# best motherboard?



## lb562high (Oct 22, 2006)

what is the best motherboard out on the market rite now? for under $500?


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## PC eye (Oct 22, 2006)

That's debateable! It will depend on manufacturer as well as model. Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte are about the top three companies. DFI and Abit come in after. Newegg usually has the lowest prices. But the real thing to know here is what brand cpu will the board need to run? Then the top of either AMD or Intel can be decided on.


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## lb562high (Oct 22, 2006)

well, im getting a new computer and im putting a intel core 2 duo processor in it so.....


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## The_Beast (Oct 22, 2006)

highest price C2D board there is.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131025


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## lb562high (Oct 22, 2006)

really? do u think its any good? or are there better and cheaper boards out there


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## The_Beast (Oct 22, 2006)

look at a comparison

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...mpareItemList=N82E16813131025,N82E16813131028


ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP is pretty good that is what I'm getting for my next build.


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## lb562high (Oct 22, 2006)

thnx...looks good


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## The_Beast (Oct 22, 2006)

so what one are you going to go with???


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## PC eye (Oct 22, 2006)

That is mainly due to the lack of inventory at newegg as well as other vendors at the moment. A Gigabyte comes close at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128323 But I lean towards Asus as a rule anyways.


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## lb562high (Oct 23, 2006)

The_Beast said:


> so what one are you going to go with???


yeah looks like im gonna stick with the asus p5nli. thats wat i was told was very good at least....


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## PC eye (Oct 23, 2006)

lb562high said:


> yeah looks like im gonna stick with the asus p5nli. thats wat i was told was very good at least....


 
 Asus stand top here while keeping MSI and Gigabyte somewhere in mind as alternates.    I think you made a type error on the model number.


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## lb562high (Oct 23, 2006)

i think so too...i think i ment P5ND2-SLI. maybe u can give me advice on which motherboard form asus i should get for my new build....price range around $120


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## lb562high (Oct 23, 2006)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131032


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## PC eye (Oct 23, 2006)

The P5N32-SLI model is one step for $132.99 seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131564R

 Both of these boards have NVidia chipsets which is favored here. There are a few other models with DDR2 800 memory and 16gb capability to look over. But those lack the second PCI-E 16x slot. You would have faster memory without the two items mentioned.


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## lb562high (Oct 23, 2006)

so thaats the one u suggest?


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## PC eye (Oct 23, 2006)

In that price range and having an NVidia chipset like the other model you don't have any other options. If you want something a little newer with the support for DDR2 800 and still have 2x16x PCI-E slots with the Intel chipset look over the four model seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&Subcategory=280&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= 

 The P5N32-SLI is just a little above the other model. That's probably due to having one more feature and being slightly newer. It is still the DDR2 667 board there.


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## Saurian (Oct 23, 2006)

If you don't need SLI, then you don't need to bother buying a board with it. Unless you plan on strapping a pair of 7900GT's together, why do it? You only get ~50 percent more performance (overall) with SLI, so why spend twice the money on an expensive card, when at the point of paying 500 dollars for a pair of GTO's you could have just spent 400-450 on a Radeon X1950XTX that is the fastest single-GPU card on the market today. 

If the board you want happens to have SLI, that's great and it could be useful if you wanted to prolong the life of your current performance level a bit longer before an upgrade.  I just hope you're not hung up on it, though.


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## jimmymac (Oct 23, 2006)

intel D975xbx is aboslutely immense for core 2 duo...gorgeous board

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813121016


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## PC eye (Oct 24, 2006)

Saurian said:


> If you don't need SLI, then you don't need to bother buying a board with it. Unless you plan on strapping a pair of 7900GT's together, why do it? You only get ~50 percent more performance (overall) with SLI, so why spend twice the money on an expensive card, when at the point of paying 500 dollars for a pair of GTO's you could have just spent 400-450 on a Radeon X1950XTX that is the fastest single-GPU card on the market today.
> 
> If the board you want happens to have SLI, that's great and it could be useful if you wanted to prolong the life of your current performance level a bit longer before an upgrade.  I just hope you're not hung up on it, though.


 
 When buying a board for a replacement build here it was bought for a good price with SLI capability like a good number of boards are. The problem with SLI here would be trying to run a second MSI Radeon X1300 Pro.   Gee? Now I would have to run out for a board with the ATI Express 200 for a Crossfire setup. But I couldn't do without the nForce 4 chipset on this one.



jimmymac said:


> intel D975xbx is aboslutely immense for core 2 duo...gorgeous board
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813121016


 
 Great with three not one or two PCI-E 16x slots. Anyone for SL.."TRI" instead of SLI?


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## ceewi1 (Oct 24, 2006)

If SLI support is not important, the Gigabyte 965P-S3 is a superb board at the sub-$120 price point.


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## PC eye (Oct 24, 2006)

You know I would go for a Gigabyte or Asus board before going on an Intel. But you may still end up with an SLI capable board depending on other things. More and more boards will be SLI or Crossfire capable. There's always the P5N SLI model seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131032


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## lb562high (Oct 29, 2006)

PC eye said:


> You know I would go for a Gigabyte or Asus board before going on an Intel. But you may still end up with an SLI capable board depending on other things. More and more boards will be SLI or Crossfire capable. There's always the P5N SLI model seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131032



thats the one i was talking about....


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## PC eye (Oct 30, 2006)

It's a really a toss between that one and the Asus P5N32 SLI or the Gigabyte model suggested by ceewi1. Putting SLI aside you can decide by the features and support for hardwares each one offers.


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## JuggaloKillaz (Oct 30, 2006)

I cant believe socket 939's cheap now.  Im not sure which manufacturer to use.  I thought of Asus or Gigabyte.  There both awsome.  which one for a gaming PC and i plan on using AMD.


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## PC eye (Oct 30, 2006)

JuggaloKillaz said:


> I cant believe socket 939's cheap now. Im not sure which manufacturer to use. I thought of Asus or Gigabyte. There both awsome. which one for a gaming PC and i plan on using AMD.


 
 Asus usually sees some of the best results. It actually depends more on the model with either brand. Asus incorporates the "Quiet + Cool" and a good overheat protection circuit while many go with Gigabyte for ocing. Except for a cpu fan failing on the last build and doing something to bios as well as the cpu when that overheated Asus has otherwise been reliable here.


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## leetkyle (Oct 30, 2006)

The_Beast said:


> highest price C2D board there is.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131025



I have that board and it rocks  Wi-Fi is very powerful and the Digital Remote is VERY handy! 10/10.


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## JuggaloKillaz (Oct 30, 2006)

wow what a nice motherboard. Can it support an AMD processor.  Are Asus motherboards good for OCing?  ANd Gigabytes are louder than an Asus Motherboard.


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## PC eye (Oct 31, 2006)

JuggaloKillaz said:


> wow what a nice motherboard. Can it support an AMD processor. Are Asus motherboards good for OCing? ANd Gigabytes are louder than an Asus Motherboard.


 
 The P5N SLI and the P5W DH are both Intel model boards. Asus, Abit, MSI, Gigabyte, DFI, and ECS are all good brands with oc capability with ECS having a large number of options for this "if" you just happen to get a good board. Asus has been one of the leaders for some time now. But you will get more out of some models then others. That seems to hold with different makes and models.


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## lb562high (Oct 31, 2006)

wow...ive been exploring a lot and i think im sticking with the Asus p5n sli.  or is there a better alternative for that much money...?


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## PC eye (Oct 31, 2006)

Well there's always the Asus P5N32 SLI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131031 for a slightly higher price tag. You actually choose what is the best board for you by looking over the various makes and models for the specifications as well as the features offered to see how that will fit into a build you are planning.


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## spacedude89 (Nov 1, 2006)

I'm Currently using the ABIT AW9D-Max motherboard, So far its great.

http://www.pro-clockers.com/reviews.php?id=166


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## lb562high (Nov 2, 2006)

i think im going to be doing a lot of gaming on my new comp...so which mobo is better?


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## PC eye (Nov 2, 2006)

The Asus P5N32 SLI model sees the best reviews for gaming and ocing. The P5N SLI model doesn't fare so well in that area.  Even though you can run far more  memory with a 16gb max the P5N SLI gets baked. That is the word there. The preference here would be for the nForce 4 chipset. This would be the better in the Asus line.


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## lb562high (Nov 3, 2006)

PC eye said:


> The Asus P5N32 SLI model sees the best reviews for gaming and ocing. The P5N SLI model doesn't fare so well in that area.  Even though you can run far more  memory with a 16gb max the P5N SLI gets baked. That is the word there. The preference here would be for the nForce 4 chipset. This would be the better in the Asus line.



so you recommend the P5N32 SLI model over the P5N SLI model in the gaming area? also i was wondering where i can read up on the comparison of all motheboards...


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## lb562high (Nov 3, 2006)

quick question...which one do u recommend for me:

Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe NVIDIA® nForce™ 4 SLI 
Socket 939 ATX Motherboard 

or 

Asus P5NSLI NVIDIA® nForce™ 570 SLI™ Intel® Edition
Socket LGA775 ATX Motherboard


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## lb562high (Nov 3, 2006)

or maybe even the A8N32 SLI deluxe?


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## PC eye (Nov 4, 2006)

The Asus A8N SLI and A8N32 SLI Deluxe are AMD not Intel model boards. The P5 series boards are Intel models. "P5 = Pentium 5" I was under the impression you had decided on going with a Core 2 Duo. Newegg has a pair of boards with nForce not Intel chipsets to look over at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1&Submit=ENE&Manufactory=1315&SubCategory=280


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## lb562high (Nov 5, 2006)

ohhhhhhhhh....wow i sound stupid...lol. thnx for clearing that up. yeah im going with the core 2 duo. so do u think that the p5n32 sli deluxe is worth it for the extra 100 bucks? (over the p5n sli)


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## PC eye (Nov 5, 2006)

You will have to review the features as well as the specifications before making a $100 jump to a different model. The $206.99 is a large gap for the P5N32 SLI Deluxe model seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131031

 You have to look over both boards according to your needs there to see which will offer the best performance value for the money. And the one other thing that stands out between the two models is the cpus that will run on one while not the other? For $107.99 you would be running the "Intel Core 2 Extreme/Core 2 Duo/Pentium D/Celeron" on the P5N SLI model seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131032 while the P5N32 SLI runs "Intel Pentium EE/Pentium D/Pentium 4 HT/Celeron D"?


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## lb562high (Nov 10, 2006)

gotcha...thnx.


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## PC eye (Nov 11, 2006)

If you have any second thoughts or want to recheck the price before ordering just remember to use the left column at the site to go direct to the correct socket type and brand. The cpu selector is the important one there so you don't get lost again!   Don't worry I'm not trying to rub it in. (  you won't dare. sorry!   ) When placing you will want to verify each item is the actual one to place.


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