Motherboards.....just can't choose.....

[MarkyG]

Ive been looking at the ASUS Striker II Extreme 790i chipset motherboard, looks very nice, does what i want it to do, but have also been looking at the GPU branded ones, like the XFX NForce 790i Ultra SLi board, torn between the two but not sure which one is better, even after reading several hours worth of reviews on both.

Anyone got the Striker II or the XFX NForce 790i U-SLi board and can give me some user info?

[MarkyG]

looking at having a minimum of 4gb RAM with Vista Ultimate x64, 1333mhz if it has to be, but 1600 preferred :) although the ASUS Striker II Extreme board only supports 1600 if it is O.C. as far as i know :(

[samvts]

god do i always have to whipe your ass for you lol, well if your spending the money mate make sure you get the xfx version with ddr3, i have the xfx 790i ultra very happy with it, the support from xfx is fantastic, both boards are great personally i would get the xfx mobo, stick with ocz nvidia ram and xfx g card will run really smooth.

[MarkyG]

thank you for the wiping :D

will look into the price a bit more for now, but swinging toward the XFX board. the gpu ill be getting is the 280gtx xxx edition :y:

[MarkyG]

Just found the XFX 790i U-SLi board for £220 on ebuyer! price is cheaper than the ASUS Striker II board at £288!!

Does the XFX board support 1600/2000mhz RAM without O/C? as thre ASUS only supoprts the 1600/1800/2000mhz range if its an overclocked 1333 stick i think!

[samvts]

yeah i got 2000mhz platinum ram from ocz, xfx gtx280 xxx is my card fantastic card!!! do not buy it from the chap on ebay he is scamming!

[MarkyG]

yeah im not getting the XXX card from ebay, getting it from eclipse. cheapest i can find it anywhere!

i know eclipse dont have a high rating from most people but ive never had a problem with them!

[samvts]

so you are pretty much buying my computer lol, i've spent £2100 on mine now

[Karl]

£200+ for a mobo is pretty steep,
gonna be fitting my OCZ Reaper 1066Mhz DDR2 RAM to my new Biostar i45 mobo tonight. :D

[MarkyG]

My spec will be:

4gb OCZ SLi ready 2000mhz PC3-16000 ram, xfx mobo, Intel C2Q Q9650 (stock: 3hz, O/C'able to 4.2 :D)xfx xxx gtx 280 gpu, 10k rpm raptor hdd, vista ultimate x64

getting it with no VAT as im getting it through a mate who works for a PC shop :D

[Karl]

x2 raptors for raid 0 imo

[MarkyG]

maybe......this is costing roughly £1150 without the VAT :y: so may spend the little extra and get the 2nd raptor 10k :D

[Karl]

good plan.

[MarkyG]

Got some parts ordered now :D

XFX NForce 790i Ultra SLi Motherboard
Intel Q9650 Processor
XFX GTX280 XXX Edition graphics card

just need to find a decent PSU and 4gb RAM now

[samvts]

sounds good i have 2 raptors well worth it, i have the Coolermaster Real Power 1000w

[Pieface]

Try and Get a motherboard that can support DDR3 Ram.

[samvts]

true true....we have already drummed that into him though lol

[MarkyG]

already ordered it pieface :D

just looking about for ram atm

[samvts]

OCZ

Intel Extreme versions
Nvidia SLI series
Platinum series

only choices imo

i have the platinum stuff and i love it, really it depends on what other components you are using

[MarkyG]

well its the XFX 790i board with an Intel Q9650 cpu with an XFX 280GTX XXX Edition graphics card, only the one mind, cant afford a second one at the moment!

Overclockers don't have any OCZ Platinum RAM @ 2000mhz in stock at the moment, no eta it says, have heard that they're hard to get hold of as they are so popular! a lot of sites are out of stock of them. Cant seem to find the same clock speed but the NVidia SLi ram anywhere either!!

[chinkostu]

Why bother with DDR3 yet? its expensive and so far the extra bandwith hasn't seemed to have done much, whereas DDR2 was a reasonable step up (heck, im that old im on DDR and have a mobo knocking around with SDRAM!)

I had an article in a magazine somewhere, i'll try and dig it out

[MarkyG]

got everything coming through now, got the mobo, cpu, hdd, gpu, psu and vista ultimate x64 on its way and jsut order the 4gb of SLi ready 2000mhz ddr3 ram :D just got to wait for it all to turn up now :y:

[Karl]

Shes gonna fly.

[MarkyG]

hope so!

[MarkyG]

also got myself a Zalman 9700 LGA775 QC cpu cooler too, heard mixed reviews of it being noisy and some poeple saying its quiet as anything! only time will tell