IC7-Max3 Or P4C800-E - First Intel system

[Albaholic]

IC7-Max3 Or P4C800-E?? - First Intel system

All my computers have been AMD up till now, I sold the shuttle box in my sig and now im seriously considering going Intel. I am having a hard time deciding between the IC7 Max and the P4C800-E Both have people that will swear by them and they are very similarly priced, I dont have any SATA drives right now but would like to use IDE to SATA converters on the drives I do have (Since SATA is a lot smaller and looks neater). According to Newegg the IDE to SATA changers do not work with the IC7 Anyone have suggestions regarding this?

This is what im considering using for my Intel Rig.
Antec P160 Case
IC7 or P4C800-E
P4 2.8E
Aerocool Aero 4 Lite Cpu Cooler
2gb Kingston HyperX PC 4000 (I know the timings are bad but i got these as a gift so )
4x 120 GB Western Digitals (8mb)
Audigy 2 ZS
9800 Pro W/ VGA silencer


Feedback on that setup would be appreciated. The only real areas of play though are the motherboard CPU and HSF everything else I have to use in the rig. From what I read, the 2.8E is a good OC'er but if someone can suggest a better one I would check it out. Also I am unsure about the HSF I would like some suggestions on that as well. What Kind of PSU would be needed for this beast? I dont think my antec 330 will cut it. btw this system will be used mostly for gaming

 

[Achilles17]

go with a 2.8C instead. the E's only shine when you get them up to speeds that the northwoods cant reach (4ghz area), which you most likely will not. the northwoods run much cooler overall and are proven to overclock well. Im gonna be getting a P4C800-E, but i had a real tough choice deciding, and i honestly couldnt care less which one i get, i just went with my gut. theyre goth great, get which ever feels more right for you.

 

[svenrune]

You can't go wrong with either IC7 Max3 or the P4C800-E they are the best boards out there, I went with Abit of old habit.

 

[Albaholic]

What about the power Supply?

 

[malinois1]

I just got this PSU http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-153-013&depa=1 . The rails or over spec and very stable!! It is also sleeved and the price is bareable BTW I would go with either the 2.8C or the 3.0C The E gettes very hot. Many people have been having good luck with the 3.0C lately. Good luck

 

[Albaholic]

Thanks for the help guys, will let u know what i decide

 

[Nightingale]

For psu I would get the Antec Trueblue 480W. I have one running in my dual Opteron system with 4 hard drives, 4 smart fan 2's running max speed, and a dvd-rw. Not sure what will happen when I add in one of the new graphics cards on the market but I am sure it will take the load. Also if I had to chose I would ge the IC7-Max3 with a 2.8E or 3.0E

 

[deathstar13]

your doing air cooling so rule out a prescott,really they oc well but a C will oc as well due to lower temp.if you had h20 or better cooling id say prescott.

save a few bucks and get a plain ic7.the max3 seems to have odd issues for people.
i see the asus having issues also but differant than the max3.in reality any of thses are great ocing mobos and will work well.

if you go prescott you want 450wt and up sized psu.id get one that size anyhow.
newegg has the fotron and sparkle 530wt psu that kick butt.and for the cheap.
low on the 12v line tho i think in its ratings but they underate anyyhow.
rails are adjustable via pots inside also.

 

[WiNd]

for psu either a antec truepower or fortron, by the way why the change to intel?

 

[Albaholic]

Well, Ive never personally owned a intel system, price always kept me away from them,but now after selling my shuttle I have the money and would like to give it a shot. I still have another AMD system as my secondary rig

I do plan to go H20 at some point, so I would like to have the 2.8E to play with. I even toyed with the idea of phase change but looking at the costs of it..... well I dont think I could ever bring myself to spend that much money.

Do you guys think I can fit a decent h20 setup in the P160, any recommendations, I might just decide to go h20 from the start if total costs dont scare me from it