Which motherboard to get?

[mcfstep]

I'm currently looking at upgrading my computer and I need help finding the right motherboard.

I want an Intel quad core cpu and I'm not too sure which mobos support this technology. I had looked at this one:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126717
However there isn't much in the way of having large amounts of RAM, I know 4gb is quite a lot but still...

I don't want to spend more than £50 so if anyone could suggest anything that would be great!!

Thanks!

[Saracen]

I can't help with sub-£50 boards, but I don't know if you're aware that 32-bit Windows versions don't support 4GB. If you're looking at 64-bit versions, LINUX, etc then you'll do better, but otherwise, you might want to look into that a bit more to see if the extra cost of the second 2GB is justified by the potentially nominal increase in available memory you might end up with.

With 32-bit versions, you'll get typically between 2.75 to 3.5GB (at best) from 4GB of physical RAM, with exactly what you get depending on the motherboard chipset, the memory it can address, the extent of remapping done for graphics cards and the contents of the PCI bus devices (many of which will also involve some memory remapping).

[nimbu]

My honest advice would be try and stick clear of budget boards. Being the main "hub" of a PC, and the component (imo) that if choosed correctly will stay with you the longest. My current A8N has seen me through a 3000+, opt 146 and a 4200+ X2.

Go for a reasonable board with a nice upgrade path (doesnt have to be uber flash or anything) and you'll find you made the most of your money in the long run.

Nims

[kalniel]

I have to disagree actually - budget boards can be great. ASrock and Foxconn both produce very high quality units. The key is to check with them beforehand that it has the compatability that you need - sometimes you find that the budget boards actually have more compatability as they upgrade the bios to support new chips rather than expecting people to go out and buy a whole new board.

[excalibur2]

My honest advice would be try and stick clear of budget boards. Being the main "hub" of a PC, and the component (imo) that if choosed correctly will stay with you the longest. My current A8N has seen me through a 3000+, opt 146 and a 4200+ X2.

Go for a reasonable board with a nice upgrade path (doesnt have to be uber flash or anything) and you'll find you made the most of your money in the long run.

Nims

Well I'm please with my upgrade on the 2nd computer................. from a clapped out A7N8X with xp1700 to C2D for £70

BTW swopped the CPU in the two computers as the E4300 had better multiplier.

[Lucio]

This is slightly over your budget but if you get a few most posts, you can at least get free carriage from them. It's using the latest chipset so should support any available LGA 775 processor out there.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=605521

[nimbu]

I have to disagree actually - budget boards can be great. ASrock and Foxconn both produce very high quality units. The key is to check with them beforehand that it has the compatability that you need - sometimes you find that the budget boards actually have more compatability as they upgrade the bios to support new chips rather than expecting people to go out and buy a whole new board.

Yeah and no. Forgive me I wasnt implying budget brands, I have previously owned both an Asrock and a foxconn in my seconday rig. Both did what they said on the tin. My concern in this particular case was the budget chipset (VIA). Doesnt make sense to me to spend on a quad core cpu and then try and couple it with a via chipset.

[mcfstep]

The mobo shown from scan looks good and I must admit it is very tempting! I'm assuming it has the latest chipset on board and mentioned by nimbu?

[BUFF]

Yes, it has an Intel P35 chipset which supports current & future Intel Core 2 CPUs & it's a highly regarded basic (as in no firewire or RAID) mobo.
It's on http://www.scan.co.uk/todayonly/ £61.69.

Once you hit 25 non-spam posts here at Hexus you'll get free delivery from SCAN on orders over £20 ex. VAT too.

[mcfstep]

Ok I'm convinced! So if I put a couple of sticks of this RAM in http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=527001

and this CPU
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131950

I would be going in the right direction? Basically I've got a glorious psu already and a couple of IDE hdds which I will eventually switch out with much larger sata drives, but in terms of main components have I got the right things? In terms of will they actually work together?

[BUFF]

should do although you can get some branded DDR2 6400 for not much more.
If you are thinking about 4GB of RAM though generally you are better off with 2x 2Gb DIMMs rather than 4x 1Gb DIMMs.

Sorted for a PCI-E gfx card too?

1 thing to watch though is that you say that you have a couple of IDE HDDs - the IP35 only supports 2 IDE devices total (P35 chipset supports none but abit add a controller to the board to provide some).
If you need more than that then http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=594521 supports 4 I believe.

[mcfstep]

Well I only have 2 IDEs so it should be ok, however that mobo is £10 cheaper and supports sli. Does it support quadcore cpus as well because if it does I will probably go for that one. Actually whilst we are on the topic, what is the difference between ide and sata? Because they seem to be about the same price?

[Lucio]

SLI is only a benefit if for some reason you find GFx cards on a 2 for 1 sale It'd be rare to figure out a point whereby you can't turn your cash into a single, better spec card that'll out-perform the pair of cards in SLI.

The 650i chipset *should* support a Q6600 G0 stepping processor, though it might require a BIOS update first to be able to provide the correct voltage as there was a slight change in electrical specification between the settings.

The main difference is that the 650i isn't guarenteed to support the 45nm Penryn's which are due out next year as a replacement to the current range of processors, so in a couple of years time if you fancy an upgrade, you'll be looking at a replacement motherboard again.

[mcfstep]

Ok then I'll stick with the abit mobo then. Just looking through the technical specs ofit and it looks like it only supports 1 ide drive, but that will do until I get hold of a few sata hdds.

[mcfstep]

What Ram should I get? I see similar products but some are (5 5 5 12) and others are (4 4 4 12)

[Lucio]

What Ram should I get? I see similar products but some are (5 5 5 12) and others are (4 4 4 12)

The timings won't make a huge difference to your useage, but 4-4-4-12 are marginally faster (and thus cost more).