Spec meh moboh

Rigsta · 24 Sep 2007 at 23:32

Sorry for the double-post, mobo forum seems to be mostly tech problem Q&As and I'm rapidly falling off the first page

I need advice on what mobo to get, if anyone can help out please. Features it needs:

- Q6600 core 2 quad support
- Good/excellent ATI crossfire support (I assume this just needs 2 PCI-E slots at 16x? Not sure as my currently mobo specificly mentioned crossfire, no mobos now seem to list it)
- PC3200 RAM support EDIT2: This is DDR2 RAM. 2x 1GB modules with very tight timings.
- RAID support, pref. onboard
- Room for 1 PCI card, pref 2

- Washes dishes
- Cooks dinner
- Buys groceries

Well maybe not those last 3, prolly looking in the wrong place for those. Last but not least it must be a good overclocker

Apart from that sexy CPU I have all the other components already.

EDIT: Can upgrade RAM or give up RAID if necessary. Most important is Quad + xfire + overclock potential!

Teaf · 24 Sep 2007 at 23:36

I don't think that board exists, however I may be wrong

There's plenty of boards that have quad support, crossfire support and onboard raid... but supporting DDR1-3200 is the killer.

Rigsta · 24 Sep 2007 at 23:40

I can live with a RAM upgrade if necessary. Wouldn't mind it tbh just trying to budget myself XD

EDIT: It's DDR2 w/ tight timings rather than just some old rubbish stolen from somewhere

semi-pro waster · 25 Sep 2007 at 00:08

Since the DDR requirement pretty much knackers any motherboard with the other options I'd suggest a Ram upgrade (2gb Geil PC6400 being ~£50 at the moment) and a Gigabyte DS3P P35 based motherboard as being fairly cheap and a good solid choice. Most of the P35 based motherboards would do though and do specify Crossfire support.

Rigsta · 25 Sep 2007 at 00:18

Thanks. Ignore what I was saying about DDR2, I was confusing it with something else. CPU-Z proves otherwise: 2GB (GSkill brand) DDR @ 2-3-2-5.

I also don't mind paying extra for a known really good mobo. That Gigabyte one does look nice but I'll keep looking.

Cuchulain · 25 Sep 2007 at 00:21

Rigsta said:
Thanks. Ignore what I was saying about DDR2, I was confusing it with something else. CPU-Z proves otherwise: 2GB (GSkill brand) DDR @ 2-3-2-5.

I also don't mind paying extra for a known really good mobo. That Gigabyte one does look nice. Only niggle I have about P35s is I swear I read somewhere that only 1 PCI-E slot runs at 16x, the other running at 4x. I need to go and re-scour the mobo forum.

From what I can work out, they're both 16x ports, but as soon as you slap two cards in, one becomes a 4x, pretty pointless if you ask me.

Rigsta · 25 Sep 2007 at 00:30

After re-reading the stickies I got the impression it was board-specific. I shall have to consult google.

semi-pro waster · 25 Sep 2007 at 09:33

Cuchulain said:
From what I can work out, they're both 16x ports, but as soon as you slap two cards in, one becomes a 4x, pretty pointless if you ask me.

I thought it depended on the motherboard but after more research it appears it is common to most at least - way to go Intel. It is slightly pointless for many (although PCI-E 4x isn't necessarily as crippling as you might think depending on the cards used) but having two 16x slots and only using one means you get to pick the slot which best suits the rest of your computer e.g. if you have watercooling and need to route the cables or if you have a lot of PCI cards etc.

Rigsta · 26 Sep 2007 at 00:27

I'll be putting 2 Radeon X1800s in there, considering an X38 chipset but it's pretty new and there are only a few boards with it.