Mobo question

[2Cold Scorpio]

I'm trying to decide on a mobo for my new system, and I have it pretty well narrowed down to three:
GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R
ABIT IP35 Pro

The trouble is I've heard far too many stories of Abit's shoddy support (though reviews of the board seem quite good). On the other hand, I've read the Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R only has 2 three-pin fan connections (I assume the othe Gigabit board would be the same if its true; the only difference I can tell of the two is the P35C one has DDR3 support, which I don't need). My case has 5 fans (1x120mm, 4x80mm, and I think they are all three-pin connections) and I wish to use them all. Would the Gigabit board, if its true about connections, limit how many of my case fans I can use?

The price of the Abit board is about the maximum I want to spend, an therein lies the appeal of the Gigabit boards: cheaper and support (from what I hear) is better.

What would you guys suggest? One of those three, or a different board?

My system components are:
Case: Raidmax Smilodon ATX mid-tower
Video Card: eVGA GeForce 8800GT Superclocked
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
Sound Card: Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
Optical Drive 1: LiteOn DVD-RAM Lightscribe Burner - SATA connection
Optical Drive 2: LiteOn CD-RW Burner 52x32x52x - IDE connection
Floppy Drive: Sony Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive
Hard Drive: 2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA 3.0GB/s in RAID 0
RAM: Patriot Extreme Performance 4GB(4 x 1GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Kit
PSU: Antec NeoPower 650 Blue ATX12V / EPS12V 650W
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

[staffsMike]

You can get molex (4 pin) to 3pin connectors so no mobo will limit how many case fans you get.

I'm not sure about abit support in the states but here in the UK it really is fantastic and as for the board I would certainly go for the IP-35pro over the gigabytes.

[2Cold Scorpio]

I loved the featureset on the Abit board (except how they placed the SATA connections at an odd right-angle...), but stories of their support had me worried. And its slightly on the pricey side considering it seems the boards aren't much different that I can tell... Hmmm....

PS: the mobos would have enough 4-pin connections for fans, then?

[BUFF]

the mobos' fan headers tend to be 3-pin apart from the cpu which is 4-pin.

The IP35 Pro & the DS3R are quite different level boards - a more level playing field would be the IP35 (~$100 after rebate at mwave) & of those 2 I would still take the IP35 (admittedly I may be biased but Gigabyte are my no. 2 fav brand atm).
Alternatively an IP35 Pro (btw there's nothing wrong with having the SATA sockets turned 90 as if you have large gfx card otherwise they can get sometimes get covered) & the P35-DS4.

& Gigabyte don't have an user forum anything like abit USA's.

[2Cold Scorpio]

By IP35, do you mean IP35-E? I've only seen that and the IP35-Pro.

Btw, whats he feature difference between the IP35 and the Pro version? I ask because I wonder if the Pro warrents the extra money. I do plan on doing some overclocking but nothing truely major (maybe up to 3.0 or 3.2GHz; I fear anything higher would be too hot), and I'm not going to be using SLI/Crossfire (not worth it yet, in my mind). I do need to know whether my Patriot RAm will work with the ABit boards, though.

[staffsMike]

Your patriot RAM will be fine with it.

There is the -E, IP35, and pro

The IP-35 is good for basic overclocking and doesn't have any eSATA ports which the pro does.

It does have firewire and RAID which the E version doesn't.

It's essentially most things to most men

It's the one I would buy and have done a build with.

[BUFF]

The IP-35 is good for basic overclocking

500fsb basic?

Yup, if you need RAID & firewire but not a 2nd physical x16 PCI-E slot or eSATA it's imo better value than the Pro (although the Pro has some nice touches).
mwave IP35

I'm fairly certain that the Patriot will work.

[staffsMike]

Well yeah but the pro has the better cooling solution and all solid caps etc.. As sure as I am it could take it I didn't want to push it too hard.

[2Cold Scorpio]

Yeah, I will be using RAID 0, though I don't think I have any need for Firewire. eSATA...I dunno; the only thing I could think of that I might get an external HD for backups, but ifI do that, it won't be for a while (I think to save cash, my backup solution will be DVD-RAm disks and Norton Ghost. ).

The Pro does have some nice touches (LED debug display, better cooling, etc.). But which would you suggest? I don't mind paying for the Pro if its worth it, but if its stuff I don't need, saving about $60-80 is nice. Actually, the main standout feature being better cooling...would the cooling on the standard IP35 be good enough?

PS: a lot of the recent customer reviews on NewEgg about the regular IP35 sound horrid... Especially the feller who said installing a PCI X-Fi sound card disabled the IDE drives...thats no good...I might get the Pro version just becuase the reviews sound better!

[staffsMike]

The cooling on the standard IP-35 is great. The pro is for the more extreme overclocks etc..

A quad a 3.0/3.2ghz will be nothing for it and it will stay nice and cool

I'd have the Normal one if it was me, the RAID is very easy to setup on it and it's a lovely..damn near perfect layout.

[2Cold Scorpio]

I may go for it then; I take NewEgg reviews with a grain of salt anyways.

But before I make my final decision, could you post the exact differences between the two again? I've been reading, but want to make sure I didn't overlook anything...

[staffsMike]

Pro Has:
extra Heat Pipe cooling
Extra 16x PCI-E (not sil)
2x eESATA ports
all solid capacitors (i believe)
+ everything on the IP-35

Standard has:
RAID
Firewire
Solid Caps in the most crucial areas

E has:
Basic functions

[2Cold Scorpio]

If the heatpipe cooling doesn't make much of a difference for justm oderate overclocking, I think I'll get the Standard.

Is it possible to ad in eSATA functionality later (via a PCI card or soemthing) in the remote case I needed it? Thats the only thing I can think of.

[staffsMike]

You certainly can. We get them for around £20 - £30 so you probably get them for as many dollars.. lucky buggas

Maplin > PCI-Express Dual ESATA / Dual Internal SATA Ports

[2Cold Scorpio]

I think Standard, then, will fit my needs for now just fine then. At least until the Nahalan Intel CPUs get released in a year and I'm looking to upgrade again... Thanks a lot, guys, you saved me about $50 9if that deal on NewEgg lasts until I can buy it...).

[Thorsson]

Have you checked out other suppliers? I found ClubIT to be cheaper than Newegg on most things.