Motherboard suggestions

[Mystic2]

I am in the process of pricing out parts for a new build, and wanted to get some advice or suggestions on a good Motherboard and processor.  I want to spend around 300 or maybe a little more. 

[BaldEagl]

I want to spend around 300 or maybe a little more. 

Is that for just the mobo and CPU?  If so get an Intel E8400 or E8500.  There's a nice Gigabyte mobo that would work with either of those for under $100 do the total would be under $300.

[Mystic2]

thanks 

[Masherbrum]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.197511

That isn't bad either. 

[TilDeath]

The PSU is the backbone and mail component of any system, do not skimp on a PSU.  For the 300.00 range the E8400 and the Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3P using DDR3 memory or the GA-EP45-UD3P uses DDR2.  Either board offers you a stable and upgradeable MB.

With the prices of DDR3 being semi reasonable now I prefer the GA-EP45T-UD3P.  It offers you 3 PCI-Express slots ( 1 PCI Express x16 at x16, 1 PCI Express x16 at x8 and 1 PCI Express x1) 8 SATA 3GBs, 8GB total memory (64bit OS) 1600 FSB/1333MHZ, 8 plus 2 USB 2.0

This board will also allow you some monster overclocks.  Pollock1 got this system from me and we were able to OC it to 4.25 GHZ stable, it did run a little warm but yet was still stable.  The E8400 on this board is an easy 24/7 3.6GHz with a FSB of 1800 to 1940 (depending on memory used)

TD

[ebfd11]

here is what i had just installed in my computer because my board took a dump on me...
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=P45D3_Platinum&class=mb

[lazydog]

til death i have the gigabyte GA-EP43-UD3L MB just wondering would it be safe to OC it and would it help?the processor is a intel core 2 duo 2.8

[smokey23]

I agree with TilDeath on the GA-EP45-UD3P and the E8400 together thay make for a great base for youre system.

[TilDeath]

til death i have the gigabyte GA-EP43-UD3L MB just wondering would it be safe to OC it and would it help?the processor is a intel core 2 duo 2.8

The problem you run into with OC a system is HEAT.  I can not say what your system will do without actually having one in my hands.  You will want to find out what the TJMax is for your processor then run a stress test and see what your temps and voltages are under load.  I my experience to just OC the processor is simply not worth the gains.  You should OC the Processor, Mem and the FSB to really get a performance increase that is noticeable.

[BaldEagl]

The problem you run into with OC a system is HEAT.  I can not say what your system will do without actually having one in my hands.  You will want to find out what the TJMax is for your processor then run a stress test and see what your temps and voltages are under load.  I my experience to just OC the processor is simply not worth the gains.  You should OC the Processor, Mem and the FSB to really get a performance increase that is noticeable.

Agreed with everything but those last two sentances.  If you raise the FSB you have essentially OC'd the CPU so those go hand in hand and are inseperable unless you are able to raise the CPU multiplyer independently which he will not be able to do with the CPU he has.  He could lower the multi but there's no point in doing so.

There is often no reason to OC the RAM either.  In a typical system running a Core2Duo CPU at a 1333 FSB with DDR2 800 RAM the CPU is already lagging the RAM speed by 67 clock cycles.  On such a system there would be no need to OC the RAM until he exceeds 1600 FSB at which point his CPU would already be running at about 3.4 Ghz which would be a noticable performance improvement.

[EDIT]  After further reflection I also have to disagree with "watching voltages under stress" as these are most likley to have been set manually to a set point to retain stability.  You do need to be careful not to set the voltages too high as this is what produces the heat, but once set they are set and don't change.  What you are watching for under a stress test is heat and stability.  Within reason as long as the system is stable and the heat is under control it doesn't really matter what the voltages are set to.

[TilDeath]

Agreed with everything but those last two sentances.  If you raise the FSB you have essentially OC'd the CPU so those go hand in hand and are inseperable unless you are able to raise the CPU multiplyer independently which he will not be able to do with the CPU he has.  He could lower the multi but there's no point in doing so.

There is often no reason to OC the RAM either.  In a typical system running a Core2Duo CPU at a 1333 FSB with DDR2 800 RAM the CPU is already lagging the RAM speed by 67 clock cycles.  On such a system there would be no need to OC the RAM until he exceeds 1600 FSB at which point his CPU would already be running at about 3.4 Ghz which would be a noticable performance improvement.

[EDIT]  After further reflection I also have to disagree with "watching voltages under stress" as these are most likley to have been set manually to a set point to retain stability.  You do need to be careful not to set the voltages too high as this is what produces the heat, but once set they are set and don't change.  What you are watching for under a stress test is heat and stability.  Within reason as long as the system is stable and the heat is under control it doesn't really matter what the voltages are set to.

You can OC a processor and not change the FSB or memory.  You can not change the FSB and not affect the processor.  Watching the voltages if the person has them set to AUTO hence Watch Voltages and Temps.  OCing a processor alone will not show a noticeable difference in performance, reason being is a bottleneck will be created at the FSB level.

TD

[Fulmar]

Yeah, the auto feature on motherboard overclocks will work okay if you're doing a mild over clock, say 10-15% IMO (though I recommend manual all the way).  My current rig is set ~50% OC (2.13 to 3.2ghz), I run a VCORE on my E6400 of 1.4V IIRC.  If I were to use the Auto setting on the VCORE, the bios would send over 1.6V which is quite a bit over Intel's max for the CPU.  It'd also probably cook my CPU.