Anybody have a core 2 duo yet? I'm waiting on building a new PC because I was hoping to get a motherboard with the nforce 590 chipset, but they're taking forever to be released. Now I'm debating it though because:

SLI is a scam
Intel kicks nvidias ass in chipset performance/stability
the nforce boards will probably be crazy expensive

Anybody have any advice on this?

9/14/2006 4:40:35 PM

gs7 just got a core2duo

Quote :

"Intel kicks nvidias ass in chipset performance/stability"

i've never hear this before, although i have heard good things about the 975 chipset

9/14/2006 5:04:57 PM

apparently the new Core 2 Duo chips overclock well too
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802

9/14/2006 5:34:10 PM

Intel chipsets are very nice. Dont buy an intel processor based motherboard without one. I dont know a single person with SLI that is even 80% satisified.

9/14/2006 5:38:34 PM

SLI is only satisfying if you want to pay twice as more for 20% more performance

9/14/2006 5:40:39 PM

yea, Prospero is correct ...

i've got the Core 2 Duo E6400 on an MSI 975X Platinum mobo ... i've yet to start overclocking it, however what i've been seeing in the overclock forums (including that link ^^^) has been awesomely positive about overclocking these c2d chips. btw, my mobo started off with many issues when it was first released months ago, however MSI has been fixing it ... and that is the reason i purchased the board, it's low-cost (due to previous issues) for the performance is unbeatable. the overclockers are having lots of success with the current cpu/mobo combo that i'm running.

i don't know what to recommend as far as waiting for the 590 chipset, but right now i'm very happy with the physical layout and the performance of this mobo. so are many others in the overclocking forums. i couldn't wait any longer, myself, so i went with a great choice for right now and will upgrade/ebay later if feel the need.

[Edited on September 14, 2006 at 6:40 PM. Reason : ^, ^^ they are right, ignore SLI]

9/14/2006 6:38:50 PM

Thanks for the advice. My current mobo is an MSI and I've never had any problems with it so I'll check out the one you're talking about. I think its the awesome marketing names for the 590s features that lured me in (RAID Morphing, DualNet, FirstPacket). I'll probably wind up with an intel chipset though, and if crossfire improves to something more than 20% down the road, I can still do that.

9/14/2006 7:12:01 PM

here's a partial feature list of the MSI 975x ... link goes to more detailed info and a picture.

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=746

Socket T LGA 775 (all current intel p4, core duo, etc)
Intel 975X - north bridge
Intel ICH7 DH - south bridge
1066 Mhz FSB
4 DDR2 800 (max 8GB)
5 SATA2 w/ onboard RAID (1, 0, 0+1)
2 ATA133
2 PCI-E 16X (crossfire, at dual 8X speed)
2 PCI-E 1X
2 PCI
8 USB (4 are 2 pinheaders)
2 IEEE1394 (1 is pinheader)
Onboard Gbit LAN (intel chipset)
Onboard audio (realtek 8 chan)

... would suggest newegg or zzf if you opt to purchase, it's approx $180 currently.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130051
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=249607

9/14/2006 7:40:55 PM

Are you running DDR2 800? The only problem I've ever had with my MSI board was finding ram that would run dual-channel without any problems.

9/14/2006 7:48:33 PM

yup, i'm using some higher-end OCZ DDR2 800mhz dual-chan, 2GB total ... YMMV, but it's what i've got, and it works great.
https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85236

[Edited on September 14, 2006 at 8:04 PM. Reason : yes, dual channel]

9/14/2006 8:02:46 PM