Which mobo for a c2d?

Jaffa_Cake · 23 Apr 2007 at 22:54

Hey, im building a new c2d system for a friend with a very tight budget (£460/470 at a push)

I have so far:
Intel Core 2 DUO E4400 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.00GHz
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency
BFG GeForce 7600 GT OC 256MB
A single Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 80GB

Im having difficulty chosing a motherboad, assuming the 965 chipsets are the right choice which im guessing from my research they are, I need to chose a motherboard. This is my first c2d system i've built personally and I really have no idea.

Been looking at several posibilities

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-076-GI&tool=3
as my main focus of interested.

Needing help with the motherboard as im a little stuck, and any modifications to the current setup as im sure its not perfect for a first system.

Thanks, Jaffa Cake.

gurusan · 23 Apr 2007 at 23:05

The DS3 motherboard is a great choice....what will you be using the system for though? Personally, the color of the board turned me off...but many could care less about colors and such.

artaxerxes · 23 Apr 2007 at 23:26

The Gigabyte S3 is £10 cheaper than the DS3 and has everything identical except solid state capacitors, and a 3 year warrant instead of 5. I built one. Solid.

Jaffa_Cake · 24 Apr 2007 at 00:02

Im not going to be using it personally, I don't mind about the colours :cool:

I know what you mean about the colours, I do try not to judge a motherboard by the picture though :-)

Was looking for oc-ing ability and a decent BIOS.

gurusan · 24 Apr 2007 at 08:32

Jaffa_Cake said:
Im not going to be using it personally, I don't mind about the colours I know what you mean about the colours, I do try not to judge a motherboard by the picture though Was looking for oc-ing ability and a decent BIOS.

In that case the DS3 is a great choice. I'd choose that over the S3 as I prefer solid state capacitors.

Dodger · 24 Apr 2007 at 09:17

Do you also need a case, PSU, optical drives? or do you have that already..

Nymins · 24 Apr 2007 at 09:18

Definitely the DS3. Best budget C2D board out there.

Dodger · 24 Apr 2007 at 09:31

Not sure if you needed a case with PSU but i included one anyway. I would choose the Crucial Ballistic (2x1GB) and if you can afford it the x1950 Pro would be the better choice over the 7600.

Abz · 24 Apr 2007 at 12:08

if money is no issue get the new abit IN9 Max

Jaffa_Cake · 24 Apr 2007 at 15:01

Thanks for the suggestions, I will also check out the 1.8GHz version of the cpu, i am guessing that its very clockable and I will be getting an extra CPU cooler, probobly the artic cooling 7 pro and clock it up abit.

I've never built a system with an ATi card, I will definitely consider it though, i'l go check out some benchmarks for the cpu, ram and gfx :-)

Jaffa_Cake · 24 Apr 2007 at 15:16

Dodger said:
Do you also need a case, PSU, optical drives? or do you have that already..

I have been looking at cases, my friend has his eye set on a RaidMAX Sagitta which you cant get on overclockers. I will probobly get a better one rather than a flashy one despite his moaning

Been looking at a RaidMAX Sagitta which you cant get on here.

Optical drives yes too, they arent a necessity because he has a stone age one already, I will probobly be getting a SATA one for it.

PSU with case preferable.

Sorry for double post :eek:

WJA96 · 25 Apr 2007 at 08:22

Jaffa_Cake said:
PSU with case preferable.

In terms of getting a good stable PC then the PSU is one of the most important parts - it's false economy to put a generic PSU in a good PC. A good case and PSU will last several upgrades so it's worth spending now for the future.