Working on a new build? Motherboard suggestions.

[Blue_Gundam2002]

It's a little hard to find unless you use the motherboard menu, http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...131-464&depa=1

[brassplan]

Whats the difference between the Asus P4C800 canterwood and the Asus P4C800-E?....besides price of course

[walkinman]

Maybe listings - least to more expensive?

Froogle.com
Pricewatch.com

Thanks to Force Flow for the database. I find I'm in the market for a new MB. Very helpful.

[bigandy]

Brassplan: Canterwood is just the chipset name. The E-Deluxe, or just Deluxe, usually has some extra goodies that the base model (P4C800) doesn't have.

[brassplan]

are those goodies worth the extra 20 bucks?

[Force Flow]

It depends on what you want. Do you need those "goodies" for anything? If not, don't bother springing the extra $20.

[WHB]

Originally posted by biglawdog1 I hope its not inappropriate to post this here but recently did a build with a retail Asus PC4C800-E (make sure to get the -E btw) and it is by far and away, the most fantastic mobo I've ever owned or done a build with. First, the retail box came with literally everything you could possibly need or want in doing the build. Sata cables, IDE cables, screws, pins, discs, good looking leggy blondes, you name it. I've done a couple of builds and by far, the ASUS comes with everything you could possibly want (and then some- I have quite a few parts left over). The board is unbelievably easy to install and set up. The bios is simply the best I've dealt with. Not only is it uncomplicated its extremely detailed, with some nice help prompts for the stuff you dont know if you should fiddle with. The board runs duel channel memory and I invested in a matched set of Corsair 3200-Pro LL's -holy crap, its fast. And for the noobie (like me =)), the board has an overclocking feature built in - allows overclocking in 5, 10, 15, 20 % intervals. I'm running my board overclocked at 10% and its up for a 3.4 PIV to a 3.75 PIV. Even un-overclocked, the board, memory and processor scream. I've noticed a big difference in just about every application and game I've run (new processor and new memory contribute significantly I'm sure but still...). Plus, lots of room for expansion. Next purchase is a second raptor to set up a RAID. The board is pricey - 185 from new egg- but so many helpful folks on this board and elsewhere said "start with a good motherboard" and so I did - and I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase. (Admin/Mod- sorry if this is an inappropriate place ot put this- feel free to move it elsewhere if necessary)

Don't forget the P4C800-E Deluxe, could'nt agree more, this board was my first choice in my first build. no problems as of yet.

[Bryan G]

I have been studying this spreadsheet and find it fascinating.

It is curious that a P4C800-E Deluxe with a newer chipset would not support HT.

BTW, what is ICH5 and ICH5R?

Bryan

[Force Flow]

Intel 875P + ICH5
Intel 875P + ICH5R

I'm not exactly sure what the specific difference between the chipsets are, but they are just different model chipsets. Kind of like different models of motherboards. One has different features from another, but they're basically the same.

As for the P4C800-E not supporting HT, yes that was eyebrow raising. That, and the Abit IC7 not being able to support a 400FSB, although it could support 800/533. That was the only board I saw that didn't have a backwards compatable FSB.

I'm glad that you have found the chart interesting!

[TennBikeBerk]

I'm having trouble viewing the file. I downloaded it to my hard drive, but it is showing up as a text document...not a zip file or excel file. What should I do?

[bigandy]

The zip archive is showing as a text doc? Odd, but try right clicking on the file, choose properties, then where you see "opens with", click the change button and select whatever program you use for unzipping zip archives.

[TennBikeBerk]

Still showing as a text document, so Winzip won't open it. I have dealt with zipped files before, and haven't had problems. This is really stumping me!

[longrawker]

Hey, first off, this is a great thread, very informative. Thumbs up to Force Flow.

One problem though, i download those charts, that are said to be excel files... i have MS excell, but when i download the files, they come without a file extension... I added .xls to the end because someone said they were excell files... excell still didnt recognize them...

What am i doing wrong?

Thanks.

[glc]

First, make sure that you have "hide extensions for known file types" DISABLED in your folder options.

If the exact file name is not "motherboards whatever rev.zip" right click it, select Rename, remove whatever extension it may have and make it .zip. Then it will open in Winzip or whatever and you will find an .xls spreadsheet in there.

[Kiwi]

When I started my current search for upgrade data based on the AMD XP + and nForce2 Ultra 400 mating, I didn't see a lot of mention of the DFI motherboards. One of the places I visited was an Overclockers' hangout in NZ, land of my birth; several of the folks there were going GaGa over a couple of the DFI board as subjects for the OC world.

I'm not particularly leaning toward OC activity, but from my personal viewpoint, if a given board remains reasonably stable in spite of the tweaking, it seems to me it should be really solid for those who don't push systems as hard!

When the IDE RAID 0/1 feature on Gigabyte's 7N400 Pro caught my eye, well, I was REALLY interested. Maybe it's not a particularly strong function after all. I have a new thread going about that on this forum. Anyway, I thought that I saw a mention in the intro to the chart about there being an Abit board with IDE RAID. It must've been a MB intended for an Intel processor.

After writing the above query, and getting some sleep, and some coffee, I've read a May, 2004 review of a reference MB that nVidia sent around to show off their new Ultra 400GB chipset. It has RAID 0, 1 for both IDE and SATA. Now I need to know what the Asus A7N8X will morph into when it adds that. Something beyond - E Deluxe, I presume.

Also presumably, Gigabyte missed the cut in this chart because it doesn't accept overclocking to the same extent as some other boards. I've had excellent service from a GA-7ZXE, myself - never tried speeding it up, however.

[BAD_Habit]

WOW!!

And i used to consider myself pc savvy.. Pfft you guys have totally lost me.,.

I feel like a noobie again.....the information on this site is so overwhelming I had to walk away to give my brain a chance to absorb it all....

Anyone have a pc lingo decoder i can borrow


Anyhow im looking at building my first PC , and ive read quite a bit of posts but not knowing what half the things you guys are refering to is making it more cornfused ...lol..

I want to build this new pc for mostly gaming ...I want it fast and crisp....no hangging or lagging ...but up to date with all the new system req. these days...

I dont even know where to start , well lemme rephrase that i found this forum is the first place to start , now would someone be willing to translate?
Any sugg. would be great....

*(Straightens my pocket protector )*


BAD_Habit

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by BAD_Habit I dont even know where to start , well lemme rephrase that i found this forum is the first place to start , now would someone be willing to translate? Any sugg. would be great....

First of all, start your own thread asking for help with your first build. State your budget and processor preference if you have one (AMD or Intel). If you're going to reuse anything you already have (monitor, keyboard, mouse) please say so.

If you haven't already done so, go over the PC Mech Build Your Own PC guide. Remember, it's a guide, not complete instructions for building every single computer. You still have to do your homework like read the motherboard manual before you begin assembly.

Oh yeah...welcome to PC Mech.

Cricket

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by Kiwi Also presumably, Gigabyte missed the cut in this chart because it doesn't accept overclocking to the same extent as some other boards. I've had excellent service from a GA-7ZXE, myself - never tried speeding it up, however.

Nope, has nothing to do with OCing. These are just proven and tested boards. Gigabyte...well...years ago they had great boards. Now, the quality has really gone downhill (high failure rates).

[Cricket]

Hey Force, really like your new avatar.

Cricket

[fedz]

Bad Habit: If you live in the UK there's a great book available from Amazon, which I've read and really recommend:
"Build your own PC" by Kyle MacRae

Hope that helps

fedz

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by Cricket Hey Force, really like your new avatar.

Thanks Cricket

[rdlaing]

Originally Posted by Force Flow Yes, it is an excel file, which needs MS excel to open

Hating M$, the open source amigos have provided us with Open Office, which not only opens everything but also exports to M$-app compatible formats. It's a fully functional productivity suite that meets every need I could ever imagine, keeps that talking paperclip the heck away from my desktop, and is absolutely free:

http://www.openoffice.org/

ahh

[dtharp12]

For some reason I can't open this up. I save it to desktop, then when I try to unzip I get a message saying the file is damaged or incomplete. After unzipping, I get an empty folder on desktop. Any advice?

[Force Flow]

Try re-downloading it.

[toostrike]

Originally Posted by Force Flow Revision 3 The Intel D865GBF has gotten a lot of good feedback on the boards here, so I'm adding it to the list. Here's revision 3:

I went into folder options and made sure that" hide extentions for known file types",was checked.I also renamed the file adding .zip to the end of the name.It still did not work. Some people are not having these problems,so I'll keep trying...................

[Force Flow]

You would want it *unchecked* if you want to change the extension. However, the file is a *.zip file, so changing it to something else won't help. If you can't open it, download and install winzip. http://www.winzip.com

[04nmr85]

I downloaded and tried to open the zip file but it says it couldn't open it: it does not appear to be a valid archive. can anyone help?
*EDIT I re downloaded them several times, still doesn't do anything

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by 04nmr85 I downloaded and tried to open the zip file but it says it couldn't open it: it does not appear to be a valid archive. can anyone help? *EDIT I re downloaded them several times, still doesn't do anything

I think you need to start a new thread in the appropriate forum (General Software).

Cricket

[04nmr85]

Sorry, i just thought since it only happened with this zip file i would post here.

[gaznaii]

Hi...
does that has a great influence if the motherboard supports 8x AGP video card, or if it is 4x AGP video card.
my vedio card is 8x, but it could be used on 4x, and my motherboard supports 4x.

Also I have baught this motherboard which supports PC3200, but when I read the catalog I knew that it works at 355MHz.