP%20Ultra-64.htm]Gigabyte GA-8KNXP Ultra-64[/URL] [list][*]Onboard U320 SCSI[*]4 x SATA RAID ports[*]+ 2 more SATA[*]2 x PCI-X 64 bit slots[*]6 DIMM Slots - (I'm currently running 1.5GB in my P4(Willamete); planning on 3GB using 512MB modules- chipset has a 4GB limit)[*]Dual BIOS[*]AGP 8x[*]875 Northbridge[*]Hance Rapids Southbridge[*] Expensive as hell - sounds like it fits your budget :D[/list]
[URL=http://www.excaliberpc.com/product_info.php?cPath=181_597_729&products_id=3794]Retail >$350[/URL]

Mine just got in, what a perfect opportunity to put up pics!

[IMG]http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_box.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_box_2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_box_3.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_mobo.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_mobo_top.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_mobo_top_1.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_mobo_top_2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_mobo_top_3.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_mobo_top_4.jpg[/IMG]
[URL=http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_mobo_top_4_BIG.jpg]Big Version of this pic (4)[/URL]
[IMG]http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_mobo_top_5.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_mobo_top_6.jpg[/IMG]
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[IMG]http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_mobo_top_7.jpg[/IMG]
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[IMG]http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_mobo_top_8_HSF.jpg[/IMG]

Swiftech 478-V Before installation - (I was glad to see it fit :D)
[IMG]http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_mobo_top_9_HSF.jpg[/IMG]
[URL=http://neubauer.tv/images/Computer/P4_2/gigabyte_mobo_top_9_HSF_BIG.jpg]Big Version of this pic (9)[/URL]

Don't have any performance stats or anything yet- but will in the future... looks to be very promising..

PM if you want any more angles or info.

Ouch... that Gigabyte GA-8KNXP Ultra-64 sounds like a sweet board, ESPECIALLY with the Ultra320 onboard since I was planning on running at least one U320 drive in the future as it is. The price is the only problem. The budget isn't as large as you'd think. I picked up the P4 EE processor from a pal who works for Intel for $150. ;) Thanks for all the suggestions so far! I'm going to be doing some comparisons ASAP.

asus p4c800-e deluxe

or

abit ic7-max3

your choice

Holy.. shit. That Gigabyte board is insane.
I thought that the Asus P4C800E was the champion but jesus... this kind of blows it away

Asus P4C800 Series
Abit IC7 Series

the Gigabyte GA-8KNXP Ultra-64 looks really nice too but most of the people who do serious overclocking use either the p4c800's or ic7's.

I have owned both the Abit IC7 Max 3 and the Asus P4C800E Deluxe.

I sold the Abit to get the Asus. The abit is a nice board but if you change CPUs alot the OTES setup makes removing the HSF a pain in the nut.

Personally, I think the Asus board is better. It has been a bit more stable for me than the abit board and the overclocking features are up to snuff.

You could go with either the straight GigaByte 8KNXP or the 8KNXP Ultra. The regular Ultra edition (Non 64) Also has SCSI support where as the straight 8KNXP doesn't have onboard SCSI support. The entire KNXP series are great boards. Wish I had another one to build another system with. Mine has been completely stable with a 400MHz OC and still runs cool and quiet. My ThermalRight even fits in there with the DPS card installed.

Well, case closed. I decided on an Abit IC7-MAX3 for now. I am a fan of quiet PCs, though, so if that OTES nonsense is loud, I'm just pulling it off the board. I've been running computers since 1984 and have never had instability caused by cooling issues with voltage regulators yet.. sheesh! Marketing ;)

I wish I could have picked up that Gigabyte board above but at $265 more than I got the Abit for, I had to pass. Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone! I never would have found that Abit among the sea of available motherboards if it wasn't for this place.

the max3 adds more than the extra cooling to the ic7 series. it has 2 extra ports for sata-raid, and allows higher voltage to the ram.