what board?

[TacticalTimbo]

i’m trying to decide what board to go with and whether to get one with a P35 or an SLi 680 chipset?

i don't wanna spend much but want a decent spec end result. this is one board im lookin at:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126437

Q1 will this do full speed SLi i.e. x16 on both pci e slots (nvidia site suggests 680i chipset does)?

Q2 will this board work with the Intel Q9450?

Q3 finally does this have e-sata or at least let you wire a sata up as one?

Or should I go totally different and get this:

http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=289276&sourceid=2008

can get for about £70

i ask so much because ive been a lappy guy for the last 4-5 years and things have gotten so complex since i built my last system in the days of DDR, AGP, IDE and single core processors, so many more choices. its drivin me crazy :banghead:

 

[NobodyNowhereNothing]

i’m trying to decide what board to go with and whether to get one with a P35 or an SLi 680 chipset?

Hi mate,

Well, Here is a question for you:

Will you use SLI? Are you really likely to spend all that money and get another graphic card or not? If not then You will pay for something you wont use ..

i don't wanna spend much but want a decent spec end result. this is one board im lookin at:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126437

680i - 780i are terrible boards in overclocking ( At least in my opinion ... I had to sent back mine in a week .. just couldnt work with it! )

Q1 will this do full speed SLi i.e. x16 on both pci e slots (nvidia site suggests 680i chipset does)?

Yes it will.

Q2 will this board work with the Intel Q9450?

I am not sure to be honest, according to their site yes it supports new 45nm CPUs . So Yes.

Q3 finally does this have e-sata or at least let you wire a sata up as one?

No e sata!

Or should I go totally different and get this:

http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=289276&sourceid=2008

can get for about £70

i ask so much because ive been a lappy guy for the last 4-5 years and things have gotten so complex since i built my last system in the days of DDR, AGP, IDE and single core processors, so many more choices. its drivin me crazy :banghead:

I would go with a P35 board like the one you mentioned .. Also check out abit they have some nice boards too ( I have a IP35 Pro and i am very happy with it .. It is a little more expensive tho! )

Hope i helped.

 

[BUFF]

1. yes (but do you ever expect to do SLI?)

2. probably not

3. it doesn't have dedicated eSATA ports but with an appropriate cable etc. you could do it.

If you go P35 may I suggest the abit IP35 that's on http://www.scan.co.uk/todayonly/ over the weekend for £57?

Imo it's a better board & it's certainly got more features (ICH9R & firewire).

 

[TacticalTimbo]

1. yes (but do you ever expect to do SLI?)

2. probably not

3. it doesn't have dedicated eSATA ports but with an appropriate cable etc. you could do it.

If you go P35 may I suggest the abit IP35 that's on http://www.scan.co.uk/todayonly/ over the weekend for £57?

Imo it's a better board & it's certainly got more features (ICH9R & firewire).

The link didnt seem to take me to anything specific but is this the one you mean: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=770368

So what is wrong with the 680 SLi chipset, from what ive read its about as high as the nforce chipsets go without steppin into the $$$ seven series?

Oh this looks cheap btw:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=4QL0

eSATA, 12xUSB, 2xfirewire, plus DDR3!!

btw does SLi and crossfire work regardless of chipset or do you need and nforce or crossfire chipset respectively?

 

[BUFF]

The link didnt seem to take me to anything specific but is this the one you mean: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=770368

See if this link works for you.

https://secure.scan.co.uk/shop/addtocart.asp?wpid=792345

If not you'll have to scroll down the Today Only page until Section 12 motherboards, abit IP35 Dark Raider.

So what is wrong with the 680 SLi chipset, from what ive read its about as high as the nforce chipsets go without steppin into the $$$ seven series?

Intel & nVidia have been having spats recently & perhaps nVidia wasn't told everything at the time.

At any rate 680i is a problem prone chipset (780i is just the same chipset with a bridge chip for PCI-E 2.0 added), 790i looks a lot better.

Oh this looks cheap btw:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=4QL0

eSATA, 12xUSB, 2xfirewire, plus DDR3!!

& DDR3 will cost you an arm & a leg ...

This might suit you though

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=636580

btw does SLi and crossfire work regardless of chipset or do you need and nforce or crossfire chipset respectively?

nVidia SLI drivers look for an nVidia chipset before enabling SLI so SLI is effectively tied to a mobo with an nVidia chipset on it.

Crossfire I believe should be more open but I doubt that few have tried running CF on an nVidia SLI mobo.

 

[TacticalTimbo]

nVidia SLI drivers look for an nVidia chipset before enabling SLI so SLI is effectively tied to a mobo with an nVidia chipset on it.

Crossfire I believe should be more open but I doubt that few have tried running CF on an nVidia SLI mobo.

so in other words if i go P35 I wont be able to use Sli despite it having 2 pci express slots? If this is the case will i see less or even no performance increase at all? so confusing!!

 

[BUFF]

so in other words if i go P35 I wont be able to use Sli despite it having 2 pci express slots? If this is the case will i see less or even no performance increase at all? so confusing!!

as things stand there are no drivers that allow SLI on P35.

less or no performance increase compared to what?

 

[TacticalTimbo]

as things stand there are no drivers that allow SLI on P35.

less or no performance increase compared to what?

Well if you put two nvidia sli cards in a p35 board compaired to in a nforce board?

 

[BUFF]

you can't do SLI on a P35 (hacked drivers aside), Crossfire only.

However, unless you are running very high resolution, FSAA etc. on a very large monitor you are usually better off with the single best gfx card that you can afford.

 

[TacticalTimbo]

My bro's got a pc with 2xNvidia 8600GT's on a P35 board, does this mean its doing nothing for him?

 

[FarFarAway]

Seeing as an 8600 GT is a pretty bad/old mid-range card, I'd say yep

Getting a decent single card is a far better option

 

[BUFF]

My bro's got a pc with 2xNvidia 8600GT's on a P35 board, does this mean its doing nothing for him?

unless he's running multi-monitor (3 or 4) I would imagine, yes.

would be interesting to know if he has tried running SLI as afaik it shoudn't enable.

 

[NobodyNowhereNothing]

Yup ... The second card is not being used at all ... He needs a Nvidia based which supports SLI!

EDIT: Everyone seemes to beat me to it .. Sorry!

:worship:

 

[TacticalTimbo]

Seeing as an 8600 GT is a pretty bad/old mid-range card, I'd say yep

Getting a decent single card is a far better option

well what kind of card do you recommend, i was thinkin 8800gts 512mb maybe? I think thoe it is completely retarded to spend £350-400 on a g card that will be considered lame in a weeks time and that every nerdy fan boy from here to bangkok will be calling you wack for!! I mean I know games like crysis and the coming farcry 2 mean requirements change fast but the bulk of users dont have £400+ g cards and the game producers know this! for example my current pc (i really only use my lappys now) has a fx7500 128mb, which yes is old as hell but it still runs farcry and doom 3 on high settings so i cant imagine the 8600gt can be that bad! I mean i havnt used his pc much because, well its his, but common!

 

[BUFF]

iirc the 7600gt is actually a more powerful card than the 8600GT (nVidia marketing at work)

 

[FarFarAway]

I love that your saying that spending more on a graphics card is a stupid idea, but spending the same amount on two is a good idea. If you only have enough money for one mid-range card then sure get one mid-range card, but getting two mid-range cards makes no sense at all - you may as well buy a mid-high range card

 

[TacticalTimbo]

I love that your saying that spending more on a graphics card is a stupid idea, but spending the same amount on two is a good idea. If you only have enough money for one mid-range card then sure get one mid-range card, but getting two mid-range cards makes no sense at all - you may as well buy a mid-high range card

A 1gb 8600GT is about £67 http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...rce+8600GT+1024MB+DDR2+PCI-E+?productId=29836

so x2 1gb 8600GT is £134 not quite the £450-500 for a 8800Ultra is it! not even the same as a 320mb 8800GTS at about 150-160. point taken about the one good card may be better that 2 less good cards but it isnt gonna be cheaper or even the same so wats ure point. Where is my quote say summin like "buyin two 8600GTs is a really great idea", no where? thats because i didnt say it! I simply said my bro has two in his machine (which i did not buy, or even get consulted on) will they both be work'in. i didnt ask if they where rubbish, i am aware of the range of cards on offer just confused about the Sli/crossfire/dual card workings and wanted info about that, thats all!

 

[BUFF]

he would be better with 1 8800GT 512Mb though & that's about £130.

 

[FarFarAway]

he would be better with 1 8800GT 512Mb though & that's about £130.

Indeedy

I've played with a LOT of graphics cards and never has there been a time when I thought SLI was worth the money

If you can afford low end get low end, if you can afford higher end get that, no point in getting two of the low end, it's a bad compromise

 

[Newbieclocker]

A 1gb 8600GT is about £67 http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...rce+8600GT+1024MB+DDR2+PCI-E+?productId=29836

I simply said my bro has two in his machine (which i did not buy, or even get consulted on) will they both be work'in. i didnt ask if they where rubbish, i am aware of the range of cards on offer just confused about the Sli/crossfire/dual card workings and wanted info about that, thats all!

Like BUFF said above, the only real reason to mave more than one graphics card on a non SLI board is for more than 2 monitors (most modern cards can support 2). I don't have an SLI board, but i have 2 Graphics cards: a 7900 GT 512, and something like a nVidia 5400. I use the little card to drive a third monitor; it works great and even plays movies and the like. The 2 cards are not connected together in SLI. The second card isn't for improved performance, just for more monitors. If yor bro has more than two minitors (or planned on having more than two), then that's probably what the second card was for.