# Motherboard for a Intel Core 2 Duo 8400 Wolfdale



## Doombot

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

I was one of the lucky few who was able to buy the processor during the few hours it was available on Newegg. From my research it appears that Asus and Gigabyte are good choices but I'm unsure of which brand to get. I'll be installing a 64 bit OS with 4 gigs of ram in 2 gig sticks. 

However I have a interesting 'problem'. I have a old Dell Dimension 4600 that is broken. I want to hook up the hard drives to my new computer as a secondary harddrive just long enough to transfer the data. I was told that most new motherboards would have at least one connection that I could use or I could temporarily use the CD Rom connection to connect the drives. Is this true?

Dell Dimension 4600 (Pentium 4 2.8GHz, 512MB RAM, 80GB HDD, XP Home)
Here's the information I have on the drives. DMA/ATA-100 (Ultra) - 7200 rpm

So am I worrying for nothing because the motherboard will probably be able to accept the old drive as a temporary 2nd drive.

Are there better ways to transfer the data from a computer that won't turn on?

Thanks in advance.


----------



## tomas.termit

Hello,
If you wanna buy a new motherboard, don't worry, u can still use your old HDD. In shops you can find the IDE to SATA changers. I got one and it works fine. BIOS is showing it as SATA device. 

Note: see the link below:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/images/Full/a11az.jpg


----------



## Doombot

tomas.termit said:


> Hello,
> If you wanna buy a new motherboard, don't worry, u can still use your old HDD. In shops you can find the IDE to SATA changers. I got one and it works fine. BIOS is showing it as SATA device.
> 
> Note: see the link below:
> http://www.maplin.co.uk/images/Full/a11az.jpg


Oh wow! That's awesome! Thanks. That's one less thing I have to consider when looking at a new motherboard. Thanks for your information. =)


----------



## Doombot

I'm thinking about going with this motherboard and memory combo to go with my 8400.

Any issues? Thanks in advance. =)

ASUS Commando LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

ORSAIR XMS2 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory -


----------



## tomas.termit

I got 8400 too. It is a great processor. I bought ASUS P5KC, because here is an option to upgrade it with DDR3. I think maybe will be better choose board with DDR3 RAM. Motherboard that you are thinking about looks great but maybe will be better use DDR3 RAM instead of DDR2. 

ASUS P5K3 deluxe:
http://computershopper.com/reviews/asus-p5k3-deluxe-motherboard-review

ASUS P5K3 Premium:
http://www.techfresh.net/gadgets/computers/asus-p5k3-premium-motherboard-for-game-addicts/


----------



## Doombot

tomas.termit said:


> I got 8400 too. It is a great processor. I bought ASUS P5KC, because here is an option to upgrade it with DDR3. I think maybe will be better choose board with DDR3 RAM. Motherboard that you are thinking about looks great but maybe will be better use DDR3 RAM instead of DDR2.
> 
> ASUS P5K3 deluxe:
> http://computershopper.com/reviews/asus-p5k3-deluxe-motherboard-review
> 
> ASUS P5K3 Premium:
> http://www.techfresh.net/gadgets/computers/asus-p5k3-premium-motherboard-for-game-addicts/


Great thoughts! Thanks for the information. I think I'm stay away from actually purchasing ddr3 memory right now since it would take me over my budget. However... the Asus P5K3 looks like an excellent choice.

I would like to have the option to upgrade to ddr3 in the future so it's calling me to buy it. =)

I don't know if the Premium version is viable. I don't seem to see it for sale anywhere and it looks like I'm stuck at a maximum of 2 gigs of DDR3 memory.

SO I'll pass on the second one but I think I may just get the first one. =) Thanks a bunch!


----------



## blackduck30

Well I tend to disagree about the DDR3 being better, more expensive yes but better no.
I personally would stick to DDR2 and a good P35 or X38 motherboard.

* ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $225*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219

* ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $200
*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131182

By the time you want to upgrade again DDR3 might then be a good cheap alternative, DDR2 is still holding it's ground quite well and DDR2 1066 is not expensive


----------



## linderman

DDR2 memory is a much faster platform until they start to offer lower latency with the DDR3 ram sticks

*Blackduck* gave you some awesome choices from the Asus stable


I will suggest some Gigabyte models

GA-P35-DS4

GA-EP35-D34

GA-P35-DQ6

I would double check your Intel 965 chipset from your first board choice as not many 965 boards are compatible with 1333 mhz cpus ?????


----------



## linderman

there are some decent new release X38 chipset boards from both asus and gigabyte which both use DDR2 memory; these are decent boards but are over priced IMHO by at least $75.00

they had to release some X38 boards that could use DDR2 memory to prove the X38 could keep pace with the P35 chipset >>>>> the DDR3 platforms right now cant keep pace with DDR2 systems, their big number latencies are crippling them


----------



## Acuta73

This is the board Own3d suggested to me, and the more I look at it, the more I like it. Though with the NB heat issues, I may end up on watercooling.

Asus Striker II Formula

Overpriced, to be sure, but a nice Mobo! I want it for the SLI, too, though. 9800Gx2 Quad SLI.........soon as I can afford another card (heck, still waiting on taxes just to build it!)

Eric


----------



## Doombot

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. Right now my choice is this one:

ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

The slightly higher customer satisfaction and it's Customer Choice award is winning me over.

With this board do I have the option to choose either DDR2 800 or DDR 1066? Not planning to put both versions but if the price isn't that much different, I'll go with the better memory.

Thank you very much again. 

ps. Assuming I did get that Motherboard what memory would you all suggest? My os will be Vista 64 and I'd like 2 gigs in each slot for a total fo 4 gigs of ram.


----------



## blackduck30

Any of these would be fine

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1052315794+1052108080&name=240-Pin+DDR2+SDRAM

from what i can see you can use 1066, If you want to overclock at some stage I would go with the 1066


----------



## Acuta73

Just remember, as I have learned recently, when using 4Gb of RAM in a Dual Channel Mobo, you need to have the RAM in the right slots. Should be color-coded. I think the Mobo you are looking at puts the Dual in the White slots. If you decided to go with 8Gb of RAM, add 2 more sticks to the blue slots. Ie, the first 2 sticks of 2Gb RAM go in the white slots, the second 2 sticks of 2Gb RAM go in the blue slots. I may have this backward, so check the user manual...

I may go with this RAM myself. I like the built-in fans and not much more than I was gonna spend on Kingston.

Eric


----------



## Doombot

blackduck30 said:


> Any of these would be fine
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1052315794+1052108080&name=240-Pin+DDR2+SDRAM
> 
> from what i can see you can use 1066, If you want to overclock at some stage I would go with the 1066


Going with 1066 for sure. Thank you very much for your help. =)


----------



## Doombot

Ssrogg said:


> Just remember, as I have learned recently, when using 4Gb of RAM in a Dual Channel Mobo, you need to have the RAM in the right slots. Should be color-coded. I think the Mobo you are looking at puts the Dual in the White slots. If you decided to go with 8Gb of RAM, add 2 more sticks to the blue slots. Ie, the first 2 sticks of 2Gb RAM go in the white slots, the second 2 sticks of 2Gb RAM go in the blue slots. I may have this backward, so check the user manual...
> 
> I may go with this RAM myself. I like the built-in fans and not much more than I was gonna spend on Kingston.
> 
> Eric


I like that ram and the satisfaction scores are high. Thanks for the information on the color slots. That might have caused some frustration when I put everything together.

Thanks a bunch!


----------



## blackduck30

I use the dominator in the 1GX2. Has been great and had no problems.
One thing to remember is to go into the bios and manually set the ram voltage as when in auto it usually only gives you 1.8V and 2.1 is recommended.
If you need help setting voltages let us know

*EDIT:* I was also thinking about your old IDE drive. Why not just buy an external enclosure like the one below and keep it as an external storage drive

*VANTEC Nexstar 3 NST-360U2-BK Aluminum 3.5" USB 2.0 External Enclosure - Retail $26
*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817145131


----------



## Doombot

linderman said:


> DDR2 memory is a much faster platform until they start to offer lower latency with the DDR3 ram sticks
> 
> *Blackduck* gave you some awesome choices from the Asus stable
> 
> 
> I will suggest some Gigabyte models
> 
> GA-P35-DS4
> 
> GA-EP35-D34
> 
> GA-P35-DQ6
> 
> I would double check your Intel 965 chipset from your first board choice as not many 965 boards are compatible with 1333 mhz cpus ?????


Some of those look interesting (one or two looked discontinued). I think I'll go with the Asus but I appreciate your (and everyone elses) help with the motherboard choice. It's really helped me.


----------



## Doombot

blackduck30 said:


> *EDIT:* I was also thinking about your old IDE drive. Why not just buy an external enclosure like the one below and keep it as an external storage drive
> 
> *VANTEC Nexstar 3 NST-360U2-BK Aluminum 3.5" USB 2.0 External Enclosure - Retail $26
> *
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817145131


You know... it's funny because I thought about it and then dismissed it when I should have looked into it.

Here's what happened in my head.

I remember someone saying to me about four years ago: "Oh yeah... we can even put the harddrive in an external if you want but it's REALLY expensive." (I didn't have the procedure done. I just copied the data over during the times the drive DID work).

But... I should have looked into getting an external for my recent drive instead of dismissing it. So Thank You! That solves my data transfer issue. =)


----------



## blackduck30

The Gigabyte boards are nice but i like my ASUS boards, Couple it with some 1066 ram and an E8400 you should have a nice setup, throw an 8800GT and your styling
Just remember to get a decent power supply from the likes of Seasonic, PC Power and Cooling, antec silverstone ect
I am not trying to sway you from the Gigabyte at all because gigabyte do make a nice board but my personal preference is Asus.

Installing your IDE drive in an external case is very easy


----------



## Doombot

blackduck30 said:


> The Gigabyte boards are nice but i like my ASUS boards, Couple it with some 1066 ram and an E8400 you should have a nice setup, throw an 8800GT and your styling
> Just remember to get a decent power supply from the likes of Seasonic, PC Power and Cooling, antec silverstone ect
> I am not trying to sway you from the Gigabyte at all because gigabyte do make a nice board but my personal preference is Asus.
> 
> Installing your IDE drive in an external case is very easy


The Gigabyte was a close second choice. Basically I was told to go with either Asus or Gigabyte for my motherboard choice. =)


----------



## Doombot

So here's what I have so far. I have a few more questions to ask after the list if you all wouldn't mind answering them.
*
Purchased: *SAMSUNG 2253BW Black 22" 2ms(GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP Support 300 cd

*
Purchased: *Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

*
Purchased: *ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail

*
Purchased: *Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

*
Purchased: *Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

*
Purchased: *BELKIN F8E093 Anti-Static Wrist Strap - Retail

*
Purchased: *American Recorder CO-53108 Anti-Static Glove

Tomorrow I'll order this:

ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

VANTEC Nexstar 3 NST-360U2-BK Aluminum 3.5" USB 2.0 External Enclosure

This is out of stock

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

However I may just get it somewhere else.

I haven't decided on the graphic card yet. My recommendations are for a 8800 GT or a 8800GTS. I several choices at newegg but I don't know which one I should get. I'm a online gamer who plays some shooters (Bioshock, Portal, Half Life 2) and will be playing Spore and Fallout 3 when it comes out. Based on what I have so far, what would be a good fit? I'll also be using two monitors. The 2nd one is a 4 year old LCD monitor.

For the powersuppy... what voltage should I get? 750W? Higher?

Will I need more fans than what's supplied in the Antec computer case?

For my harddrive. Should I go with 10,000 model with a smaller storage size for my 1st/Main Hard Drive since that's where my programs will be and let the second hard drive be my storage / scratch disk for Photoshop? Is it even that much of a issue in difference of performance?

Thanks in advance.

ps. I see a few different versions of Vista out there. I don't need the one with all the bells and whistles. For someone that wants to run a 64 bit os which version should I get? Thanks again for all the help so far.


----------



## blackduck30

Your video card is really dependant on your budget, if you can afford the 8800GTS then go with that but make sure it is the G92 chipset version, it should say so in the description, if not the 8800GT is still a nice choice and I run an MSI version and have been very happy with it.

Power supply, have a look at these two

*PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Crossfire Edition) EPS12V 750W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, RoHS - Retail $149 or $159
*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2010320058+50009830+113142558&name=701+-+800W

*This is a good buy at the moment for $139*

*SILVERSTONE ST85ZF ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS12V 850W SLI Certified Power Supply 90V ~ 264V (Auto Range) - Retail*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256007

as for drives your choice also, the 10K Raptors are very popular so maybe a 150G raptor for your OS and a nice 16mb cache 250G seagate for storage

*Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $170*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136012

*or the pretty version with a window for an extra $5*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136011

and a seagate 250G

*Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $65*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262

or

*Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $100
*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148136

as for your OS , Vista home premium is not a bad choice

video card links

*8800GTS (G92) the G92 is a faster chipset than the original 8800GTS* 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148136

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127325

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130337

*8800GT ( G92 )*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130319

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150254

I think this might be an alternative to the dominator
I have not try'd it as i usually always stick to Corsair

* OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $135 ( after rebate )*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289


----------



## tomas.termit

Regarding to DDR3 mems. 
I do not think that DDR3 are worst then DDR2. The same situation was when DDR2 came on market. I think still is better have a space for upgrade as buy brand new motherboard when upgrade will be required. The same is with processors. ASUS's gamblers motherboards have no support for 4core processors (few of them). In present is useless buy DDR3 due to their price, but in near future prices will fall down.


----------



## Doombot

Thank you BlackDuck for that list (and to the others with their advice of course).

I purchased this motherboard: ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 

That should allow me to purchased DDR3 Ram in the future but for now I'm going to try to stick with that Consair suggested below.

I purchased one of the recommended power supplies. The one not chosen had low reviews and since this is my first build I want to limit the potential issues. So I got this: PC Power & Cooling S75QB EPS12V 750W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, ULC, CE, CB, RoHS - Retail The high reviews reassured me.

For the primary hard drive, I went with the recommendation again and got this: Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM Once again, the high reviews were reassuring especially with it's customer service award.

I'm still weighing my options with the graphic card and the secondary harddrive may be purchased with a few weeks. That's something I can wait on if needed since I hope to be able to access my old data. Audio files can play just fine via a USB connection.

I do have a further question about Vista. It appears that some versions of Vista 64 will work with one computer. Normally that's not a issue since I don't wish to install it on multiple computers. But if I change the motherboard will I be forced to install a new version? It's something that I heard and I just want to see what the truth is.

So what version of Vista do you think I should get?

Thanks everyone for the help so far. It's been very helpful.


----------



## blackduck30

No problem Doombot, always happy to give advice.

I think you will be happy with your choices.

As for vista, from what i can tell from the licensing agreement you might have to purchase another copy if you went with OEM over retail, altho I think there may be a clause if your motherboard fails and you can not get the same board.
I have changed out a failed board with an OEM XP and rang MS and they let me reactivate it but don't take this as standard proceedure.

Best bet is to call MS at least then you get it straight from the horses mouth


----------



## linderman

Vista has VERY strict rules about upgrading >>>>>> if you change motherboards I *guarantee* you will be buying another copy 


XP was not that strict >>>>> the retail versions were actually very loose on hardwarte restrictions compared to vista


hell; I have seen some guys thrown into activation by driver upgrading

hopefully in the future they will "fix" that foolish annoyance same with the trouble cloning your hard drives ........... last time I tried, you cant clone with vista


----------



## blackduck30

Thanks for clearing that up Linderman, as always a wealth of information :wave:


----------



## linderman

Blackduck sure has steered you in the direction of some very high performance components for the right price >>>>> you will enjoy that rig ! ray:


----------



## Doombot

linderman said:


> Blackduck sure has steered you in the direction of some very high performance components for the right price >>>>> you will enjoy that rig ! ray:


I agree. Anyone can quote top dollar systems but those look like a nice balance of performance and price so good job! =)

Thanks for the information on Vista, Linderman. Would you mind posting a URL from Newegg so I'm sure to get the right one? Is there a version in your opinion that just had 'too much' in terms of features? Which version do you prefer?

Thanks in advance.


----------



## 1 g0t 0wn3d

linderman said:


> Vista has VERY strict rules about upgrading >>>>>> if you change motherboards I *guarantee* you will be buying another copy
> 
> 
> XP was not that strict >>>>> the retail versions were actually very loose on hardwarte restrictions compared to vista
> 
> 
> hell; I have seen some guys thrown into activation by driver upgrading
> 
> hopefully in the future they will "fix" that foolish annoyance same with the trouble cloning your hard drives ........... last time I tried, you cant clone with vista


I have to disagree...i threw this motherboard in my hp and all it needed was a repair install


----------



## Doombot

Well... I'm down to just the memory. The DDR2 1066 4Gig memory that I want is out of stock and will be for at least another week. Looking for 2 (2 Gig) setups.

Any recommendations on another memory choice to use with this motherboard?

ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Thanks in advance. =)


----------



## blackduck30

I have not used it personally but i have heard good things

*CZ Reaper HPC 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $105 ( after rebate )*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289


----------



## Doombot

I thought I should post my final purchase list in case it might help anyone else. I believe (minus the monitor) this all fell under 1500.00 with the various specials and rebates. Thanks again for all the help and I suspect I may have a question or two as I assemble it over the next couple of days.

I'm still waiting on the secondary hard drive and I want to see what the sound sounds like before I get a sound card. If the sound from the motherboard is ok then I'll just stick with that.








OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail








Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM (The SP1 version was out of stock) I'm taking the chance that I won't be upgrading the motherboard so that's why I went with this version of Vista.








American Recorder CO-53108 Anti-Static Glove With a top hat and cane, I'll look stylish.








MSI NX8800GTS 512M OC GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail Free Witcher PC game w/ purchase, while supplies last








SAMSUNG Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - OEM








Rosewill RTK-015 15 Piece Standard Computer Tool Kit - Retail








Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail








BELKIN F8E093 Anti-Static Wrist Strap - Retail








PC Power & Cooling S75QB EPS12V 750W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, ULC, CE, CB, RoHS - Retail








Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM








ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail








VANTEC Nexstar 3 NST-360U2-BK Aluminum 3.5" USB 2.0 External Enclosure - Retail








Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail








Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM








ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail








SAMSUNG 2253BW Black 22" 2ms(GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP Support 300 cd/m2 DC 8000:1 - Retail


----------



## blackduck30

looks like a solid build there, I am sure you will be happy

One thing i do suggest is take the time to make your case wires nice and tidy and hide as many as you can, route them so they are neet and out of sight. makes the case look neet and tidy and helps air flow :wave:


----------



## linderman

are you sure you want a 64bit windows OS ????? do you already have 64bit programs ?


if not you want a 32bit Vista OS


----------



## linderman

I must be one hellva unlucky guy then / I have been thru vista hell




one system I sold had a motherboard that wigged out a week after I sold it / the customer didnt want to wait for his motherboard to be RMA'd so I replaced his board with another one >>>> but different model; one I had in stock

then I couldnt get activation approval >>>>> so I had to use a new copy of vista with the motherboard

the hard drives are now even kept in vista's hardware algorithm(inventory) / so a dud hard drive replacement now counts against your changes


just good ole fun; right :upset:


see what happens when you change video drivers 4 or 5 times you will love it :4-thatsba:wave:


Vista Ultimate seems alot less strict though, probably worth the extra few bucks during the life span of the computer >>>>>> which is about two times longer than life span of a mosquito :laugh:


I just hope MS softens as times goes on with vista >>>>>


----------



## linderman

*Nice system specs* on the final build ray: / *alot of muscle for the money *


I hear alot of good things about the OCZ reaper memory >>>> i would not hesitate to give it a try! :wave:


----------



## Doombot

linderman said:


> are you sure you want a 64bit windows OS ????? do you already have 64bit programs ?
> 
> 
> if not you want a 32bit Vista OS


It was more so I could use the 4 gigs of ram (and maybe 8 in the future) and to have options for the future. I already got it so hopefully it wasn't a huge mistake.


----------



## markdude

blackduck30 said:


> Well I tend to disagree about the DDR3 being better, more expensive yes but better no.
> I personally would stick to DDR2 and a good P35 or X38 motherboard.
> 
> * ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $225*
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219
> 
> * ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $200
> *
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131182
> 
> By the time you want to upgrade again DDR3 might then be a good cheap alternative, DDR2 is still holding it's ground quite well and DDR2 1066 is not expensive



These two boards appear to be almost identical except the PCI-E slot on the second one says x1x4 electrical. What is the diff ?
I have a E8400 DUo core chip, and am selecting a mobo to replace my old one. Do these mobos have 5.1 sound like a soundblaster ? Why would the center and sub output be shared , isnt the sub suposed to be LFE only ? does it matter, since the sub can bypass higher freqs with a tuning knob ?


----------



## markdude

SO how did your build work out wiht that mobo and CPU ? I plan on doing the same type setup. Are you liking your mobo and CPU choice ? any suggestions about setting it up, BIOS, etc ?


----------



## jackfridman

There are some decent new mother boards from Intel, MSI, asus and gigabyte which all use DDR2 memory and have an IDE / SATA connection (so you can use your old H.D as a 2nd drive) you can fine some here: http://www.dww.net.au/catalog/id/1600030/p/160/t/1/n/motherboards.html or just go to http://dww.net.au

you can alwayes connect your old HD as an external drive (just get a USB case) available at http://www.dww.net.au/catalog/id/130/n/storage.html


----------



## linderman

I have used MANY P5K-Deluxe and P5K-E wifi all the asus P35 chipset motherboards are awesome


----------



## Doombot

markdude said:


> SO how did your build work out wiht that mobo and CPU ? I plan on doing the same type setup. Are you liking your mobo and CPU choice ? any suggestions about setting it up, BIOS, etc ?


It worked very well.

Sorry about the lack of Thank You's after the completion of my computer. I was in a fairly bad accident. (Broke both arms, two teeth, and various scrapes)

Basically I finished the computer, had my accident and had all my data waiting for 2 months to be transferred and I couldn't play many games. Let me tell you, it's infuriating to have a brand new spanking computer and not be able to play games. But surfing was fast!

Anyway, I'm better now and the computer is awesome. No issues for me besides the installation of the cooling fan/heatsink. The plugs are very hard to put in and I broke two of the plugs even though I thought I was being gentle and slow with the installation. I went to Home Depot, got a few paper washers/plastic washers, some nuts and bolts and the heat sink was installed.

Everything else was very easy. Flashing the hard drive was a snap since it reads off a USB drive. Vista 64 has no issues for me after I set the user permissions to stop asking me if it was ok to start a program. Some programs don't work but the only one that didn't work for me was ZoneAlarm. It's always been my firewall of choice and so I'm just using Windows Firewall for now but I'd rather use ZoneAlarm.

Transferring the data was easier than I thought. I didn't need the kits. I just disconnected the CD rom's wire and plugged it into the old drive. Besides some bad sectors on the original drive, all my data was transferred over to the new one. It reads all 4 gigs of ram and Portal, Half Life 2 and Team Fortress look awesome.

It's a good system and thanks to everyone who helped a first time user create her computer!

Thanks! =)


----------

