Thanks all for this info guys.

So out of this 4 MOBO"S what would u say is the best one? Money not a problem.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813136046
DFI LP LT X48-T2R LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 2bP35-T2RS
DFI LANPARTY DK P35-T2RS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] DS3R%2bLGA
GIGABYTE GA-EP35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX (This one has support for DDR2 & DDR3. Memory Standard DDR3 1333 / DDR2 1066"

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128086
GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R LGA 775 (this one has DDR2 support Only)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813127030
ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775

For some reason I thought that the X48's will @ better....All this boards look good, its hard to make a decision...plz help

Anyone???

Not familiar with DFI although I remember them having a good rep in years past. I've used Gigabyte Intel boards, and Abit AMD boards. If it were me, I would probably choose the GA-EP35-DSR3 (in fact I may get to soon).

I get diff feedback from diff people, some say "Any of the Gigabyte boards that start with E would be great" and other say that ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 is the board for me... I dont know what board to choose..

The question is what are you looking to do - overclock, Raid, crossfire, PCIe 2.0 etc.

For ultimate tweak-ability and the options required to squeeze the last couple of Mhz out of your system, you can't beat a DFI board. That being said they can be finicky, much like an old sportscar.

Gigabyte boards are normally a solid choice just pick the right board based on the features you want (Raid, PCIe, firewire, etc.)

Most would rate Abit below DFI and Gigabyte, they've made some good boards in the past, and some crap ones as well.

It will be a gaming overclocked computer. Top of the Line! I don’t need CF/SLI. Preferably I would like 2.0 but its not a big deal. I will most likely have raid 0 on my HDD so yes, raid I need. And like I sad b4 the MOBO must have 3 PCI slots. I 'm really getting mixed information here, and at this point so tired already...I spent 1 week on the forums talking just about the MOBO’s, and still cant make up my mind.. I’m tiered...

First of all, you listed 5 mobos, not 4

I would rule out X48 because it's overkill. Why pay almost $300 if half of that does the job. Especially if you don't care about Crossfire.

DFI makes good motherboards AFAIK but TBH I don't know that much about them.

Between the GA-P35C-DS3R (which I happen to own) and the GA-P35-DS3R: the P35C has eSATA which may be useful, and DDR3 support which is useless. The GA-P35-DS3R overclocks better and is cheaper. I'd pick the GA-P35-DS3R today between these two, unless eSATA was essential for some external hard drive or something.

All things considered, of all those 5, I'd get the aBit IP35Pro. It has a second video card slot, which opens the possibility of using 3 monitors. That's a big plus for me and I wish I'd thought of it when I got the P35C. It's also one of the best P35 motherboards out there. You also get FireWire support with it.

Thank you for ur help aevm, Im finally moving somewhere

So in my eyes I think we are now down to 3 boards. I noticed u didn’t say anything about the DFI board…

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 2bP35-T2RS
DFI LANPARTY DK P35-T2RS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128086
GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R LGA 775

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813127030
ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775

If possible I would like to hear from people what they have to say about this 3 choice. I’m trying to narrow it down as much as possible.

Thanks

Yeah, I don't know that DFI board. I was just looking at the newegg reviews and I like them.

My feeling is that all 3 of those would be just fine. They are all reliable and overclock very well.

Look at features now.

1. FireWire: if you need Firewire (for a camcorder, for example) and can't occupy a PCI slot with a FireWire card then the IP35Pro is the only good choice of all 3.

2. eSATA: if you have or will have an external hard disk that supports eSATA (WD MyBook, Seagate FreeAgent Pro, etc.) then again the DS3R will not be the right choice because you'll have to use the (much slower) USB connection for that disk. Same thing, the aBit is good and the other two aren't.

3. multiple monitors: most video cards these days have two DVI outputs. If you want a third monitor, you need to change mobos or to buy a PCI video card like GeForce 6200. You need all PCI slots anyway, so the GeForce 6200 is not an option for you. Think carefully about this one. Last year I never expected to want two monitors, and now I already want three and can't... LCD prices have dropped a lot, and if you do any sort of work on the PC the second monitor helps a lot. Anyway, the aBit wins again because the other two have a single PCI-E x16 slot.

4. lots of hard drives and opticals. The DFI has only 6 SATA ports. I'm currently using 7, but I guess 6 is plenty for most people. If you prefer 8 get the DS3R or the aBit.

5. cables. Same as above - the DFI comes with only 2 cables and loses because the others come with 4 cables.

I think I'd rule out the DFI now because the DS3R is better at the same price.

Between the DS3R and the aBit, it really depends. If you're absolutely sure you will never need FireWire, eSATA or a 3rd monitor then save the $37 difference and get the DS3R.



By the way, why do you absolutely need 3 PCI slots? Maybe you could use some USB device instead of an equivalent PCI card, and then mobos with 2 PCI slots (say, GA-P35-DS4) will be an option too.

aevm u are a GOD! I spent 1 week on forums trying to get this kind of info, and u are the only one who managed it. Thank you

Well some people might find it stupid, but I use X-fi Elite Pro Sound card for Movies/Music & I use Razer sound card for gaming. I play CS 1.6 and slightest ping spike/lag makes a diff to me, that’s why I want to give that Bigfoot NIC Network card a try. If u honestly think that I will benefit that much more if I go for some 2 PCI slot MOBO plz let me know I will then reconsider having 2 PCI sound cards, but I would rather have both of them.

I also just found this "DFI LANPARTY DK X38-T2R LGA" MOBO, dont know if its any good or not. What do u think aevm? From what u have told me so far I think aBit is the winner, but take a look at this DFI one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813136045

Thanks you

LOL, thanks!

I'll tell you what I think about the DFI LANPARTY DK X38-T2R, but keep in mind I never heard about it until today so my opinion is completely pointless.

Compared with the IP35 Pro:

Good:
The DFI is better for Crossfire. That is, if you intend to buy two ATI cards, this is better. The X38 chipset runs both cards at their best (x16), while the P35 does x8+x8 or even worse x16+x4.
I couldn't find any other x38 with 3 PCI slots, btw.

Bad:
The DFI costs more, has 2 fewer cables, 2 fewer SATA ports, no Firewire, no eSATA.

In conclusion, I'd stick with the aBit IP35 Pro, unless you want a Crossfire setup.


Look, if you already have the PCI cards, then by all means use them. Getting USB alternatives doesn't make sense if it means spending hundreds of bucks again. That was just in case you didn't have any of the PCI cards yet, I should have said so.

I didn't even know you could have two sound cards at the same time. I thought the drivers would conflict or something. How does it work, speakers on the X-Fi and headphones on the Razer, and both cards send the same sounds to their outputs at the same time? Or do you switch the speaker cables from card to card depending on whether you want to watch movies or play games?

What does the Razer have that makes it better for gaming than Creative's most expensive card?

aevm THANK U !!!

I guess IP35 Pro is the MOBO for me. I really don’t want to go wrong with this build, coz il be spending lots of money on it

I already have the X-Fi Elite Pro as well as the Razer Barracuda card + Razer Headphones (Great for Gaming) The Headphones and the card makes one great combination, and both of them were specifically made for gaming, lots of cool features. X-Fi I had it for a long time and I love the console that comes with it, and in my opinion its better for movies. I currently use both cards and no conflicts I have ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe MOBO. Sometimes I use one card for vent communication using headphones and the other at the same time for games via speakers, so I guess u can use both at the same time

One more question for u, If I would of decided to go for the DDR3 MOBO would I benefit from any anything else aside from ddr3 ram, like maybe there are mobos out there that have better @ capabilities or what ever...


Thanks

I say P35-DS3R:

1. Its one of the best OCing boards
2. Supports RAID , enough SATA ports
3. Cheap for the awesome OCing board
4. Supports 1600 FSB with BIOS update/OCing (ie. QX9770)

Dont go for DDR3 now. esp. since you will have to upgrade Motherboard, CPU to if you upgrade to Nehalm. And when Nehalm becomes high-mainstream/high end DDR3 prices will come down.

What do u think abouit the "aBit IP35 Pro" Does it @ good? It aslo supports RAID & have SATA ports. I dont know anything about @ What do u need 1600 FSB 4? I know that Q9450 requires 1333FSB. Can u get 1600FSB from "aBit IP35 Pro?" maybe if u @? Now u also sad "P35-DS3R" u mean EP35-DS3R?

Or are u talking about this MOBO? I really dont see any diff..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] k=P35-DS3R

I really wouldn't bother with DDR3. It's not improving speed that much, compared to DDR2, and the prices are still high. Let's see, I went to newegg, searched for DDR3 4GB, picked the first thing I found, it's $350. You can get 4GB of DDR2-800 for $80 or $100 easily. With the $250 difference you can get 1 TB more disk space, or a faster CPU, or a second video card, or a better video card, or another 4 GB of DDR2, and it's a smarter investment.

he may be green but his logic is undeniable

Hey Zerocool, you mentioned you were thinking of getting a Bigfoot NIC card. If you play WoW I hear great things about it. I bought the Killer NIc and was severely dissapointed in the performance. I play fps's like COD2 and COD4 and the performance actually got worse. I wish I would have known that before I spent $180.