URGENT - Gaming Motherboard

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

The motherboard I ordered has been discountinued. I need a gaming motherboard at a medium price. PCI-E, 775, compatible with Intel Core 2 Duo etc.

I need recommendations quickly. I've looked at:

Asus P5B Motherboard - Intel Socket 775, ATX, Audio, PCI Express, Gigabit LAN, S/PDIF, USB 2.0, Serial ATA, RAID (not sure if compatible)

EVGA Nforce 680I SLI LGA775 Conroe ATX DDR2 2PCI-E16 2PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard


EDIT: My HD is SATA2 by the way.

EDIT2: If somebody could recommend me a good gaming sound card, I'd appreciate that too.

[Whacker]

My friend and I just got the eVGA 680i boards, the A1 boxed versions. We're both happy w/the stability and features we got with it, as well as overclocking abilities.

As for a sound card, unless you really have a desire, I wouldn't spend the money on one. Most modern boards have very good sound solutions built in.

:balloon2:

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

My friend and I just got the eVGA 680i boards, the A1 boxed versions. We're both happy w/the stability and features we got with it, as well as overclocking abilities.

As for a sound card, unless you really have a desire, I wouldn't spend the money on one. Most modern boards have very good sound solutions built in.

:balloon2:
I read the features list on the site, and it didn't mention anything about sound for the 680i, so I thought it was without onboard. If it does, chances are I'll be happy with it.

[Lemur]

This is my gaming mobo (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127014). Getting a little long in the tooth, but it still runs the latest games just fine. Many smart people, however, swear by the Nvidia 680i as the best currently out there.

[Whacker]

680i is absolutely outstanding for overclocking, and it plays nice with most all of the high end quality name brand ram, unlike Nvidia's older chipsets. The downside though is that it runs HOT, very hot. I actually ripped the stock cooling solution off of my North- and Southbridge, and put Thermalright HR-05s on them. Still amazed that I could shoehorn those with 80mm fans, my video card, and an Ultra-120 extreme w/120mm fan in my case. If you are squeamish about fiddling with your hardware, then don't try to go with an after-factory cooling solution, just stick with what's on the board. It'll work fine, but you won't be doing any heavy overclocking, and even light overclocking will necessitate some good airflow inside your case. Good luck whichever way you choose to go.

:balloon2:

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

The nVidia does have onboard sound, right? I couldn't find it on the features list. If it does, that's what I'm getting. It's definately compatible with all my parts too, while the ASUS may not be. I won't overclock it much, but I'll have really good airflow with the case I have (Apevia X-Plorer, one 120mm and four 80mm, very well placed with an onboard fan controller).

[Whacker]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188013

That's my board. And honestly you'll have to look hard to find a board that doesn't have built in audio these days. It's got "Azalia" 8 channel audio, which is essentially another Realtek chipset. It works great and sounds fine. Plus I don't really buy the argument some present that Creative cards offload more processing requirements to the card itself rather than the cpu, never seen anything conclusive that demonstrates that. /shrug. YMMV, IMO, etc.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

http://evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=122-CK-NF68-AR&family=20

[Whacker]

http://evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=122-CK-NF68-AR&family=20

That be it. If that's what you decide to go with, make SURE you get the A1 boxed version. The T1 is... I'd call it 'OEM', comes with less cables and goodies, and a shorter warranty. The A1 boxed version comes with full retail box and gear, and a lifetime limited warranty, IIRC. Double check me and read up on that, but I think that's the case. eVGA also does a bang-up job with BIOS updates and patches, if you don't have a floppy drive (which you probably won't), they offer multiple methods to flash, including a downloadable bootable cd image, usb key image, and a few other options. Can't comment on their support or RMA, haven't had to deal with that. Their website knowledge base section is a bit clunky, but workable.

[DukeofSerbia]

The nVidia does have onboard sound, right? I couldn't find it on the features list. If it does, that's what I'm getting. It's definately compatible with all my parts too, while the ASUS may not be. I won't overclock it much, but I'll have really good airflow with the case I have (Apevia X-Plorer, one 120mm and four 80mm, very well placed with an onboard fan controller).
Every MB in last 7-8 years has integrated sound card.

This EVGA has Azalia (HDA) 7.1 Channel.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Which one of these do I buy?

EVGA Nforce 680I SLI LGA775 Conroe ATX DDR2 2PCI-E16 2PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard


EVGA Nforce 680I SLI LGA775 Conroe ATX DDR2 2PCI-E16 2PCI SATA2 RAID Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard

EVGA Nforce 680I LT SLI Conroe LGA775 ATX 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard



Should I go with the RAID one, even though I only have one HD? If not, is the first or third better?

[Whacker]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188013

You want that one, the non-LT. LT is a lower end board, you can pull up the one above and also the LT board and compare specs side by side. The above is the 680i A1 retail boxed w/warranty, parts, and better componenets. It's also got build-in RAID, if you actually want to use that.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

I can't buy from newegg - I'm not American.

I'm looking at the A1, T1, and TR SE. I'm trying to find the differences between them, except they get more expensive from the TR to the A1. The specs look similar though...I'll try to find the A1 specifically.

EDIT: Found the A1 on the site I'm buying from, thanks.