personally i'd recommend a new system over that MoBo. i couldn't justify spending that much on a MoBo, just for the sake of working with the somewhat dated hardware you already have. do you really need a 590 MCP for your northbridge? ...just hope you realize you're paying through the nose to get an outdated SLi bridge just to use outdated nVidia graphics cards. i mean, i could understand not wanting to pay for an almost entirely new system. but you could probably save yourself almost $150 by going with a 570 chipset. this Gigabyte board is pretty highly rated and only costs $90:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128014

don't get me wrong, i'm planning on going with an AMD solution for my (eventual) DVR HTPC/file server (Athlon 64X2 black ed. + 780G mATX mobo = $190), but i'd have to agree with socially hazardous about current gen AMD processors not holding up to Intel for gaming, at least if you were gonna build a new system.

this is true, but x8 bandwidth should be more than enough for all but the highest-end cards around today (9800GX2, which is really 2 cards sharing one x16 bus... so they're virtually running at x8 speed each; though, this is on PCIe 2.0, which is double 1.1 anyway).

i remember reading some reviews showing that there wasn't even a comparable difference between the same card on AGP x8 vs. PCIe 2.0 x16.

what i can at least say about the Asus board is that the BIOS should rock. if you plan to do any OCing or even just BIOS optimization, Asus does tend to make very good BIOS.



how did you purchase the Asus board? there's always a good chance you could return/RMA it and go for something more modest. Newegg tends to be very, very accomadating about that kind of thing. if you don't even open the board, the only money you'll lose is on return shipping.

dude, my watch is faster than that



did it come?

let us know if you have any overclocking results!

i've been considering a new mobo myself, even if my current one is by all accounts good at what it does. ATM i've got my eye on an MSI P7N Diamond:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130158

it's pricey for sure, but it's one of the only non-server boards i've seen that has the features i want:

two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots, leaving me the option for SLi or Crossfire (Crossfire works on any motherboard with enough graphics slots).

a third PCIe x16 slot, for a third graphics card. i want this as an option in order to use SoftTH (http://www.kegetys.net/SoftTH/). it's not ridiculously high FPS i'm after, it's ridiculously high resolution i'd like to be able to run 3 (or 5!*) 24" monitors, spanned, in portrait mode (3600x1920 with 3...). with the price of 240-inchers dropping so quickly, i don't personally think this is too egregious. there are several Dell 2405FPWs within an hour of closing on ebay, all under $300.

*while Crossfire allows monitor spanning, SLi does not. CF, however, seems to have issues with vertical resolutions above 1600, last i heard. in either regard, a 5 monitor setup wouldn't be possible even with CF. either an nVidia Quadro or an ATI FireMV would support 4 monitor outputs, each on its own.

a forth PCIx slot with x8 electrical, leaving me the option of a high-end dedicated RAID card. i like the idea of being able to move a RAID array to a new mobo without having to rebuild it, i like the performance they offer.

but i do have some definite things i don't like about that MSI board. i don't like the color scheme at all. i don't especially care for the "circupipe" heatsink, and it looks like it'd be a PITA to replace. i don't like that the only PCI slot is under the second x16 slot: this makes double-wide graphics cards a problem.

i admit it's a big extravagent, but i don't plan on buying all this at once, but any plans i do have must start with a different MoBo... or better furniture LOL.

Not OC







OC








Nasty

agreed! though, to be quite honest... i'm kind of embarrassed of mine at the moment. i seriously need to do some cable management. and i don't have a pic handy, but here at the specs:

CPU: C2D E6750
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
RAM: 2x 1GB Corsair Dominator
VGA: eVGA 8600 GTS 512MB
HDD: WD 150GB
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower 700W
DVD: Lite-On 20X DVD+/-R
Case: Antec 900 rev2.0
Monitor: Dell 2405FPW
Speakers: Logitech Z5500
OS: XP home

i've been kinda lazy to overclock, and i've been trying to plan an upgrade path for a multi-monitor array anyhow, so i don't want to put too much effort into this build. i believe i mentioned that already. i've also got some moderate/extensive plans to case mod my Antec 900, which is why i haven't jumped into even simple cable management as of yet.

the first and most significant thing i've been trying to gather information on is spanning multiple monitors for 3D gaming. in general, it's very poorly supported, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. right now, the two best options i've seen are SoftTH for windows or linux ubuntu + cedega, and configuring things myself. both options have their advantages and disadvantages. i might end up running both from different HDDS.

i've reconsidered what i has said about the 780i chipset. i just don't want to deal with an nVidia chipset: they seem to be hit or miss in terms of quality assurance, and i just don't want to deal with the possible headache of repeated RMAs and motherboard death a few months into setting up yet another system. now i'm leaning towards an X38 chipset, which cuts SLi out of the question, but leaves CrossFire a possibility. though it's expensive, i'm really leaning towards a DFI LP LT X38-T2R: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136042

my reasoning: excellent BIOS, excellent overclocking, proven QA practices, the extra PCIe x16 (with x4 electrical) slot, and, well, it looks really really cool. i've heard people saying "wait for Nahelem!" but frankly... i worry intel's gonna botch the initial release of QuickPath.

i'll see if i can get a shot of my rig at some point.