What motherboard to buy?

Rendier

Rendier

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Hi there.

I haven't been in the PC race as of late so need some input from you guys.

Im buying the following:

- Intel Core 2 Quad 2.33GHZ processor
- 4GB Ram DDR 2 800
- Sparkle 9600GT 512MB

So what I would like to know is what motherboard will work great with this set up. Im looking for value for money... not the most expensive boards.

Willing to spend between R800 to R1400.

Thanks for all the help!
 
A Gigabyte MB with G31 chipset will be fine.

My specs are almost identical to yours.
 
What is the difference between the G, Q and P infront of the mobo... aswell as the numbers?

Thanks for the help.
 
Thanks for the answer again ponder :-)

I do however know what it means... just wondering if there is a big difference with regards to performance from say the G31 to the P35.

Thanks again
 
Rendier said:
Thanks for the answer again ponder :-)

I do however know what it means... just wondering if there is a big difference with regards to performance from say the G31 to the P35.

Thanks again
Click to expand...

:o Sorry, did not mean to sound like you are an idiot.

That is something you will have to look up as there are just to many variables. Maybe someone has a condensed list somewhere. G31 to P35 will mean faster DDR ram support, higher memeory limit 4GB vs 8GB, G31 has onboard video which the P35 does not have. The FSB speed on these two board are the same though which you have to match to your cpu anyway.

If you are keen for some reading try,
http://techreport.com/articles.x/10828/1
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crossfire-pci-express,2095-2.html

I usually just look at my budget and then start looking at prices and read up on what falls within my budget. Would go of my nut if I had to compare everything.
 
Last edited:
ASUS P5KPL/1600 ; intel Quad-core / Core2 / Core2-Extreme / Celeron-L (800fsb) / p4 / Pentium D ; intel G31 + iCH7 chipset , 1600(oc)/1333/1066/800 fsb , 4 x dual channel ddr2 1066(oc) , 4 x s-ata2 , 1 x parallel ata133 , on-board VT1708B 7.1 audio + gigabit lan ; 3x pci , 2 x pci-e(16x) ( x16+x4 for crossfire ) , with com/serial + parallel port - atx - R1 042,00

or

ASUS P5QL-Pro , with EPU-4 ( Energy Processing Unit ) ; intel Quad-core / Core2 / Core2-Extreme / Celeron-L (800fsb) / p4 / Pentium D ; intel P43 + iCH10 chipset , 1600(o.c)/1333/1066/800 fsb , 4x dual channel ddr2-1066 upto 16Gb , 6 x s-ata2 , 1 x parallel ata133 , on-board ALC1200 7.1 audio with coaxial S/Pdif out + gigabit lan ; 3x pci , 2 x pci-e(1x) , 1x pci-e 2.0 (16x) - atx - R1 476,00

I'm a Gigabyte fan myself, but i find them way overpriced. :sick:
 
ponder said:
:o Sorry, did not mean to sound like you are an idiot.

That is something you will have to look up as there are just to many variables. Maybe someone has a condensed list somewhere. G31 to P35 will mean faster DDR ram support, higher memeory limit 4GB vs 8GB, G31 has onboard video which the P35 does not have. The FSB speed on these two board are the same though which you have to match to your cpu anyway.

If you are keen for some reading try,
http://techreport.com/articles.x/10828/1
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crossfire-pci-express,2095-2.html

I usually just look at my budget and then start looking at prices and read up on what falls within my budget. Would go of my nut if I had to compare everything.
Click to expand...

THANKS FOR THE INFO! :-)

K so if I can be a real pain in the ass...

Im clearly not looking for an onboard graphics card so dont want to waste money.

Am I stupid for wanting to buy an Intel board over Asus or Gigabyte?

And looking at my specs I am needing something that will fully power my cpu and gfx card...not hold it back. But then again I dont want something that will be too much (wasting money)

This is the last Q I promise lol...
 
Rendier said:
Am I stupid for wanting to buy an Intel board over Asus or Gigabyte?
Click to expand...

For me it's personal preference. I have never had a Gigabyte fail on me or any of those that I passed down. I find them very reliable. Intel I do not rate high on reliabilty for their MBs and have had many failed boards. Asus is OK though.

Call up a big online seller like Sybaritic for example and ask them which boards have the lowest return rate. Also ask about swapout/repair policy on different brands & how long it takes.
 
Not a fan of Intel boards at all.....
if it fails on you, you gonna wait foreva.....the suppliers in most cases sends it back to Intel to test and they then either repair/replace depending on the problem.....could take up to 3 months
so my advise is, stay away if you don't like waiting ;)

have only used gigabyte in my own systems (personal preference) & will most probably have one in my next system as well, although pricey.
asus have proved to be reliable as well through the years.
 
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COMPUTEK said:
Not a fan of Intel boards at all.....
if it fails on you, you gonna wait foreva.....the suppliers in most cases sends it back to Intel to test and they then either repair/replace depending on the problem.....could take up to 3 months
so my advise is, stay away if you don't like waiting ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the confirmation.
 
COMPUTEK said:
Not a fan of Intel boards at all.....
if it fails on you, you gonna wait foreva.....the suppliers in most cases sends it back to Intel to test and they then either repair/replace depending on the problem.....could take up to 3 months
so my advise is, stay away if you don't like waiting ;)

have only used gigabyte in my own systems (personal preference) & will most probably have one in my next system as well, although pricey.
asus have proved to be reliable as well through the years.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Appreciate the input :-)
 
Rendier said:
Thanks for the help bud.

So you still stick with the G31? or something else for me?
Click to expand...

The G31 is a good budget board that works. If you are not pinching pennies you can look at the hight spec chipset boards.

Btw, What CPU are you using, just wondering about FSB but it should be good?

Edit: Figured out you are using a "Yorkfield-4M" (45nm) Core 2 Quad Q8200 in wich case the G31 one is fine. I do however recommend you check the supported CPU list for your MB.

Edit 2:
To give you some idea, I'm running:
Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
XFX 9600 GT
2x 2GB DDR2 800Mhz RAM

This system is plenty powerfull for me, I even got one for friends. I can play most games on it including things like FAr Cry 2 Crysis Warhead (not on all hight though but very few systems can). I run WinXP & 64bit Linux on it, I don't think I have ever maxed out all 4 cores yet, will take a lot. The thing just hums along.

The only thing that I want on the MB but don't really need is Firewire but I could always just get a addon card.
 
Last edited:
G31 is great for the non-OCer.

Bear in mind it's limited to two RAM slots and 4 SATA ports.
 
ponder said:
The G31 is a good budget board that works. If you are not pinching pennies you can look at the hight spec chipset boards.

Btw, What CPU are you using, just wondering about FSB but it should be good?

Edit: Figured out you are using a "Yorkfield-4M" (45nm) Core 2 Quad Q8200 in wich case the G31 one is fine. I do however recommend you check the supported CPU list for your MB.
Click to expand...

Ok... the G31 board is R590 excl.

The P43 is R699 excl and the P35 is R999.

Which one would you go for seeing that you have the same set up as me.

Remember that I want the mobo to not restrict the ram or the cpu and gfx card.

Thanks again... Massive Kudos!
 
PostmanPot said:
G31 is great for the non-OCer.

Bear in mind it's limited to two RAM slots and 4 SATA ports.
Click to expand...

I have overclocked my Q6600 before to almost 3GHz but I just run it at normal clock speed as it is cooler.

Yes, two ram slots and max 4GB ram.
 
ponder said:
I have overclocked my Q6600 before to almost 3GHz but I just run it at normal clock speed as it is cooler.

Yes, two ram slots and max 4GB ram.
Click to expand...

Apparently the Gigabyte is the only G31 that will give a stable 3GHz OC.

I usually recommend the Foxconn G31 at around R200 cheaper. The thing is identical physically. ;)
 
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