[yog]

I'm going to be putting together a new rig in the next couple of weeks. I have heard a lot about how great the 805 is, so I'm planning on building it around that. I've been with AMD for several years so I don't know anything about Intel systems anymore. Here is what I have so far. What do you guys think?

ASUS P5LD2 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 945P ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

SAPPHIRE 100106-RD Radeon X850XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

Intel Pentium D 805 Smithfield 533MHz FSB LGA 775 Dual Core,EM64T Processor Model BX80551PE2666FN

CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model TWIN2X1024-5400C4

NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A

I will be using my Fortron 500 W power supply and putting this all in an Antec Sonata 2, I will also be watercooling all this. I'm not sure about the video card.

Any changes or suggestions would be gladly accepted. Thank you

[Stratus_ss]

is there any particular reason that you went with the P5LD2 instead of the P5WD2?
From my understanding the WD2 is the better board. Is it a price thing?

[larva]

I'd recommend the WD2 also. While the LD2 can do the 200fsb that is the practical limit for an 805 the stronger PWM section of the WD2 would be a good idea if you want to get as close to that 200fsb as possible. With water cooling your should be able to realize 4GHz with a good chip. Your Fortron power supply will have its hands full as 4GHz approaches, as well, but is worth trying since you already have it. Just be prepared that a stouter (preferably single 12V output) unit may be required to maximize the OC.

I also tend to think that SLI is possible on a WD2 now that they have a patcher for the Nvidia display drivers... WD2, 805, and 2GB of usable DDR2 is what I lust for, along with a second 7800GT to test the SLI theory. If it weren't for the likely power consumption and heat production benefits promised by the new generation of post-netburst Intel processors I'd be hot (no pun intended ) to do it.

[yog]

I went with the LD2 over the WD2 just for cost. I hadn't heard anything (until now) about the WD2 being that much better of a board, if is then that is the way to go.

I'm not interested in SLI, as I am not a hardcore gamer, I'd like to be able to play some of the latest games in high-res mode, but that is about it. The only game that I can think of now that I want to use on it is battle for middle earth 2.

[batboy]

The P5LD2 does pretty good with the 8XX series, but for some reason don't like 9XX. So, if you aren't planning on upgrading, then that mobo will be fine for the 805. For the record, the P5WD2 is definitely a better mobo.

[pscout]

Originally Posted by batboy

The P5LD2 does pretty good with the 8XX series, but for some reason don't like 9XX. So, if you aren't planning on upgrading, then that mobo will be fine for the 805. For the record, the P5WD2 is definitely a better mobo.

I think SOME of the p5ld2's like 9XX's ... it seems to depend on the version of the chipset that asus puts on them.

On the same rev - 1.02 of the mobo, asus seems to have been putting both the 945p/g and the 945g/gz versions on according to cpu-z results. The latter seem to oc well on the 900's.

There are people who have had OC's to 300 with the 920 on the good LD2's. But without ASUS indicating the difference it is a crap shoot. Mine would only go to 235,another i recall when to 245.

Before i buy another ld2 i have a deal with my local supplier that i get to try it out first.

WD2 seems a much safer bet if you want to run a pressler on it at some point.

[larva]

If I was going to low-buck it I'd use the AL8 or AL8-V Abit. But to each his own. The thing I'm looking for is nice beefy 4-phase PWM design, and the AL8 and WD2 deliver it. I don't view it as a luxury when the power demands climb, and any Intel dual core at 4GHz is a big consumer.

[yog]

What do you think of the ABit AW8 vs. the Asus WD2?

[Sentential]

Originally Posted by yog

What do you think of the ABit AW8 vs. the Asus WD2?

WD2, no question about it. Abit is aweful when compared against the Asus design

[Ssetre]

Hmm...

Depends... if your using a 200fsb processor... My AW8 will hang with any P5WD2... If its a 133fsb chip like the 805, until abit gets the bios sorted your locked at pretty much 170fsb. Something in alllll the bios revisions is broken and no 533 chip can get higher without the board locking.

I used a NI8 to overclock my 506, AW8-Max hit 3.3ghz(PowerStream 520, Bigtyphoon)... NI8 is sitting at 3.8(Silenx 420W and Zalman 7700cu won't cut it @4ghz).

But... my AW8 can handle force feeding a 640 1.65vcore loaded at 4.5ghz on air. 80c temps on the pwm ... It is a very tough and very well designed board, and I prefer the layout over the P5WD2 also. Just don't try and use DDR2-800 on it...

Its something to do with certain sticks only having spd coded for 800mhz so the board tries to boot ram that requires 2.0 or 2.1vdimm with 1.8vdimm.

[yog]

Anybody know where I can find the WD2 budled with the TV turner card? Both newegg and ZZF sell the LD2 bundled with the TV card, but not the more expensive board.