X38 Mobo Advice

Hello,

I'm going to be buying a new rig in the immediate future. The 780i doesn't appeal to me and I don't want to go with a AMD processor right now. The X38 looks like a solid choice, but I'm having some trouble deciding which board to go with.

I've pretty much decided that I'm going to get a Q6600, though I may wait for the newer penryns (though I'd rather not wait two or three months, as I've already waited quite a while for the X38).

The boards I'm looking at right now are the Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6, the Abit IX38 QuadGT, the Asus P5E, or possibly the Asus Maximus Formula. I've read mixed reviews about each of them, so I'm not sure what to think. I want to stick with a DDR2 board; I don't want to spend the extra for DDR3 memory. I also want a 1600MHz FSB compatible board. Any suggestions?

Also, I'm going for a HD 3870, and though I'm not going to get a second card for crossfire right off the bat, I plan on doing so in the not-too-distant future. I'm planning on getting an AuzenTech X-Fi Prelude sound card and am wondering if I'll even have a PCI slot available if I have two 3870's in crossfire, seeing as they have dual slot coolers. I'm assuming there will be one PCI slot available, but I just want to make sure.

Any advice you guys could give me would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!

I don't know about all the boards you noted but with the double width HD3870s you need something like the slot setup on the P5E where the left most PCI slot should be available to you. You might go to Newegg (as the link for the P5E) and look at each board to ensure the slot configuration. Two PCI slots side by side might allow you access to the 2nd one away from the PCIE slot also.

At least with the order you're buying things (waiting for the 2nd video card) you'll see if it is possible whichever board you buy.

to the forums, first off all of you choices would be fine for dual card setups, I would probably go towards the asus boards, just from my overclock experience with them, I would probably go towards the maximus formula myself, but if the added voltage options in the bios aren't of interest, the p5e is the exact same board, only limited to 1.7v from 1.9, unless going extreme cooling, the p5e would do fine

I just built a new system less than a week ago and I went with the Abit IX38 QuadGT and so far I have liked it. I have not had much time with it and still letting it burn in before I go to messing with it but it seems to be a good board. The reviews for it on newegg are pretty good. I was like you I kept waiting and waiting and I finally just bought. Was not crazy about the nvidia chipset either though I was interested in SLI and the intel chip does not support it.

another vote for the abit x38 quad gt ...

I love my Abit X38 quad gt.

This was the first time I setup a computer and had zero hardware issues..

Depends a lot on what you want to do. If you want to do a lot of overclocking i'd try the Abit IX38 Quad GT - For me it's clocking very well. i'm running 24/7 470x8 prime stable. the package however is miserly.

If your just after a solid board than the Gigabyte GA X38 DQ6 offers a very good board excellent heatpipes,(first time i've ever said that:lol & a good package. It overclocks well enough , but for me the bios options are limited.

There is also the DFI Lanparty LT X38-T2R Though i'm unsure about availability, there's afew reviews around but not seen any in stores or in the wild.

luck

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I decided to go for the P5E because of the slot setup, though in retrospect, I think any of them would have worked for 2 dual slot coolers and a sound card. I didn't choose Gigabyte because I was afraid the rear cooling panel behind the CPU would block my 80x80x15 slim fan that goes behind the CPU/mobo on my RC-690 tower. In addition, I'm used to Asus' bios, so I leaned toward the P5E over the QuadGT. I didn't know about the Maximus' higher voltage limit, though I'm just using a Zalman 9700 NT CPU cooler and the P5E's overclocking should be adequate.

My parts should be arriving later this week. Thanks again!