Help Needed - s775 mATX Motherboard

[muddyfox470]

I'm on a relatively tight budget, but I want a motherboard that I can overclock with.

I have recently looked at the following:

GA-73VM-S2 - cut down version of the one below
GA-73PVM-S2 - the one I was really keen on because it has 6 rear USB ports (but no where seems to have stock)
GA-73VM-S2H - is what everyone seems to have, but it has HDMi, eSata and Firewire which I would never use anyway
Asus P5N-MX (I think)
... they aren't exclusively those - I'm open to suggestions - I just don't know where to start.

However I cannot get any info on any of the boards.

I am looking for one to support DDR2 6400 and quad core cpus as eventually i am looking to get there. But first and foremost I want it to be reliable, quiet and have overclocking abilities so I can start off with a cheaper processor and get the most out of it before upgrading again.

Any help and some reviews would be helpful (I cannot find any useful reviews) and well I've been an AMD man since creation so don't know where to look for motherboards.

Cheers,

Ian

[staffsMike]

First things first those gigabyte boards according to a review i read (can't find) do have any voltage adjustment so you wont be overclocking very far with them.

They also only have single channel RAM so you lose some memory bandwidth.

The abit version of that 630i motherboard is better as it does have voltage adjustment and a PWM heatsink so should ok quite well.
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no idea about the asus.

The G33/G35 are the intel boards opposed to the Nvidia design of the 630i.

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK this one looks quite good. No dvi though if you are planning on using onboard video.

[Hunain]

ASUS p5k-vm, ive got it, its mATX, overclocks very very well, superb board, might as well check it out!

[Webby]

I have the Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R (linked by Mike) It overclocks well I have my E6550 at 2.8GHz (400MHz FSB) at stock voltages I haven't taken it any further but I'm sure that it will go further, takes DDR2 PC6400 and will support quads and the newer 45nm chips.

[muddyfox470]

Thanks for your comments, more are welcome

Does anyone have personal experience with the Abit as it looks a nice layout as well as having decent specs [however it says that the internal headers are for usb 1.1 only? :S]. Also I need to ensure that my cooler will fit on the board as well - Silverstone NT06

Thanks again

Ian

[staffsMike]

There is a better break down of features here
Universal abit > Motherboard, Digital Speakers, iDome, AirPace, Multimedia

it is USB 2.0.

The best place to point any of your other concerns about the abit is probably here
abit.care@HEXUS - HEXUS.community discussion forums

[muddyfox470]

I've just noticed that the abit requires the adapter for my Hiper Type-R PSU for 8 pin ATX 12V for the CPU

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How come the other motherboards linked and most others I seem to come across still only use the 4 pin connectors ? Will I need to make the cabling in my case untidy to accomodate this cable adapter?

Cheers,

Ian

[staffsMike]

The 8pin is there to give it the extra power for overclocking I suppose. Probably best to use it with all 8pins and not 4.

[muddyfox470]

Well I went for the abit for £44 on today only and got the hiper power adapter for £4.50 as well. So not all bad.
Will let you know how it all goes (e4500 just arrived today) but won't be building it until Easter hols...

Ian