Need Help on which motherboard to buy???

Smallcats

Hi, at the minute im building a pc and was wonderin wot was the differance
between two motherboards ive been looking at.
EVGA nForce 780i SLI, nForce-780i SLI, Socket-775,DDR2,2xGbLAN,3xPCI-Ex(2.0)16. This one is 203 euro from komplett.ie.

MSI P7N SLI Platinum, nForce-750i SLI, Socket-775, ATX, DDR2, 3xPCI-Ex(2.0)16. and this one is 109 euro and looks the same to me which is also from komplett.ie


Can any one help?

Myxomatosis

Different chipset, 780i and 750i

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_750i_sli.html
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_780i_sli.html

If your willing to put 3 graphics cards in one machine to get 2.4x the performance in optimum conditions on a small selection of games, then go with the 780i.

If however you are a sensible person who has other things to do with your money then go for the 750i.

Hell you could go a lot cheaper than 109 for a motherboard if you really wanted to.

Do you really require SLi?

Smallcats

I see now cheers. But this is the first time im building a pc so i really dont know whats good in whats not, anyways here is the pc im building

NZXT HU-001B, Black Aluminum Front
Corsair Powersupply 550W Bulk, black,
EVGA nForce 780i SLI, nForce-780i SLI,
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
Corsair TWIN2X 6400C5DHX DDR2, 2048MB
XFX GeForce 8500GT 450M 1GB DDR2
XFX GeForce 8500GT 450M 1GB DDR2
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB SATA2

As i said im buying all this komplett.ie and its there komplett intel gamer offer n is costing 955 euro which will include os and dvd burner.

If im makin a big mistake plz direct me in the right way.

Cheers

TerrorFirmer

Dual 1GB DDR2 8500GT's is the personification of misleading marketing, with both of those cards in SLI most modern games would still run at low settings. The rest of the build is actually not too bad but for a new video card a single 8800GS/9600GSO would be as low as I would go, either will let you play most modern games at high-ish settings for 90-100 euro a piece. Similar and slightly better cards in the same ball park are the 9600GT, 9800GT. I'd forget the 780i and also that price seems very expensive for such a build. Is there a monitor included?

Smallcats

Ok graphics cards bad choice cheers, already have a monitor its a lg flatron wide which is 19inch. Was looking at 9800GT there and it looks good to me would I need to buy two of these and where would be the place to buy them?

Myxomatosis

SLi and Crossfire are a waste of time and money.

Two graphics cards does not mean double the performance. It's more like x1.4 if your lucky, on a small selection of games.

At this moment in time, a Radeon HD4850 will give you the best performance/price ratio, or if you want to spend a little more, the HD4870 is worth a mention.

Get a motherboard around the 50-60 euro mark if your going with a single card.

Smallcats

Thanks. could you recommend a motherboard for me for that price

Myxomatosis

I'd personally go for something like this:
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=340009

Smallcats

I like the price of that but ive already bought the casing which is NZXT HU-001B, Black Aluminum Front

The question i have for ya is it goin to fit

Myxomatosis

Yep, that case and that motherboard both have a ATX form factor. In english that means they fit

Smallcats

Cheers you've been a big help

TerrorFirmer

Not familiar with that specific board, but I had the p65 neo-f and it was horrendous in terms of options and overclocking, many cheap MSI boards are, though their boards are pretty reliable if you just want the basic, functioning board - either way check out some reviews before committing. As above, the Radeon 4850/4870 are the best value right now, the former being an excellent performance: price winner, but the latter being a better performer at a still highly respectable price. I think Nvidia still holds the ultra gamers budget market though with its 8800GS/9600GSO cards at sub 90 euro, and no matter what card you pick all of the above mentioned are several times faster then 8500GT SLI, the 4870 being literally about 600% so.

Smallcats

I am going to be overclocking and was wondering if the MSI P31 NEO-F, P31, motherboard is any good for it? Sli out the window for me. Going to go with the Radeon HD4870.

OK-Cancel-Apply

That's a similar spec to mine, with most of the same brands. Are you going to be using Vista? Vista doesn't like my configuration, and freezes up with every single game, and sometimes during normal operation (like surfing the web, listening the music).

I've an XFX Geforce 8800GT, and XFX 680i SLI, Corsair RAM, and an Intel Core 2 Quad 6600 2.4Ghz. I use XP now with absolutely no problems.

TerrorFirmer

OK-Cancel-Apply wrote: »

That's a similar spec to mine, with most of the same brands. Are you going to be using Vista? Vista doesn't like my configuration, and freezes up with every single game, and sometimes during normal operation (like surfing the web, listening the music).

I've an XFX Geforce 8800GT, and XFX 680i SLI, Corsair RAM, and an Intel Core 2 Quad 6600 2.4Ghz. I use XP now with absolutely no problems.

Probably Nvidia drivers, leading cause of crashes within Vista.

Smallcats

I'm goin to be using xp so, was thinking about vista but not now. What motherboard do you have?