Help me choose a motherboard

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fokfokfok
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Help me choose a motherboard

Post by fokfokfok » Thu Aug 07, 2008 4:08 am

Hi!

I'm building a new silent computer. My shopping cart consist of

cpu e8400 or e8500
hd: WD6400AAKS
graphics: Inno3D Geforce 8800 GT Accelero S1M (passive cooling)
memory: TWIN2X4096-6400C5 G
heatsink: s1283 + nexus fan
monitor: Benq G2400W

All of those parts were pretty easy to choose. However, I always find it difficult to choose a motherboard. I'm looking for a motherboard that:

1) doesn't have stability/incompability issues
2) is of solid quality
3) makes it easy to install components, especially the heatsink :)
4) has firewire

Also, I'm not sure if the chipset choice affects performance? If that's the case I don't want a slow chipset of course. It seems like the P5Q-E and P5Q Deluxe are popular choices but they are also kinda expensive considering that I don't care for the extra features. Any suggestions?

thx
fokfokfok

thejamppa
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Post by thejamppa » Thu Aug 07, 2008 4:49 am

Gigabyte P45-series might be worth of consideration but Gigabyte's sin is that firewire belongs to more expensive models. Of course P45-DS3L + Firewire expansion card is cheaper than Asus' and Gigabyte's premium models...

lodestar
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Post by lodestar » Thu Aug 07, 2008 8:44 am

If you want to spend the minimum, the Asus P5Q looks like it will meet your spec and is the lowest cost motherboard in the entire P5Q line.

The only issue I am aware of with the P5Q is that there are references on the web suggesting that the P5Q can be picky about memory. I have no idea whether or not your chosen memory will work, but you could always switch to something on Asus' QVL to make sure that this is not an issue.

fokfokfok
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Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2003 11:37 am

Post by fokfokfok » Thu Aug 07, 2008 1:46 pm

Thanks, I'm seriously considering the vanilla P5Q. But what about the P5QL-E? It seems do what I want and is a bit cheaper. Would that be a good choice?

monkiman
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Post by monkiman » Fri Aug 08, 2008 8:54 am

Check it

viewtopic.php?t=49492&highlight=

You can get the P5Q Pro for less and free shipping - I got this deal when the board first came out.

QuietOC
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Post by QuietOC » Fri Aug 08, 2008 10:19 am

fokfokfok wrote:Thanks, I'm seriously considering the vanilla P5Q. But what about the P5QL-E? It seems do what I want and is a bit cheaper. Would that be a good choice?
I have been running an Abit IP35-E with 8GB of cheap A-Data PC2-6400. I also have a very inexpensive ($41) G31 Gigabyte motherboard (GA-G31M-S2L), which has no trouble running a E7200 at 3.8GHz but only supports 4GB. All the Intel chipsets run pretty hot, but the alternatives for Intel chips aren't any better.
fokfokfok wrote:Also, I'm not sure if the chipset choice affects performance?
There hasn't been meaningful performance differences in Intel chipsets for a while. Getting the memory controller on the CPU will.

550W is overkill, but, oh well!

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