time to buy... help plz

screwballl · February 3rd, 2007

ok within the next few weeks it will be time to buy. I am building a budget/midrange system. I already have the Case (SonataII), PSU, CPU heatsink and hard drive.
I pretty much have everything else picked out (E6400 C2D, 2GB DDR2-800, X1950Pro PCI-e) but I am wondering if there has been any change or suggested boards that are equal or better than the GA-965P-DS3 for a budget/mid system?

I currently have that set on my wish list but was looking around and saw a 650i board, but since I will NOT be using SLI or Crossfire, I am going with the X1950Pro for $185 and wondering what other suggestions are out there.

I would prefer a single PCI-e x16 slot with several PCI slots for my X-Fi, and extra USB port card. I will NOT be upgrading to quad core for maybe 2+ years. Basically this build will stay as is for at least 2-3 years (just like my last build, my XP3000+) so I am looking for something stable, well tested and able to accept future technologies a year or two down the road IF I happen to upgrade (such as DX10 card).

The system will be used for lower end gaming (BF2, CS:S), some media encoding (WAV-MP3, DVDShrink, personal home DVD encoding), and staying with XP for probably 1-2 years.

Suggestions? Problems?

wtcnbrwndo4u · February 3rd, 2007

For the price, the DS3 is a kickass board... I wouldn't really choose another board unless some other kickass board is in the price range (any ECS boards there?).

fps justin · February 3rd, 2007

the DS3 is a great midrange board. Hits high fsb for a pretty cheap price.

**Capper** · February 3rd, 2007

you also might want to wait a week or two until the new 650i boards start showing up.
They should be a very good option for those not running SLI, while also being some very good overclockers

**simple_inhibition** · February 3rd, 2007

and if your going the overclocking route, i would get an E4300 if the prices drop by the time your ready to purchase. they have a higher multi so higher FSB's arent as much as a limiting factor

**gvblake22** · February 4th, 2007

The DS3 is arguably Gigabytes most famous motherboard (think the Socket A NF7-S rev. 2 for Abit, the s939 NF4 LanParty for DFI, etc). So there has been a lot of developments and support for the board both from Gigabyte in the form of BIOS updates and board revisions as well as from the community in terms of overclocking guides, BIOS tweak guides, and fixes (or at least awareness) for known issues. Mature hardware is almost always a safe bet...

screwballl · February 5th, 2007

I am cautious about the new boards as I am looking for a long term stable board.... the 650i are still a bit new...

ok I guess that pretty well seals the deal... I should be getting my money later this coming week and the build will commence in the next week or two, depending on when the items have arrived...

also had another deal I was looking at, but I will post that in the appropriate area as it is not mobo related

**gvblake22** · February 12th, 2007

So are you going with the Gigabyte DS3 then?

screwballl · February 12th, 2007

thats the plan as I haven't heard any reasonable reasons why I shouldn't for my purpose

**gvblake22** · February 14th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by screwballl

thats the plan as I haven't heard any reasonable reasons why I shouldn't for my purpose

Cool. As long as it has all the features you are looking for, I think it's a great choice.

View Poll Results: Stay with the GA-965P-DS3?
Yes, it is a good stable board	11	91.67%
No, step up to something better	1	8.33%
Voters: 12. You may not vote on this poll

February 3rd, 2007	#1
screwballl Colonel Calamity Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Sandy South Posts: 6,279 Blog Entries: 6	time to buy... help plz ok within the next few weeks it will be time to buy. I am building a budget/midrange system. I already have the Case (SonataII), PSU, CPU heatsink and hard drive. I pretty much have everything else picked out (E6400 C2D, 2GB DDR2-800, X1950Pro PCI-e) but I am wondering if there has been any change or suggested boards that are equal or better than the GA-965P-DS3 for a budget/mid system? I currently have that set on my wish list but was looking around and saw a 650i board, but since I will NOT be using SLI or Crossfire, I am going with the X1950Pro for $185 and wondering what other suggestions are out there. I would prefer a single PCI-e x16 slot with several PCI slots for my X-Fi, and extra USB port card. I will NOT be upgrading to quad core for maybe 2+ years. Basically this build will stay as is for at least 2-3 years (just like my last build, my XP3000+) so I am looking for something stable, well tested and able to accept future technologies a year or two down the road IF I happen to upgrade (such as DX10 card). The system will be used for lower end gaming (BF2, CS:S), some media encoding (WAV-MP3, DVDShrink, personal home DVD encoding), and staying with XP for probably 1-2 years. Suggestions? Problems? Thanks HL and Corsair! My opinions are my own and not representative of this site or its members.

February 3rd, 2007	#2
wtcnbrwndo4u Resident Brownie Join Date: May 2006 Location: KS Posts: 2,225	Re: time to buy... help plz For the price, the DS3 is a kickass board... I wouldn't really choose another board unless some other kickass board is in the price range (any ECS boards there?). - Core 2 Quad Q6600 - DFI Infinity 975X - 4GB Corsair XMS2 w/ DHX DDR2-800 - 250GB Seagate 7200.10RPM + 160GB Hitachi 5400.4RPM - ATi Radeon X1900XT 256MB - Cooler Master Centurion 5 + OCZ StealthXStream 600W - Acer 19" P191W Monitor - Logitech Z-5500 Digital + Logitech MX Revolution - Vista Ultimate x64 Dell Inspiron 5150 - Pentium 4 @ 3.06GHz w/ HT Tech - 512MB PC2700 RAM - 80GB WD Scorpio 5400RPM HD - nVidia GeForce FX Go5200 32MB - XP Pro SP3

February 3rd, 2007	#3
fps justin Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 1,199	Re: time to buy... help plz the DS3 is a great midrange board. Hits high fsb for a pretty cheap price. E2140 @ 375 x 8 = 3.0ghz 2x1 ocz system 1337s pc2-6400 5-5-5-15 @ 450mhz gigabyte P35 S3L eVGA 7600GT Stock 120 gig seagate ULTRA X-Finity 600w Sonata 2 w/ top fan G5 Lazer Mouse

February 3rd, 2007	#4
Capper We take both criticism and positive comments very positively Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 5,882 Blog Entries: 6	Re: time to buy... help plz you also might want to wait a week or two until the new 650i boards start showing up. They should be a very good option for those not running SLI, while also being some very good overclockers INTEL E8400 // Gigabyte EP45 Extreme // 4GB DDR3-1600 // Palit HD 4870 // Antec 1200 // Seagate 750GB HDD // Zalman CNPS9700 // BFG ES 800W PSU

February 3rd, 2007	#5
simple_inhibition socket 939 junkie Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: In front of my pc in Ft Bragg XD Posts: 1,469 Blog Entries: 1	Re: time to buy... help plz and if your going the overclocking route, i would get an E4300 if the prices drop by the time your ready to purchase. they have a higher multi so higher FSB's arent as much as a limiting factor

February 4th, 2007	#6
gvblake22 Modder-ator Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Tempe Desert Posts: 6,423 Blog Entries: 1	Re: time to buy... help plz The DS3 is arguably Gigabytes most famous motherboard (think the Socket A NF7-S rev. 2 for Abit, the s939 NF4 LanParty for DFI, etc). So there has been a lot of developments and support for the board both from Gigabyte in the form of BIOS updates and board revisions as well as from the community in terms of overclocking guides, BIOS tweak guides, and fixes (or at least awareness) for known issues. Mature hardware is almost always a safe bet...

February 5th, 2007	#7
screwballl Colonel Calamity Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Sandy South Posts: 6,279 Blog Entries: 6	I am cautious about the new boards as I am looking for a long term stable board.... the 650i are still a bit new... ok I guess that pretty well seals the deal... I should be getting my money later this coming week and the build will commence in the next week or two, depending on when the items have arrived... also had another deal I was looking at, but I will post that in the appropriate area as it is not mobo related Thanks HL and Corsair! My opinions are my own and not representative of this site or its members. Last edited by gvblake22; February 12th, 2007 at 11:36. Reason: consecutive posts merged

February 12th, 2007	#8
gvblake22 Modder-ator Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Tempe Desert Posts: 6,423 Blog Entries: 1	Re: time to buy... help plz So are you going with the Gigabyte DS3 then?

February 12th, 2007	#9
screwballl Colonel Calamity Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Sandy South Posts: 6,279 Blog Entries: 6	Re: time to buy... help plz thats the plan as I haven't heard any reasonable reasons why I shouldn't for my purpose Thanks HL and Corsair! My opinions are my own and not representative of this site or its members.

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