Looking for a new motherboard

[bonestonne]

Hey all.

I'm starting to look for a new motherboard for my computer, because it will be easier to then upgrade the processor. for now though, i want to upgrade to something that will still fully support what i currently have, and then have no problem moving into what i plan to get over time.

Right now i have an MSI Neo F P965 motherboard, the BIOS is v1.7, and when i tried to update it earlier through the Live Update software, i just got BSOD'd every time. since this motherboard does not support 1333mhz Bus, it wont last too much longer for me, because i intend to move into a Wolfdale based system within the next couple months.

right now, i need to have:

Intel: changing to AMD would be too expensive at this point.

Pentium D support: I don't have the money for a new everything, i have to reuse this for now (Pentium D 940).

4 DDR2 DIMM slots: i want to use all the RAM that i have now [3GB DDR-II 667].

3 PCI slots: this is preferrable, but 1 will work too as long as the motherboard has onboard graphics. my soundcard is PCI, and this is a DAW.

1 PATA slot: old, yes, but i'd prefer to keep my optical drives on PATA for now, i don't need a new one yet, so i'd rather not buy it yet.

Quad core support: first chance i get on a quad, i intend to take it, but that may not be soon.

the form factor isn't my worry i suppose, i've preferred ATX, but i guess i wont complain about mATX, i just prefer having more room to expand because from time to time i have more than one soundcard, and they're usually PCI, so thats why i'm picky.

I'd also like the assurance that i will be able to reuse my Scythe Ninja. I've been thinking about a Mini Ninja as well, but its not as important. I'd also like to have USB headers on the motherboard, so i can use my USB bracket, i have a lot of USB peripherals that i do use, such as USB audio adapters. Firewire isn't necessary, but i wouldn't complain about it, i don't have an ipod, but once in a blue moon i'll be around a firewire mixing board. I also only have a 300W power supply, so i'm hoping that's enough. its plenty for now and works great, but its not #1 on the upgrade list.

The cheaper the better, can i say keep it under $100? I'm not picky, my current motherboard was bought open box, and i have no shame from that. I have to buy at least one new hard drive (500 or 750gb) as well, so cost is an issue, i'm not trying to be cheap. Linux support is also a plus, but i've gone over a few hurdles, and i can take a hit with it.

Intel BOXDG33TLM is one board i was looking at, but the single PCI slot limits my capabilities. I don't use optical either, however i'd rather have it as an option. i'm not the savviest person when it comes to chipsets, so any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[jcarle]

It's hard to move to a new motherboard that supports future technologies if you're unwilling to let go of dead technologies like IDE and PCI.

[bonestonne]

well, talking to Punto earlier led me in the direction of a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L.

Jcarle, its not that i'm willing to let go of old technology, its that i don't have the money [being a highschool student] to keep replacing everything i have. the only reason for the motherboard is that i intend to go for a Wolfdale soon, and its just unsupported by this motherboard.

the soundcard i have is $130, but you can find them for $100...i can't find any equivalent cards in PCI-e form. that and i have a 160gb IDE drive...losing IDE altogether forces me to use an adapter, and you lose quality with every adapter you use, its just a golden rule.

if i had $500 again, i'd just build a second system, but i don't.

[Zxian]

If you're trying to keep costs down, I'd say go with a good P35 based motherboard.

Pretty much all modern chipsets don't come with built in PATA support. IIRC, everything after the Intel 945 chipset used a separate controller to provide PATA access (I know the 975 and 965 do). From the specs in your sig, the PATA drive is your music drive... so is disk performance really that crucial? There's also no quality to be lost with adaptors. The data that's sent to the disk is the same data that comes from the source - it's just that the access might be slower.

It's probably a little more than you want to spend, but the Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R is probably your best option right now. It's got plenty of SATA ports, a single IDE connector, three PCI slots, three PCI-E slots, and one PCI-E x16 slot. The ICH9R chipset also provides support for ACHI mode under Windows XP, and will give you the option of setting up RAID arrays for your data storage in future.

I can't tell you for sure, but I think there are some members over at SPCR who are using the Ninja on this board as well. Check out the gallery section to make sure though.

[puntoMX]

It's probably a little more than you want to spend, but the Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R is probably your best option right now.

I thought about giving Bonestone that option, but it’s about 55USD more budged load . ACHI mode under Windows XP isn’t a problem if you follow for example the guide I posted in the XP section and the RAID performance isn’t that good as you would expect (an you know that very well with your monster RAID controller ).

However, both are great motherboards and work with the components you have now. Layout is the same except for the 4 extra SATA ports on the R version and a bigger Northbridge cooler, also for the R version.

[Zxian]

I thought about giving Bonestone that option, but it’s about 55USD more budged load . ACHI mode under Windows XP isn’t a problem if you follow for example the guide I posted in the XP section and the RAID performance isn’t that good as you would expect (an you know that very well with your monster RAID controller ).

However, both are great motherboards and work with the components you have now. Layout is the same except for the 4 extra SATA ports on the R version and a bigger Northbridge cooler, also for the R version.

It is a little over budget, but worth the extra money in my opinion. To be honest, I'm wondering if your ACHI guide actually invokes the ACHI capabilities under XP, or just masks them with the ACHI driver. Secondly, it's not really a matter of RAID performance, but rather the ability to have RAID itself. Using the RAID0 on this system gives me a healthy speed boost, and RAID1 on my file server gives me a little more peace of mind.

The extra SATA ports just gives FAR more options in the future. Considering that optical drives are moving to SATA now as well, I've got one SATA port left on my workstation computer (two drives in RAID1, one SATA optical drive, one PATA drive for personal data such as music). The 8 SATA ports would be a welcomed upgrade on that system.