What motherboard would you recommend?

[WhiteEagle]

I am planning to build a Core2Duo system in the not to distant futre, so I want to know which motherboard(s) I should be considering. Stability is #1, followed by overclocking and SLI is a very distant third, as I'll be using a 7950 GX2 videocard.

-WhiteEagle

[Panda Man]

the 680i that quakin reviewed looked slick:

http://forums.hardwarelogic.com/f12/...d-review-3528/

If you need a budget board, why not a DFI 975x?

[gvblake22]

How sure are you about having SLI capability? The Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 seems to be one of the hottest (figuratively, not literally) motherboards around right now for price vs. performance. The Asus 965 board also looks good, as does the DFI Infinity 975X/G.

[Capper]

Its been quite a change over the last couple months, and now theres no real shortage of quality boards. A couple things to keep in mind......the 680i is immensely popular for its overclocking potential, but every company seems to be sticking exactly to the reference design, hence the same prices.

If you have to have SLI, the 680i boards are a must. If you just want a good, stable board....look at a 965P chipset, most notably the Gigabyte DS3 or the ASUS P5B Deluxe.

Then again the ATI chipset, R600, should be hitting the scene shortly, so thats yet another possible choice.

[One4yu2c]

I'm also going to throw out the Asus P5WDH Deluxe into the mix. At roughly $230, it's overkill for what you need, but downright solid nonetheless. The P5WDH Deluxe was used in Puget's recent review system that we covered, and it's done a phenomenal job with overclocking - about as effortless as it gets (thanks in large part to the C2D processor too).

The good thing is, you have plenty of excellent options to choose from. Any of the boards listed in this thread would make a good home for a new C2D system.

[yurimxpxman]

This article was in my inbox this morning. It's along the same subject that Rich spoke of when he mentioned the chipsets and it's worth the read IMHO. ATI chipsets haven't always been the best in the world though from my experience and what I've heard from others. From the looks of things, the nVidia chipsets might be among the best options. I've been running nForce4 for about a year now and I've been very pleased with it.

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

I'm going to vote against the 7950GX2. I agree, it is a dual-GPU solution but why even bother when there's a DX10 card, the 8800GTS, sitting in the same price range and spanking the competition. Actually, it's a tad cheaper!

Observe the following benchmarks performed by TweakTown (keep going in the pages). The 8800GTS outwins the competition in majority of the benchmarks, only being able to be toppled by the X1950XTX in Half Life 2 without HDR and by the 7950GX2 in Prey (at higher resolutions).
MSI GeForce 8800GTS is here - Hello DX10 :: TweakTown

I wouldn't go anywhere else other than eVGA for a video card these days. Top notch cards, top notch warranty, top notch satisfaction! The 8800GTS by eVGA runs $399.99 after rebate (price drop!).
Newegg.com - eVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640-P2-N821-AR HDCP Video Card - Retail

Considering you're not buying the system immediately, look at the 8800GTX when the time comes. It should be in a decent $500 range by then.

[WhiteEagle]

I don't need SLI currently, but it would be nice to have it as an upgrade option. So, it's not a must, but definately worth considering.

About the 8800GTX, definately will consider it for both the current PC (for an upgrade) and the new one. US$500 * 1.12 = CAN$560 before GST over at NCIX. I guess my upgrade of my current Media Center PC can wait...

[Blondie]

How long before you're ready to order?

[One4yu2c]

Originally Posted by WhiteEagle

I don't need SLI currently, but it would be nice to have it as an upgrade option. So, it's not a must, but definitely worth considering.

Really give this feature some thought. For anyone running a very large monitor with supersized screen resolutions, SLI becomes a very viable option. For the rest though, it becomes a tough investment to justify, particularly when new cards keep coming out that trump previous solutions (8800 series being a great example of this).