[Biozepox]

I am considering getting an ASUS P5WD2-E. I currently have DDR memory will this chipset work with standard DDR or will i need DDR2? Also will i need to reinstall windows when changing a motherboard while continuing to use the same hd? i ask this so that i may purchase another drive if it is necessary.

[Captain Helghas]

DDR2, and yes you will have to reinstall Windows.

Anytime you do a "major" upgrade you have to reinstall Windows, or a few "minor" changes. The definitions of those words are up to Microsoft though.

The specifications of the motherboard are listed on the Asus website. They also have the manual for download. Any specific reason why you want the P5WD2-E? There will probably be a 985 chipset out around August (if it isn't already planned yet.)

[Biozepox]

I want the P5WD2-E because I have a PCI-E video card and would like to get into SLI and I have a socket T processor that i would liek to put to good use. I also want a SATA DVD burner and a new larger 3.0 SATA hd and DDR2 sounds fun. plus i have moneys

[Captain Helghas]

The P5WD2-E does not support SLI. In fact, no Intel chipset motherboard supports SLI. Why would you want a SATA DVD burner? The bottleneck is ALWAYS the read/write speed, not the interface speed. DDR2 is nice because it doesn't limit your OC at all, but it really isn't that much faster, exception being the high end stuff. A larger SATA HDD will be ~$50-$80. HDD prices are pretty cheap these days. I wouldn't worry about whether it's SATA 150 or SATA II, there isn't any noticeable difference.

But spending money to buy 6 month old tech isn't quite worth it to me. I suggest holding out until August or September and get the best stuff to come out this year.

[Biozepox]

Originally Posted by Captain Helghas

The P5WD2-E does not support SLI. In fact, no Intel chipset motherboard supports SLI. Why would you want a SATA DVD burner? The bottleneck is ALWAYS the read/write speed, not the interface speed. DDR2 is nice because it doesn't limit your OC at all, but it really isn't that much faster, exception being the high end stuff. A larger SATA HDD will be ~$50-$80. HDD prices are pretty cheap these days. I wouldn't worry about whether it's SATA 150 or SATA II, there isn't any noticeable difference.

But spending money to buy 6 month old tech isn't quite worth it to me. I suggest holding out until August or September and get the best stuff to come out this year.

Did not read the specs on the P5WD2 and i have not been in this tech game for a while, please forgive my ignorance, my current setup is just needing updating, and i want more HD space, and a SLI setup, so what do you think i should do.

Thanks for your help

[Captain Helghas]

What is your budget? Right now you could buy a good system that was top of the line in January, but not really any better. In July, Core 2 comes out, and by August they will be of enough abundance to probably get ahold of one and a good mobo. The Core 2 will be the best dual core CPU out, and will be better than any AMD CPU out now (or so the benchmarks say.) If you can stand to wait until then (after your birthday money comes in ) you will have a heck of a rig to be proud of.

[RangerXLT8]

to the forums!
The P5WD2-E does not support SLi but it does fully support ATI Crossfire(dual ATI cards).
Here is a socket 775 board that does support SLi, it's a very fast board, I have one that was a review sample. http://hardwarelogic.com/news/129/AR...006-06-02.html

The P5WD2-E is the best socket 775 motherboard out right now. If you're not planning on buying a Core 2 Duo processor, then buy the P5WD2-E and run aTI Crossfire.