# what mobo do I need?



## Glaswegian (Sep 16, 2005)

Working on the basis that the flash and bang that came form the centre of my mobo means it's fried, I guess I need to start looking for a new one.

However, I haven't really a clue - there seem to be so many, so I thought I should ask the experts here for some suggestions.

I *had* an ASUS P5P800.

I'm not a gamer and I don't use SATA (haven't really done much with hardware :grin, but I'm willing to learn. I'm well used to having 2 IDE HDD and 2 IDE optical drives. 

Overall, something decent quality, not outrageously expensive. I have a P4 3 Ghz at the moment (although that could be fried as well) and I'm quite willing to go for Core2 - as long as it's Intel.

I know that's probably not much help, so I'll keep looking at various possibilities in the meantime.


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## chronos55 (Sep 30, 2003)

i recently purchased a gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R motherboard from tekheads.seems pretty good,but no doubt you will get better info from the experts.http://www.arnandtech.comthere is a forum there just for that board.


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## chronos55 (Sep 30, 2003)

sorry for incorrect link---should behttp://www.anandtech.com


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Hi Iain, :wave:

First list out what parts you do have and will be keeping since this looks like a semi-rebuild.

There are still some good Intel 865P/875X boards out there that will work in place of the board/RAM you have now. These boards only support the 800 MHz FSB though and do not have Core 2 Duo support. For a Core 2 Duo or any Intel dual core, you will need an Intel 945P/G chipset or later.


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## Glaswegian (Sep 16, 2005)

Thanks Matt - I think this thread now realy belongs in the building forum. :grin:

I'm aiming for Core2Duo now (may as well). In terms of rescue, hard drives should be OK (I hope) and I had one stick of RAM out of the machine. I'm guessing the other one has probably gone. I'm also hoping my Zalman cpu hsf survived as well. Not sure about my graphics or sound cards, but I'll probably replace them anyway. I don't need some huge fancy graphics - just something pretty decent will do.

I guess a decent board with some options for future upgrades would be ideal.

Sorry if that's not much to go on - I'll keep looking and see if I can post any possibilities for comment.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Moved to Building. What is your budget?


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## Glaswegian (Sep 16, 2005)

TheMatt said:


> Moved to Building. What is your budget?


The inevitable and yet unanswerable question. :grin:

CPU + mobo max £200
Graphics max £70
RAM whatever is required (If I'm really lucky then I'll still have 2 x 512 sticks of Crucial DDR - if not, then whatever is needed)

As my wife will undoubtedly say, "Those are maximums - you don't need to spend the maximum, do you?" :grin:


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Here are some items to look at:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-085-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=913

The P35-DS3R is very similar to the P35-DS4. Other than the heatpipe, I'm not sure what the difference is, but it probably isn't too much.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.33GHz (1333FSB)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-158-IN

That is a good CPU. Best bang for your buck.

Corsair 1GB DDR2 XMS2-5400C4 TwinX (2x512MB)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-059-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=144

If you get this board, your DDR RAM won't work because the industry is moving to DDR2 as the RAM standard.

Before I go and pick out your video card - two questions. What power supply do you have, and will you be gaming?


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## Glaswegian (Sep 16, 2005)

Great stuff Matt.

I actually found this cpu

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-157-IN&tool=3

any difference between that and the one you mentioned?

Do I need to consider using SATA - I've never used it before - is there anything I would need in terms of connections etc? I've always been used to having 2 IDE hard drives, although I keep an external HD as well - ideal if I could use all 3. The case is an Antec 900, so plenty of drive spaces available.

I know I gave some £ limits, but they can be stretched...a bit, especially in view of the RAM price - have prices fallen recently?

I'm not a gamer, at least in terms of "serious" gaming - I do have some games that I play now and again, MoH, Half-Life, Quake. I do watch DVDs on the PC though (I get peace and quiet that way). 

I'm returning the PSU for replacement so I will have the same as I just bought - Antec Trio 650W.

Really appreciate all your help and advice Matt.ray:


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

That one is just 333 MHz faster. The only real thing I like better about the E6750 is the 8x multiplier which brings your CPU speed up to a nice even 3.2 GHz when you overclock the FSB to 400 MHz (1600 MHz quad pumped). But if you are going to overclock, get some DDR2 800 MHz RAM.

As for SATA, your motherboard will come with all the cables necessary. Other than the thinner wires, there really aren't many other benefits. The potential speed of the interface is faster but the hard disk transfer rate is too slow. If you have a good IDE hard disk now, there is no reason to stop using it unless you want to upgrade that.

For the video card, I would look at an 8600GT or 8600GTS. That should cover you well. If you are gaming, go for a slower CPU and a faster GPU because the video rendering and calculations load is gradually moving off the CPU and onto the GPU.

The Antec Trio 650w looks very good. That will hold up everything. As for RAM, there are some 2 GB kits out there. It is really up to you to decide whether you need 2 GB because you know best how much multitasking you do and how many memory intensive applications (like Google Earth for example) you will be running.

No problem Iain. :smile:


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

Matt as he said he may not be gaming to much so most of the interest may be in other things, btw do you do any like computing or stuff like video editing?


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## Glaswegian (Sep 16, 2005)

No video, at least not at the moment - something I might get into later. I usually have several spreadsheets on the go. I play with photoshop but not that intensively. I use VM a fair bit for malware testing etc.

That board gets good reviews - I tend to have 2 HDDs, although one is really for backup and general storage. Perhaps I could use SATA for the storage disc and a backup disc and IDE for the main disc? Just not sure on how I would set up on that board.


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## kodi (Jun 30, 2004)

I have purchased the board that chronos linked to Post#3, it will let you use DDR2 ram now and later you can upgrade to DDR3,


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## Cellus (Aug 31, 2006)

If you are going to be using virtual machines, then a decent chunk of RAM is recommended, especially if you're going to be dabbling with malware which will may saturate VM resources more than normal. The 2GB kits are quite cheap these days, so if you have the budget, you mind as well go for it. Whatever you choose, the mobo chronos listed has 4 slots for DDR2, so you have room for upgrades later. As for what specific RAM to pick up, try to pick up RAM listed on the mobo's QVL (Qualified Vendors List), which you can find on the Gigabyte website here (PDF).

You could probably get away with a lower graphics card than a 8600GT/GTS given you do not game that much, though if you can find a cheap 8600 (they have dropped in price significantly recently) I suppose you mind as well. Whatever card you choose to buy, make sure it is PCIe based on the suggested mobo above (don't snatch an AGP card by mistake), and if you can help it, try to get a card from a decent vendor like ASUS, BFG, XFX, and etc. I know for example Foxconn makes video cards, and I don't trust even the silicon their made from.


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## Glaswegian (Sep 16, 2005)

That board looks good - thanks chronos55 and Brian - personal recommendations are the best.

Found it

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-086-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=


Would this RAM be OK 

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-108-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=


Just like to make sure before I spend the wife's cash. :grin: I'll look at graphics cards tonight.


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

Yes that ram would be fine for that board.


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## Glaswegian (Sep 16, 2005)

Thanks.

I think this graphics card would do fine

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-128-AS


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## kodi (Jun 30, 2004)

That card should do everything you need it for


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## Glaswegian (Sep 16, 2005)

Thanks Brian.

OK, looks like this will be the setup:

Gigabyte P35C – DS3R
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 – 6400C4
Intel Core2Duo E6750 LGA775 Conroe 2.33Ghz
ASUS GeForce 8600 GT 256MB PCIe
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme

I've still got 3 HDD and 2 optical drives plus my big Zalman HSF and my Antec 900 case.

Reckon I'm good to go!


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

For the best gaming value drop down to an E6550 and upgrade to an 8600GTS. You will get better framerates in games and you really won't notice a difference from the slower processor speed.


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## Glaswegian (Sep 16, 2005)

I don't play many games Matt (don't have time - too busy at TSF :grin so I'm prepared to trade the graphics for more processor. 

Are the Core2Duo processors much faster than the old P4?


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## HawMan (May 12, 2006)

C2D runs circles around the P4's


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## Glaswegian (Sep 16, 2005)

Just to update - PSU returned - hopefully for replacement. Other parts now ordered and will be delivered on Thursday. Depending on when I get a PSU, I could start putting things together next weekend.

Many thanks to all for your thoughts, comments and suggestions - all gratefully received.


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

CAn you post a final thing of what you ordered?


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

Keep one thing in mind Iain; the new Intel chipset based boards (like the P35 you're willing to purchase) has only one IDE connector, which older HDD's and optical drives use. It means you can only use one of each or two of any one at any one time, and not more than that as the older motherboards allowed.

One IDE connector only allows one Master and Slave connector on the cable to attach either 2 optical drives, 2 hard drives or 1 optical drive and 1 hard drive, at any one time.

It seems you may have to either auction some older components and purchase SATA interfaced drives, or budge around these limitations in any way you desire and use a combination of both PATA (IDE) and SATA drives.


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## Glaswegian (Sep 16, 2005)

1 g0t 0wn3d said:


> CAn you post a final thing of what you ordered?


 See post #19 



Kalim said:


> Keep one thing in mind Iain; the new Intel chipset based boards (like the P35 you're willing to purchase) has only one IDE connector, which older HDD's and optical drives use. It means you can only use one of each or two of any one at any one time, and not more than that as the older motherboards allowed.
> 
> One IDE connector only allows one Master and Slave connector on the cable to attach either 2 optical drives, 2 hard drives or 1 optical drive and 1 hard drive, at any one time.
> 
> It seems you may have to either auction some older components and purchase SATA interfaced drives, or budge around these limitations in any way you desire and use a combination of both PATA (IDE) and SATA drives.


Hi Kalim - long time no see. :grin:

Yes, I am aware of that. I had to buy a new HDD anyway, plus I bought another HDD last year (currently used an external drive) so I should be OK there. I've also just bought a DVD writer but I was intending to put that and my old CD writer in the case - looks like the CD will now be reduntant.


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

OK, looks good for the next millennium now.


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## Glaswegian (Sep 16, 2005)

Just thought I should update...

After the carry on over a short IDE cable (thanks Gigabyte..), which can be found here, everything is now up and running superbly.

A big thanks to all who kindly assisted and advised - your contributions were gratefully received.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Glad its working now. Looks like a great rig. :smile:


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## kodi (Jun 30, 2004)

Good to see it up and running well.
Is the financial controller talking to you?


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