Help a newb pick a board?

Ok I'm new to building a system but have narrowed my mobo choice down to 2 boards.....

Abit IC7-G
DFI PRO875 Lan Party

I don't plan to overclock until I learn a little more about it, but what board would you recommend for a newbie building a system? Ease of use? Etc?

Thanks guys, I appreciate any info.

Abit. Known for great products and great tech support.

I agree, but isn't DFI also known for good tech support? I was reading another thread on that board, and everyone seems to like that one too..... so I'm between them both still.... are there any pros or cons to either one?

another good question... does your comp have a window???
if it doesn't the whole eye-candy appeal of the DFI goes away. Once you go for overclock i think the ABIT will treat you better.

They're both fine boards, a recent Anand review showed the DFI board is a damn good overclocker also, of course we all know Abit is still the first choice of overclockers in general though. If it were me, i'd see which is cheaper and go with that one, nothing wrong with getting a great mobo and saving a few $$$'s.

My case does have a window. I bought the Chieftec Dragon.

I did see the Anandtech review, and I really like the sound of the DFI board, but like you said about Abit that they're known among people. I don't plan to overclock just yet, but if I do DFI seems to have a winner from what I've read.

Such a tough decision.... thanks for the info.

looks like abit may have a board revision soon. so it may not be a good idea to buy the ic7-g just yet. You may want to wait until the new board hits the usa.

Looks like the same with asus. Asus looks like they have a new board comming in about a week.

Never used a DFI board before. So cant comment on that. If it was between the abit and the DFI I would choose the DFI. Especially for a beginning Ocer. Abit boards do not read temperatures the same as other manufacturers. Its not a big deal really, but it can be very unerving to not really know what the temperature is. It could be 5c off, could be 15c. To me thats like ****ing in the dark hoping for the best.

Maybe I'll wait on the Abit board. I dunno, this is a tough decision. The only thing I don't like about the DFI board is it doesn't have FireWire on it.

I still have two weeks to decide, cause there is a computer show once a month or so here in IL (greatmidwestcomputershow.com) so that's where I'll be looking around.

Any more thoughts on either board?

I have the PRO875. It's a nice board and is a great match for a 2.8c. DFI's support is the best I've experienced.

I've owned nothing but Abit boards all of my life. I just got done using an IT7 Max 2 ver 2, which was excellent. They have been nothing but perfect everytime. The good old BX-6 rev 2 by my side is still running as we speak after 5 years. Ive built systems for other people and used boards they chose (Asus, supermicro, epox, gigabyte), but the abit's always seemed to be better and nicer. I recently decided to buy a new board and knew right away what board I wanted, the IC7-G. I was surprised to find out that it did not have 2 channels of IDE RAID. Actually I was disappointed. How could they do this to me after all of these years of brand loyalty!!

So I went with the DFI Pro875 and haven't looked back nor regret it one bit. Since you've read the other thread, as well as the anandtech review, you already know its default performance and oc'ing potential, not to mention the great package bundle.

The decision is to buy either of the two that have ALL of the components that YOU need because, at default speeds, its basically proven that all 875P boards perform very close to each other. Either board you choose will make you happy.

Thanks for the info guys.

I've been over to the Abit forums a bit (haha) recently, and have seen people having some pretty significant problems with the IC7-G not booting at all etc. So my question to you now is...

Is the DFI board now good with the new BIOS releases? If I get a green light from you guys, I will be ordering the board tomorrow. Thanks!

Anandtech has a enw review on 20 of the 875/865 chipset based boards. Might be worth looking at if you are unsure.

Seen it. That's how I came upon these two boards... but now to decide which one.