[P6..., RIIE, RIIIE or UDx ?] MoBo for newly build i7 system

[tabin]

Hello Forum!

I thought it's time to finally join. I've always been an lurker in here every now and then for at least the last five years or so - This forum helped me a lot finding what to buy and last in my various systems for a long time now!

So here I am now trying to find a good set-up for a newly build system. It all comes down to finding the MoBo and the RAM for what I want. I figured I would like to have a good, overclockable system that I could upgrade if I want more out of it (well who wouldnt want that...) and CPUs are a bit cheaper - this should be based around the following:

BASIC IDEA:
i7 930 (heard good stuff about the 920 but seems their not avail anymore...)
2 x GTS 250 in SLI
2 x 64gb ssd in RAID0
1 x 1tb hdd

RAM:
I will prolly start with one 6gb kit that can do at least CAS8 - maybe I'll buy another one later if the processing wait for my music kills me ;-)

COOLING:
I'd like to start with air - as this it what I've been doing for years and I am confident in doing it. To much new stuff at once is a little bit too much for a guy at my age ;-) So maybe water later, if the systems got heaps simpler in the past years (haven't really followed).

UPGRADING:
The plan is to maybe get a 980 in a year or so - maybe a GTX 480 or better when the prices are down - and maybe even later a second one - but who knows what's out then...
I might also want a couple more SSD and shift to raid 10 - but that's a little bit far out...
RAM upgrade has higher priority then SSD and GTX - dunno where the CPU fits in there, but I'll see as I go I guess.

NEED:
althought I do not depend to much on graphics power, as I use the machine mainly for coding and music processing - I'd like to play starcraft2 and diablo3 in a decent setting and quality, once they're out though. Maybe some fast rendering thing like a good space-fighting game aswell. Also I've heard good stuff about cuda getting better and better - so I might end up abusing the GPU aswell

PRESELECTION:
Budget is not really a concern, but I don't want to spend an extra hungie just for a slightly better performance / some odd feature I might need at some stage or more likely not. I've had a weeks worth of read now and I think I've narrowed it down a bit.
I do want a board that can do SATAIII and USB3.0. Six SATAII slots should be enough but eight doesn't hurt either, but I guess I'm getting at least seven from any board out there anyhow.
I am not sure if I am ready to let go of a PCI slot, but on the other hand I am not really sure what I could be using it for...
I'd really like to have firewire as a lot of music stuff uses this interface, but I guess there are also PCIe cards for that. Oh and yeah I'd prolly have at least one sound card, so there should be more then a couple of PCIe slots on there - enough spacing would be nice either ;-) Two onboard LAN adapters would be nice too, are not a real must though.

CANDIDATES:
Asus:
- P6T Deluxe v2
- P6X58D-E or Premium
- RIIE
- RIIIE
Gigabyte:
- UD7
- UD9

I know it's a bit of a wide candidate range, but I hope I gave enough input about what I want and how I would like to use it, to narrow it down to let's say two or so.

Was it the RIIE that had problems with the fan blocking the first DIMM slot?

I don't know about the two new boards - RIIIE and UD9. I've read some articles about some people having a bad RIIIE (being rev1.04 (?) and I think they are up at rev2 now init?). Don't know if these boards are a bit overkill, but I really like the extra lanes the nForce 200 gives.

Currently I am leaning towards the UD7 - but as youse might have sensed in this massive read I'm quite undecided, still.

Cheers for any help, further input, new thoughts, other MoBos around that I've overlooked or general comments already guys!

 

[MattNo5ss]

to OCForums!

I think LGA2011 and LGA1155 will be released next year to replace the current LGA1366 and LGA1156. So, the only CPU upgrade I see over the 930 is the 970 (locked hex) or 980x (unlocked hex).

All the boards you listed are good choices. There are PCIe cards for SATAIII and USB3.0, in case the board you want doesn't have them (P6T, R2E). The UD9 is WAY too expensive @ $700, don't bother. The R3E issues mainly effect benchers wanting high bclks, so a typical user should be just fine with a R3E. The first DIMM slot being blocked, on any board, really depends on the heatsink and fans being used, do you have any in mind?

For RAM, I would get at least DDR3-1600 speeds. It looks like DDR3-1600 CAS7 only runs ~$10 more than CAS8, so it may be worth considering. The brands I prefer are G.SKill, Mushkin, and Corsair. I haven't had any troubles with those companies.

 

[tabin]

Thanks for your reply MattNo5ss

Maybe I have been a little misleading with all that write-up up there, so here's something to clarify:
I don't know what you understand as being a typical user, but I've been trying to get the max out of my gear since PII300 times ;-) So although I might not be a bencher, I tend to o/c my system straight up out of the box. And when I do that, I'd like to get as much as I can and still have a stable system.

Having said that, let's get back to it

Yeah I've heard that'll be Q3/11 at least for the new sockets - so I'm quite happy with the choice to go for a 930 (and a 980x later if I really have to) - also RAM will most likely be compatible, so im good for at least two years (I usually do not jump on first go)

I had good results with corsair (first twin ram yeah!) as well, whilst kingston gave me cheap value too. that was way back, but good to see corsair still up there. I was indeed looking at either 1600 or 2000, tending to the later.

As for cooling I had a Zalman CNPS 10X in mind - I really do not fancy the massive nehelem blocks - although this one is quite huge for my taste aswell

So finally back to the MOTHERBOARD:
Thanks for ruling out the UD9 for me ;-) the price makes it pretty easy thought right?

I'd really prefer not to block slots with SATAIII or USB3.0 cards, as I would prolly be needing four slots for graphics and sound. That leaves the P6X58D-E or Premium, the RIIIE and the UD7, right?
Two graphics cards in SLI uses 32 lanes, correct? So there is little room for SATAIII to fit with my sound cards. I find the higher lane numbers the nForce200 provides very appealing, so that prolly is a no-go for the -E or the Premium.

So it is between the UD7 and the RIIIE.

What about the issues with busclock and the RIIIE again? Should I stick with the my initial favorite or prefer the RIIIE? And if so, why? I there really a better board between the two of them?

Cheers for your time and help mate!

PS - loved Baldures Gate

 

[wingman99]

+1 GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD7 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128413

 

[MattNo5ss]

Thanks for your reply MattNo5ss
Maybe I have been a little misleading with all that write-up up there, so here's something to clarify:
I don't know what you understand as being a typical user, but I've been trying to get the max out of my gear since PII300 times ;-) So although I might not be a bencher, I tend to o/c my system straight up out of the box. And when I do that, I'd like to get as much as I can and still have a stable system.

I didn't mean to offend you...lol. I should have said typical OCer, I guess. I was getting at the seemingly low bclk wall on the R3E as of now ~220-225MHz. The "typical OCer" shoots for 24/7 clocks, and getting 220bclk 24/7 is highly unlikely, so it wouldn't matter if the R3E has a bclk wall above something 24/7 stable for the "typical OCer."

Yeah I've heard that'll be Q3/11 at least for the new sockets - so I'm quite happy with the choice to go for a 930 (and a 980x later if I really have to) - also RAM will most likely be compatible, so im good for at least two years (I usually do not jump on first go)

Last I heard they were going quad channel RAM, so you may have to buy a single stick to add to the next platform; although, that may just be a rumor. You may want to look into the 970 when it comes out, it should save you around $300 over the 980x. I hope the 970 is at least $300 cheaper than the 980x, I mean $1050 for a CPU...that's just ridiculous.

I had good results with corsair (first twin ram yeah!) as well, whilst kingston gave me cheap value too. that was way back, but good to see corsair still up there. I was indeed looking at either 1600 or 2000, tending to the later.

The Mushkin RAM I have installed right now had the best timings of any of the DDR3-2000 RAM at Newegg and was $140 cheaper than the 8-8-8-24 Dominators. I have the Mushkin at 2100MHz 8-8-7-24 1.65v right now.

As for cooling I had a Zalman CNPS 10X in mind - I really do not fancy the massive nehelem blocks - although this one is quite huge for my taste aswell

If you're going to OC these i7s you'll have to learn to like massive heatsinks , or get a custom WC loop (which isn't worth the cost, imo).

So finally back to the MOTHERBOARD:
Thanks for ruling out the UD9 for me ;-) the price makes it pretty easy thought right?

I'd really prefer not to block slots with SATAIII or USB3.0 cards, as I would prolly be needing four slots for graphics and sound. That leaves the P6X58D-E or Premium, the RIIIE and the UD7, right?
Two graphics cards in SLI uses 32 lanes, correct? So there is little room for SATAIII to fit with my sound cards. I find the higher lane numbers the nForce200 provides very appealing, so that prolly is a no-go for the -E or the Premium.

So it is between the UD7 and the RIIIE.

What about the issues with busclock and the RIIIE again? Should I stick with the my initial favorite or prefer the RIIIE? And if so, why? I there really a better board between the two of them?

Either one will be a great board, if you don't need high bclks.

 

[tabin]

I didn't mean to offend you...lol. I should have said typical OCer, I guess. I was getting at the seemingly low bclk wall on the R3E as of now ~220-225MHz. The "typical OCer" shoots for 24/7 clocks, and getting 220bclk 24/7 is highly unlikely, so it wouldn't matter if the R3E has a bclk wall above something 24/7 stable for the "typical OCer."

No worries - Didn't take it that way anyways. So yeah - I am your typical user / OCer aiming for stable 24/7 system - maybe around the 200 mark - dunno if 210 would be possible stable...

Last I heard they were going quad channel RAM, so you may have to buy a single stick to add to the next platform; although, that may just be a rumor.

That's a rumor I like though ;-)

You may want to look into the 970 when it comes out, it should save you around $300 over the 980x. I hope the 970 is at least $300 cheaper than the 980x, I mean $1050 for a CPU...that's just ridiculous.

Yeah I'd never buy a CPU worth more then $500 - it's just ridiculous - the 970 sounds promising though - thanks for that hint!

The Mushkin RAM I have installed right now had the best timings of any of the DDR3-2000 RAM at Newegg and was $140 cheaper than the 8-8-8-24 Dominators. I have the Mushkin at 2100MHz 8-8-7-24 1.65v right now.

I definitely need more research on RAM - but I'm kinda busy at work now - but I guess it's between these three you mentioned and maybe the kingston ones - I'll write down that +1 for the Mushkins of yours ;-)

If you're going to OC these i7s you'll have to learn to like massive heatsinks , or get a custom WC loop (which isn't worth the cost, imo).

I guess I do... I don't really fancy WC as it's too much effort IMHO and I might be moving the stuff around and such. Well more research there to do aswell - but the Zalman looked quite nice to me..

Either one will be a great board, if you don't need high bclks.

Cheers