Where does the industry stand?

Hey folks -

I'm stumped. I'm not going to lie about it. Every time I decide it's time to upgrade my computer or perhaps rebuild the entire thing, these forums are the first place I goto. The last time I did a major overhaul was when the S939 Opertons hit the market, so naturally I jumped on the bandwagon and have been very satisfied ever since.

However, it's time I went to dual-core! Over the past few days I've been drowning in Firefox tabs as I read the boards here, pinged away at Newegg, and read outside reviews on all the latest Intel technology. So where do I stand?

Well I want value. I'm a poor pilot, and I just don't have the money to buy a $300 Motherboard every few months.

I need a large jump in performance (Hopefully) over my 2.8Ghz Opteron, 1GB DDR Memory.

However the single greatest factor that's stopping me from ordering right now is where the technology tree sits. Do I consider the upcoming P35 Chipset? Which of the CURRENT chipsets offer the most "future-proofing"?

Would me waiting for a quasi-next gen chipset like the P35 be justified if I don't plan on upgrading again within a year?

If not, I'm strongly looking at the 680i based motherboards - because from what I've read these are the only solution for overclocking/SLI Graphics.

Which then leads me to ask....do I wait for DFI's 680i based board? My gut says probably, as I currently own a LanParty nF4-Ultra and love it.

Buuutt....I've also heard good things about DFI's P965-S, and a killer overclocking board would be worth the tradeoff of SLI......


My struggle is really only over a motherboard. And I'm lost. :(


`Sinnerman

yeah more P35 board r leak to reviewers such as andre, im guessing it will be release soon enough.. prolly Q3 , Q4?? who knows?

it should have DDR2 support and DDR3 (possibly combo .. i think i saw one that supports both ,but u can only put 2 sticks of DDR2 , or DDR3 to that board )

so yeah it is a hard choice ... DFI is usually late for the game ... i think they gave up the 680i board already ... as eVGA , XFX already launch theirs Dec last year ..

if u really want DFI board get the Dark 965 or 680i LT. if u dont want SLI then get 965 , if u want then get 680i LT

now for P35 .. well i personally have it as my next board .... i think the launch date for P35 board is like Q3 not sure ... maybe its sooner than that .. that will be nice

If the P35 Launch really is Q3 - that makes my choice much easier. Now to find the perfect current-gen board. Pretty much comes between ASUS or DFI boards......


EDIT: Is this the 965 Dark? I don't see "dark" in the description (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813136034)

Yep, that's the Dark version. :woot:

I thought the Asus P35 board is already out in parts of Europe according to the other thread? The Inquirer might be off but they said that Intel pushed the bearlake launch to May 9th up from the 27th. Abit has said that their board will be out sometime in June.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sinnerman49

Well I want value. I'm a poor pilot, and I just don't have the money to buy a $300 Motherboard every few months.

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If you want value, then take SLI out of your equation. P965 is the way to go for value.

True value (electric) are the appealing power states on the penryn, which if you're like me, leaving your system 24/7 and clockin it down during the night for torrents would mean alot in the overall scheme of things (not to mention the ac bill on summer nights). Its a shame all the boards comin with the P35 (asus and gigabyte) dont do well in low airflow.. i fkn hate all these heatpipes! Infinity Dark seems like a good durable mobo, shame its out so late in the game.. im thinkin its best to wait for penryn, if its really going to surface in mid june. I really dont upgrade regularly, so im probably stayin put until then while i wait for that 256bits 8600GTS peeps are talkin' bout.