New build - but which motherboard ?? Help...

Whitey193 · 22 Oct 2006 at 12:00

Hello all..... had a number of posts on here sorting out the spec for my new games machine.... I think i'm nearly there but would love some help on which motherboard to get for it. If you can, please help me out.

This is what it's down to:

The main spec i think will be ...

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
Enermax Liberty 620W ELT620AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775)
ATI Radeon X1950 XT-X ***Crossfire/Master Edition*** SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR4 (PCI-Express) - Retail
Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case - No PSU
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB ST3250620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM

Now just got a query over the mobo..... Which one is better, or better for me/this spec, bearing in mind that i want to do some overclocking?

Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard or
Asus P5B Deluxe (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Any and all comments, preferably with explanations as to why one is better than the other would be gratefully received.

Ta,

Whitey. :eek:

dark4orz · 22 Oct 2006 at 12:01

Both Asus boards are good, the P5B Deluxe has me vote ! - A slight cost saving.

Whitey193 · 22 Oct 2006 at 12:03

Cheers m8, but is it the better board... ?? Cost isn't an issue between these two........ There's hardly anything in it...

Whitey :eek:

mortals · 22 Oct 2006 at 15:02

A lot of people say the i975x is better than the i965 for Conroe's and the i965 is better than the i975 for Allendale's. :confused:

I have the P5W DH so would recomend it, altho the fsb seems to max out lower than the P5B.

But then I've seen a few people saying about the i965 mobo's messing with the bootstrap to compensate for fsb over 400 :confused:

I notice you have ordered a crossfire master card tho, and I think the i975x has 2x 16x PCIe but the i965 has 1x 16x and 1x 8x or something.

Asus P5B Deluxe said:
PCI Express Slot: 2 x PCI Express x16 (blue @ x16 mode, black @ x2 or x4 mode)

Whitey193 · 22 Oct 2006 at 15:08

Hahahaha.... Just when you get it sorted.....

I had decided to get the PB5 after reading up on it, but as i wanted to get dual gfx cards (2nd one early in the new year) and run them crossfire as this was supposed to be the best way, i opted fir the baove mobo.

But if one card will only run at x8 what's the point??

damn damn and double damn...

Someone help me out pls....

ta

Whitey :eek:

w3bbo · 22 Oct 2006 at 15:54

There is only one card that requires 16 pci lanes (8+8) and thats the 7950GX2. All others only need 8 and don't fully make use of the bandwidth they supply either.

Your choices are simple (imo).

X-fire+Conroe = P5WDH

Single card+Conroe or Allendale = P5B deluxe

The whole conroe is better on 975 is utter tosh. That rumour seems to have been exagerated by the more truthful 'allendale is better on 965' (due to the higher FSB's attainable on the 965 chipset). Conroe will run just as well on either but Allendale is better suited to the 965 for the above reason (high FSB).

BUFF · 22 Oct 2006 at 16:47

Whitey193 said:
But if one card will only run at x8 what's the point??

worse, on 965 in Crossfire 1 gfx card runs at 4x.
Anandtech tested Crossfire on both & the 965 loses something like 5-7% to the 975.

MAXIBOY · 22 Oct 2006 at 16:50

is the above just on cost or does the 6600 over clock better on the p5b if you dont need crossfire

Whitey193 · 22 Oct 2006 at 16:54

I am looking to get a 2nd x1950xtx in the new year hence the master crossfire card.

Whitey :eek:

Devious · 22 Oct 2006 at 17:22

Then you should have got the P5WDH for max x-fire gfx performance.

I have had both boards, the P5WDH is a nice board and mine overclocked better than most with FSB 455x9 bootable, the problem is with the memory dividers, you cant boot 1:1 over around 425 and 4:5 around 370.

The P5B Dlx doesnt have any memory divider problems but the max I can boot at is 437x9 , 500x8 & 544x7. The P5B seems to perform clock for clock worse than my P5W did, i,e the P5B @ 3.8Ghz would get the same scores as my P5W @ 3.7Ghz

Neither board is stable for me playing oblivon over 3.6Ghz strange coincidence, ive even tried a different cpu and its the same.

My P5WDH is back for RMA due to a faulty PCI-E slot and I am trying the P5B in the meantime but it is going back on tuesday and ill stick with my replacement P5W for now.

Whitey193 · 22 Oct 2006 at 21:52

Actually I should be purchasing this system tonight depeding on whether anyone thinsk ai should change a few bits...

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming case
Enermax Liberty 620W ELT620AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Heatpipe CPU Cooler
ATI Radeon X1950 XT-X ***Crossfire/Master Edition*** SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR4 (PCI-Express) - Retail
Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music - OEM
Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB 3200KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 80GB 800JD SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (motherboard comes with 2 x sata cables - cheers m8. )

Akasa Rounded Floppy Cable (0.45m) - Blue Neon String
Akasa Rounded Ultra ATA133/100/66 IDE Cable (0.45m) - Blue Neon String
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
Belkin F5D7000UK 802.11g Wireless PCI Adapter
OcUK Value AT/ATX Mains Cable

Subtotal £1,139.81
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £14.95
VAT £202.09

Total £1,356.85

What's your verdict??

ta,

Whitey :eek: