Motherboard for New PC?

So I am going to be building myself a new computer in the next few months and thought I would go with an ASUS board as they seem to be really solid. However I got looking and noticed a similar Gigabyte board, also known for dependability, that was about the same price but the differences confused me.

I did a "Compare" on Newegg so it put them side by side and I can't see any real differences other then the RAM speed supported and the LAN chipset used.

Would one of these be better to go with then the other? If so, why?

The compared products are: ASUS P5K-VM and Gigabyte GA-G33M-S2H.

The link of them side by side is here

Yes, I am building a portable gaming PC. >.<

 

To be honest, I'm not sure there are many things to consider with portable motherboards, the overclocking kind of goes out the window unless you want it to have mega fast screaming fans to keep up with the temperatures. Both of those boards look adequate for any sort of load.

 

Yeah there really isn't much of a difference between those two boards. Looks like $3 and a slightly different LAN chipset is all.

I won't be doing any overclocking to this system as its in a real small case and I don't want to have the fans running at maximum speed all the time.

 

I'm guessing it's gonna be a Core 2 Duo system. Not overclocking them seems such a waste. Is it really that hard to move around a mid-tower case?

 

Its not real hard, I just don't like messing with a Mid-Tower case. With the overclocking, I don't really want to mess with it and I think even if I do it will be fine in the case I am using.

Its the Thermaltake Lanbox. I plan on probably adding a Blue Orb to the build as it should fit. A review on the case here used a Blue Orb II and it fit fine. I also plan on chucking a third fan into the back of the box for extra cooling power.

I know everyone and their dog says to OC a C2D (and it doesn't look that hard) but I haven't played in that field at all so I have no clue what I'm doing.

I might play with it a bit, which the Gigabyte board would probably do better, but I am not sure. I am planning on getting a E6750, but the specs still are not final.

 

Dogs are very smart...

Anyway overclocking is just about the simplest thing you can do, all you are doing is changing numbers.

 

And heat output

Anyway I will see when I get it (and get it put together) if I want to overclock it. Yes, I have noticed almost everyone is OCing them, which leads me to believe that it must be pretty easy to do.

 

A 20 buck Freezer 7 Pro will take care of the heat, or you could get a Thermalright 120 Ultra, but that won't fit in your case probably.

 

Well I only have about 10cm (100mm) between the top of my CPU and the Power Supply so the Freezer won't fit.

However, as I said the Blue Orb II (or in my case the Ruby Orb) fits fine and will provide adequate cooling.

I figured I am going to throw in another fan for the case (I am going to put one of these where its labeled "Rear Vent" in this picture of the back of the case I'm getting) and between the Blue Orb and the extra fan I should be fine thermally.

I also found a review that confirmed what I hoped. I can (more then likely) hit 3Ghz with the E6750 at stock voltages. This place did it and I am sure it wouldn't be that tough to do.

If I get a bad OC chip and can't hit 3GHz at stock voltage or just slightly over then I am just going to run stock speeds.

Peace

 

I have a E6400. I am running EVERYTHING on stock volts. Click on the link in my sig to check out my OC.

 

Thats good to know everything on yours is at stock voltage. Sometimes though, I guess a bad chip comes along and its not stable when OC'd (even to "just" 3GHz) at stock voltage.

I will be playing around with the new system when I get it (probably a 2-3 months from now) and will let the forum know what goes on.

Peace

 

Can I recommend you try something like a Zalman CNPS7000 or CNPS7700? Those two might fit, depending on how much width you've got. They cool nearly as well as the freezer, I'm not sure how well the blue orb cools.

 

I will have a look into the CNPS7700. Zalman seems like a good brand and I would be willing to take a look into it.

The CNPS7700 will fit, because its actually (very slightly) smaller then the Blue Orb II.

The demensions of the Blue Orb II's heatsink are 140 x 140 x 66mm
Compared to the CNPS7700's heatsink dimensions of 136 x 136 x 67mm

According to several reviews I read on the case its got just a hair over 100mm (or 10cm) between the top of the processor and the PSU.

Peace

 

I'm willing to bet the 7700 will do a better job than the Blue orb. Zalman coolers to that design are everywhere, I had one and it was pretty impressive, and that was only the small 7000.

 

what you guys talking about

edit by creaky - spammer removed

 

They are talking about CPU coolers.

 

Indeed, Sammorris was mentioning this series of CPU coolers.

 

That socom guy is really starting to tick me off. Vote that his IP is blocked.

 

He was actually sorry about insulting you. I told him to remove the spam from his sig and he did it. I think you guys should stop automatically blocking him unless he does something bad again.

 

I don't care, several times he's barged into threads with the most basic of questions disrupting the conversation. He's turned into a forum menace.