Any C2D/C2Q compatible mobos with 4 RAM slots and at least two PCIx? In the RAM slots, do they all have to have the same size stix, or could you go with 2x2GB and 2x1GB for a total of 6GB? Thanx in advance!

PCIx - do you mean PCI-X (64-bit PCI, usually found on server boards), or PCIe - graphics card slots (mostly).

i think pretty much all the full size at c2d mobo's from asus and gigabyte atleast have 4 slots total (2x2), and you should be able to work things in pairs for dual channel, dont expect any performance gain from 2+ gb of ram.

i too am looking for a board like that. REASON=Vmware..

Supermicro has a board with 4x pci-x slots. but either onboard video, or you need a pci vid, or pci-e 1x video card..
And as for performance beyond 2gb, that is relative to what you are doing..

Sorry about my lack of clarity.

1) Definitely not 64bit PCI server, but the PCIe to run the PCI-x video cards.

2) I'm only looking to throw as much RAM at Photoshop under Vista as it can eat. It allegedly has huge RAM headroom under the new OS and I'd really like to see what I can do with it as my current 1GB RAM Win XP Pro system is always running out of memory while running Pshop. (I open humongous files...)

3) I need killer video. $1,000 budget just for the card(s). That's why I was looking for two slots.

I'll check out Supermicro, Asus and Gig. Thanks!

@wusy: Sorry. I'm a bit confused (but that's not unusual for me...) Are you saying that the ASUS P5WGD2-WS Pro is the only mobo that has 4 RAM and 2 PCIe slots?

@mpilchfamily: Are there any mobos either out now or about to hit the market that would support more than 4GB RAM for Vista as well as having the double PCIe? I work on Pshop a lot but the killer video is for the Slingbox that I watch about 4 hrs a day. My image quality on the Sling is borderline now with the 6600 AGP 256MB, I'm completely stuck at 420Kbps up and down (have to move home on two continents to get faster internet) and right now if I have to pay a grand to watch the Bucs lose as something other than as pewter blobs in a green sea, I'll do it!

This is a configuration that's strictly for a Vista system to be purchased in Q2 07. So even mobos that aren't out yet but are likely to be on the market by then should be considered. Thanks.

You're absolutely right that the killer vid is a waste for Pshop, but as I mentioned it's not for that app. It's to squeeze every possible pixel of clarity out of a really marginal Slingbox. I agree with you that NewEgg is great and in the times I've been in the USA, I usually stock up with them!

That Intel BOXD975XBXLKR looks sweet! 8GB RAM and 3 PCI Express x16s! Yum! Given the hope that 2GB RAM sticks will have had some bugs ironed out by Q2 07, any thoughts on this mobo? Note, I have never and never will OC so that is irrelevant to the use of the mobo.

OK, firstly, there's no such thing as a PCI-x video card. It's PCIe, or PCI-express. You'll confuse people by calling it PCI-x!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCIe

Secondly, what on earth do you need a killer video subsystem for for a Slingbox? They have nothing at all to do with 3d graphics! The image quality is going to be totally unrelated to the graphics card - your 6600AGP will be doing things fine!

Might not be a bad idea to have an online user's manual for the mentally challenged... like me!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo... not reg ECC RAM! AAAAAAARRGGHHH!!!!

I just love it how going to microsoft.com you get all this amazing hype about Vista accessing more RAM than Lt. Cmdr. Data's positronic matrix, but then the hardware isn't there to handle it. Sheesh!

I really wanna avoid going to Xeon. I've got my heart set on Kentsfield. Looks like I might have to wait until Q2 07 and see if anything interesting has come out on the mobo front! :?

@ mkaibear and mpilchfamily:

I was under the (apparently mistaken) assumption that going with a massive graphics card would improve my Sling viewing. I take it that is not the case, huh?

DAMN!

Looks like I'm just gonna have to go blind squinting!!!

Any suggestions whatsoever on improving the Sling image quality that does not include getting a bigger internet pipe (which is emphatically not currently available at either end of my Slinging setup)?

>any suggestions

well....

>that doesn't include getting a bigger internet pipe

damn. Sorry.

I think you're a bit OOL with regards to that... The speeds you were quoting are in no way fast enough for decent video

Actually, that's a 64-bit, 66MHz PCI card, not a PCI-X card (which runs at 133MHz). It's fully compatible with PCI-X, but isn't a PCI-X card.

The Sling end is about 50 miles away from the nearest fastest Net Pipe. I guess I just have to wait until the ISP brings that neighborhood into the modern day.

The ISP on this receiving end keeps telling me that they're gonna turn the 4MB/256MB ADSL into 12MB/1MB but no sign of it yet. But according to what you guys are telling me, it's not my end that's gonna make the diff.

Once again...

DAMN!!!!

That Matrox card is a PCI card. It claims it's a PCI card in the link you posted;

>64-bit, 66 MHz PCI card compatible with all PCI and PCI-X slots

It doesn't say it's a PCI-X card, it says it's a PCI card.

The PCI standard deprecated 5 volt in version 2.3, and it was completely removed in version 3.0 - both of these standards are capable of 64-bit, 66MHz operation, running on 3.3V.

PCI-X *does* run at 133MHz, it wasn't till the introduction of the PCI-X 2.0 specification that they introduced 266MHz and 533MHz variants.

This card is a PCI card. It claims to be a PCI card, it meets the specifications of a PCI card. Why would it claim to be a PCI card rather than a PCI-X card, if it were a PCI-X card?

>Nowhere does it state it's a PCI card nor a PCI-X card

Uh.

64-bit, 66MHz PCI card compatible with all PCI and PCI-X

It does not state it's a PCI-X card. It states it's a PCI card. It does it specifically and unequivocally.

If it's a PCI-X card, compatible with all PCI and PCI-X, why on earth wouldn't the description say "64-bit, 66MHz PCI-X card compatible with all PCI and PCI-X"

You are getting PCI-X native and PCI-X compatible confused.