Mobo and CPU query.

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fotoeye

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Dec 3, 2007
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Hi everybody,
Been reading until my eyes burn, so decided to post.

I need a motherboard and CPU combo for a new build. I won't be overclocking, but have lots of power needs with heavy Photoshop use and storage, want 5 Sata hard drives, will be running my existing four monitors (PS and surfing for research), Vista, might stick with 32 bit, (possible drivers problems with 64), the thing about 32 bit is the limit on Ram. I don't really want to go SLI, either.

Have been looking at Gigabyte boards and Intel Core 2 Duo (Wolfdale) CPU, but nothing set in stone yet.

I know this is the place to ask, so will appreciate any help I can get.
 
Got to newegg and search for the boards with the features you want, such as # of drives,ect and come back with your choices. The only place I know to get a Wolfdale (on line) is charging $260 for an OEM. Kinda ridiculous if you ask me.
 
My recommendations:

P35-DS3R (<-has RAID) or P5K-x
Q6600
9600/3850/3870/8800GT 512
2GB+ Corsair XMS2 or smiler DDR2 800 RAM from a good manufacture (ie. Crucial(<-always had D9 chips for the Ballastix line), OCZ,etc)
Corsair 550VX/520HX or PP&C 610
Arctic Freezer 7 (better than the boxed cooler) or some other quier high performing cooler
Case is totally up to you. Remember to keep an eye on size, air flow, lay out,etc when selecting a case.




 
Thanks for the input.
I like the GA EP35,DS3r, although it only has one PCIE x16 slot. It does, however, have 3 PCI slots from which I could run another video card.
But the DFI Lanparty DX X38-T2R at--- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813136045 has 2-PCIE x16 slots. I gather that I don't need to use SLI, but can just pop in a 8800 GTS and an existing GEforce 6600GT without any problem. If I'm wrong can someone correct me?
Oh, and I'll go with the Q6600.
 
From what I have seen in benchmarks Photoshop isn't optimized for more than 2 cores, so a E8400 will run better than a q6600 in it. This has been true for the past few versions of Photoshop. What the future will bring no one knows.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=871&model2=1096&chart=437

If you don't overclock then a cheap mobo will suffice. I have a gigabyte DS3P mobo so I can only advise a gigabyte cos I have no problems whatsoever the mobo is rock solid. I suggest you take the P35-DS3L.

If you are future conscious then take the q6600. And one more thing, consider overclocking!
 
I see what you mean. The Q6600 @2.20 and the E8400 is at 1.4, half the time.
So what is all this stuff I've been reading in forums that say Photoshop and multi tasking is better done on quad?
As to overclocking, I'm interested, but know nothing about it. And I don't want a cheap anything for this new build. I'd rather spend more so the build lasts a few years than just get by.
My current setup isn't bad. Its an E510 with a 550 psu. But its a Dell and I can't go far with upgrading. Now I've got too much on Photoshop so I want to build some kind of power box without going into a workstation.
 
Can you run four monitors without going SLI? Since that does require two graphics cards to work (assuming have dual ports each).

With that unit will also need some serious case cooling. That many drives, video cards, and the like will generate some good heat.

May also want to seriosly look at the 64bit OS just so you can have the ram to work it all. From what I have seen on the forum, seems like really only an issue with things that are more than 2-3 years old. Plus will be updating drivers all the time.

With all you're running, would be such a waste to limit yourself just because you can't use as much RAM. With four monitors, I suspect you will be running many different things at once... otherwise seems like would be better to just get two bigger monitors.
 
I now run one PCIE and one PCI card, dual dvi ports. Don't have any problems. I also use Ultramon to handle the taskbars, etc. Four monitors work well for me, 2- 19's, one 24, and one 17, which I keep for email. The 24 is great for PS.

I believe you're right about 64 bit. I do need Ram. And major cooling. I will go full tower for sure. I checked with HP about my printer, a B9180, and as far as I know its Vista ready. So you don't think I'd have any problems with 64 bit?

 
MOBO: if you're trying to buy a motherboard that you won't have to upgrade for at least a couple of years, I suggest you go with the X38 chipset (i'm assuming you can afford it considering everything you have!)... You'll get dual x16 pcie 2.0 slots along with a crapload of bells and whistles, whether you need them or not. I recommend the foxconn X38A if you're on a 200 dollar budget (in the US) because these can run DDR2 and DDR3 so it will allow you to upgrade later (although DDR3 is limited to 4Gb)... If you want to spend more money, I'm sure other companies have DDR2/3 mobo's as well so check them out... only reason I'm advocating this is because you are running so many things in your computer and you want to be able to upgrade to DDR3 when prices go down, and performance is noticeably better.

CPU: IF you can hold out for a little while, I suggest you wait and purchase the new 45nm Quads that are coming out soon. There's really no point in buying the Q6600 or E8400 IMO. Q6600 prices will drop drastically as soon as the new ones come out, and while I understand that photoshop may not take advantage of Quad Cores right now, I can guarantee it will with future updates/versions... You should definitely buy a quad core.
If you CANT hold out and you must build now, then I guess you can "settle" for the Q6600... but even better, I think you should buy a really cheap cpu that can hold you over until the newer release. and overclock the hell out of it, so you don't lose too much performance... E2160/E2180 will do fine for a couple of months if you can tolerate the performance hit for a short while (they run between 60 and 80 dollars USD). Or if you want to spend a little more for extra cache, you can get the E4xxx series for 30-40 dollars more.

Vista 64: With everything you intend to do, I'm sure x64 and additional RAM will help so I say you go for it. Most new hardware/software usually support both versions of vista anyway so I don't think it will be a problem. If you have some older stuff that you absolutely must use though (or new parts/software you will purchase) I suggest you check the vendor websites and make sure 64 bit vista is supported before making the plunge!



 
This is all good info, worth the research it creates. I'm now looking at the X38's. The Foxconn 38A reviews I've read say its tricky with Bios, and I don't need those problems. Then there's the Gigabyte P36T-DQ6, but I can't tell if it handles DDR2 as well as DDR3. It looks like a good mobo, but no good if it doesn't do DDR2. Anyone know if it does?

CPU: You guys have me sold on Quad. I had read the Benchmarks referred to in NaDa's post, and realizing that PS only uses two cores, and that the E8400 being faster than the Q6600, it made sense to go E8400. But as RedZone points out, PS will likely update. That thought makes Quad a good choice, and the Intel Q9550 and Q9450 at 45nm are looking good. By the time I get this all figured out and some parts bought, the couple months it'll take to get those on the shelf will be here.

How long do you think it will take for Vista's service pack 1 to come out? I really hate to spend 400 bucks on the OS, and have to deal with that. Also I'm not sure buying the OS OEM style is the way to go. In any case I'll go with 64 bit, and at least 4GB Ram.
 
P36T-DQ6? was that a typo? I can't seem to find that motherboard on newegg or gigabyte website. If you meant the X38T-DQ6, no it does not make use of DDR2... it's DDR3 only... however if you don't care about upgrading to DDR3 in the future, you should check out the X38-DQ6, or EX38-DS4... they both use DDR2 and will give you all the other benefits of any X38 board... and they both have excellent reviews overall.

As far as the Foxconn X38A... the problem you are referring to with the bios is not that it's "tricky", or "complicated"... it does however take a bit of getting used to. If you read the review for it on I believe AnandTech (or maybe it was here?), you will see pictures of it. The bios has many submenus, so basically you select an option, and suboptions open up... then more suboptions... and so on... This is hardly worth worrying about, but it may require a few extra minutes of your time initially to get used to it. I built a computer for my friend using this board, and an E8400 with no problems whatsoever and overclocking that processor after the initial culture shock was very simple (got to 3.8Ghz with no effort, and we stopped there because he didn't need anymore speed... personally I think he's crazy, who doesn't want more speed? lol)

Anyway, I'm not trying to convince you one way or the other, but don't put too much weight on all the reviews, because no matter what you buy, odds are someone will complain about it. I suggest you consider the pros/cons off all the X38 boards, decide what features you want, whether you'll want the ability to upgrade to DDR3 or not, and go with it... In the end get what you'll be comfortable with because they're pretty much the same. Asus has some solid DDR2 X38 boards as well.

Vista SP1: Last I heard, it was due out "mid march" so no doubt it will be coming in sooner then some of the parts you intend to purchase :) but why are you going to be paying 400 dollars for the OS?????? That sounds outrageous, are you in the US? are you buying vista Ultimate? Even vista ultimate on newegg is 289.99 retail US pricing... If you don't plan on making any big upgrades to your system for a while, I think OEM is probably the way to go as it will save you money. (also you probably already know, but vista ultimate comes with 32 and 64bit versions, so you can get 64bit and if it absolutely doesn't work for you, then change to 32bit with a simple reinstall)
 
Sorry, I meant GA-P35T-DQ6. And I do want a board that supports both DDR2 And DDR3. I'll keep searching, check out the two you mention here also, but I guess my question was, if the specs don't mention DDR2 capablity in a DDR3 board then it doesn't have it. Right?

And the Vista Ultimate, I ballparked the cost. Didn't check.
 
oh P35 board... just remember that's not gonna have PCIe 2.0 and crossfire won't be at full x16 speed.

Yes you're right, usually in the specs it will say that it supports BOTH DDR2 and DDR3... if it only has one listed, thats the only format that will work because the slots are different for the two types of RAM.

and LoL on the vista ultimate ballpark guess 😛 if I didn't check I probably would have said something along those lines too, knowing how microsoft always rapes people! haha

oh if you decide to get a dual support board for RAM (DDR2 and 3)... make sure you check professional reviews, and updates on the vendor site... a lot of the past models have had problems being able to run both, so make sure the problems have been fixed before buying... that's another reason why I recommended the foxconn... only problems were on early boards was with DDR3 ram, but even those have since been fixed.
 
Been researching. I guess I won't go x38 because I don't want crossfire, or the ATI cards it uses. So I've been looking at a million boards and am at the point of going with something with one pcie and three pci slots. I know it won't mean pcie 2.0, but can't have everything. Abit IP35, or maybe an Asus. I need two esatas and six satas also. Abit has that. What do you think of their boards?
 
The abit IP-35Pro is very good, and their overclocking utilities are supposed to be excellent. right now it's on sale after rebate for 134.99 on newegg! I personally don't have any experience with abit boards because I generally get gigabyte (they don't offer as many bells and whistles, but i've never need them anyway)... If you're not going crossfire, I have no doubt this board will be fantastic for you... Current cards don't need PCIE 2.0 anyway.

I don't really have time right now, but you should try to find out when the "P45" chipset is coming out... if it will be before your build comes together, that might be a better option as those will be the same as P35 except with some improvements such as PCIE2.0.
 


Quick question. If I get the Abit IX Quad GT, or a board like it which has two PCIE slots, can I use two PCIE cards while not going Crossfire? I just want to add another cord for my extra monitors.
 
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