Motherboard help...

[Sacman]

Alright, I'm currently running a Gigabyte ga ep45-ud3p with an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400, which runs at 2.66 Ghz and 8 Gigs of DDR2 RAM, at 800mhz...

Now I recently came into contact with 16 Gigs of Kingston Hyper X DDR3 ram, at 1600mhz and an AMD Phenom II X4 965, at 3.4Ghz... and I'm wondering what Motherboard I should acquire to run these products... I mean I don't wanna get a crap motherboard but everything with in my range seems to be inferior to my current motherboard... save the inclusion of USB 3.0 and occasionally a streamlined overclocking process...

I was looking at the ASUS M5A97... but from what I hear my current one has better cooling and handles overclocking much better... However it actually supports the processor and RAM...

so anyone have any motherboard suggestions in the $100-$120 range that is superior to my Gigabyte ga ep45-ud3p but supports the Kingston Hyper X DDR3 RAM, AMD Phenom II X4 processor, and Crossfire, since I'm running two ATI Radeon HD 6870s?

EDIT: oh yes the socket that would support the AMD Phenom CPUs would be the AM3 and AM3+ sockets... just for reference sake...<.<

 

[Sacman]

This is a really handy guide for assembling any variety of PCs:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/The_FalconO6/CurrentLogicalPCBuyingGuide/Guide.png

I must say though, the more pressing question here is why on earth are you running 16 gigs of RAM? Currently even 8 gigs is overkill in all but the most demanding software such as video editing and such.

Because I like a powerful machine goddamnit...<.<

besides... well actually that's the only excuse I can think of... but it's true!

also thanks... it'll be helpful...

 

[Sacman]

I personally use the GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3, pretty sweet motherboard, hasn't given me any issues yet.

Yes... I was looking at that one... but I was unsure... especially since it's a budget motherboard... but I can't exactly be picky with my boards RAM and socket limitations...

 

[RicoADF]

I personally use the GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3, pretty sweet motherboard, hasn't given me any issues yet.

Yes... I was looking at that one... but I was unsure... especially since it's a budget motherboard... but I can't exactly be picky with my boards RAM and socket limitations...

With motherboards the differences are only the brands really, get a quality brand like Gigabyte and the price mearly dictactes how many ports (USB/Sata etc) it has and weather it has crossfire/SLI support.

 

[shado_temple]

A bit too worn out at the moment to look up some mobos, but I'm making this post so I'll remember to come back and come up with one.

In the meantime, if you want some decent help, I always use this little forum [http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=35&sid=79ea786a5a0d141e985fd49612361169] when it comes to purchasing hardware; they're always glad to help, and probably where I would've gotten the info from anyway.

Oh, and what did you mean by your motherboard having better cooling? The stock fans, or what?

 

[Sacman]

I personally use the GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3, pretty sweet motherboard, hasn't given me any issues yet.

Yes... I was looking at that one... but I was unsure... especially since it's a budget motherboard... but I can't exactly be picky with my boards RAM and socket limitations...

With motherboards the differences are only the brands really, get a quality brand like Gigabyte and the price mearly dictactes how many ports (USB/Sata etc) it has and weather it has crossfire/SLI support.

True... though cooling is something I really need to take into consideration... given my cases crappy air flow... and the fact that it's in need of good fans...

 

[Elsarild]

MSI's new Z68A series.

They are the first to run a PCI 3.0, it can boost a video card with upwards of 13%.

I'm running the MSI Z68A-GD65 Mother Board with an I7 2600 K 3.4 GHz and 16 gb of coirsair vengence RAM with the 580 Nvidia Graphics card.

I believe that's pretty good.

 

[Sacman]

A bit too worn out at the moment to look up some mobos, but I'm making this post so I'll remember to come back and come up with one.

In the meantime, if you want some decent help, I always use this little forum [http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=35&sid=79ea786a5a0d141e985fd49612361169] when it comes to purchasing hardware; they're always glad to help, and probably where I would've gotten the info from anyway.

Oh, and what did you mean by better cooling on your motherboard? The stock fans, or what?

Yeah like the current motherboard likes to boast it's... "extra ounce of copper to the layers in the motherboard" which helps with dissipating heat and making the board itself durable...

 

[Sacman]

MSI's new Z68A series.

They are the first to run a PCI 3.0, it can boost a video card with upwards of 13%.

I'm running the MSI Z68A-GD65 Mother Board with an I7 2600 K 3.4 GHz and 16 gb of coirsair vengence RAM with the 580 Nvidia Graphics card.

I believe that's pretty good.

It'd be good but it wouldn't support my processor... well the ones in my price range anyway...

 

[MercurySteam]

I was looking at the ASUS M5A97... but from what I hear my current one has better cooling and handles overclocking much better... However it actually supports the processor and RAM...

That mobo you pointed out is an AMD mobo for socket AM3+ which is totally out of the question. You'll need a LGA755 mobo that supports DDR3. The only one I can find is the Gigabyte GA-EP41T-USB3 Motherboard [http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_711_776&products_id=17294], though if you live in the US/Canada, you'll be able to look on Newegg.

EDIT: Whoops. Didn't read the part about your new processor.

 

[Elsarild]

Edit: I'm too tired for this, can't focus, please disregard.

 

[Sacman]

I was looking at the ASUS M5A97... but from what I hear my current one has better cooling and handles overclocking much better... However it actually supports the processor and RAM...

That mobo you pointed out is an AMD mobo for socket AM3+ which is totally out of the question. You'll need a LGA755 mobo that supports DDR3. The only one I can find is the Gigabyte GA-EP41T-USB3 Motherboard [http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_711_776&products_id=17294], though if you live in the US/Canada, you'll be able to look on Newegg.

Yeah I'm looking for one that supports an AMD Phenom II X4 965... my current one is an Intel 2 Core Duo Q9400... but I'm moving on to the AMD product...

 

[shado_temple]

A bit too worn out at the moment to look up some mobos, but I'm making this post so I'll remember to come back and come up with one.

In the meantime, if you want some decent help, I always use this little forum [http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=35&sid=79ea786a5a0d141e985fd49612361169] when it comes to purchasing hardware; they're always glad to help, and probably where I would've gotten the info from anyway.

Oh, and what did you mean by better cooling on your motherboard? The stock fans, or what?

Yeah like the current motherboard likes to boast it's... "extra ounce of copper to the layers in the motherboard" which helps with dissipating heat and making the board itself durable...

I did a bit of background checking on your current motherboard, and yeah, it was the best budget board of its time, from what I heard. Yeah, you may not find one of this quality for cheap in the new board configurations, but for cooling, you could always go aftermarket air coolers for nothing considerably extra (The Cooler Master Hyoer 212 plus [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065], for example, has an incredible amount of bang for your buck).

 

[Sacman]

MSI's new Z68A series.

They are the first to run a PCI 3.0, it can boost a video card with upwards of 13%.

I'm running the MSI Z68A-GD65 Mother Board with an I7 2600 K 3.4 GHz and 16 gb of coirsair vengence RAM with the 580 Nvidia Graphics card.

I believe that's pretty good.

It'd be good but it wouldn't support my processor... well the ones in my price range anyway...

Right, sorry, I just kind of rolled out of bed, not really up to speed yet.

but with that setup which is almost the same asmy old one, I'd recommend the Asus P5QL Pro, should be fairly cheap by new, and I ran it for almost 2 years and I never had a motherboard related problem.

Yes... I actually ran that board... before this one... with a Pentium CPU of some sort... was never sure with that computer... but too bad I sold it...

 

[Sacman]

A bit too worn out at the moment to look up some mobos, but I'm making this post so I'll remember to come back and come up with one.

In the meantime, if you want some decent help, I always use this little forum [http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=35&sid=79ea786a5a0d141e985fd49612361169] when it comes to purchasing hardware; they're always glad to help, and probably where I would've gotten the info from anyway.

Oh, and what did you mean by better cooling on your motherboard? The stock fans, or what?

Yeah like the current motherboard likes to boast it's... "extra ounce of copper to the layers in the motherboard" which helps with dissipating heat and making the board itself durable...

I did a bit of background checking on your current motherboard, and yeah, it was the best budget board of its time, from what I heard. Yeah, you may not find one of this quality for cheap in the new board configurations, but for cooling, you could always go aftermarket air coolers for nothing considerably extra (The Cooler Master Hyoer 212 plus [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065], for example, has an incredible amount of bang for your buck).

Thanks... I really need to look into better cooling... my pc is sort of sorry in that respect... it always feels like it's on the verge of exploding...<.<

 

[MercurySteam]

I was looking at the ASUS M5A97... but from what I hear my current one has better cooling and handles overclocking much better... However it actually supports the processor and RAM...

That mobo you pointed out is an AMD mobo for socket AM3+ which is totally out of the question. You'll need a LGA755 mobo that supports DDR3. The only one I can find is the Gigabyte GA-EP41T-USB3 Motherboard [http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_711_776&products_id=17294], though if you live in the US/Canada, you'll be able to look on Newegg.

Yeah I'm looking for one that supports an AMD Phenom II X4 965... my current one is an Intel 2 Core Duo Q9400... but I'm moving on to the AMD product...

I should've read more closely... whoops.

I myself have an ASUS board and they are really well made, and run an amazingly noob friendly BIOS made by American Megatrends. The ASUS M5A97 is indeed a good choice, and doesn't have any fancy extras if you don't need them. While you won't get much use out of it if you want to go Crossfire or upgrade your processor, it will serve you well for a good price until you try to upgrade, of course.

 

[Sacman]

I was looking at the ASUS M5A97... but from what I hear my current one has better cooling and handles overclocking much better... However it actually supports the processor and RAM...

That mobo you pointed out is an AMD mobo for socket AM3+ which is totally out of the question. You'll need a LGA755 mobo that supports DDR3. The only one I can find is the Gigabyte GA-EP41T-USB3 Motherboard [http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_711_776&products_id=17294], though if you live in the US/Canada, you'll be able to look on Newegg.

Yeah I'm looking for one that supports an AMD Phenom II X4 965... my current one is an Intel 2 Core Duo Q9400... but I'm moving on to the AMD product...

I should've read more closely... whoops.

I myself have an ASUS board and they are really well made, and run an amazingly noob friendly BIOS made by American Megatrends. The ASUS M5A97 is indeed a good choice, and doesn't have any fancy extras if you don't need them. While you won't get much use out of it if you want to go Crossfire or upgrade your processor, it will serve you well for a good price until you try to upgrade, of course.

yes that's what I was thinking... get this board for now... than use my current one with some pare parts to forge a system that I'll sell for around $400 or $500 and get an even better board... plus have some change in my pocket... unless I feel like getting a bigger power supply and more powerful fans... which I totally do...<.<

 

[MercurySteam]

yes that's what I was thinking... get this board for now... than use my current one with some pare parts to forge a system that I'll sell for around $400 or $500 and get an even better board... plus have some change in my pocket... unless I feel like getting a bigger power supply and more powerful fans... which I totally do...<.<

The issue there is that 775 systems are mostly only good for spare parts. Kudos if you can find someone who wants to buy it but $400 may be a bit of a stretch, depending on the rest of the system.

 

[MercurySteam]

I did a bit of background checking on your current motherboard, and yeah, it was the best budget board of its time, from what I heard. Yeah, you may not find one of this quality for cheap in the new board configurations, but for cooling, you could always go aftermarket air coolers for nothing considerably extra (The Cooler Master Hyoer 212 plus [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065], for example, has an incredible amount of bang for your buck).

Yeah, but the extra heat dissipation features on his mobo are for things like the Northbridge, Southbridge and FSB. Most of these 'run cooler and longer' schemes are marketing ploys, when every manufacturer uses something similar (except those boards you'd find in Dell or HP sytems). My mobo has heatsinks for the CPU phases (God knows why) and an aftermarket CPU cooler is just about unnecessary if you don't plan on overclocking. Stock coolers aren't great, but are fine if you don't need anything fancy. So extra copper on the PCB may sound awesome, but I doubt that the ASUS M5A97 would do any worse.