Need help decideing on which mobo to buy

I am pretty much building a computer from the ground up and can use all the advice I can get. So far there is no budget on this project, but I would like to keep it in the $1000-$1200 range. The only part I already have is a GFX card and am not sure what make or model it is, but it came from my friends Dell APX computer and he said its pretty good. As for the processor I want either a P4 3.2 or 3.4 depending on costs. I have pretty much decided on the 875P chipset, but there are so many motherboards out there that its hard to choose. I'm pretty much looking for all the performance I can get with 1Gig of DDR RAM. All suggestions are welcome and if you could also say why it is you picked what you did.

Thanks

Personally my first would be an Asus P4C800-E Deluxe the secondliy an Abit IC7-Max3 thirdly ive been hearing good things about Epox or whatever

Avoid the MAX3. Check out the forums at www.abit-usa.com and go the MAX Series forums. The Max3 is hit or miss. You might get a good one, you might not.

P4C is the way to go if you have the $$. EpoX is good too but it seems a there is a larger amount of DOA's on those. AI7 from abit is another decent choice.

there u go

I've had my eye on the Asus P4C800-E Deluxe because it was reccomended to me by a few people. Is there anything unusual I should expect with it, like maybe some well known bugs or problems?

Also, how much could I safely over clock the Pentium 4 3.2? What kind of heatsink is best for an overclocked CPU and what size fan? I'm not very experienced with computers, but I do know more than most.

Thanks for the help

well u kan get 3600 or 3800 with Thermalright sp-94 and about the board there is nothing i kan think of on the bugs

I own a P4C800-E Dlx. because the Abit IC7-MAX3 couldn't get the oc the Asus gave me. Also, the P4C is one of the best boards when it comes to memory performance.

I would say that most 3.2's will hit 3.5 right out of the box with default vcore of 1.55. Maybe even 3.6. There are a number of 3.2's doing 3.7+ on air. I would suggest this heatsink:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-109-012&catalog=62&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1

...and a decent 80mm fan that moves 40+ cfm.

Also, good memory is important. You want some PC3500 or PC3700 speed. You're looking at 220 minimum fsb and up to 235+ maximum.

Some people have reported problems but that is typical with any motherboard. From my experience, even with the mods, I've experienced zero problems even with the latest 10.15 bios. Good luck and feel free to search the forums for more info. Let us know how it turns out.

yes yes! abit mobos are good

The only problems with the Abit IC7 Max3 is trying to run the vdimm above 2.8v. The Asus P4C800 has a 2.85v vdimm limit anyway, but is easier to volt mod. Although the Abit AI7 is a i865 chipset mobo, it's worth checking out too.

You could save a little cash and get a 2.8C (preferrably the SL6Z5 M0 stepping) and overclock it to 3.5 gig. Just about all air cooled Northwoods top out close to the same speed anyway. The 3.2C might hit 3.5 to 3.6 gig air cooled, but the FSB is lower than the 2.8C, so the 2.8C will still perform as well if not better.

The SP-94 heatsink was mentioned and that's one of the best ones on the market right now. Slap in some PCZ PC 4200 Gold or Corsair PC4000 and run that sucker at 1:1 memory ratio.

I notice you guys keep saying air cooled. Are the any disadvantages to running a water cooler CPU? My car experience tells me that the water would be better at getting the heat away from the CPU and I would then be able to overclock it more. Any suggestions?

One of my rigs has watercooling. It has advantages and disadvantages. Usually with a watercooled P-4, you can O/C a little higher than with air cooling, but not as much as you might think. The disadvantages are cost and the risk of leakage (minimal risk if done right). The big advantage in my book is quietness.