AMD->Intel at last

hterag

hterag

hterag

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Joined
7 Nov 2007
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82
Location
Wales
Hi all,

It appears I've recently destroyed my three month old Crosshair motherboard (don't ask...), I now have a choice of rebuying it for convenience (and because <etailer> won't replace it :mad: ) or buy an Intel board and chip. Originally I only got the Crosshair because I believed all the Phenom hype and decided to give AMD a chance.

Old spec:

Crosshair (causing lock-ups)
Athlon 64 X2 6400+
2x1GB OCZ SLi Ready PC6400
XFX 8800 ultra 650M
X-fi sound card
1x SATA DVDRW
3x SATA hard drives (2 raptors in RAID 0 + system drive)

All other hardware is fine. I'm not too familiar with Intel related... Stuff, so am asking for help. Ideally I'd like to keep the RAM, I'll probably ebay the chip while it still has some worth and I definately want to keep the sound card and other hardware. I'd also really like SLi support, just incase. I've had good experiences with Asus in the past and know my way around Asus boards so would like an Asus board ideally but am open to suggestion on that one as I've heard a few bad reports from other people.

So I'm looking for a DDR2 Intel board, nforce chipset, plenty of SATA ports and I'd also like an Intel chip obviously, I'm currently set on an OEM Q6600, would I be able to use my Zalman CNPS9700 NT cooler with this?

The boards I've narrowed it down to are:

Asus Striker
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-208-AS

Asus P5N32-E
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-209-AS

But I've also seen this:

Asus Striker II
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-260-AS

Is it just over priced to have it early? I don't think I'm planning on getting the Striker II, seems a bit rediculously expensive, but I am an eager overclocker (yeah, it was a bit silly getting the 6400+ in that regard...).

Thanks in advance.
 
I would hang on for cheaper 780i mobo (no point in getting a 680i now) and get a Q6600 or wait until March for quad core penryn.
 
Why only nvidia chipset? Unless you are planning on SLI then you will be much better off going with a p35 based chipset which is a known good platform for overclocking intel quad cores. If you want crossfire then x38 is the way to go.

Of course you can also play the waiting game and wait for p45,x48 and penryn but by then news of intels new socket will be bandied about and you will want to wait again. Buy now but buy wisely imo.
 
easyrider said:
I would hang on for cheaper 780i mobo (no point in getting a 680i now) and get a Q6600 or wait until March for quad core penryn.
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The trouble is, I absolutely MUST have a working pc NOW. I'm at university with a silly amount of assignments due over the next three weeks, I can't afford any downtime. I'm just looking for equal->better performance since I have to buy something either way and if it can be an upgrade at the same time, great.

What is actually so good about "Penryn" though? I've heard how it'll be the end of AMD etc. but haven't really looked into it.

EDIT: @ w3bbo, that's exactly what I'm planning at some point, I want an SLi system or at least the opportunity. Eventually I'll pick up a second Ultra or maybe two 9800GTs (assuming that's what they call them).
 
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w3bbo said:
Why only nvidia chipset? Unless you are planning on SLI then you will be much better off going with a p35 based chipset which is a known good platform for overclocking intel quad cores. If you want crossfire then x38 is the way to go.

Of course you can also play the waiting game and wait for p45,x48 and penryn but by then news of intels new socket will be bandied about and you will want to wait again. Buy now but buy wisely imo.
Click to expand...

hterag said:
I'd also really like SLi support, just incase..
Click to expand...
 
I think I'm settled on the Striker now, unless anyone wants to suggest an alternative? Point out the error in my ways and set me back on the right road towards gaming/overclocking bliss?

Striker and a Q6600, should be able to hit 3.2GHz, shouldn't it? I'd settle for 3.0GHz, either way it'd be better than what I had before.
 
hterag said:
I think I'm settled on the Striker now, unless anyone wants to suggest an alternative? Point out the error in my ways and set me back on the right road towards gaming/overclocking bliss?

Striker and a Q6600, should be able to hit 3.2GHz, shouldn't it? I'd settle for 3.0GHz, either way it'd be better than what I had before.
Click to expand...

Why the hell would you want to rely on a famously unreliable board to get your crucial university assignments done with? Screw SLi, I'd hardly think that would be important to your current situation.

Just buy an £80 P35 Asus P5K board now (or even a £50 P31 Gigabyte) and wait for the 780i's to come out.
 
Good advice from Chimerical I'd say.

Just get a decent stable board for now, and get your work done.

SLI will still be a cherry to pop somewhere down the line.
 
I really would advise against a striker, housemate had one and is in the process of RMA'ing it, apparently they are really unreliable. I would say go with a P35 mobo atm, they are reliable and not too expensive either.
 
If you can't wait... get a P35 board... otherwise hang on for the 780i

I've had hideous instability problems with both the P5N32-E SLI and the striker and killed the Northbridge on 2 out of the 3 asus 680i based boards I've had... essentially getting the NB stable is a nasty balancing act of getting the voltage and temperatures just right... to little voltage and its unstable, enough voltage to be stable and it gets too hot and becomes unstable again... I ended up with a 60mm delta fan (not quiet) on the NB just to get it stable with the voltage required and keep temperatures in check and I think the voltage eventually killed it anyhow.
 
I think there's been a bit of misunderstanding here, I don't want to have to upgrade twice, all I really want *right now* is a working pc. The motherboard is the one thing that I avoid upgrading/changing whenever possible, I'm not looking for a stop-gap motherboard, just something that's good for a while.

I'm not planning on SLi'ing right now either, or overclocking it for that matter, but whichever I buy I won't be getting another board for a good while.

That said, do you really think the Striker is that bad a choice? The reviews I've read have been pretty positive, the main complaint being the price but it has come down a bit since those were posted. I've had no issues with the Crosshair, until now, but that's probably more my fault than anything... I'm looking at a budget of around £150 for the motherboard though.

Finally, no way am I touching Asrock, I watched my housemate go through two asrock boards and my friend has been through about 3 of them too, terrible things, from what I hear.
 
Get an Asus P5K. SLi is pointless unless you upgrade regularly. A newer better card will always be on the way. You'd be better off buying a 9-series rather than a second Ultra.
 
Seriously... I might have just got unlucky :rolleyes: but I've killed 1 striker and 1 P5N32-E SLI and got another P5N32-E SLI thats on its last legs... admittedly I was overclocking them (or trying to) but even at stock I was getting 2-3 reboots or BSOD with STOP errors every day.
 
Ok, I've taken the advice offered here, sort of, I'm now favouring the EVGA 680i board: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-000-EA

I don't need the potential hassle the Striker could bring with it, the EVGA one has a lot of really good reviews, even stating how much better it is than the Striker, it's also cheaper, so that's cool too. I do like the Striker's aesthetics though, the EVGA one looks a bit bland and boring, but looks are certainly not everything. :P

Is there anything else I need to be aware of? Is there a good upgrade path ahead with that board? I can see it being better than the Crosshair's, which has what, the Phenoms? Bah...
 
680i does not support 45nm Cpu's that are coming from intel.

So to answer your question...

There is no upgrade path with a 680i platform.
 
easyrider said:
680i does not support 45nm Cpu's that are coming from intel.

So to answer your question...

There is no upgrade path with a 680i platform.
Click to expand...

That's a shame, so would you recommend a 780i? Which has the most longevity? A P35 or 780i? I may not even stay with Intel come the next generation, unless AMD go under. *sigh* I thought one of the arguments for using an Intel setup was you don't have to upgrade your motherboard every time you upgrade your CPU?

Also, sorry for the bump, thanks for any help in advance.
 
if not using SLI just get a p35 or x38 + q6600 OEM (that cooler does fit 775 I *think*)

p35/x38 will last until nehalem comes out, which will be quite a long time.
 
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