Which processor?

**SapiensErus** · 02-10-08, 01:07 AM

Depends on what you are doing or what you plan to upgrade to.

I look for tweaking options (even though I dont really use them), SLI and the speed of the memory bus. But those features can add 100 bucks to a mobo. I also look for trusted brands (Gigabyte, Asus)

Look for a tried and true chipset, like Intel P35 or for SLI options the NVidia 780i.

Figure out what features you want: SLI/Crossfire, RAID0,1,5 or 1+0, fast RAM, lots of RAM, OC features, etc. Then find the best reviewing chipset that meets your requirements, then find a good munifacturer like Asus.

So what is it you want? Simple performance? Future upgradeability? the fastest tweakiest mobo out there?

**sfg-Groove** · 02-10-08, 08:40 AM

its simple... If you want crossfire go with an x38 chipset like the maximus formula .. if you want sli go with the 780i chipset
Both are top notch boards.

**investigater** · 02-10-08, 09:04 AM

I went with the Gigabyte p35 for it reliability, its 4 ram slots, and the fbs or front bus speed, 1333Mhz. Its all fully OC-able. It also came with a solid capacitor design which is durability enhanced. It also came with a 3yr warranty which i am a sucker for long time warranties. It can also Supports Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad-Core / Core 2 Duo / Intel Pentium Extreme/ Intel Pentium D processors, if i want to upgrade down the road from my e6850.

You also want to look for the PCI slots and how much you will be adding to your MoBo once you get it. Mine has 3 PCI slots which will do me just fine for wireless, soundcard, and another that i dont know what i want in it yet.

Also, you want a MoBo with a PCI-e x16 slot for your video card or you will be left behind in the graphics world.

I also have 2 SATA hard drives that needed the SATA hook up and this board, it had 3gb/s SATA hook ups x's4 for raid 0 and such.

Man its really hard to tell what a person wants because everyone is different. My opinion, you cannot go wrong with the p35, its and all around good board.
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/Skusearch...iteria=BA24085

**sfg-Groove** · 02-10-08, 09:10 AM

Good board.. But old tech. If he getting a modern video card either ATI or Nvidia I would go with a board that has pci-e 2.0.. It has been shown to give a boost to video cards that are 2.0... And the p35 only have one video card slot. Which would mean no sli or crossfire down the road.

**SapiensErus** · 02-10-08, 10:21 AM

As an SLI user I recommend just getting the big video card instead of two smaller ones. I spent 390 dollars each on two 8800 GTS 640s and one GTX outperforms them hands down. Hopefully future DX10 applications will make it more worthwhile.

That being said, I have been recommending the P35 chipsets to people.

**investigater** · 02-10-08, 10:25 AM

Originally Posted by SoySoldier

As an SLI user I recommend just getting the big video card instead of two smaller ones. I spent 390 dollars each on two 8800 GTS 640s and one GTX outperforms them hands down. Hopefully future DX10 applications will make it more worthwhile.

That being said, I have been recommending the P35 chipsets to people.

Ditto and for the fact that if you read around, people are not pleased with the sli mode. The best bang for the buck is the P35 and im sticking to it. as for the 2.0 pci-e, not sure if you would benafit from it for it adds cost in the end for the same damn results.

**sfg-Groove** · 02-10-08, 10:31 AM

two 640's will beat out one GTX, without a doubt. I dont know where you got that from.
And 2 640's will beat out one GT.. Look at the numbers they dont lie.

Look here.. these scores are from our benching team http://blazingpc.com
http://www.blazingpc.com/forum/showt...811/index.html

these are 06 scores.

3. lohoutlaw - 16574 marks - 2x GeForce 8800 GTS 640 Mb @ 660/941mhz - no description
6. Thawaxshop - 13827 marks - GeForce 8800 GTX @ 660/1000mhz - no description3.

p35 chipsets are old tech.. If i was buying a new board it wouldnt be a p35 chipset.
x38 or 780i.

**Keiron** · 02-10-08, 10:45 AM

That just looks like the 3D Mark scores, if I remember correctly, most games and applications can't use SLI cards to the max so it is ultimately better to use 1 that is more powerful than 2 of any card.

**sfg-Groove** · 02-10-08, 10:56 AM

hmmm.. I can think of quite a few games that benefit from sli and crossfire. IF it is setup properly
The thing is and alot of people do not do it .. is that you need to select the profile of the game you are running and have it set to run in sli .. either AFR or SFR.

UT3
Oblivion
FFOW
Bf2
2142
Company oF Heros
BioShock
Gears Of War for pc
FEAR
Quake Wars
NFSPS

Take a look at nzone for sli ready games.

**SapiensErus** · 02-10-08, 11:01 AM

With newer GPUs (88xx) you will see little, no, or negative benefit from SLI at resolutions around 1280x1024 or lower.

I have done the tests on mine and others computers. My 6600s in SLI saw a benefit at 1280x1024. When I run BF2/2142 I lose about 10 FPS from AFR1 and 2 and 15 FPS from SFR. In oblivion its a little better. But when I hit 1600x1200, I gain 10 to 20 FPS.

Oddly, when I run 3dmark, and I actually go enable SLI multi GPU rendering (most people simply "enable SLI" and fail to realize that you then have to instruct it on which type of SLI mode to use per application, hence many people with SLI are actually still using one GPU) for 3dmark, I lost 3000 3dmarks.

the console command to see framerates in BF2 is "renderer.drawfps 1" and in Oblivion it is "tdt." I have had a few people who argue with me that SLI increases performance at 1280x1024 with newer GPUs go check their actual framerates with and without multi GPU rendering and then they tend to shut their mouth. And that is testing in all 3 modes, AFR 1 and 2, and SFR.

I know many SLI systems bench higher, and at 1600x1200 or greater SLI helps in real life. But go play a game at 1280x1024 running two 8 series GPUs and compare actual framerates, benches mean nothing because it will lose frames.