Good motherboard for multitasking??

[NASTY_LOS]

I'm in the market for a PC for ultra-multitasking. Encoding, converting, lots of media burning, the works. I work a lot with Photoshop, Go Live, and other RAM sucking programs. I'm trying to build a PC but I cannot make up my mind long enough to purchase any components.

I need some input as far as mobo, psu, memory, etc. I'm in love with that Masstige case, so I'm definitely using that. By the way, I plan to install about 5 to 6 DVD/CD drives.

Thanks for taking the time out and throwing some suggestions my way.

 

[KenF]

You did not mention gaming. Is this primarily a work PC? And do you plan to overclock?

Given the description of what you do, a quad-core makes sense. If you have to buy now, and intend to overclock, then you get the quad-core 2.4GHz Q6600 (~$250) and [over]clock it at 3.0-3.2GHz. If you can wait until March 15, you get the next-generation 2.66GHz Q9450 ($320) with SSE4.

For the processor heatsink, buy a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme or a Thermalright Ultima-90 with Scythe SFF21E 120mm fan.

There are a host of excellent mainboards. If you buy a motherboard for the Q6600 today, I would opt for the Abit IP35 Pro.

For the memory, grab two sets of this.

For the power supply, take a look at the Corsair 620HX.

For the graphics card, get an nVidia 8800GT if you do a lot of gaming. If you don't game at all, get the ATI Radeon 3650. If you game occasionally, get the Radeon 3850 or 3870.

For hard drives, get a Western Digital Raptor 150 for Windows and applications, plus one (or two) 750Gb Western Digital WD7500AAKS hard drives for documents, images, and video.

Make sure you have a copy of Vista 64-bit, as needed to take advantage of that memory.

I assume you don't mind noise, because the Masstige makes a lot of it. For silence, something like the Antec SOLO or P182 (more bays) would be more appropriate.

 

[NASTY_LOS]

I'm not a big PC gamer. The PC is mainly for work purposes, maybe a little Command and Conquer every now and then. I don't plan on overclocking. But I do need around 5 or 6 external drives, that's why I reluctantly passed on the P182.

 

[Commander Suzdal]

For ultimate multitasking, the Intel "Skulltrail" boards should be coming out soon, right? Dual quad-core sockets...

 

[KenF]

For ultimate multitasking, the Intel "Skulltrail" boards should be coming out soon, right? Dual quad-core sockets...

If his budget can tolerate that, sure.

The "Skulltrail" is said to be coming in February or March at somewhere between $600 and $1000. CPUs cost extra.

 

[NASTY_LOS]

If his budget can tolerate that, sure.

The "Skulltrail" is said to be coming in February or March at somewhere between $600 and $1000. CPUs cost extra.

Umm....yeah, no. That's not flying, I can't afford that just for a board. Honestly I was looking at one of those Gigabyte boards, maybe GA-EP35C-DS3R to go along with those new 45nm processors. But people mainly tell me that Gigabyte boards are built for gamers.

 

[Nenu]

lol
A motherboard is pretty much a motherboard with regard to multitasking.
Some boards have more than one CPU socket so are better if you need to run more threads if you plug more CPU's in.
If a motherboard is good for gaming it doesnt mean its bad for multitasking, quite the reverse, it will be a good motherboard.

My advice, get a board which is reported to be reliable.