Bulding another Renderbox, Cheap Quad MoBo's out there?

C

Citizen _insane

Gawd
Joined
May 2, 2006
Messages
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Ok, so I need another renderbox. It's getting a little too tedious for me to render everything on my main box while I want to be tweaking my scene. What I'm looking for is a really cheap motherboard that I can just toss a Q6600 into and have it be stable.

Currently, my 2nd computer is a E6400 w/ 2gb of ram running on an ECS 945GCT-M motherboard that I got on newegg. It cost $30 and has been really stable. Since it only has 2 ram slots, it won't really be any good w/ the quad since I'll be wanting to run 4gb of memory. Anyway, I can use the old C2D to render a couple frames here and there, 10 cores are better than 8.

Can anyone suggest a really cheap (under $50) motherboard that will support the Q6600 (doesn't necessarily have to overclock) and will also support 4gb of RAM? Onboard video would be a plus, but I guess I could move my x1950 from my C2D setup to my quad since the ECS mobo has onboard video.

The only thing I really care about is stability and support for the necessary devices. I'm looking to spend less than $400 on this computer (I already have a case, PSU, fans, optical drive).

edit: Looking at the price of 2gb DDR2 modules, I think that it'll be cheaper to just go with 2x2gb instead of 4x1gb. This means that I'll only be needing 2 ram slots.
 
Check FS/FT. There are a few threads with Quad compat mobo's for sale. Decent stuff too, great prices.
 
My only issue with buying a used motherboard is that I don't get any kind of warranty. I've had lots of bad luck with motherboards in the past, they seem to be common RMA items, duno if this is because of the overclocking I was doing was pushing the boards too far or what. I'd rather have a shop standing behind me so that if I need to, RMA is an option.
 
I think maybe the reason your having bad luck with motherboards is because your not spending the required money to get a good board. The motherboard is the heart of your system and shouldn't be taken lightly. I currently use an Asus P5K-Pro motherboard. It's only $100 from newegg.com and is very nice.
 
If you can use onboard graphics and are willing to use two slots for 2x2GB DDR2, then some of the G31 MBs are good. They won't be $50, though - more like $65 on sale and $72-75 regular.
 
Whisperfang said:
I think maybe the reason your having bad luck with motherboards is because your not spending the required money to get a good board. The motherboard is the heart of your system and shouldn't be taken lightly. I currently use an Asus P5K-Pro motherboard. It's only $100 from newegg.com and is very nice.
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Boards I've owned that I've had problems with:
IWILL DH800 (went through 3 of these suckers) $350
Asus P5B Deluxe $150
Abit IP35Pro $175

I've never had an issue with cheapo boards, but I've only owned one, so not a good comparison.

What you're paying for in most of those expensive boards are lots of features and overclocking stability. I don't need that. I need something that will run a processor and ram reliably and cheaply. This computer will never be gamed on, it will not even be hooked up to a monitor (well, maybe I'll get a KVM switch, we'll see). The only software packages that I plan on running on it are Windows Vista 64 and 3ds Max 2009.

Does anyone have any opinions on the MSI G31M3-F? I'd rather not go Asus, I've had lots of problems with them and so have my friends.
 
Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L is pretty decent.

1333 FSB,
4GB in two slots
Onboard graphics
1 PCIe x 16, 1 PCIe x 1, 2 PCI
1 IDE connector, 4 SATA
GbE LAN
8 USB

No RAID.
 
I like the Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L as well. Overclocks a q6600 to 3.0ghz without a sweat. I got mine for $60 at Amazon, but they've raised their price to around $80 now. They have the GA-EG31M-S2 for $61 though (free ship, no tax for me)

I suspect the MSI G31 will be very similar to the gigabyte, should overclock the q6600 to 3.0ghz easily (why not overclock, it's a free 25% decrease in render times!)
 
Anyone know if the G31 is confirmed working with the Dell Perc 5i? I think I'm gonna drop a hardware raid card into this machine so it can double as a file server.
 
I have an Abit AB9 Pro for cheap, and a couple other things from an aborted build. Board is a fresh refurb, though no warranty, I'm guessing.
 
Sorry man, I want something with a warranty. I can get that for around $50 so saving $5 isn't really worth it for me.
 
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