This is probably an over used topic, but can someone tell me which would be better, 965 or 975 for a Conroe cpu? Pricing isn't an issue, nor do I have specific needs.

The 975 had an alteration after April 2006, which allows it to handle the Conroe CPU - so it feels a bit suspect. With 965, I'm not sure what to expect.

If anyone can lift the veil for me, I'd be much obliged!

Isn't the motherboard you are looking for a 775 socket? You just have to make sure it supports conroe though and not to get it mixed up with older versions. The conroe boards still supports older 775 CPUs though.

Thanx for the reply. Maybe some m/b vendors will use iniative on the 965 and include pata connections - i hope so, cos i'm not aware of any other way to connect a dvd drive....

It's far from ideal, but you could use an ATA controller card.

Apparently theres problems with SATA optical drives being the default drive with XP or so BenQ claim. I'd imagine this won't be a problem with Vista so hopefully with vista we'll see the death of legacy sh!t like PATA and floppies.

From what I have heard, the ICH8 on the 965 motherboards does have a PATA controller in the silicon but they would need to increase the package size to bond out the connections. This is causing most if not all motheroboard vendors to look for a seperate PATA controller. Intel is using a Marvell PATA controller on all of their 965 boards except their pico BTX boards which don't have the space to actually put one down.

I would definitely go for a 965. it was designed for Core 2, and only certain revs of 975 will work.

The 965 boards are due to ship with Core 2 so there will be some around. The problem maybe a shortage of chips for awhile in retail.

The chips are already listing on sites as in stock...

http://www.eastluna.com/hardware/details.php?id=1954

ATi RD600.

Jeez - talk about upgrade headaches..... Thanx for all the input!!!

I've also found a liking in the 965 - seeing that it's designed for Conroe. Now I have to wait for August (Conroe only ships to S Africa then).

Good luck to all the France and Italian supporters!!! With Brazil out, I'll have to flip coins on whom to support....

Like you, I have taken an early interest in the capabilities of the 965 chipset. I am very interested in the reviews/benchmarks that I expect to be published shortly. The memory controller of the 965 appears to have the potiential of outperforming the 975X.

I hope to see more sophisticated power/heat/noise management functions in the 965.

One of the most important items people have forgotten is the death of AC97 onboard sound with the 965. I can't belive it took so long.

If the 965 mobo has an IDE interface slot what happens when you plug in your PATA devices to it? Will the optical drives just not work?

I'd go for the 975...

What does it mean to "officially" support DDR2-800? Won't a 975 support it? Is that the only advantage of the 965 over the 975?

I really do not know a lot about the intricate details with mobos, but I thought the PATA port was on the mobo where the cable from the IDE device plugs into it. This is not correct?