Which is the mobo of choice?

[Running Rampant]

Hi, I've been looking into mobos and am wondering which of these 3 are the best in terms of performance & value for money?

The DS3 was a HL recommendation, but it looks like there are 2 versions of this mobo, the 965G and 965P at very similar prices (approx £78). Also what about the 965P DS4 (£100)? How much better is it, if at all?

The other mobo that was recommended was the P5W DH DELUXE (£140), but I've found 2 other versions, the P5W64 WS PRO and P5WDG2 WS PROF for about the same price (approx £175)...£35 more than the DULUXE. Are they worth it?

So, all in all, which is the best value? How well would that work with a Core2Duo E6400/E6600? And are there any other mobos I haven't concidered?

Thanks guys

[Quakindude]

That depends on your future upgrade decisions. If you do not plan on going SLI at anytime in the future, I would get the DS4 as it supports Quad core CPU's right out of the box. The difference between the 965p and 965g is that the G designator means it has onboard graphics. If you go with an Intel based board, I would go ahead and get the G model simply so that you have an onboard graphics solution to fall back on in case your video card goes out and for trouble shooting video issues.

That DS4 is a brand new board. I can't even find it here in the States.

[Capper]

updating our Recommendations pages at the end of the month, but I agree with a lot of what Tom says. I'd generally pass on the G board, only because they tend not to overclock as well as the P Series, but Tom brings up a great point about having integrated graphics to fall back on if you have any problems.
As far as the ASUS boards go, you really can't go wrong with any ASUS board, they are the Cadillac of motherboards, offering great stability for the everyday user and great overclocking potential for the enthusiast

[Hitman]

I am going to throw this out there for those of you that don't deal in foreign currency too much. It takes approximately $2 to equal £1. So if you double the price in GBP you get the approximate price in USD.

[Running Rampant]

Originally Posted by Quakindude

That DS4 is a brand new board. I can't even find it here in the States.

Well, it said its a DS4...

Gigabyte S775 Intel 965P ATX GLan HD 8CH Audio ATX S/Pipe (GA 965P DS4)

I was interested in the support that the Asus has for Crossfire but it seems there isn't much differance between the two, looking at it here...

Compare Products - Refinement... products at great prices from dabs.com

Am I missing something?

[Quakindude]

The specs for that DS4 they have don't match up with what Gigabyte has on their website. In particular, the Gigabyte website says the DS4 is Quad Core ready. The links you've provided say nothing about Quad Core. It almost looks like a DQ6 and an older ASUS 975 chipset mobo side by side. I'd not get a mobo based on the 975 chipset as the support for Core 2 Duo was made up in a Biios revision instead of that chipset being dedicated to these newer CPU's. I'd look at the ASUS P5W DH DELUXE, or a Gigabyte DS3.

[RangerXLT8]

Originally Posted by Quakindude

The specs for that DS4 they have don't match up with what Gigabyte has on their website. In particular, the Gigabyte website says the DS4 is Quad Core ready. The links you've provided say nothing about Quad Core. It almost looks like a DQ6 and an older ASUS 975 chipset mobo side by side. I'd not get a mobo based on the 975 chipset as the support for Core 2 Duo was made up in a Biios revision instead of that chipset being dedicated to these newer CPU's. I'd look at the ASUS P5W DH DELUXE, or a Gigabyte DS3.

975 compatibility with Core 2 Duo is more then just a bios. C2D needs the VRM 11 CPU power regulation.

I do not recommend getting a 975X board. The Asus Commando is the board I am buying in about 2 weeks. Commando can do 550FSB no mods. DON't BUY Asus P5W DH/ I use it and it maxes 400FSB, and memory OCing is horrid.

Newegg.com - ASUS Commando ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

[Quakindude]

Originally Posted by RangerXLT8

975 compatibility with Core 2 Duo is more then just a bios. C2D needs the VRM 11 CPU power regulation.

I do not recommend getting a 975X board. The Asus Commando is the board I am buying in about 2 weeks. Commando can do 550FSB no mods. DON't BUY Asus P5W DH/ I use it and it maxes 400FSB, and memory OCing is horrid.

Newegg.com - ASUS Commando ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Great call. I had forgotten about the Commando!

[Running Rampant]

I've just sent an email to Dabs.com asking for the complete specifications to the DS4 as the info shown on their site doesn't match the info held on Gigabytes own site. So, I'll hopefully get some feedback on that soon.

It'll either be a case of the item being listed incorrectly as the DS4 or a slip up with the specs (please be the latter)

Thanks RangerXLT8, but I can't seem to find a Asus Commando mobo available in the UK ATM, i'll keep on looking though.

[RangerXLT8]

Originally Posted by Running Rampant

I've just sent an email to Dabs.com asking for the complete specifications to the DS4 as the info shown on their site doesn't match the info held on Gigabytes own site. So, I'll hopefully get some feedback on that soon.

It'll either be a case of the item being listed incorrectly as the DS4 or a slip up with the specs (please be the latter)

Thanks RangerXLT8, but I can't seem to find a Asus Commando mobo available in the UK ATM, i'll keep on looking though.

Here you go, one in stock.
Asus Commando Intel 965 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard