best mid level mobo?

[MCDesigns]

Ted or anyone with some experience on this. looking for a good mid level Mobo. Since I am disappointed with the performance (and the cost) of the new core i7 CPUs I am just going to upgrade my current rig with a socket 775 mobo. GPU and CPU to give me a nice boost while being cost effective and then do a serious upgrade later once the Core i7 tech matures or new tech comes out.

Can you guys recommend a reliable board?

[kilo delta]

I'd go with an X48 mobo from Gigabyte or Asus, Michael.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128331&Tpk=GIGABYTE%20GA-X48-DQ6

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131317

Bear in mind that both of these boards use the cheaper DDR2 memory (try to get fast 1200mhz mem if possible) and you will need to upgrade to DDR3 memory should you decide to go for an i7 system at a later stage.

[Butcherbird17]

Id go with Gigabyte either x48 or p45. The next question would be ddr3 or ddr2 memory as they offer both with these chipsets. Cpu id go for either the dual core e8600 or the quad core q9550. Gpu either the nvidia gtx260 core 216 (55nm) or ATI 4870 1 gb gddr5.

Now if ya want to send me the $$$ i'll ship my rig off right away.:icon_lol::costumes::icon_lol:

Joe

[Alexraptor]

Asus P5QL Pro is a great board, its a p43 chipset but its nice and stable and has good overclocking capabilities.

[MCDesigns]

Thanks guys, appreciate the info. Yep, I'm aware of the DDR3 for the Core i7, I'll be sticking with the DDR2 I have now. I found a retail Q9550 for $250 I'll be picking up along with the Mobo, a new HD and a new ATI 4850 for $180, I should be set till FS11 comes along and better tech comes out.

[Bjoern]

Asus P5QL Pro is a great board, its a p43 chipset but its nice and stable and has good overclocking capabilities.

The P5Ql is an awful overclocker. The FSB can't be set higher than 400Mhz, so anything more than a normal overclock isn't possible.
I'm also encountering kind of a cold-start bug.

So far, I can't recommend the P5QL. I one wants a good, cheap board, I would say that the Asus P5Q series of boards with P45 chipset is the way to go.

[Alexraptor]

Thats odd i know the motherboard can be set much higher, at least according to my BIOS, allthough i have never tried it since i dont have the cooling for that kind of an extreme overclock on my E6700, but i do know other people have managed pretty well.

But personally i have not encountered any bugs with my board of any kind.

[CG_1976]

Hum im looking also at upgradeing my beta comps mobo at the mid level but those are intel and intel and me are like grease and water no good. Does anybody have and good AMD Mobo ideas?

[Alexraptor]

If you really want a setup for FSX i'm afraid Intel is the system of choice, Intel processors are just more powerful than what AMD has to offer at this time.

[CG_1976]

Yes statically your right, but i have had much better luck and fluidity using AMD.

[txnetcop]

Yes statically your right, but i have had much better luck and fluidity using AMD.

Tim I would be interested to know how you get better results with AMD than Intel. I test equipment to include AMD Phenom professionally and it is a rare thing that AMD runs FSX fluidlly and at high fps.

I know to each his own, but I can tell you from years of building experience that once you really master the new Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad set ups you will really enjoy flying a desktop. I just recently tested the new AMD 9950 X4 Black Edition Spider rig with three 4870s in CROSSFIRE against the Q9650 with two HIS ICE-Q4 HD4850s in CROSSFIRE and it wasn't even a race. The AMD was no faster than the old Q6600 Intel Quad in all games tested and especially FSX. They also lag in the performance per watt area as well. Why handicap yourself with FS11 around the corner.

You may really enjoy the new i7Core set up. I would explore looking at some first hand testing to see for yourself. This by the way is not a criticism of your choice but an encouragement to look into the new cores.
Ted

[Bjoern]

Thats odd i know the motherboard can be set much higher, at least according to my BIOS, allthough i have never tried it since i dont have the cooling for that kind of an extreme overclock on my E6700, but i do know other people have managed pretty well.

Of course the numbers will go higher in the BIOS, but the question is whether the system boots with those settings or not. ;)




Yes statically your right, but i have had much better luck and fluidity using AMD.

If you want AMD, I would wait for the new Phenom IIs. They are apparently on par with the Core 2 chips.

The fluidity could be explained with AMD's CPU-integrated memory controller, but then you should see the same effect when comparing an iXXX with a Core 2, since Intel has (finally) adopted the same concept for their new CPUs...

[CG_1976]

Just ordered 2 New AMD Phenon II X4 processors. Now onto more research for the rest of the builds.
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_15331_15917,00.html