[campijr]

I'm starting to purchase hardware for building my first pc. I have the ATX case, SATA Hard drive, Windows XP Home OS, DVD Drive, Floppy Drive. I've been researching motherboards for Intel Core 2 processors. I anticipate getting a Intel Core 2 6400 cpu. I am limiting my research to the following motherboards: Biostar, Intel, MSI, Gigabyte, Abit and Asus. After much research it's looking like the following motherboard is in the lead as my top choice:

Asus P5B-VM (Cost is about $130)

I like the over clocking software provided by Asus. I'm also a little impressed by the positive comments on other message boards about the mobo and Asus in general. Tom's Hardware give this particular board a positive rating.

Any one have experience with this Asus motherboard? I'm also open to other decent motherboards from other manufacturers (I'd like to confine the makers to the list I provide above). Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[win2kpro]

If you are going to overclock an Intel board is not going to help you.

 

[telegramsam]

Asus is about as good as it gets.

Intels are good, but as W2K stated, they're clock locked.

The Asus P5B series (choose your options) are the going standard for C2D builds right now. You are on the right track.

One caution, however. MOST power supplies that come with cases are junk. If you're using onboard video (meaning you aren't gaming), look at Sparkle power supplies. They're inexpensive and very reliable.

Also, I don't believe the price difference between the E6300 and E6400 is worth the dollars. The E6300 and the E6600 are the sweet spot, depending on the L2 cache you want.

 

[Mulderator]

The one thing I don't like about that board is I only see one IDE slot and of course you'll have your DVD drive hooked up to that--I realize you have SATA drives, but I have older IDE hard drives that I still use and also have an 2.5 to 3.5 ide converter for laptop drives. So you wouldn't be able to hook those up if you had a DVD and CD-ROM drive (a lot of people have two optical drivers) unless you disconnected one of those. Also, you only have two PCI slots available. Now none of this may affect you, but then again it may. I like to have at 3 PCI slots and two IDE controllers on a board, but that's me and I only bring it up as a consideration.

 

[campijr]

Could I connect a DVD Drive AND a DVD Rom drive to the single IDE connection if I so choose? I don't mind not being able to connect an older IDE hard drive. I don't plan to connect one so it's no big deal to me. As long as I have at least one PCIeX1 and another PCIeX16 it will meet my needs. I'm not completely decided on this board. I will continue to research Asus and Abit boards and others.

 

[replay]

i am in the process of building a new system Intel Core 2 6400 and a asus p5b-e mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131070&ATT=13-131-070&CMP=OTC-d3alt1me your mobo is a micro (i'm sure u know that)
the p5b-e has 3 pci slots........as far as only 1 ide slot u can still use a optical drive and slave a ide harddrive, or buy a sata optical and have two ide hd's

 

[Mulderator]

Could I connect a DVD Drive AND a DVD Rom drive to the single IDE connection if I so choose? .

Yes--you can do that--that's not a problem, but that's it--if you decide you do want another IDE device, then you have to get a PCI card--but then that leaves you with one PCI slot--if you have a sound card and a TV tuner, for example--that's it--no more PCI slots. And that other PCI-E slot is just about worthless--I really thought there would be a lot more cards for PCI-E, but they haven't materialized and what they do have always seems to be grossly over-priced. You may never need it, but I would consider a board with at least one more PCI slot--the IDE not as important IMO.

 

[campijr]

replay, I checked newegg's site and the board's specs. state its an ATX form factor. I don't seen any mention of it being a micro-ATX.
Mulder, the IDE slot and limted PCI slots do give me some concern. I'm planning on using the on-board sound, which would leave one of the PCI slots vacant. We only use the pc to listen to some mp3 music and don't do any gaming on it. If the on-board sound quality isn't acceptable to me I would opt for a value priced sound card. I have to think about this more. My limit for the mobo is about $125 so this is a bit of a challenge. I'm still open to motherboards from Biostar, MSI, Gigabyte, Intel, Abit and Asus.

 

[win2kpro]

If you are not going to overclock I have used this board in a couple of builds and it has worked very well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813121052

 

[replay]

replay, I checked newegg's site and the board's specs. state its an ATX form factor. I don't seen any mention of it being a micro-ATX.
Mulder, the IDE slot and limted PCI slots do give me some concern. I'm planning on using the on-board sound, which would leave one of the PCI slots vacant. We only use the pc to listen to some mp3 music and don't do any gaming on it. If the on-board sound quality isn't acceptable to me I would opt for a value priced sound card. I have to think about this more. My limit for the mobo is about $125 so this is a bit of a challenge. I'm still open to motherboards from Biostar, MSI, Gigabyte, Intel, Abit and Asus.

it states that the board is micro in the title (on newegg) not that it really matters tho'
i also am planning on using the onboard sound ......plenty good enough
that e6400 is a great overclocker and i would get a mobo that allows u to take advantage of that!

 

[campijr]

replay, you are correct! I don't know how I missed the M in front of the ATX form factor listing. I generally would prefer to use a full ATX board. How would this impact my build in a standard ATX case? What are the pluses and minuses?

 

[Mulderator]

replay, you are correct! I don't know how I missed the M in front of the ATX form factor listing. I generally would prefer to use a full ATX board. How would this impact my build in a standard ATX case? What are the pluses and minuses?

Its size basically--you would NOT use micro-ATX unless you needed it small--typical application would be as a home theater computer that would fit in a smaller area to save space. If space is not an issue, get a regular size case--more room to work, more air flow, more room for more stuff.

 

[campijr]

Mulder, I understand and agree with you. I think the mobo at the link below really suits my needs and budget:
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=307&model=1178&modelmenu=1
I like the Asus boards. This even has 3 PCI slots as you suggested. It only has 1 IDE controller, but I don't think this is an issue for me. I don't plan to connect a IDE hard drive. I'm still confused about connecting the DVD Drive to the IDE controller. If I install a DVD Drive to the single IDE controller can I still add a DVD-ROM to the same controller? I doubt I'll need the two optical drives, but it would be a nice option as our current pc has both DVD drive and a DVD ROM.

 

[replay]

one ide slot ....... the dvd drive as master and the other drive as slave

 

[campijr]

I think I get it. The DVD Drive would connect to the 'ribbon' cable to the IDE controller. If I added a DVD ROM later I believe the connection is along the same IDE cable. I doubt I'll add a DVD ROM, but want the option.

 

[Mulderator]

Mulder, I understand and agree with you. I think the mobo at the link below really suits my needs and budget:
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=307&model=1178&modelmenu=1
I like the Asus boards. This even has 3 PCI slots as you suggested. It only has 1 IDE controller, but I don't think this is an issue for me. I don't plan to connect a IDE hard drive. I'm still confused about connecting the DVD Drive to the IDE controller. If I install a DVD Drive to the single IDE controller can I still add a DVD-ROM to the same controller? I doubt I'll need the two optical drives, but it would be a nice option as our current pc has both DVD drive and a DVD ROM.

Yes--you can have two optical drives on that one controller and that is a better choice for a board IMO then the other one, but now I know why you didn't have that many slots--it was a micro board. The one IDE controller should be fine for you--I have a lot of old IDE drives laying around that I am always using for something so for me I like having the extra IDE controller, but honestly since you'll be using SATA drives, you'll probably never need it.

You don't need a DVD ROM--the new DVD drives do everything--read, write, and play DVD movies. Get a high speed CD-ROM for the 2nd optical drive and use it for reading CDs (for installing software).

 

[campijr]

I have some concerns with using a motherboard with the Intel 965 chipset. Some of my friends suggest this newer chipset has more issues with than the previous and more stable Intel 945 chipset. This is my first pc build so I am buying all name brand hardware and want a system that is reliable and friendly for me to build. In a perfect world I'd like to go for a motherboard with the 965 chipset as I believe it is the newer technology. I'd like to be able to overclock if I so choose, but may not even bother as I am going from a P4 to a nice Intel Core 2 6400 (at least). Is getting a motherboard with older Intel 945 chipset instead of the newer 965 chipset really a significant issue? What are the pluses and minuses?

 

[replay]

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2797&p=2

 

[replay]

i have decided on the asus p5b-e with the 965 chipset........but there is a new revision to the board (1.02).....the new revision addresses memory voltage issues when overclocking,amonst other things (which i plan to do) newegg has a backlog of the 1.01 rev and there is no way of them knowing which revision u will get when ordering..........

 

[replay]

also looking at this board.......... http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1661_2.html