Motherboard help needed...

[MinionZombie]

Okay chaps, as some of you know I'm currently speccing up a new computer, but I'm having the devil's own job of figuring out what motherboard to go for.

I had been looking at the MSI P35 Platinum mobo.

I need to be futureproof, and the one I'd picked for my spec list now appears to NOT support SLI mode - so that's now out of the window.

Can anyone recommend me some good, reliable motherboards?

I need the following ability:

1) Good FireWire support (the IP35 Pro is useless for that).
2) SLI capability so I can have two graphics cards installed (with enough space, which again is another problem with the MSI P35 Platinum).
3) Good USB 2.0.

Help please, my brain's struggling to cope with all this computer jargon and problem solving! :annoyed::eek:

...

Apparently is has to be an nVidia nForce SLI chipset ... but er, which one is the key. A good amount of USB 2.0 ports and especially important is good FireWire support.

[MaximusIncredulous]

Might be a little broad but you can try this for starters (unless someone here has a specific recommendation):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/PowerSearch.aspx?N=2010200280&SubCategory=280&GASearch=3

[MinionZombie]

Hmmm...so I seem to be sniffing around these at the moment, so any further thoughts or info on these - specifically regarding reliability, SLI capability, and FireWire performance would be much appreciated:

* nForce 750i
* nForce 780i
* Asus P5Q Deluxe (P45)

[DjfunkmasterG]

The EVGA nforce 780i Motherboard is handsdown the best motherboard on the freaking planet.

[MinionZombie]

Aye, seems like a good board.

How's the FireWire performance with that MoBo? It seems to have FireWire built on, and then something about having another FireWire that can 'plug in' to it and sit separate from the MoBo somewhat? Sounds like my current FireWire which is a separate unit wired into my current MoBo on my current machine.

So I take it you're a fan of the 780i? :) Well, I'll certainly put it up at the top of my list then, and on a plus side - it has two PS/2 ports on the back for my old school keyboard/mouse combo...so I could get the slightly cheaper KVM switch I've got my eye on, and then not have to get a PS/2-to-USB adapter (which I would have had to have done, long story, if I were to go with the aforementioned Asus).

...

Now - what's all this RAID 0 and RAID 1 stuff I've been hearing about?

I was also thinking of getting the builders to partion the C Drive for Windows ... but again, this is all Greek to me, any layman style info on these / recommendations?

[MaximusIncredulous]

Stuff on RAID:

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RAID.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

I don't think you really need it for your setup. It's more of a server thing.

As for partitioning, unless you want to run multiple op systems on the C drive (where you would need separate divisions on the drive for each op sys), just have them partition the entire C drive for Windows.

[Neil]

I'm not bothering with RAID... I've heard too many stories of both drives failing strangely... I'll live with one drive and just do backups to an external.

BTW, suggestion for a harddrive - Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-198-WD

[MinionZombie]

Right, so forget about RAID (good, one less thing to worry about :D).

As for HDDs, I'd probably go for smaller internal ones than that, as with my own editing it's often smaller projects - so in turn less footage (and indeed I aim to shoot at as low a footage ratio as possible, which is just something you learn as you progress in filmmaking anyway), and I do quite like the idea of having different external hard-drives for different (bigger projects), and then an external HDD for various smaller projects and such.

I've got a Western Digital external HDD for a project I'm doing now (the sex education DVD for schools), I've been hearing good things about WD more and more since I got it actually, so that's nice. :)

I might investigate this nForce 790i motherboard, but the 780i seems to fit my bill.

Then I just need to investigate a few other things, then leave it a couple of months for prices to come down a smidge more - and for it to be a more suitable time for me (i.e. when I finish up this sex ed DVD project - so I can make a clean and easy transfer after a major editing project, rather than in the middle of it you know).

Cheers lads, your continued help is much appreciated. :)

[Neil]

Fed up of playing stuff at crummy FPS! So treated myself!

Hiper Osiris case (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-024-HP)
Asus P5Q Pro (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-280-AS)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient Edition" (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-161-IN)
Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-091-PC)
Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-002-NC)
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500C5 (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-114-OC)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB SATA-II (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-198-WD)
Pioneer DVR-216BK (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-060-PO)
Windows Vista Premium 64bit

Just over £700... I'll probably get about £150-200+ for my old system... So £500 for the upgrade...

[MinionZombie]

Where'd you buy that from? That's pretty cheap actually.

Ooooh, a HD4870, yeah I was all hot for one of those, but I think I'm circling the 260GTX GeForce now as I'm kinda gonna go all Intel/nVidia.

Oh right, did you buy it from Overclockers? What's the service like from there, how much choice did you get in choosing your parts, and do they check the rigs out before they get sent to you?

How'd you swing that with the lady at this time of "global" financial crisis? :sneaky:

I got a quote back for a rig I'd been speccing up, and it was like 1300 quid ... which made my nuts shrivel back up inside me...:eek:

[Neil]

Where'd you buy that from? That's pretty cheap actually.

Ooooh, a HD4870, yeah I was all hot for one of those, but I think I'm circling the 260GTX GeForce now as I'm kinda gonna go all Intel/nVidia.

Oh right, did you buy it from Overclockers? What's the service like from there, how much choice did you get in choosing your parts, and do they check the rigs out before they get sent to you?

How'd you swing that with the lady at this time of "global" financial crisis? :sneaky:

I got a quote back for a rig I'd been speccing up, and it was like 1300 quid ... which made my nuts shrivel back up inside me...:eek:

And that's an ATI 4870 1024mb :)

Most of it is ordered from OCuk (the links I've provided) as it's free delivery and 6% discount (till Wed with their discount code/voucher '666OCUK'). The rest is ordered from Ebuyer (eg: motherboard, vista, cd drive) where it was cheaper enough to merit the extra postage. The cost could be taken down another £50 probably by getting a cheaper case and cooler!

I'll also get a Matrix Orbital Typhoon LCD display and put that in the case, or sling it under the monitor. Damn handy to be able to display info (eg: time, cpu usage/temp, mem usage, gpu temp, FPS etc etc).

I'm hoping that system with run the Q6600 at 3.6ghz, or well over 3.2 anyway!

[MinionZombie]

Ah so you're building it yourself? That explains the cheapness of it.

I put a spec into OC just now on their 'pick from a list' type thing and it's riding at like 1260 quid, but with a gig less RAM than my other quote, and a Q9550 instead of a Q9450.

I just like the idea of my new rig being tested for 2 days down at the shop I usually go to with the people I know and so on.

Ugh ... the stresses of getting a new rig, but ahhhh ... when I finally get it ... oooh the sheer joy at going "ooh and ahh" over it and seeing the awesome video rendering speed, slathering Magic Bullet over ALL my raw footage, rather than my pre-chosen shots cut to length, and getting to pay Crysis all pimped out and such ... *hides his man-tent* :D

[DjfunkmasterG]

Here is how I do it.

One 500gb HDD, one partition 30gbs for the Operating System and Critical Programs and Utilities (AV, FW, VEGAS, ACID etc)

The remaining 470gb are formatted into standard space in this case D: Drive. This is where I install any games, and BS apps.

Then I have (3) 1 TB drives for Storage

I use the partition so that the system doesn't take forever to boot up. From COmputer turn on to Windows desktop (ABle to surf work etc) my machine does it in 11 seconds.

That EVGA board has great firewire, I have no extra cards. It has one built in port on the I/O plate, then two ports on the motherboard you can plug your case based firewire ports into for use. It also has ports for extra USB.

The nice thing about this board is dual Ethernet jacks, as well as a very easy to use BIOS interface. The board costs about $199 here in the states, some places have it cheaper.

[Neil]

Ah so you're building it yourself? That explains the cheapness of it.

I put a spec into OC just now on their 'pick from a list' type thing and it's riding at like 1260 quid, but with a gig less RAM than my other quote, and a Q9550 instead of a Q9450.

I just like the idea of my new rig being tested for 2 days down at the shop I usually go to with the people I know and so on.

Ugh ... the stresses of getting a new rig, but ahhhh ... when I finally get it ... oooh the sheer joy at going "ooh and ahh" over it and seeing the awesome video rendering speed, slathering Magic Bullet over ALL my raw footage, rather than my pre-chosen shots cut to length, and getting to pay Crysis all pimped out and such ... *hides his man-tent* :D

Putting togethor yourself is pretty easy, especially in modern systems. An hour or two at most...

OCuk's pre-built systems are quite competitive, but then you have to go with what they're offering. The most you go for a taylored system, too expensive! They use great components in the pre-built ones!

[MinionZombie]

11 SECONDS???!!! What-the-mother-f*ck?! :eek::dead::eek:

Well I can certainly say that I'm not intelligent enough - or well, suited mentally enough - for all this PC building malarky, it's been hard enough just wrapping my head around a potential spec to ask for, let alone plugging sh*t together and this BIOS business.

I think I've once been into the BIOS, with a hefty step-by-step guide, and then I ran away crying ... well not crying, I just gave up and Googled up some porn. :D

I think the 780i is the motherboard for me now though, here's what I'm looking at spec wise anyway:

* nForce 780i mobo
* Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300
* 3gb RAM
* Windows XP Professional
* 2x HDDs (thinking of getting one partioned)
* 1000W PSU
* CD/DVD Re-Writer
* Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (thinking about it, any thoughts from ya'll?)
* nVidia 260GTX (896mb) (would look to, in time, add a second in SLI mode - this IS possible with a 260GTX correct?)

Which has been quoted around £1300 t'other week (perhaps it'll get a smidge cheaper in 2 or 3 months).

Is there any difference with "ASUS Striker II Formula nForce 780i"? (Saw that on OCUK).

[Neil]

My system is alive!!!

I had about an hour or so window last night, and decided to put the motherboard in, the PSU in, the hard drive and CDRom and in wire the motherboard into the case. That would be a good place to end the evening...

Managed it, and then woke up at 5am this morning remembering I'd not put the special backplate on the rear of the motherboard to take my huge CPU heatsink.... So I'd have to take it all apart again! :annoyed:

Anyway, 2hrs or so tonight, all wired in, turned on, and all worked fine, first time!

I'll install Vista etc over the weekend :)


I've replaced all the standard Hiper fans in the case with their chrome version (same spec/model)... Also the heatsink is using one too :)

Looks pridy now :)

[MinionZombie]

http://scienceblogs.com/afarensis/upload/2006/09/frank2.jpg

*jealous*

Just you wait though ... soon, I'll have my own new sexy bitch to play with. :D