P3x/P4x Mobo for a Wolfdale (E8x00)?

krille · Post by **krille** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:05 am

Heya!

I'm about to build another Core 2 Duo-based system (E8400 or E8500 w/ XIGMATEK HDT-S1283). Just need to decide on the motherboard and some 2x2GB DDR2 kit (not sure whether PC6400 or PC8500 yet).

Looking for a board that's good value and power efficient while not compromising stability. There will be overclocking of course, not to the xtreme though as the aim is a quiet and rock stable PC. Probably less than 4 Ghz (somewhere between 3.6 and 4.0 is my estimate, most likely heat limited). I'm putting off quad-core till 32nm, so this setup will never touch a quad. It will be a gaming PC (4870 1GB + Accelero S1) but no Cross-Fire/SLI will ever be employed so no need for that (so P43 for example could work). The on-board sound won't be used.

So what would you recommend at this point? I'm not interested in the complexity offered by DFI boards for the moment. These new Gigabyte P45 UD3 ("Ultra Durable 3") boards seem interesting (and Gigabyte has a good reputation for stability and power efficiency), but are maybe unnecessarily expensive for my purposes. The ASUS boards are popular too but tend to be less power efficient AFAIK. There's also MSI, but MSI doesn't seem nearly as popular.

Anything more expensive than the ASUS P5Q-E or the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P is out of the question, but the cheaper the better. I don't mind budget or value boards as long as they're solid and I'd rather save the cash for a 32nm socket 1156/1336 rig in 2009.

Thanks!

Greg F. · Post by **Greg F.** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:52 am

perhaps a Biostar TG31 A7. About sixty bucks at Newegg, but you can't get it there, I guess. edited
check www.rebelshavenforum.com

krille · Post by **krille** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 3:06 am

Don't really want a Gxx board. And I'm not too familiar with Biostar (although admittedly they are cheaper). So I went ahead with the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R. A bit steep, but I had to send the order and couldn't make up my mind so I picked what I considered the safest bet. I hope it will serve well and deliver at least 450 Mhz FSB for 24/7. If not I'm going to feel totally ripped off.