Motherboard help

[LA_MERC_Drax]

So I think i've decided that the root of all my computer problems reside in one area, so I'm gonna replace it. I currently have:

ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

What would be a good choice to replace it?

[LA_MERC_YellowDog]

I've heard this board was ranked a lot better than the P5n-5

http://www.old-computers.com/MUSEUM/photos/Commodore64_Mainboard_s2.jpg

Commodore64 Mainboard :stick

[LA_MERC_Drax]

Weee, commodore 64, i can remember the archon days!

[LA_MERC_Maverick]

that depends, do you need the sli?

if not, go with GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358&Tpk=GA-EP45-UD3P)
if so, go with ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131232), although, need to warn you "Cons: If your going to run sli with a card that occupies 2 slots and is as long as the 8800 gtx or 9800 gx2 than your sata ports will get blocked"

maybe look at MSI P7N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130159), but it has its own set of issues. Nvidia chipsets have had quirky issues since nf3/4 days.

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

Ummm - ditch that Intel crap and build yourself an AMD Phenom II?

j/k

A buddy of mine built a system around a Q9550 a little over a month ago using this board and a couple of 200 series Nvidia cards (can't remember exactly which one though, but I know they were eVGA cards as well - he wanted them to "match" which is why he bought the mobo):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188027

Anyway - I know he's been fairly happy with it.

From what I've understood - Intel chips have been a little flaky with Nvidia chipsets regardless of Mobo for a while - looks like w/ the Core i7 platform the X58 Intel chipset finally officially supports both SLI and Crossfire, which is cool.

[LA_MERC_Drax]

Well I am looking to order another 8800 GT to SLI with the one I have, not sure if its as long as the GTX or not, but I'd really hate to go with another p5n Asus, just rather get away from it all together.

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

Drax - that Gigabyte that Mav linked to is awesome if you can live w/o the SLI - perhaps go ahead and upgrade your card from that 8800 while you are at it and you won't need SLI (what games are you playing, and at what resolutions?).

Also, the Mobo Mav linked was a Crossfire board, but this is the same board, but w/o Crossfire support, and would save you a few bucks: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359

And like I said, if you wanna stay w/ an Nvidia chipset, I know that eVGA board I linked too is pretty good as well.

P.S. that Gigabyte board (the one w/o Crossfire) is what I was going to buy - along w/ a Q9550 before I decided to go AMD...it looks like an awesome board for $120. Gigabyte makes great Intel boards. My old system I just upgraded from was an Intel Core2Duo E4600 running on a GA-P35-DS3L and it's been a great board for me, and that e4600 has been running at 3.0GHz (up from 2.4) since the day I got it pretty much (@ 12x250fsb)...PC is still going to be used - just not my main machine any longer - gonna load VMware Server on it and have it host some virtuals.

[LA_MERC_Drax]

So I'm looking at it again to replace this mobo, and i looked at the ones yall linked, but they're all expensive and just way too much for the system i have.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188033

How does that one look to replace the one I have?

I also have another 2 GB of ram sittin on my desk to put in it, but I think XP doesn't run more than 3GB if i remember right?

EDIT **Well I'm just seeing now that the ones mav linked aren't much different priced than this one, maybe the one Max linked stuck in my mind at 220.

[LA_MERC_Drax]

Also, the games I play are WoW, TF2, L4D and I generally play them at 1920 x 1200.

[LA_MERC_Maverick]

If you are going to go sli, then the board you linked would be fine. If you are going to stay single card, then I would go with the gigabyte board that I linked, even though it is a little more expensive, since the p45 is an awesome chipset.

32-bit OS's only recognize up to 3 gigs of ram, if you want more ram, you will need to upgrade to a 64-bit OS. If you decide to that, then I would recommend Vista x64, since driver support for XP x64 never really got off the ground. It works, but you will find buggy stuff. Vista x64 works without issues from what I can find when researching the same decision. Thats what I'm loading on the rig I just purchased.

[LA_MERC_Drax]

ordered the gigabyte one, gonna stay with one vid card, and gonna put 3 gb of ram in it. should hold me over til im ready to build a new rig.

[LA_MERC_Spark]

I just put together a EVGA rig and I'll be replacing that same POS mobo in mine with the EVGA board.