Buiding first system - e8400 cpu - Need MOBO suggestions

Hi guys
Want to start building my first system, a dual use ... surfing (myself) and game box for my boys. I am complete newb in building / selecting components. I have choose E8400 cpu (oem) / and Retail.
So what is the difference between oem (or) retail?? My primary concern would be warranty.

MOBO
This has me more confused every / anytime I try to approach this jungle. Some I've looked at ...
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail

XFX nForce 680i LT SLI Motherboard, NVIDIA, Socket 775, ATX, Audio, PCI Express, SLI Ready, Gigabit LAN, S/PDIF, USB 2.0 & Firewire, Serial ATA, RAID and a zilloin more, but the more I look, more confused I get.

When it comes to the mobo, I want to keep FSB at 1333MHz and 8GB memory capable (game side Vista Ultimate/64bit).
Will go to all Sata HDD/opticals. Big, expensive graphic cards will be limited to kids budget/part-time jobs so I only put in first $50/$100 of expense.
Would much appreicate ANY / ALL suggestions for Mobo. Try to keep it around $100 to $150.00 plus/minus.
Thanks for any suggestions.

Hardware already acquired
Antec 900 Tower Picked up for $45 delvd at Fry's after rebate (caught a 3 hour special in January .. sold out fast).
Corsair VX550W Power Supply. See JonnyGURU's summary at end of review.
Memory - A-DATA 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Not sure if this was a wise choice ... bought it back in January when memory started to tumble.

 

Hi Dennis,

I commend you on taking the time to research the motherboard, often it is overlooked, but is the basis of the system.

There is a large variation in the price of those two motherboards. They are different chipsets. One has SLI capability.

Will it be high end games? Do you need SLI (dual graphics cards) capability? Dual graphics can improve the gaming performance, but "bang for buck" may be outweighed by getting one, higher performance, card. I suppose you know, SLI only works with nVidia graphics cards.

Matching...
An Intel CPU probably works best with an Intel chipset. An nVidia graphics card probably works best with an nVidia chipset. That seems to be reflected in those links. You may get a little more graphics/gaming performance with an nVidia system. If gaming was not a big requirement the Intel system may work very reliably. Any system should do internet surfing easily.

Support...
I regard support very highly, a good knowledgebase (and search system), driver and BIOS updating. For an example, people may start having problems with the release of Win XP SP3 or Vista SP1, you need to have updates and information available if necessary. For motherboards, Asus and Intel would probably be the best for support. I have had problems finding information at the XFX website. Gigabyte have quite good support, but in the past, I have tended to feel they release new motherboards without enough testing. Me, I would prefer to get an older version of a motherboard that has good reliability reviews rather than the latest version that may have bugs.
Will Vista 64bit drivers be updated frequently?

From my research, Abit are one of the best you can get.

You have the memory already. I suggest going to the A-DATA website and checking what motherboards they are compatible with, there may be a possibility they won't work with some motherboards. You could check websearches for, say, "A-DATA" along with the motherboard make or model and look for any problems with the match. Some motherboard manufacturers have RAM compatibility lists.

If you find a suitable motherboard, put the model number into a websearch and check for "problems" and reviews. Download the manual and check that it has good clear instructions for building the system. Some have well over a hundred pages, some are hmmm, useless.

Matt

 

Have narrowed down my Mobo to
ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 for $135 after rebate. Would appreciate any feedback, need to order next few days to catch rebate. Abit IP35 Pro Review - Summary. Besides being a solid gamer board (no SLI, supports Crossfire), has excellent built in audio and solid construction. Board features are endless.

Have selected the following HDD (primary system drive + partitions) ...
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s. If I read it correctly, should plug in with no firmware updates .. per ICH9R southbridge on above board

Getting into a bind per E8400 now being sold out AGAIN at Newegg. I need to order Mobo next couple of days (rebate deadline). Hard to test everything if can not get it all at same time.

 

Rounding out the final component .. graphics. This was tough, I am not a gamer, kids are console only, but want to move up to a pc platform. I know I'm going a little against the grain (Intel chipset), but picked the following GPU ...

EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI - Retail. $115 after rebate. It seems to have a good following, 320MB DD3/320bit. It seems to have a lot of bang for the buck ... considering you can spend a ridiculous amount of money for graphics now days.

CPU Cooler - ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler. Should do the job. Good street following. I don't expect the e8400 to be a heat blister to deal with. Added feature, comes with Blue LED ... you will understand when you check out pic of my Antec 900 tower, stock out of the box.

PLEASE -- any comments, good or bad ... be aware of this/that concerns for any of my component choices.
To catch a number of rebates, need to get components ordered.

THANKS

Just for General info
If I go with the above, the TOTAL hardware cost for this computer will be $656.00 delvd.
Will have to pick up some cables, not sure what comes along with these components.

 

You are correct ... but when looking at numerous configurations, many gamers seem to go with nVidia when combo'ing with Intel chip set. I feel like a mole in a dark room bouncing off of walls for this component. I wish I had the gamer/hardware experience. Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

I use an Abit IP35-E and am very pleased with it. They're probably a bit more popular than the Pro because of the large price differential. But if you like the extra toys and don't mind waiting for rebates...

Having been an ATI user for the past several years who recently switched to pick up an awesome gaming card (Nvidia 8800 GTS 512), if I wasn't a gamer I would drop Nvidia like a rock and grab an ATI card. There are just many very minor things that show you that ATI went the extra step in matters related to everyday use such as having more readable text - in my case anyway.

 

Everything ordered - went with the following.

CPU ---------- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8400 - Frys - (Missed Neweggs deal)
Mobo -------- ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel
GPU --------- EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3
CPU Cooler - ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball
HDD1 ------- Seagate Barracuda 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb Will be installing 2nd HDD this summer
Burner ------ Samsung SH-S203B - 20x Combo
FFD ---------- Samsung Black 1.44MB 3.5 (not ready to give up a floppy yet)
Paste -------- Arctic Silver Ceramique Thermal Compound
Cables ------ 3x long Sata II's and a floppy.
Tower - PSU - Memory - See my first post - Purchased Previously

Did I missed any components for basic build / startup ??


Everything should be here by Tues/Wed.
Shed my first tear today when at payment screens. Lost $25 on CPU waiting to long (Newegg lasted about 8 hours). This CPU is always out, rarely in stock. I hope when everything shows up and start putting together I don't shed a lot more tears.

 

Thanks for your input. I'm not a gamer, but kids are so I'm hoping my GPU choice/guess keep's us both happy. Your card is nice, just did not want to spend that kind of money. IF I'm disappointed with my choice, what would you suggest for a ATI / Crossfire... that does not require a loan to purchase?
Thanks

 

Hi Pete
Phase one - 1 HDD - XP Pro - Will be primary plus partitions.
Phase two - 2nd HDD - Vista Ultimate/64 - couple months out (will be a 2nd boot drive).
This will be for gaming side. Call me neurotic, but I'm not a fan of dual boot. Have a friend/electrician who will install a keyed switch in my tower. When computer off (switch will term power anytime it is moved) you position switch to HDD 1 or HDD2. This will allow the kids to push limits for BIOS/CPU/Memory/game settings/OS configuration with absolutely no fear of affecting my side. Naturally I will have some image backups sitting on an external drive.

 

The E8400 is a new processor compared to the mobos. I don't expect it will be in the motherboard compatibility lists. It is currently N/A at Abit for the P35 Pro, but the reviews are saying it works.
http://www.abit.com.tw/cpu-support-list/intel/intel-core2-duo.htm

This is page 2:
http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3138&p=2

Check the CPU compatibility listing for the GA-P35-DS3L at the Gigabyte website. From what I see an updated BIOS may be required for correct readouts of temperatures and voltages.

Just a minor point. Your CPU will have a speed of 1333Mhz, the RAM 800Mhz. A-DATA is in the list of compatible RAM, you may want to check the model (ADQVE1A16)
http://www.abit.com.tw/test-report/ip35-pro.htm?2

Matt

 

Well, I think you've made a good choice to for light to medium gaming. If I was to recommend an ATI card in the same sort of price range, it would have to be the HD3850 - which is more expensive. (~$165). If you don't get the HD3850, I don't think you can beat that $110 price for an 8800GTS 320 and would go with that.

I don't do SLI/Crossfire and don't recommend it to people.

 

While I think of it, I remembered about the the different way the FSB is handled for the Intel processors now. That match works out fine.

Matt

 

First of all I would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to all posters to this thread. Your help AND support was very much appreciated. I have been putting this computer together in my head for the past number of months and as always, this forum allowed me to make some good decisions.

ORDER Update
As stated previously, when putting my virtual order together with Newegg, they removed the e8400 cpu out do to be sold out (3/28/08). I immediately committed to the same cpu at Fry's to have everything arrive about the same time. I placed the rest with Newegg and they had it on the road the same day. Two days later (Sunday), Fry's still had my order status at "In Process ". So I called them and they assured me it would be sent out today, Monday 3-31-08. I check order status and it was not shipped. I called them a 2nd time and they explained their was a problem, they had over-sold and put item on backorder. I asked why they did not contact/notify me ... said it was another glitch with inventory/computers.... but would get back to me shortly with ETA of backorder. Hung up phone, went back to Newegg, they had back in stock e8400 for $199/free shipping. I processed the order up to "commit ", called Fry's (3rd call) and requested a order cancel, they did, committed to NewEgg they got it, should be here Wednesday ... Yeahhhh.

With all of the components I chose, I'm most concerned about the Segate 750GB (see post #9 - see reviews / Newegg). It does not have the best reviews. Hoping I can luck out and get a good one .. One of the major reasons I prefer to work with Newegg ... if it don't work - just send it back.

Again folks, thanks so much for your help / support
Dennis L