Quad core mobo reccomendation

I am building a system for a friend and am going to use an intel quad core, atm I was thinking of a Q9400. The system is meant to be a gaming machine, There will probably be some OCing done, but nothing extreme since it is not my own personal system. I am looking a recommendations for mobos that have a good mix of stability and options and I am not particulary sure which way to go as this will be my first intel build. Crossfire/ SLI are not a necessity.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you
Greyspectre

P45 chipset w/DDR2

Asus P5Q-Deluxe has the bells and whistles
Maixmus II Formula if money is not an issue
Biostar TPower is super nice for around $150

One thing I noticed is that the RAM with a speed that meets the FSP specifications is all DDR3, the best you can get at DDR2 is DDR2 1200.

Why do you want to stick with DDR2 instead of DDR3?


Also, how are the nvidia nforce chipsets for intel systems? I am wondering since the last several systems I have used have all used varients of the nforce chipsets albiet for amd systems, so I am wondering if it would be familiar at all.


Another question: I am seeing a lot of X38/X48 chipsets in addition to the P45 chipset, what is better/worse about P45 vs X38/X48

Major advantage of ddr2 over ddr3 is the price, especially if you looking at getting 8gb and above.

Pick intel chipest over nvidia if you not planing sli.

P45/x38/x48 have similar performance. Features vary from board to board.

i dunno about the 45nm quads but my x48 is handling my 65nm quad at 425 atm. going for 450-475 later tonight

Other than the price is there any disadvantage to DDR3? The reason I am asking is because I am looking at the 45nm quadcores and it seems to be a mixed bag of mobos as to weather or not to use DDR 3 or not. It is rather interesting as all the previous processors I have used have either been 1 or the other with no options as to DDR2 or DDR3.

no there are not, DDR3 has only price as the factor right now. considering what i paid for some DDR2-800 cas4 2gig kit. right now i can get a DDR3-1600 cas7 4gig kit for the same price. i dont really compare DDR2 price now to DDR3 to me thats the wrong way,imo. DDR2 should imo only be considered if your one on limited funds for the build.
here is a link to show you latency of different ram speeds at different timings,
http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=160

I am not sure what or when you paid for your DDR2-800 kit but you can definitely get 4GBs of 800MHz CL4 memory for a lot less than 1600 DDR3.

thescavenger said:

I am not sure what or when you paid for your DDR2-800 kit but you can definitely get 4GBs of 800MHz CL4 memory for a lot less than 1600 DDR3.

Click to expand...

indeed i left that part out, i paid $251.99 on 07/20/06 for a 2gig kit from corsair PC2-6400C4. i loved that ram and it wasnt Micron D9GMH based either
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/Evilsizer/ocforums/superpi 1m runs/34g1140g.jpg

Evilsizer said:

indeed i left that part out, i paid $251.99 on 07/20/06 for a 2gig kit from corsair PC2-6400C4. i loved that ram and it wasnt Micron D9GMH based either
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/Evilsizer/ocforums/superpi 1m runs/34g1140g.jpg

Click to expand...

Ahha, that makes a lot more since now

p45 chipset definitly for q9400

this eleimates the bus wall issue. I had my q9300 at 3750 (benchable not stable... i had a weak core)

Also, having had the pq5 deluxe, I would go with the better MSI p45 board fro straight performance. (Asus will give you better CS And features though) The MSI board in a review scored 1000more 3d06 points then the p5q deluxe. Dunno if it was a fluke or not but 1,000 points is a lot, and explains why the estimator on futuremarks site said I should get about 700 more points then I actually got.

And faster ram does not really help except in certain synthetic bench marks.

Look for comparisons of DDR2 vs DDR3 in real world situations (applications and gaming and such, not everest numbers) 1-3% better performance in DDR3 1600 over DDR2 800.

If intel allowed unlinked overclocking, I would not bother buying anything over 667. But they dont so I get the 500+ capable stuff

the only way to get unlinked clocking of ram is with NV based boards... i wonder if neha will be able to do this since it has the IMC.

Evilsizer said:

no there are not, DDR3 has only price as the factor right now. considering what i paid for some DDR2-800 cas4 2gig kit. right now i can get a DDR3-1600 cas7 4gig kit for the same price. i dont really compare DDR2 price now to DDR3 to me thats the wrong way,imo. DDR2 should imo only be considered if your one on limited funds for the build.
here is a link to show you latency of different ram speeds at different timings,
http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=160

Click to expand...

I knew you would step in. You're in my sig.

Blazing fire said:

I knew you would step in. You're in my sig.

Click to expand...

i do my best,promise boss!

hmm, I will have to think about these things, thanks for the help.