Need Mobo recommendation - dual PCIx16

[txgman]

I need to replace a motherboard in my system. It is an ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium board that failed. My primary concerns are as follows:

1. Needs to support Core 2 Duo (2.33 GHz) and Vista operating system.

2. Needs to support two nVidia PCI x16 cards. I do not have them linked via SLI as I am running three monitors on the two cards. Mostly, I use the cards for regular PC activities, but I am a fan of MS Flight Simulator, and I would like to have "true" x16 performance which is why I originally went with the nVidia chipset. I read that most other chipsets only support x8 in the second card of a two card setup.

3. Built-in Audio, Gigabit Ethernet, and plenty of SATA and USB ports. (RAID is not important)

4. Overclocking not important. Stability is.

5. Absolutely not willing to buy another ASUS board, which was formerly my favorite brand. Out of the last six ASUS boards I received, four were DOA, one failed after a year, and one did not support Core2 Duo as advertised on the box. Since I don't overclock, this was pretty shoddy quality control on their part (they even sent me a RMA board that was DOA after waiting a month to receive it). They have burned their bridge with me. I also had problems with ABIT boards back in the late 90's, but haven't bought one in years. I built a HTPC using a Gigabyte board, and it has been rock solid stable, so it would be my first brand choice. I have no experience with any other brands.

6. I'd like to keep the price under $200, but will pay a little more for quality.

 

[Maziar]

P5N32-E SLI PLUS

 

[aevm]

eVGA 680i A1 or Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6.

The P5N32-E SLI Plus is a bit better than the 680i-based P5N32-E SLI, apparently, at least for overclocking. Of course, if you're done with Asus for the moment forget it.

 

[Maziar]

P5N32-E SLI PLUS is the "Best bang for buck 680i" chipset, it has the same features of ASUS STRIKER EXTREME and it costs alot cheaper

 

[aevm]

Yeah, but the OP hates Asus. Don't you like any 680i board except those made by Asus?

txgman, if you're sure you don't need SLI, it doesn't have to be 680i, it could also be X38. Those are a bit too expensive IMO but still worth checking out.

Can't find the Gigabyte at newegg any more, unless it's open box. Here's the link for the eVGA:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188013
It's under $200 indeed, at $199.99 :lol:

 

[Maziar]

I like that GIGABYTE and EVGA that u mentioned but that ASUS is good too, but u r right , if he doesnt like ASUS , he should get one of those

 

[txgman]

Thanks for the advice so far.

I couldn't find the Gigabyte 680i board anywhere, other than the open box option you mentioned at NewEgg. Discontinued, maybe?

The EVGA board looks like a viable option. However, the Gigabyte version of the x38 is just a little more at mWave ($269 for the Gigabyte x38 versus $220 for the EVGA - excluding rebate). Would I see a significant difference in quality between the two chipsets?

Also, regarding my question abou the PCI x16 slots. Do I really need the second slot to be x16 if I run 3 monitors? In other words, if I have two independent monitors on the same video card, would they be processing at x8 anyway? For example:

Card 1 in PCI x16 slot -> 2 monitors = x8 per monitor
Card 2 in PCI x8 slot -> 1 monitor = x8 per monitor

Or does the math not work this way?

 

[aevm]

Yeah, I can't find it at zipzoomfly either. Too bad, it was one of the best. A bit too expensive to be really popular, but that's because it had all the features you could imagine. The eVGA is very popular, on the other hand.

I'm not qualified to compare 680i to X38, maybe somebody else can chime in and help. Or just read the reviews at anandtech and elsewhere. So far x38 seems very high quality, except that it consumes a lot and gets hot. Same for 680i, come to think of it. All that complexity comes with lots of transistors, hence the heat and the price.

No idea how it really works with the 16x divided between two monitors, sorry. Just guessing, if you have Notepad on one monitor and Crysis on the other then the bandwidth used by the card will be mostly generated by Crysis. How the card packages both sets of data (from notepad and from Crysis) and sends or receives them through the PCI-E interface beats me. They may very well be all mixed up and sent together. It does make a lot of sense of course to give the best slot to the card that handles two monitors.

If you don't get a 680i motherboard you'll probably end up with a P35. Be careful, because some of those have 16x+4x (for example GA-P35-DS3P), and a fast nVidia card in a 4x slot will not work at its best. I can't think of a mobo with 16x+8x right now, is there such a thing?

 

[txgman]

You are correct on the 4x for the second card. I was thinking of the 650i chipset which makes both cards 8x. Either way, I am probably better off with the full 16x in both cards. Flight Simulator in high detail on 3 monitors is a thing of beauty.

I ordered the EVGA 680i board, as the consensus of reviews seems to be very positive regarding the build quality and EVGA's support for their products.

Thanks once again for the advice.

 

[aevm]

No problem. Wow, 3 monitors... Post a photo in this thread some day