Difficult mobo upgrade decision [Archive]

alexp999

12-17-2007, 11:20 AM

Hi,
I am looking at upgrading my mobo to get the most out of my hardware. Cus atm my Gfx card is being held back by a 4x PCi-E slot, and the highest OC I can get on my CPU is a 280FSB, lol!
Thing is I was hoping just to get a new mobo, but it seems most new boards only have one ide channel, I need two. From what i can see there is no intel chipsets out there which have more than one ide channel. So all i can find, is that the only chipset i could get is a VIA PT890 chipset.
And the only two boards I can find are these:

MSI PT890 Neo-V
http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=264&maincat_no=1

and

ASUS P5VD2-X
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=1&model=1362&l1=3&l2=11&l3=346
(think asus is down atm)

So my question is, does anyone have any experience with these boards? would I get a better OC out of them and would I be able to push the mobo upto to getting it to run DDR667 mem?
Or anyboady got any boards, that support an e6600, 2gb ddr667, 2xIDE and a PCI-E x16?

Cheers.

alexp999

12-17-2007, 12:31 PM

Okay, done a bit more surfing, Am I right in thinking that the P4M900 is the best VIA chipset?

Cheers.

alexp999

12-17-2007, 01:09 PM

Okay having looked through the VIA P4M900 chipset boards, I have found these:

ECS P4M900T-M
MSI P4M900M2-F / L
Foxconn P4M9007MB-8EKRS2H
Gigabyte GA-VT890P(rev. 2.0) <- Prefered as it is the only full ATX but cant find it anywhere!!! Any help?
Gigabyte VM900M(rev. 1.0)
Gigabyte VM900MC(rev. 2.0)

All but the one I have made a note of are mATX, will these fit okay in a full ATX case?
Also what do people think of these boards, or maybe just the manufacturer?

Cheers.

alexp999

12-17-2007, 01:28 PM

Just found another couple:

ASUS P5VD2-VM SE
Asrock 4CoreDX90-VSTA
Asrock 775Twins-HDTV

Let me know what you think,

Cheers.

allen337

12-17-2007, 01:30 PM

Think you need to rethink about via chipset, why you need more than 1 ide controller?

here ~~ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130051

JrRacinFan

12-17-2007, 01:32 PM

Why not something like this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815280002

Maybe even a couple of these?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812156011

alexp999

12-17-2007, 01:34 PM

Cus I have an ide storage drive and 3 cd-dvd/rw etc drives that i use all the time, just wanted to get a board that opened up a few bottle necks, so specs would be:
2xIDE
2xSATAII (3gb/s) min
PCIE x16
Socket 775 with a view of hopefully getting to 333Mhz FSB or at least 300Mhz
DDR2 667 for upto 4gb

alexp999

12-17-2007, 01:35 PM

Why not something like this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815280002

Maybe even a couple of these?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812156011

Wow! didnt know something like that existed! if I can find one in the UK! do they work properly or only once in windows?

Cheers.

JrRacinFan

12-17-2007, 01:37 PM

Also, the answer to your OP, an Asus P5NSLI.

You are very welcome!

EDIT: You shouldn't have any problems, it has its own bios chip.

alexp999

12-17-2007, 01:40 PM

Also, the answer to your OP, an Asus P5NSLI.

Surely an nvidia chipset wont go down too well with my ATI Gfx card tho?

(BTW I am talking about upgrading the mobo for the PC in my sytem specs)

allen337

12-17-2007, 01:43 PM

Surely an nvidia chipset wont go down too well with my ATI Gfx card tho?

(BTW I am talking about upgrading the mobo for the PC in my sytem specs)

yes it will . I just perfer intel chipset on ontel processore. Dont see many problems with nforce (nvidia) chipsets though. The msi 975X chipste board I linked would be awesome. ALLEN

JrRacinFan

12-17-2007, 01:44 PM

Au contraire mon frere: nVidia card on an ATi chipset here! EDIT: Kinda beat me to it!^^^^

Tatty_One

12-17-2007, 01:47 PM

Lol, an ATi card on an NVidia chipset makes no difference. Try the Asus P5N-E Sli, I had the board until it was replaced 2 weeks ago (I still have it if you want a bargain! :laugh:), they will not overclock quads very well but I got 4.2Gig stable out of my E6850 and 3.9Gig out of my previous E6600. It has 2 IDE channels also so no worries there, Ohhhh.....and it's fast!

JrRacinFan

12-17-2007, 01:47 PM

I love your thinking allen! That is one heck of a board and SUPPORTS CROSSFIRE!

Alex, Does your psu have an 8 pin aux power connector?

alexp999

12-17-2007, 02:17 PM

Yeah my PSU has an 8 pin, so i can get an nvidia chipset mobo, and it will work with crossfire and be stable with OC's and stuff with my HD2600Xt?

JrRacinFan

12-17-2007, 02:19 PM

I don't beleive you can go crossfire on an nVidia chipset, I had asked the same question though a while ago and noone answered me.

I would think that it could happen cause Crossfire is mainly driver based and SLi is mainly chipset based.

allen337

12-17-2007, 02:19 PM

Yeah my PSU has an 8 pin, so i can get an nvidia chipset mobo, and it will work with crossfire and be stable with OC's and stuff with my HD2600Xt?

Wont work with crossfire but will with single ATI card. ALLEN

btarunr

12-17-2007, 02:20 PM

Not a good choice, VIA chipset.

This board doesn't even support the Core micro-arch.

alexp999

12-17-2007, 02:22 PM

Shame the nvidia chipsets are so expensive compared to the rest, tho.
Are there not intel chipsets with 2xIDE?

Cheers.

allen337

12-17-2007, 03:04 PM

Shame the nvidia chipsets are so expensive compared to the rest, tho.
Are there not intel chipsets with 2xIDE?

Cheers.

You still didnt see my post above huh, Intel 975x does and supports crossfire. ALLEN

~~~ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130051 .

just be careful all 975 chipsets dont support conroe.

alexp999

12-17-2007, 03:10 PM

You still didnt see my post above huh, Intel 975x does and supports crossfire. ALLEN

~~~ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130051 .

just be careful all 975 chipsets dont support conroe.

Hi, thanks didnt see that one soz, but as I am in UK, I need somewhere in UK i can get one.

Cheers.

alexp999

12-17-2007, 03:14 PM

What anyboady think of this one:

http://www.foxconnchannel.com/product/Motherboards/detail_overview.aspx?ID=en-us0000226#

Cheers.

Tatty_One

12-17-2007, 03:28 PM

What anyboady think of this one:

http://www.foxconnchannel.com/product/Motherboards/detail_overview.aspx?ID=en-us0000226#

Cheers.

If you want to overclock your CPU (which you say in your origional post) then forget it, that board has the Intel 945 chipset, so it does not overclock a C2D, it will take one but through a BIOS update, it's architecture was never designed to support C2D.

I have just taken a look at all my favorite clearance sites and there is nothing with the 975 chipset that comes remotly close to your £30-£40 budget even at "B Grade" level, bare in mind that until Intels P35 chipset came out the 975 was their "Premium" chipset.

alexp999

12-17-2007, 03:37 PM

If you want to overclock your CPU (which you say in your origional post) then forget it, that board has the Intel 945 chipset, so it does not overclock a C2D, it will take one but through a BIOS update, it's architecture was never designed to support C2D.

I have just taken a look at all my favorite clearance sites and there is nothing with the 975 chipset that comes remotly close to your £30-£40 budget even at "B Grade" level, bare in mind that until Intels P35 chipset came out the 975 was their "Premium" chipset.

Okay fair enough, but maybe as an interim board, would you say it is better than what I have now? According to Foxconn's site it is compatible with a e6600 and passed their test. What are foxconn's like? better/worse than asrock? or maybe the same?
Also will a mATX board fit in an ATX case,

Cheers.

alexp999

12-17-2007, 04:35 PM

It seems foxconn make everything for everybody anyway, so surely they shouldnt be too bad, least no worse than asrock?

So let me ask a question.

If you had to pick between these to:

Asrock 775Dual-Vsta
2x SATA (150)
2x IDE
1x PCI-E x4
VIA 880 chipset

or

Foxconn 945G7MD-8EKRS2H
4x SATA (300)
2x IDE
1x PCI-E x16
Intel 945G chipset.

Which would you pick? Intel chipsets are better than VIA arent they? and i take it I can OC even if it is just a bit on the foxconn, cus of intel chipset? (just I had an intel board once which allowed no OC :( )

Cheers.

Any thoughts (other than unhelpful, unconstructive ones) are welcome.

Cheers.

jcmax

12-17-2007, 04:46 PM

you dont neccessarily need two ide, just have one thing as slave and another as master, unless you have like 3 ide things

jcmax

12-17-2007, 04:47 PM

soz just noticed you have 4 ide things

alexp999

12-17-2007, 04:55 PM

np

Anyone else on here got foxconn MB's?

allen337

12-17-2007, 05:06 PM

save a little more ~~ http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Socket+775+%28Intel%29/MSI+975X+Platinum+PE+Socket+775+Motherboard+?produ ctId=24038 .

~~ http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126692/show_product_specifications .

~~ http://www.foxconnchannel.com/product/Motherboards/detail_spec.aspx?ID=en-us0000184 .

best I could find

alexp999

12-17-2007, 05:17 PM

thanks but tbh, im not looking at crossfire any time soon. Just wanted to get a value board to keep me goin a bit longer by opening up the bottle necks.

What you think of foxconn btw?

Cheers.

allen337

12-17-2007, 05:23 PM

tbh i would never buy ECS,foxxconn,asrock. kinda like opening your wallet up and letting the wind take the cash away:) If your wanting a stable motherboard just save a few more weeks,months, or however long it takes and buy yourself a nice ASUS/GIGABYTE/MSI/DFI/ABIT/INTEL motherboard. I know what its like to want it now, but, it will be worthless in 2 months. ALLEN

Grings

12-17-2007, 05:37 PM

Foxconn are pretty good actually, however that particular board (the 945) isnt, i'd say your best bet would be tatty_ones p5ne-sli, or get a few of these (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124850) and not worry about how many ide sockets a board has

alexp999

12-17-2007, 05:44 PM

Grings

12-17-2007, 05:56 PM

alexp999

12-17-2007, 06:00 PM

Its an older chipset, and dosent overclock well at all, plus as theyre only used in low end boards nowadays, the boards just arent designed to overclock (i really cant see those foxconn ones having much, if anything in the way of o/c settings)

Those 'dongles' i posted a link to are very good though, i run one of my hard drives on one and it gets full ata133 speed, i'd just get a couple of those, and a cheap board with a newer chipset, gigabyte's p31 for example costs the same as most 945's, but is better featured and can clock newer chips (even quads) to over 450 fsb

Thanks but would you say on OC of 300Mhz on an e6600 is ambitious for the foxconn then? It has far more extensive OC adjustments compared to my asrock, I cannot even change voltages atm!

Also I want to make it clear, I have decided as I do not have the money, that i will get a board as good as my Asrock in terms of quality but that will free up the bottle necks the asrock is causing now.
Then maybe this time next year, I will look at better boards and crossfire. As I say the foxconn's quality will be on par with the Asrock surely, and an intel chip over a via has to be better?

Cheers.

Tatty_One

12-17-2007, 08:03 PM

Thanks but would you say on OC of 300Mhz on an e6600 is ambitious for the foxconn then? It has far more extensive OC adjustments compared to my asrock, I cannot even change voltages atm!

Also I want to make it clear, I have decided as I do not have the money, that i will get a board as good as my Asrock in terms of quality but that will free up the bottle necks the asrock is causing now.
Then maybe this time next year, I will look at better boards and crossfire. As I say the foxconn's quality will be on par with the Asrock surely, and an intel chip over a via has to be better?

Cheers.

You may even find on a 945 board that there are not any overclocking options, or very few in any case, as I said, the 945 was NEVER designed to take a C2D, it was developed well before the C2D was released and therefore it's quite possible you may not get any Mhz out of it.

You can always but a IDE > SATA convertor for around £6 anyways so dont get too hung up on the native double IDE channels, go for the decent bargain priced board and convert IDE to SATA if necessary!
You have 27minutes to buy this off E Bay, excellent board.....look at the price!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Gigabyte-GA-965G-DS3-motherboard-quad-dual-core-intel_W0QQitemZ200181534247QQihZ010QQcategoryZ1089 78QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

alexp999

12-17-2007, 09:05 PM

You may even find on a 945 board that there are not any overclocking options, or very few in any case, as I said, the 945 was NEVER designed to take a C2D, it was developed well before the C2D was released and therefore it's quite possible you may not get any Mhz out of it.

You can always but a IDE > SATA convertor for around £6 anyways so dont get too hung up on the native double IDE channels, go for the decent bargain priced board and convert IDE to "SATA if necessary!
You have 27minutes to buy this off E Bay, excellent board.....look at the price!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Gigabyte-GA-965G-DS3-motherboard-quad-dual-core-intel_W0QQitemZ200181534247QQihZ010QQcategoryZ1089 78QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Fair enough, but I was under the impression that all of the latest 945G chips work with the Core2Duo
This is on intel's site:
"Platforms based on the Intel® 945G Express Chipset, combined with the Intel® Core™2 Duo processor, deliver innovative features and new benefits for both home and business."

As I have said, the e6600 is on foxconn's support list and I have been through the manual and seen lots of OC options unlike the one I have now.
As i say, I have about £30 and I want a board to replace my Asrock open up the bottle necks and keep me going another year or so.
What would I get out of a chipset better than the 945G?

Cheers.

Tatty_One

12-17-2007, 09:11 PM

Fair enough, but I was under the impression that all of the latest 945G chips work with the Core2Duo
This is on intel's site:
"Platforms based on the Intel® 945G Express Chipset, combined with the Intel® Core™2 Duo processor, deliver innovative features and new benefits for both home and business."

As I have said, the e6600 is on foxconn's support list and I have been through the manual and seen lots of OC options unlike the one I have now.
As i say, I have about £30 and I want a board to replace my Asrock open up the bottle necks and keep me going another year or so.
What would I get out of a chipset better than the 945G?

Cheers.

Of course they are on the support list! the point is, they only have support through a new BIOS write (instruction set), they dont have the architectural hardware support because they were developed before the C2D's release (so not a "native" board) so therefore the risk of VERY poor overclocking is multiplied.

Just about any S775 chipset is better than the 945 cause they are "native" to the C2D.....965's, 975's, P35's, x38.....they are all considerably better boards than the 945 coupled with the C2D because they were manufactured around the C2D.

alexp999

12-17-2007, 10:15 PM

Tatty_One

12-17-2007, 10:56 PM

Hi, internet went down, would have replied sooner.
I read somewhere that the 945 chips were recoded to take the Core 2 Duo's as it had to be hardware based, not software to accept the dual core processors.
Even if it is poor, surely it will be better than what I have now? I'm not looking to reach 450FSB I was aiming for about 300.
Would that be too much to ask of this board?
Anybody got this or a board with a 945(g) chipset and running an intel core2duo?

Cheers.

perhaps it would be better, all I am saying is that you are taking a risk with older technology and at the end of the day, the motherboard is the most important single ingredient. I appreciate you have a limited budget but dont be too hasty, look around E Bay, there are deals to be had, maybe you can pick up a 975 or 650i bargain around your price bracket, personally I would continue looking for a few days before I went 945 :eek:

allen337

12-17-2007, 11:39 PM

perhaps it would be better, all I am saying is that you are taking a risk with older technology and at the end of the day, the motherboard is the most important single ingredient. I appreciate you have a limited budget but dont be too hasty, look around E Bay, there are deals to be had, maybe you can pick up a 975 or 650i bargain around your price bracket, personally I would continue looking for a few days before I went 945 :eek:

Best advice ive seen all day