Question about 680i Setup PLEASE post your opinion! :D <3

[Kurbey]

ok scenario:

CPU: QX6700 2.66ghz 8mbL2
RAM: Corsair Dominatior 1066 pc2 8500 (4gigs)
GPU: Asus 8800GTX
PSU: 750w Silencer from PCP&C


Motherboard: ????? looking at Asus Striker extreme or Evga.... what would be most beneficial to my setup? i obviously want to take full advantage of all this hardware... so SLI memory is a must aswell as max fsb on cpu @ 1333 please post opinions on what you think would be the most appropriate motherboard for my setup!

<3 any help

 

[Kurbey]

hmm i found this board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131073



I guess im confused on exactly what this "SLI memory" is does that board support it?

 

[Doughbuy]

SLI memory means EPP, or nVidia's proprietary tech thats supposed to set optimal ram timings and such... EPP memory is nice, but not needed nor necessary if you want to play around with things yourself.

I wouldn't go the striker because it is overpriced, the eVGA or the P5N32-E SLI would be better.

 

[Eurasianman]

Agreed with Doughboy. The ASUS Striker, IMO, doesn't offer any real big advantages. You should still be able to take full advantage of the hardware with the base ASUS 680i mobo.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't OS also play a role in this? I see you are getting 4 gigs, so I take it you'll be using a 64-bit OS, right?

 

[Kurbey]

I appreciate the input fellas after long debate i have decided upon the eVGA 680isli board.


and xp doesnt support 4gigs? what is max 2 im assuming then.... that sucks good thing vista is around the corner 😀


edit: ok just looked it up 3gigs max, could just turn off pagefile though but im not to worried about it... vista in february or so. xp pro x64 is to buggy anyhow. it will still take advantage of the 4 physical gigs of ram.

 

[McParty]

Hey Kurbey, I just bought that same ASUS motherboard that Newegg has listed for $299 for $259 at xpcgear.

The main question I have is about ram also, but no one is posting any answers : (

LOL

 

[hatsurfer]

SLI memory means EPP, or nVidia's proprietary tech thats supposed to set optimal ram timings and such... EPP memory is nice, but not needed nor necessary if you want to play around with things yourself.

Doughbuy answered the question.

Enhanced Profile Protocol includes some more detail over the standard SPD included in the RAM. Normally memory modules have details like name and rated speeds of the module. With EPP standard voltages and the command rate of the modules are included. This means the board can go ahead and set all the timings if it recognizes EPP of the modules. Thus making overclocking much more novice friendly since the board would essentially set all the timings. Probably won't be all the highest settings, but a good place to start. You can always set them yourself on most boards, so it's not necessary. I'm not sure why they went with the name "Sli ready memory". It's a bit confusing since it has nothing special to do with the scalable link interface. Here's what I found so far.

"Memory is an integral part of a SLI system to deliver the ultimate gaming experience. When we wanted to expand the program to memory, Corsair was the first to come to mind," said Drew Henry, general manager of platform products at NVIDIA. "The goal of the SLI certification program was to ensure that consumers always have an unparalleled experience when gaming on the platform. Adding memory to the certification program further strengthens our program objective."