Building a new computer $1000 Budget over the next three months.

[schild]

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

When do we think the quad-core 6600 and such things will break in price?

[Trippy]

Sometime around the launch of the desktop 45nm Quad Cores:

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/13878

[schild]

Will those new Quad Cores work in a 975 chipset, despite being clocked down to 1066 in most cases?

[Trippy]

Need to be more specifc. What motherboard are we talking about here? If it's a 975 it's highly unlikely. If it's a 975X then maybe depending on the board maker and the revision of the board (not BIOS).

[schild]

You know, the one from way back: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131025

ASUS
ASUS P5W DH DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

[Trippy]

Don't see it on the list but check the BIOS update section to find out for sure:

http://event.asus.com/mb/45nm/

[schild]

Jesus they release BIOS updates a lot.

So here's my question, how do I upgrade a BIOS without a motherboard already in it?

Also, maybe you can make sense of this crappily designed website.

[schild]

Well, answered my first question.

You can't.

One day, companies need to solve this problem.

[Engels]

So here's my question, how do I upgrade a BIOS without a motherboard already in it?

Also, maybe you can make sense of this crappily designed website.

Are you saying your motherboard somehow wiped the bios completely? I don't know about Asus, but I think that some boards have a permanent back up bios that can be restored either through a function key combination at start up or through a resetting of the cmos jumpers.

Also, Asus, bless them, have the suckiest and slowest website known to man.

[schild]

Uh no. I was saying I didn't want to buy a processor to, in turn, just upgrade the BIOS to get a better processor.

[Murgos]

Borrow one?

How did you end up with a MB and no processor for it?

[Stormwaltz]

Threadjack! (Because I don't want to clutter up the board with a new thread.)

I was going to get a new video card, either the Radeon 3870 or the 8800 GT. Then I noticed that since I first put togther my computer, PCIe has replaced PCI. So I have to replace my reliable Asus K8V Deluxe motherboard as well.

Most of the computer still works fine - Athlon 64 3200+, Audigy2 ZS Platinum sound card, two large IDE HDs, 2x 512MB 128-pin DDR SDRAM, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, and a 550W power supply, all packed in this lovely case. Given that I want to save all those (if possible), does anyone have any recommendations for a new motherboard?

I'm sorry to bother you with this. Last time I had to rebuild my computer, I had the advice of two expert friends who put machines together for kicks. Now they're in California, and I'm in Edmonton...

[Trippy]

Uhh...they don't make Socket 754 boards anymore. Newegg has exactly one (which looks okay). Canada Computers has zero. Maybe you should upgrade your CPU as well.

[Stormwaltz]

Maybe you should upgrade your CPU as well.

Honestly, I would be stretching to afford a new motherboard for the video card. Card + MB + CPU = no go. What I've got will go into savings, and I'll look at upgrading again in six months.

Thanks! Not the answer I wanted, but the answer I needed. ^_^

[Engels]

Best if you just tell us your upper budget; you'd be surprised what awsome deals some of us f13'ers can scroungue up from the intertubes.

[SnakeCharmer]

While we're on the subject of mobo's....

I was looking at the Asus P5B (with the temptation of going with a Q6600, 4GB of RAM, 8800GTS, and Vista Ultimate 64bit).  But I can't tell if it will support a SATA DVD/CD.  This has me perplexed a bit from the owners manual:

These connectors are for the Serial ATA signal cables for the Serial ATA hard disk drives

I know this sounds like a st00pid n00b question, but isn't a DVD/CD basically considered a harddrive/storage device?  And even though the DVD/CD is SATA (1.5Gb/s) and not SATAII (3.0Gb/s), wouldn't it still recognize it, i.e. - work?

[Trippy]

I know this sounds like a st00pid n00b question, but isn't a DVD/CD basically considered a harddrive/storage device?

No.

And even though the DVD/CD is SATA (1.5Gb/s) and not SATAII (3.0Gb/s), wouldn't it still recognize it, i.e. - work?

Depends on what you mean by "work". An SATA 3.0 Gb/s controller is backwards compatible with SATA 1.5 Gb/s devices. There are other issues involved, however, when dealing with SATA DVD-ROM drives, as in you may have to fiddle with your BIOS to get Windows to recogonize the drive.

[rattran]

Why go with the p5b? It's a p965 so it's quite old at this point. If you're looking for something under $100, there are several p35 solutions out there.

I've been using sata dvd drives for quite a while now, haven't had any issues with them except for XP needing a floppy for drivers to install from them. Otherwise it gets confused about 5 minutes in and forgets how to see the drive.

[SnakeCharmer]

When I was doing the advanced search on new egg, it was one of the choices that came up.  I don't need SLI, I'm not ever going to overclock it.  So, really, a stable, basic n00b friendly board that will handle a quadcore and 1066 or 800 speed RAM is pretty much all I need.

[Engels]

Gigabyte P35C-DS3R.

[schild]

I would never buy a board from NewEgg that was 59% 5 stars with over 100 reviews. That's just dreadful.

On that same note, I've decided to wait until the Q9450 to come out and the X38s to really hit their stride.

[Engels]

Well, both Rattran and I have the board, and we're both very happy with it. Its very robust, pretty user friendly, OC's fairly easily if that's your thing, and it can take both DDR2 and DDR3 memory, and theoretically the new 45 nm CPUs.

[schild]

Well, both Rattran and I have the board, and we're both very happy with it. Its very robust, pretty user friendly, OC's fairly easily if that's your thing, and it can take both DDR2 and DDR3 memory, and theoretically the new 45 nm CPUs.

http://forums.tweaktown.com/showthread.php?t=25051

Let's knock on wood together?

[rattran]

Meh, mine's been running for about 45 days, a couple reboots for kernel upgrades, but is doing fine. I don't think there's any board out there that there isn't a forum somewhere extolling as problematic.

I was just suggesting not to buy a board that's several gen back, and not going to support stuff from here out. The p965 was decent enough in it's day, but that day is long past.

[Akkori]

Looks like I'll be getting the ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X38

[rattran]

Looks like I'll be getting the ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X38

Anandtech has a review about the soon to hit Rampage Formula (X48) http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3208 They gush over it.

[Sky]

I was going to get a new video card, either the Radeon 3870 or the 8800 GT.

How will the pc version of Mass Effect run on those GPUs?

 

[Engels]

http://forums.tweaktown.com/showthread.php?t=25051
Let's knock on wood together?

Read those forums. Out of the 16 or so people posting their problems (although its 18 pages of complaints, most of it is the same 3 users posting over and over), its hard to tell how many of them may have gummed up their MOBO on their own, and how many may have legitimately borked motherboards. One thing does seem certain, however; Gigabyte Customer Service leaves a lot to be desired, especially in the communication department, and their documentation is very poor for their boards' advanced features.

Perhaps I was just lucky, but I've played with my motherboard settings quite a bit since I've had it (got it 5 months ago), and I've not encountered the problem they did. Voltage changes, over clocking, updating the BIOS over 3 revisions, and no issue like the one descrdibed.

It is, no doubt, a board that does a lot compared to other boards, and perhaps when it pushes that flexibility envelope, it also opens the door for many more varieties of hardware faults.

[SnakeCharmer]

So, I bit the bullet and built a quadcore system...q6600, 8800GTS (G92) 512 MB, etc.  Total cost including a system builders copy of Vista Premium 64 bit was just under 1200, not including mail in rebates that I'll likely never see.

Happy is not the word for it.

[schild]

I decided to hold off for the new 12MB cache quad cores. But I hope you enjoy it!

[Murgos]

Is there really a noticeable reason to go quad core over a faster clocked dual core?  I'm not talking ripping dvds, I mean gaming.

[SnakeCharmer]

At this point, I can't really say.  It's downloading/updating my Steam games, so I'll know for sure soon enough.  From what I could tell from reading over at Toms Hardware was that no, there's not a significant improvement, though there is SOME (2-10 fps), which in the really real world doesn't mean anything.

[Trippy]

Is there really a noticeable reason to go quad core over a faster clocked dual core?  I'm not talking ripping dvds, I mean gaming.

Right now no, in the future yes.

[Jimbo]

I'm thinking of upgrading the 2 computers in the house, and I'm thinking of getting 2 8800 GT's from EVGA, for each computer.  I've found pretty much what I want for memory, processor, etc..., but I can't make up my mind on motherboards.  I want a board that lets me run those two cards in SLI, run reliably and game great. 

[Trippy]

Unless your current machines have died you really should wait to see what NVIDIA announces. Why spend $1000+ on video cards now when you might be able to buy 2 that may be cheaper and defintely faster?

For motherboard chipsets if you want the latest and greatest (e.g. PCIe 2.0 support) you'll want the NVIDIA 780i chipset. Otherwise get the 680i or the 680i LT if you don't care about overclocking (and usually those motherboards have less features but are cheaper).