Need Help Choosing Motherboards for New Build

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Stubwub

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Apr 5, 2007
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Hey, I'm building a brand new PC since my current one is ancient and falling a part. (It's an old Athlon XP system :( )

I'm planning on purchasing an E6750 for now and getting an e8400 when the price finally goes back down and it's actually in stock. I would wait and just get the e8400 but I need a pc badly, and my current one is pretty much on its last legs. It doesn't even start up half the time..

I'll be using a 8800GT too, and I don't really plan on using crossfire or SLI. The whole dual video card thing has always seemed a bit extreme to me.

Oh, I do plan on overclocking the system. I'll be OC'ing both the e6750 and the e8400, when I get it.

Anyway, I cant choose between these three boards.

The Asus MAXIMUS FORMULA
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16813131227

It's very pricey, but I've heard good things about it. I assume it would be a very good performer, it leaves room for upgrading in the future, and is a good OC'er? It also looks nice (yes, shallow I know, but everyone will see it through my case.)

The DFI LanParty DK P35-T2RS
http://www.motherboardpro.com/DFI-LanParty-Dark-P35-T2RS-Socket-775-Motherboard-p-428.html

This one is easier on my budget, but I cant find much input on it or many reviews. From what I have found people seem to be happy with it. I'm afraid that I wont be able to figure out all the BIOS options. I'm not new to OC'ing or anything, but I'm no expert either. I'm also not sure how compatible it is with the e8400 and other future processors.

The GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

Very cheap and would save me a lot of cash, but I'm worried about its performance and future prospects. I'm worried if I get this I wont be able to upgrade down the road. I'm also unsure if it will run as well as the others. I see a lot of people here love the board, but I still have some doubts. It is also kind of ugly, I really dont like the colors.. (Yeah, I know shallow again.. :( )

Please help me, I cannot decide and I've spent the last week trying to choose. If anyone has any other recommendations instead of these three please let me know.
 
It looks like you only build every once in a while, so I'd probably just get the Maximus formula and run with it. Not sure how the whole PCIe 2.0 works with the P35 (heard it was compatible possibly with bios support on motherboards), but it is out of the box with X38. Might be an issue in the future if you upgrade video cards somewhat regularly. I've been happy with the Maximus so far.

Since you're going with the E6750, you won't run into the problem of the bios not running the E8400. I'd personally get the E6550 instead as it will most likely clock right up there with the E6750 and should be somewhat cheaper (since it is a holdover anyway).
 
The maximus formula's a good board, and also looks sweet.. but it doesn't really offer anything more than something like a p35 board would, in your case.

I got an ip35-e with my e6750, and really liking it. It's cheaper than the ds3l, performs equally, and I like the fact that it's a full-sized board.
As for upgrading, the e8400 won't be amazingly better than the e6750, so you might as well hold off. The first nehalems I think are coming out end of the year, and mainstream nehalems should be coming out first half of 09' if I'm not mistaken.
 
kirbyrj said:
It looks like you only build every once in a while, so I'd probably just get the Maximus formula and run with it. Not sure how the whole PCIe 2.0 works with the P35 (heard it was compatible possibly with bios support on motherboards), but it is out of the box with X38. Might be an issue in the future if you upgrade video cards somewhat regularly. I've been happy with the Maximus so far.
Click to expand...

Only a few old VIA chipsets have problems with PCIe 2.0 cards. I have a PCIe 2.0 video card (8800 GTS 512MB) on a PCIe 1.1 slot (Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R) and have absolutely no problems. Haven't updated the BIOS either; PCI Express was made from the beginning to be foreward and backward compatible.

And vanilla_gueilla, what is so much better about the DFI? If you plug it in, it works, has the features you want at a price you like, and can get a decent overclock, what else matters? Every single good brand (abit, ASUS, DFI, Gigabyte, MSI) can do that.
 
I'm not doubting the compatibility, I'm talking about dropping in a future video card and not being hamstrung by bandwidth issues (in 3 or 4 years). That was more my concern as the OP only builds every few years.
 
Yes, I dont do major upgrades very much. I try to squeeze as much as I can out of my parts before I change them out. Unless something comes out that has a lot of improvement, then I'll update really quick.

I'm still not sure what to go with. All the options are overwhelming. But I do plan to upgrade this machine down the line as new things come out.. so I would like to minimize incompatibility for future upgrades..

vanilla_guerilla said:
diamond flower international. i have had an ip35 pro and a gigabyte, the dfi p35 boards are like an order of magnitude better. unfortunaetely the one you picked was only in stock for about 36 hours. but you can still get one of these

http://www.motherboardpro.com/DFI-LanParty-LT-P35-T2R-Motherboard-Chipset-P35-Socket-775-p-369.html

or even better, one of the x38 boards.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I noticed it went out of stock shortly afterwards. It's a bummer, it looked like a nice board.
 
Alright, I've decided to go with DFI. But I still cant decide whether to go with the X38 or the P35.

So it comes down to this..

Do I get the LT P35-T2R or the DK X38-T2R?
 
I read yesterday that the Xeon E3110 (I think) is the exact same processor as the E8400, so you might want to look for that. As far as motherbaords go, either DFI board would be a good decision IMO.
 
I'd probably get the X38 version depending on the price. They should both support the same processors, so it comes down the extra PCIe lanes on the X38 and the PCIe 2.0.
 
I decided to just go with the X38. Since the DK version was out of stock I bit the bullet and paid more for the LT version. Thanks for the help guys. Hopefully it performs well.
 
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