Asus Striker - Safe bet?

Hi guys,
my credit card needs some more abuse as I want to get another 8800gtx which means going 680i. Is the asus worth the money over other 680i boards and generally what do you guys think about the 680i boards?

I'm eager to get my vapochill running with my E6600 as I've only been air cooling with the ds3 due to stability over 450fsb. Are people getting 500fsb with these boards?

any help appreciated

bt

Best results I've seen so far out of the 680i boards have been on the Asus P5N32-E (Maxi and Kanuuk)

What they would be able to do with different 680i boards

Im getting 500mhz PERIOD

It wont budge above that no matter what

Also the crappiest On board Audio i've ever seen

Decision is up to you

I'd be happy with 450+ for my 6600, the ds3 didn't like going over 400 (even with 6 multi) with the 6600 but it would go over 475 with my 6400, seems to be related to 2/4mb cache.

I was concerned over the heat of the board, I will be using the vapo and watercooling the 8800's using a low speed 120mm fan to cool ram/board.

The P5N32-E is a lot cheaper than the striker, what are the differences other than cooling? I've had loads of asus boards in the past, I'm a big fan of asus mobos btw.

thanks for the replies

bt

Check out maxi's 1T stable FSB
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=493762

and those subtimings are He does have killer ram though

There doesn't seem to be much improvment if not the opposite from this board and steaping up to the striker for some reason

I don't think it's a safe bet - it is a large gamble.

I've had the board and couldn't get it to work stable with RAM that was on the Qualified Vendor's List for the Striker. It wouldn't run my RAM at the specified timings without crashing and frequently crashed even if I under-timed the RAM. Many many others on the ASUS forums had the same problems as me (I say *had* because I got rid of my Striker). Also, the differeing RAM slots are more finicky than each other. That plus the insanely hot chipset.

Really, it's the luck of the draw as to whether or not your config will work or not. As far as I'm concerned - unless you really need SLI, 680i chipsets aren't the way to go right now, they have far tooo many issues.

Bobtod is one of the few that benchmark SLI and CF so wether or not he needs it is irrelevent

hey jo bob, yeah bobby joe? Let's put this out first an see how many will pay +500$+. yeah,he-he{sadistic laughter}

evaga's board., iv'e seen 3 sources above 517 mhz.

Antioch said:

I don't think it's a safe bet - it is a large gamble.

I've had the board and couldn't get it to work stable with RAM that was on the Qualified Vendor's List for the Striker. It wouldn't run my RAM at the specified timings without crashing and frequently crashed even if I under-timed the RAM. Many many others on the ASUS forums had the same problems as me (I say *had* because I got rid of my Striker). Also, the differeing RAM slots are more finicky than each other. That plus the insanely hot chipset.

Really, it's the luck of the draw as to whether or not your config will work or not. As far as I'm concerned - unless you really need SLI, 680i chipsets aren't the way to go right now, they have far tooo many issues.

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I need to populate all 4 mem slots (4x1gb G.Skill HZ D9) so I might be in for some hassle? I think I will buy the P5N32-E for now and give it some testing before ordering a new psu and another 8800 just incase I get any problems.

greenmaji said:

Bobtod is one of the few that benchmark SLI and CF so wether or not he needs it is irrelevent

Click to expand...

I never got to bench those x1800s in the end!
Gave up waiting for RD600, couldn't wait any more for conroe! - bought DS3 to tie me over, 8800GTX got released - Holy S**t!! - sold one x1800xt to my housemate for £50 and bought 8800gtx on day of release!

Didn't really choose to go SLI, my Dell 3007 'forced' me to upgrade to 8800GTX but even then BF2142 slows down to 60fps @ 2560x1600 max everthing. I'm running it @ 1920x1200 to keep it at 85+ FPS, I guess I don't need SLI but it comes in handy when gaming on the 3007!

To be honest you need a VERY high resolution monitor to justify running 2x8800's otherwise it's a bit of a waste. I've chatted in-game to people running 2x7900GTX's on a 19" TFT! I can't see the point as the relatively low resolution of a 19" panel isn't going to use the power of SLI but they don't listen.

Man, I'm a sucker for uprading every 3 months, the only things that have lasted is my vapo and raptors!

bt

You're not a sucker, some people would call you lucky and most would be jealous. Lol, I'd love to upgrade often, but don't have the capital.

You should check the ASUS forums, I recall reading a thread about my RAM (Corsair 6400C4) where the op wanted to use 4x1Gb sticks but it wasn't stable (Couldn't even hit the specified 4-4-4-12 timings) with all 4 in and had to stick with only 2 which even then were unstable. Funny because that RAM is on the qualified list for the Striker, lol.

Anyways, either way I recommend checking the ASUS forums real fast to see if there are any issues with the parts you have and the board you want.

cheers for the heads-up Antioch! After reading the asus forums I'm now reluctant to order one. I came home from work last night to order the P5N32-E but now after all the problems reported with running 4 sticks in this board (and the striker) I may have to leave it for now.

Hopefully this will be fixed soon with some bios updates, unfortunatley a friend is pushing me for buying my DS3, X1800XT and E6400. I really could do with a new mobo in the next couple of weeks but I can't see any other option than 680i

bt

I seriously doubt people are having problems with 4 sticks of D9GMH, those corsair 6400C4's are NOT D9 they are Elphia.

bt.. currious why you didn't bench CF with a 975X mobo.. RD600 chipset was far from nessary, Intel's chipset is an exellent perormer for CF.

greenmaji said:

I seriously doubt people are having problems with 4 sticks of D9GMH, those corsair 6400C4's are NOT D9 they are Elphia.

bt.. currious why you didn't bench CF with a 975X mobo.. RD600 chipset was far from nessary, Intel's chipset is an exellent perormer for CF.

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Cheers for that, I didn't even notice it was different ram, doh. I have neglected my thirst for hardware recently due to my on-line gaming addiction over the last year which means my hardware 'nerding' and benching sessions have almost stopped. Hopefully some new toys will bring back my passion for some benching again.

Are you saying that there have been no bad reports running D9 in all 4 slots? If that's the case I will take a chance with this board after all, it wouldn't be so bad with 2gb in winxp as no games need any more but with vista here in 2 weeks it would be a royal P.I.T.A. to have 2 sticks sat on the side with all my other left over bits LOL.

2 reasons why I could't bench: I never owned a 975x mobo and I had 2 X1800XT's (non CF) and only RD600 can force these 2 in CF. I had bought an X1800XT early last year and got sent 2 by accident! Of course I meant to send it back but err.....forgot LOL. The thing is it sat in its box since new, only being used for about a week...what a waste!

I've been quite lucky last year with 'free' things:
X1800XT - Large order through work - 2 cards in box but only 1 on packing slip
Acer 17" Laptop - Ordered one, found it cheeper, cancelled order, re-ordered cheeper one, 2 delivered, only invoiced for 1
Dell 3007 - Long story, card refund plus kept monitor!

[insert excuse here] I know I'm not standing by honourable morals here but given the opportunity most people would do the same. All these purchases were from 'giant' e-tailors through corporate accounts via my work. I personally spend £20k+ a year on IT related stuff with them on my company credit card alone, so I still sleep well at night [/finish excuse]

bt

Couple more weeks before the IN9 32x-Max... maybe > Striker?

LxOxSxI said:

Couple more weeks before the IN9 32x-Max... maybe > Striker?

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oooh..that looks interesting and it's in stock here in the uk, same price as the striker £235 (nearly $450!) time to google for some reviews.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=509279&source=froogle

Any one got one yet?

bt

1 small review here...

I got fed up waiting for some descent reviews where someone would actually push the FSB above 400!! Either these boards are hard to get going over 450 or ppl are scared to kill them. Abit engineers have had the board over 550fsb so there is hope yet http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/01/04/abit_overclocks_in9_32x_max_to_557mhz_fsb/

Just ordered mine this afternoon, hopefully next day delivery doesn't let me down. With a bit of luck I might get some free time this weekend to give it some initial testing on air just to check everything seems ok before insulating for vapo and voiding the warranty on the most expensive mobo I've ever bought!

bt