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Which motherboard for my needs?

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Pepi93

Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2002
Greetings, I've decided to scrap the entire previous idea of mine to go with a CF setup.

I need advice on the whole SLI option...First off how does Dual PCI-Express work? 2 identical SLI or CF cards? where as an SLI needs one SLI card? Please clear this up for me..

Now, I don't plan on purchasing a second GPU for atleast 1-2 years. That being said, should I even bother with a SLI - or dual PCI Express board? I want my PC to last me upwards to 4 years before building a new one.

I will most likely buy one of the following, BFG 8800 640mb or the 768mb GPU.

My main problem is with the MOBO for the Intel Core Duo 6400 I will get.

I've read numerous reviews, and can't make up my mind.

Here is what I need from my MOBO, Firewire, good features, good overclocking potential. I don't plan on doing maximal overclocking as I am new to it, but I would like to do some, maybe 70% of its full OC potential.

If you recommend I toss the SLI idea out then a single PCI Express card is fine.

Here are mobo's I've looked at in depth.

1) ASUS P5N32-SLI Deluxe, reported to have strange overclocking results, otherwise has all features I am looking for. $240

2) ASUS P5B-Deluxe WiFi, ( is this a CF board? )still need to do more reading on this, but has all features I want, Dual PCI Express--> as stated above, I need clarification on this feature. $230

3) ASUS P5B-E, Amazing on overclocking, but only 1 PCI express slot...again if you feel I should steer away from dual GPU support, this might very well be my choice. $180

4) ASUS P5N-E SLI, excellent overclocker, not as many bells and whistles on this board. $160

5) Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3, good choice but no firewire or dual PCI Express. But I know this board is really good.

So please help me, I've been trying to build this system for almost a half a year, it is getting rather frustrating. Feel free to recommend other boards I have not mentioned.

As far as the rest of my system,

GPU- BFG 8800 640mb or 768mb, probably the cheaper one.
Intel Core Duo 6400
Corsair 6400c4 2gb ram 800mhz or maybe G-skill or Team, but Corsair is tested on most of these boards, hence why it is my choice.
I already own a OCZ 700W GXS PSU (bought yesterday got a good deal)
and I am leaning towards a Lian-Li PC-A16B, although I am not sure yet...feel free to recommend a Case for me as well.

thanks very much for all your help in this thread and my previous ones.
 
Given whats out there now I think the P5B Deluxe is a good choice for you, Intel 965 chipset is very good at overclocking and it has the features your looking for. It's not an SLI board but based on what your saying I don't think you need to worry about it. If you decide to try SLI later on you will need a new board, PSU, and well and a new CPU also. Honestly GTS's SLI'd require the top end CPU. That is soo much graphic power you really need a strong high-end chip to drive it correctly, a quad core is perfect.
 
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