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Which Motherboard? [message #346018] Sun, 10 August 2008 18:37 Go to next message
trooprm02 is currently offline  trooprm02
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Ok, so basically my new system will be running 800mhz 4GB ram, socket am2 6000, and 2x8600GT sli. Im looking for a good mother board with built in sound card but to my surprise there was VERY limited selection to socket am2 period. Ive been using a few sites, tigerdirect.ca is the cheapest and ships to canada so don't suggest newegg, etc.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=364207 4&CatId=2050

^Cheaper, basically has the same features as the asus, minus firewire and dual gigabit lan. But better intergrated audio (7.1 hd altek)

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=282401 5&CatId=2050

^Almost double, worse audio card, bigger in size (worried the msi one might not be able to bolt down correctly to my case) e-sata, firewire and dual gigabit lan, of those 3 I don't use a single one but im thinking ahead (resale), and better brand name +well known model (M2N, and its the higher end SLI-Deluxe).

Basically, is the asus worth the extra money? Any have experience with MSI? If you have ever toyed with overclocking with MSI, mind detailing the experience (how OC friendly is MSI)?

P.S: The msi is actually 8x-8x sli, which is basically sli v1, but im not sure if the Asus sli is the same. For my current board it is (A8N-Sli Deluxe), does anyone know or can find if the M2N Sli-Deluxe is "true sli" (16x-16x)? Thanks.




Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346043 is a reply to message #346018] Sun, 10 August 2008 22:32 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Doitle is currently offline  Doitle
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Are you seriously planning to use integrated audio?

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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346058 is a reply to message #346043] Sun, 10 August 2008 23:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Goztow is currently offline  Goztow
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Doitle wrote on Mon, 11 August 2008 07:32

Are you seriously planning to use integrated audio?

10 $ for a dedicated sound card? Trust me: it's very much worth it!


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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346064 is a reply to message #346018] Mon, 11 August 2008 00:14 Go to previous messageGo to next message
JPNOD is currently offline  JPNOD
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trooprm02 wrote on Sun, 10 August 2008 21:37

Ok, so basically my new system will be running 800mhz 4GB ram, socket am2 6000, and 2x8600GT sli. Im looking for a good mother board with built in sound card but to my surprise there was VERY limited selection to socket am2 period. Ive been using a few sites, tigerdirect.ca is the cheapest and ships to canada so don't suggest newegg, etc.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=364207 4&CatId=2050

^Cheaper, basically has the same features as the asus, minus firewire and dual gigabit lan. But better intergrated audio (7.1 hd altek)

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=282401 5&CatId=2050

^Almost double, worse audio card, bigger in size (worried the msi one might not be able to bolt down correctly to my case) e-sata, firewire and dual gigabit lan, of those 3 I don't use a single one but im thinking ahead (resale), and better brand name +well known model (M2N, and its the higher end SLI-Deluxe).

Basically, is the asus worth the extra money? Any have experience with MSI? If you have ever toyed with overclocking with MSI, mind detailing the experience (how OC friendly is MSI)?

P.S: The msi is actually 8x-8x sli, which is basically sli v1, but im not sure if the Asus sli is the same. For my current board it is (A8N-Sli Deluxe), does anyone know or can find if the M2N Sli-Deluxe is "true sli" (16x-16x)? Thanks.






Basically, is the asus worth the extra money? Any have experience with MSI? If you have ever toyed with overclocking with MSI, mind detailing the experience (how OC friendly is MSI)?


OC friendly enough, there is hardly andy bad motherboard makers out there. Some claim they use better components thought.. this could be very well true Gigabyte uses advanced japanese mosfets on there motherboards, and Ferite core chocke Coil.


But since you want to overclock why do you make the choice for an AMD 6000? and not a Core 2 duo or Qaud.? Even on stock speed the AMD gets outrun...


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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346065 is a reply to message #346043] Mon, 11 August 2008 00:18 Go to previous messageGo to next message
JPNOD is currently offline  JPNOD
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Doitle wrote on Mon, 11 August 2008 01:32

Are you seriously planning to use integrated audio?



It does make a difference, but now a days onboard audio isn't bad unless your a audiophile..tou'd probably hear the difference for hardcore games it might give that 1 or 2 fps extra. (If it does at all).


Nvidia Soundstorm used to be top knotch integrated audio found on the Nforce 2 chip.


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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346088 is a reply to message #346018] Mon, 11 August 2008 03:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Speedy059 is currently offline  Speedy059
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All the computers/servers I have built...I would use MSI. I have to many vendetta's against Asus so my opinion is biased Sarcasm

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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346100 is a reply to message #346018] Mon, 11 August 2008 05:16 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Doitle is currently offline  Doitle
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Integrated Audio is not the same now a days. Get a seperate sound card.

I would reccomend the Asus. Asus tech support is really good about sending you a new one if it breaks. When my motherboard died, in such a way that it would turn on then immediately shut off. This was literally the conversation. "Ok when you turn it on it shuts back off after a few seconds. I tried removing every part and no matter what is in there it does it. However the light on the mobo that means it is ok is still on." "Hmm ok... well you started it without the CPU-1 power connector in right?" "Yeah" "Ok is the CPU out right now?" "No" "Ok well just remove that for me will you?" "Ok... Still does it." "Alright well let me get you an RMA number, hang on..."

I am currently using the Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wifi Edition.


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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346113 is a reply to message #346018] Mon, 11 August 2008 06:30 Go to previous messageGo to next message
CarrierII is currently offline  CarrierII
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I'm a big fan of Asus. The last three PCs I have built have used ASUS boards and only once have I had a DOA board (which was promptly replaced) and besides that I have had no complaints at all.

I use my onboard audio, but then all my music is in relatively low bitrate MP3's and I have a quad core so it takes a lot before I notice load (even on Vista...)


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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346122 is a reply to message #346018] Mon, 11 August 2008 08:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
trooprm02 is currently offline  trooprm02
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Well, ive decided to go with Asus again (go with what I know), and because I found a lower price on that same board. My current system has a good sound card (even forgot what it is lol...), but it also has intergrated sound, and I really notice no difference it all sounds the same for me.

P.S:I just realized both boards run the 570 chipset meaning neither supports "true sli", but ohwell.


[Updated on: Mon, 11 August 2008 08:07]

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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346124 is a reply to message #346018] Mon, 11 August 2008 08:24 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Chuck Norris is currently offline  Chuck Norris
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I don't live in Canada, but consensus is that NCIX is better than Tiger Direct. Did you try looking there?

Why SLi the 8600GT? A single 8600GTS would probably be faster in most cases (the 8600GT SLi might be faster in some cases), and an 8800GT would eat both alive. A Radeon HD4850 can be had for $200 and is better still. SLi is a waste, especially for such low end cards. With nVidia enabling use of a second card for physX, and even recommending using one card dedicated for processing and one card dedicated for physX, even in already existing SLi setups, that's pretty much nVidia themselves admitting SLi is a waste. 2x the cost (actually more, for a better PSU an SLi capable motherboard) for not even close to 2x the performance.

By the way, I know it wasn't until the X38 that PCI Express 2.0 (dual 16x instead of 16x and 8x) came about for Intel chipsets. I don't know nVidia's chipsets, but I'd guess you'd need at least a 680i. That might not even be 2.0 capable, since the X38 is newer, and I' pretty sure was the first to support PCI Express 2.0. It won't really matter though. 8600GT SLi won't be fast enough to be hindered by the slower speed.

As for audio, it's actually the other way around. In the past, a separate audio card was worth it, but these days, it's less so. Onboard audio is good if it's a modern one. A sound card is better yes, but it has to be an expensive one, and it's no longer necessary. Onboard sound is the equivalent of a $50 sound card now versus a $10 sound card back then. You'd have to make the sound card pretty expensive for it to be a worthwhile upgrade from what you already have with what motherboards these days offer. A $10 sound card would certainly be a step backwards, not even lateral, versus modern motherboard audio.


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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346127 is a reply to message #346018] Mon, 11 August 2008 08:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
trooprm02 is currently offline  trooprm02
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Well actually, for nvidia chipsets you only need the 590 series, mine is just 1 set under that, but those pci-e 2.0 boards are like $250 for a good one, so fuck that. And actually, my current gpu s (2x7600GTs, overclocked) out benchmarked a single 8600GTS, and my soon to be gpu s will outpower most of the entire geforce 9 series and so on, with a bit of fine tuning. And the MSI did have a better brand name (altek) intergrated sound card, but that would mean this higher level Asus must be better.

Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346133 is a reply to message #346018] Mon, 11 August 2008 09:22 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Doitle is currently offline  Doitle
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It has nothing to do with sound quality, integrated audio taxes your CPU and you will have slowdowns and "chirping". Glitchy scratchey high pitch sounds when you are playing something CPU intensive.

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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346142 is a reply to message #346127] Mon, 11 August 2008 09:58 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Chuck Norris is currently offline  Chuck Norris
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I don't experience that, and never have, and I'm using onboard sound right now.
trooprm02 wrote on Mon, 11 August 2008 11:44

Well actually, for nvidia chipsets you only need the 590 series, mine is just 1 set under that, but those pci-e 2.0 boards are like $250 for a good one, so fuck that. And actually, my current gpu s (2x7600GTs, overclocked) out benchmarked a single 8600GTS, and my soon to be gpu s will outpower most of the entire geforce 9 series and so on, with a bit of fine tuning. And the MSI did have a better brand name (altek) intergrated sound card, but that would mean this higher level Asus must be better.
The 8600GT is little to sometimes no faster than the 7600GT. That's no joke. Look up on it. You may as well stick with your current SLi setup in that case.

Secondly, the 8600GT in SLi would not beat even an 8800GT across the board. The 8800GT has almost double the stream processors of the other two COMBINED (112 on the 8800GT vs 64 for the two 8600GTs combined), and on top of that, as I said, SLi doesn't double the power. With SLi, you get twice the processing power, and that's about it. Memory does not double, and you're still stuck with the same memory limitations, so you don't get 2x the performance. The 8600GT in SLi is not that good and is bad at the cost for performance ratio.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=8600GT+SLi+vs+8800GT&btnG=Google+Se arch

Save yourself the money and get an 8800GT or HD4850 (the latter is better).


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Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.

[Updated on: Mon, 11 August 2008 10:09]

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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346147 is a reply to message #346018] Mon, 11 August 2008 10:56 Go to previous messageGo to next message
CarrierII is currently offline  CarrierII
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I don't notice slips in sound when playing Ren and listening to music. I imagine a dual core or higher will easily take care of the extra load...

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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346229 is a reply to message #346018] Mon, 11 August 2008 16:36 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Romaner is currently offline  Romaner
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troop i own 2x8600gt cards, and trust me on this they are garbage. i recently rma'ed my 8800gt because it failed, and the one week i had to go back to those two cards reminded me how lucky i am to have 8800gt lol. those two cards would barely run crysis on lowest settings.

now as for motherboard. i have asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe/Wireless Edition. it can support quad core but only to 2000MT/s which will not let phenoms get to full potential.

i would suggest for you to go with M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi-AP. it is crossfire, so you will not be able to do sli on it. however, good ati cards right now are pretty cheap compared to their nvidia counterparts. this mobo can go up to 1066mhz on ram frequency, so you can plan ahead.
another thing is that hyper transport. the motherboards you are looking at have hypertransport 1.0 which will not let your phenom processor (quad core amd) go to its full potential. you need over 3600MT/s on your board to let the phenom precessor achieve its full potential. the mvp can go up to 5200 so again leaves you room to put better stuff into it later on. this mobo has onboard sound aswell but im not sure what it is 5.1 or maybe not...

the fact that these motherboards state that they are socket am2+ means you can put a quad core in them and it will work. it doesnt mean it will work to its full potential. so if you put a quad into one of those motherboards there is no point overclocking it since it can never work at full capacity.
Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346238 is a reply to message #346018] Mon, 11 August 2008 17:35 Go to previous messageGo to next message
trooprm02 is currently offline  trooprm02
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My current 7600GT's can run Crysis on medium (with a few settings off), but the main reason im upgrading to the geforce 8 series is for DX10, right now my cards only "really" support DX9 with a DX10 emulation thing installed. Ram im not looking to exceed PC6200+, because im going to stick to dual core (2000 bus), so I will probably be able to get a AMD X2 6000+ to atleast 3.4/3.5, ive gone into things people have mentioned here, but that screws everything up (for example looking for a single better video card), because that means I need to look for new ram, same socket type (am2 has very limited selection, im still extremely confused as to why but k), so this is like a lower end-high end gaming system and its look about $1200, and its easier to just leave it at that, final build:

HDD (500GB Seagate Sata): http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=356450 5&CatId=2459

CPU (AMD X2 6000+): http://www.esng.ca/productDetail.php?category=Processors%20-%20CPU&subcatego ry=&pid=734200030772&isid=4931

Ram (OCZ XTC 4x1024MB): http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=01087 0&cid=RAM.346.307

Motherboard (Asus M2N-Sli Deluxe): http://www.esng.ca/productDetail.php?category=Motherboards&subcategory=& pid=230200019028&isid=3656

GPU (2x EVGA 8600GT Sli): http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=304106 0&CatId=1839

Multi DVD/CD (Lite-On Combo): http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=342438 2&CatId=4

Case (Aopen 5511): http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=254930 1&CatId=1520

Keyboard/Mouse (Logitech 350): http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=01343 9&cid=PE.146.159

Webcam w/mic (Microsoft Lifecam): http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=218400 3&CatId=130

PSU (OCZ GameXStream 700w): http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=13220AC9376&vpn=OCZ700GXSSLI&m anufacture=OCZ

Case Fan (Aopen 120mm): http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=347732 9&CatId=494

CPU Fan (Scythe Shuriken AM2): http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=01838 5&cid=FN.349

^^Meanwhile, im still looking for LCD screens, and it looks like im going to have to go with a widescreen which will fuck me over in renegade and cod4 hard.... Sad


[Updated on: Mon, 11 August 2008 17:37]

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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346284 is a reply to message #346018] Mon, 11 August 2008 21:17 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Gen_Blacky is currently offline  Gen_Blacky
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tbh newegg is the best for usa , look at biostar motherboards they have nice chipsets and award wining bios plus there a lot cheaper.

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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346300 is a reply to message #346018] Mon, 11 August 2008 22:41 Go to previous messageGo to next message
trooprm02 is currently offline  trooprm02
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Im not looking for lower quality parts like ecs, biostar, galaxy etc, only top brand stuff. Anyway, ive decided to take the advice (and the million of google results boasting about the 8800 series), and go with a non-sli motherboard (cheaper, accepts 3/4 cores, pci-e 2.0, and 1066 mhz ram), and a PNY 8800GT, here is the new stuff:

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD0286&vpn=GA-MA78GM-S2H& manufacture=GIGABYTE

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=343545 4&CatId=3670

^Oh, and I decided to scale down to a 600w PSU, but upgraded my CPU to the 6400+, hoping to put all the orders through tommorrow, but anyone else got any other video card suggestions? (512mb, pci-e 2.0, geforce 8800 series, under $150). Smile


Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346323 is a reply to message #346147] Tue, 12 August 2008 00:31 Go to previous messageGo to next message
JPNOD is currently offline  JPNOD
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CarrierII wrote on Mon, 11 August 2008 13:56

I don't notice slips in sound when playing Ren and listening to music. I imagine a dual core or higher will easily take care of the extra load...


Like a couple of here saying onboard now a days is very decent.. I don't know where Doitle gets his info from but back in the days this was would have been true (With exception of that Nforce chip). Hell people with Qaud cores are hardly using there potential. Just run VMware ESX for the fun and youle see what I mean to unleas the true potential of suchs kind of beasts.


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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346326 is a reply to message #346018] Tue, 12 August 2008 00:43 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Jonty is currently offline  Jonty
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Viva la Resistance!
I've got onboard sound and a pair of Logitech X-230s, which I consider to be very good speakers, and I've never had any cause for complaint. Sure, on the 1.4Ghz Duron at work the onboard sound does stutter quite a bit sometimes, but on this PC it's never done that. A dedicated sound card is just eating up another expansion slot to me. Blush
Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346570 is a reply to message #346018] Wed, 13 August 2008 11:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
nikki6ixx is currently offline  nikki6ixx
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129 bucks for an 8800 GT!? That's fucking awesome!

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Re: Which Motherboard? [message #346571 is a reply to message #346018] Wed, 13 August 2008 11:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
trooprm02 is currently offline  trooprm02
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Thats what I said, so im going to pick up a copy. Plus ive been reading up on it and this one is very easily OC'd because the fan can be cranked to faster RPM's than most other 8800GT's. And this things beats out 2x8600GT for a cheaper price, although to be honest PNY wouldn't have been my first choise Tell Me

Re: Which Motherboard? [message #347258 is a reply to message #346018] Mon, 18 August 2008 05:56 Go to previous message
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First off, get away from tigerdirect. It's possibly one of the worst computer sites on the internet. Try www.ncix.com or www.directcanada.com. Both usually offer free shipping deals, and they always have better deals and lower prices on everything.


Secondly, why are you SLI'ing two 8600s? Just get a 8800GT...

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=26781&promoid=1014


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[Updated on: Mon, 18 August 2008 06:00]

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