MOBO question for a new gaming rig

[Svaneyk]

I'm pulling together a list for my new gaming rig and I wanted to run a couple of different motherboards by you all for your input.

Just to complete the picture, I don't plan on SLI or Xfire at this time, although I'll continue to evaluate that option down the road. I probably won't OC at this time until I've fully researched this avenue and really know what I'm doing. What I want is a solid high end board that will allow me to run a very high frame rate on graphically intense games. I'll be installing a 8800gts 512mb NVIDIA graphics card in this build and a Q6600 cpu.

The two I've kind of narrowed down to are:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188024

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131227

They are both priced the same, the EVGA card is SLI ready if I ever chose to go this route. I've had good success with ASUS in the past however, I am worried by what I read on the boards about ASUS's very poor customer support. I've never purchased an EVGA board before and have no personal experience.

Bottom line I'd love to get some more opinions on these two choices.

[doubledragon5]

If your going Intel then get the ASUS with the intel chipset. As far as asus support goes I have never had any issues with their support, but from time to time you will get someone who isn't happy for one reason or the other.. I have used asus on all my builds and never had a problem when needing support..

[shadowpr]

Out of those two, I would get the asus.

Have you looked at the Asus P5K-E? Could save money with that board. And it should provide you with all you need.

[Khalil]

I belong to a big gaming Guild with almost 500 members, a lot of them are SLI owners. It seems that SLI works much better with AMD rigs.
You may want to check some gaming forums before you make a purchase.
If you going with one card then either Intel or AMD will work great for you but SLI and Intel don't seem to be a good partnership from all I am reading on our guild forums.
I would love to have you read the posts on our forums but it is a closed members only forum that you have to join from within one of the games we play.
I totaly agree with the guys on the Asus recommendation.

[shadowpr]

Originally Posted by Khalil It seems that SLI works much better with AMD rigs.

How about crossfire? Does that seem to work better with intel?

[Khalil]

Crossfire is ATI which is AMD, I have not seen anyone using it with Intel so I really can't comment. Are there any Crossfire Intel boards?

Edit: I don't shop Intel products but I just checked at newegg, there seems to be a bunch of them, it would be interesting to find out how well they do. I will check our guild forums and see if anyone has one or even tried one and let you guys know what they think.

[Svaneyk]

Originally Posted by shadowpr Out of those two, I would get the asus. Have you looked at the Asus P5K-E? Could save money with that board. And it should provide you with all you need.

I see these two P5K boards on newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...luxe&x=13&y=30

Searching further I found additional P5k-E boards.

My only concern is that they all have the older P35 chipset.

[Masaki 7-11]

Here is the P5K-E motherboard (normal): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131225
With wifi: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131196

The P35 chipset isn't very old, and should work with any new processors that come out from Intel on the 775 socket. The P35 also comes close to the performance of the X38, the only reason I see to get a higher end motherboard in terms of chipset is if you want to go with DDR3 (which isn't a very economical choice).

[liambl]

Originally Posted by Khalil Are there any Crossfire Intel boards?

Yes, lots. Crossfire is supported on most Intel X38 based motherboards.

[Khalil]

I chatted with a few guys last night in game and checked out the guild forum. There are very few using Intel with Crossfire, I saw no complaints at all when I did the search. So it sounds like for those who have them they are happy with them.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by liambl Yes, lots. Crossfire is supported on most Intel X38 based motherboards.

I'm pretty sure that Crossfire is supported on ALL Intel X38 motherboards, and ALL Intel 975X motherboards, you can also find motherboards with support for crossfire on motherboards with P945, P965 and P35 chipsets.

[Khalil]

Would be interesting to get feedback on Crossfire/Intel from a PCmech member who owns one.