Comp parts - Any pointers?

[RobbieThe1st]

With any luck, I shall have a new computer by Christmas(Hopefully of 2008 <_<).
Now, I have about a $1000US budget on this, excluding shipping. I plan to be buying my pieces off newegg(May get a few non-critical ones off Ebay if they are really cheap).

My requirements:
First off, I plan to be running a dual-boot Windows XP 32-bit and Debian linux system. So, what I get needs to work with both(which shouldn't be a problem).

I need two PCI cards - One for my Creative Audigy ZS2 sound card, which I have been using for several years, and am *NOT* upgrading, and the second for this ATI TV tuner card I have(Good for input from a VCR and such).

Now, this is going to be my main computer, so it needs to be stable as a first requirement. Next, I would like to be able to play fairly nice 3d games on it(In windows most likely).

What I have in the computer the new one is going to replace:
Manufacturer:        Selfbuilt
Processor:          Intel Pentium 4 3.20GHz Northwood
Memory:             2GB RAM(2X1GB Dual Channel)
Hard Drive:          419 GB Total
Video Card:          NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra
Monitor:             SyncMaster 731B(Digital)
Sound Card:          SB Audigy 2 ZS
Speakers/Headphones:    JVC HA-RX300 Headphones($20 ones)
Keyboard:          Compaq KB-0133
Mouse:             Logitech G5/Logitech G9
Mouse Surface:       Soft blue mousepad(branded)
Operating System:       Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) SP1
Motherboard:          Asus P4P 800-E Deluxe
This computer is the one to be replaced. I an not keeping the motherboard, video card, cpu, or memory(Well, I am not getting rid of them, but they aren't going in the new machine).

Parts I already have:
PSU: OCZ 600SXS StealthXStream 600W
CPU heatsink: ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED
Case: Some fairly nice Aspire aluminum one I got for $15 because it was missing the top door plastic piece.
Fan controller: Aerocool Gatewatch
DVD: HP DVD940 DVD-RW drive with Lightscribe
Floppy: Some ancient 3.5 inch one which works OK.

Anyway, this is my wish-list:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=12943027
Notes and corrections:
Ignore the DVD drive - I just realised the one I have currently has LightScribe, so it is fine.

The 32GB CF card I had intended to go into my Creative Zen Micro MP3 player - I may instead get two 16GB cards, one for my MP3 player and one for my camera, or I may only get one 16GB card to save money.

Possible motherboards:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000200022&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16813128352%2CN82E16813138108%2CN82E16813130160%2CN82E16813128339


-----------------------------------------------------
I am not really familiar with new parts and components, as the latest system I have worked with is the one I talked about.. Which is ancient. I have however decided that I am going to be getting an AMD system.

Graphics card wise, I have had horrible luck recently with a couple of ATI cards I got for this comp several years back - They just died after a little while. This Nvidia one I have however was gotten ages ago, at the same time as the motherboard, and it has kept going great, my only gripe is that the fan is a little loud at full speed.

Harddisk wise, I was planning on getting the 3 500GB drives so I could do a Raid-5 setup - As it is, I currently am using a 2X250 raid 1 setup.


Comments and suggestions are extremely welcome. Please give me advice!


-RobbieThe1st

[Dagardo]

You might try yougamers.com and find the game they have listed under their logo where it says "check if you're pc can handle *insert game name here*". Cause they're supposedly really tough to play, and check the highest listed specs. Said specs seem to be the highest of any game they have listed. If this doesn't help then just ignore me.

[Tapewolf]

I'm a little out of touch with hardware myself, but out of sheer interest, is there a reason you're sticking with a 32-bit distro?  I run a 64-bit version with the 32-bit install as a backup, and - aside from my own code - about the only thing which I haven't been able to make work in 64-bit so far is Yukon, the OpenGL recorder.

[RobbieThe1st]

I'm a little out of touch with hardware myself, but out of sheer interest, is there a reason you're sticking with a 32-bit distro?  I run a 64-bit version with the 32-bit install as a backup, and - aside from my own code - about the only thing which I haven't been able to make work in 64-bit so far is Yukon, the OpenGL recorder.

Linux wise, I probably will go 64 bit. Windows wise however... I already have the license, and I am not gonna go buy something new from Microsoft(And pirating it... meh).

You might try yougamers.com and find the game they have listed under their logo where it says "check if you're pc can handle *insert game name here*". Cause they're supposedly really tough to play, and check the highest listed specs. Said specs seem to be the highest of any game they have listed. If this doesn't help then just ignore me.

Ok, so I did that, with my current specs(obviously). I got "Close, but no cigar - your computer does not meet the minimum requirements.". Ok, I didn't expect my coumputer could run it. However... down at the bottom:

Processor: 2.5 GHz P4 (single core) processor or equivalent /
Comparing your CPU Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz (running @3207MHz) with the requirement Intel Pentium 4 (running @2500MHz)
•  Your processor is significantly more powerful in raw performance
   Display Card!: A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0 /
Comparing your display card NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra with the requirement NVIDIA GeForce 6600
•  Your display card is significantly more powerful in raw performance
•  Your display card has all the required features
   Memory: 2048MB
You have 2048MB
   Free Disk Space: 15GB
You have 15.21GB
   Operating System: Windows XP / Vista
You have Microsoft Windows XP

What do I make of this? It says it will work, and probably will.

Still, the issue isn't figuring out if this computer will run X game - I haven't found a single game it will *not* run, as the FX 5950 ultra certainly has enough power to render one heck of a lot - It doesn't support the newer more complex directX and shader stuff however, which means that while I will get decent frame-rates, I won't get the effects you see on newer cards.

So, the point of the upgrade is to have something that just plain runs faster, and can at least match this computer in terms of raw video processing power & have more features while doing it.

-RobbieThe1st

[Lushin]

Yay something I know abit about. You know it would be cheap if you went with the dual core now. So many places are only selling that now. The 2 gigs of RAM is clearly enough unless for some reason you plan to use Vista. They sell much better cards than the 5950. I think they have 8800 cards out for decent price. Might I also suggest getting a motherboard that has PCI Express slots. Many of the new videocards are that format (Though they do have AGP still out). I would also suggest checking tigerdirect.com for parts. Their prices are slightly better than newegg's. Oh and don't worry on the SP1 for Windows, I'm sure you'll download SP3 soon enough.

[VSMIT]

It's a very nice build, and would work with any 64-bit OS, but Windows is going to have some problems with that 4GB of RAM, unless it's a 64-bit build.  Not some problems running, it will just be slower than if you only used two gigs.  But it all depends on which OS you'll be running more often.

You can also save some money on the graphics card.  Unless you're going to be doing multiple cards, I'd go with an 8800GT, which was branded with the best value for the last generation, and still holds up reasonably well.  Obviously it won't run Crysis alone with all of the graphics options on high, but it still works well for the price-point.  The only problem being that it gets a little hot when run under load for a while, but that can be dealt with.

Everything else looks fine.

Edit: Dangit Damien.  But the mobo he's chosen has two PCI-X x16 slots and two PCI-X x1 slots.  And two Legacy PCI slots.  So he's not really hurting for compatibility.

[superluser]

I'm kind of curious as to why you went with a Pentium instead of the Core or an AMD.

Actually, are you sure that the Northwood is 64-bit?  I did a bit of checking, and I'm not sure.

The other suggestion that I have is the keyboard.  Get one of these.  It will last forever.

[Cvstos]

Manufacturer:        Selfbuilt
Processor:          Intel Pentium 4 3.20GHz Northwood
Memory:             2GB RAM(2X1GB Dual Channel)
Hard Drive:          419 GB Total
Video Card:          NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra
Monitor:             SyncMaster 731B(Digital)
Sound Card:          SB Audigy 2 ZS
Speakers/Headphones:    JVC HA-RX300 Headphones($20 ones)
Keyboard:          Compaq KB-0133
Mouse:             Logitech G5/Logitech G9
Mouse Surface:       Soft blue mousepad(branded)
Operating System:       Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) SP1
Motherboard:          Asus P4P 800-E Deluxe

This is the OLD computer you are looking to replace, yes? Please tell me you're not planning on buying a 5950 in this day and age. Hell, you shouldn't have bought it at ANY day and age. The 5-series was a joke. ATi's offerings back then ran circles around it. (Although... the Radeon 9-series was notorious for fan failures.)

[Tapewolf]

This is the OLD computer you are looking to replace, yes? Please tell me you're not planning on buying a 5950 in this day and age.

Yes, but he was planning to use that card in the new system.  It's an AGP card, he may have fun finding a mainboard with that port on it.

[superluser]

This is the OLD computer you are looking to replace, yes?

Oh!

Nevermind.  Ignore what I said above.

It looks like the MB will support up to 8GB of RAM, so that's good.  As someone mentioned above, 32-bit software has trouble addressing more than 4GB.  Same goes for 32-bit hardware, so the fact that it can address more than 4GB means that you won't run into this problem.

(Which I had when I bought a board that supported up to 4GB--but you lost address space to things like your video card's RAM)

[DarkAudit]

If he has any great need of flash or WINE on the linux side, then 32-bit is still the way to go. Flash works in 64-bit, but in all my experiences, it works when it damn well pleases. Which turns out to be only about 2/3 of the time. The other third I get grey boxes where the flash stuff should be. No such flightiness in 32-bit Arch.

WINE also works in 64-bit, but good luck trying to cherry-pick which libraries are missing where when a particular app won't run because it simply must have 32-bit libraries. WoW and Ventrilo are two examples from my Fedora 9 days. WoW needs 32-bit nvidia libs, and Vent needs 32-bit alsa libs. 64-bit just won't do.

[Tapewolf]

If he has any great need of flash or WINE on the linux side, then 32-bit is still the way to go.

I mostly use the mac for the 'net these days, so I haven't bothered to get Flash working.  WINE has worked perfectly for me under Kubuntu, though (I source it from the official Wine repository, not Ubuntu itself).

WINE also works in 64-bit, but good luck trying to cherry-pick which libraries are missing where when a particular app won't run because it simply must have 32-bit libraries. WoW and Ventrilo are two examples from my Fedora 9 days. WoW needs 32-bit nvidia libs, and Vent needs 32-bit alsa libs. 64-bit just won't do.

The nVidia driver should install both 32-bit and 64-bit OpenGL libraries.  Whatever they did, it works for native 64-bit apps and Morrowind, which is (obviously) win32.  I notice that 1.1.4 has finally fixed the map corruption 

Either way, I would strongly advise installing both 32 and 64-bit versions of the same distro, just in case.  If you have /home on a different partition (or even just create a symlink) you can boot into each one as the same user.

[Azlan]

I've never had much luck myself with Gigabyte, their boards have had BIOS issues and this one seems to be no exception.  This is also a Crossfire board, so if you intend to stick with NVidia, then you will have one lone hombre for video cards.  You might want to go with a GeForce chipset board... if you can hold out till GF9000 mobos, you might be able to get some nice Hybrid SLI going on, but I'm not holding my breath for great things there.  Still it might be good for the gamer that's not FPS hardcore.

Peeps have already talked on 4gbs of RAM and 32-bit OS's, no need to go there, but that Gigabyte board places the CPU close to the RAM.  That Zalman Cooler doesn't look too wide, but just be aware that those Dominators are TALL, especially if you plan on using that airflow fan.

You should be okay with that PSU, I think it was OCZ that picked up PC Power & Cooling, so PC's rock solid designs are filtering into OCZs hardware engineering team.

I've been Nvidia for awhile, but this upgrade I've gone through has brought me over to the ATI side, we shall see... we shall see.


In a rare instance, I agree with Tape on dualing with 32-bit and 64-bit distros of your flavor of choice.

Chau.

[VSMIT]

if you can hold out till GF9000 mobos, you might be able to get some nice Hybrid SLI going on, but I'm not holding my breath for great things there.

I wouldn't either.  Even the gForce 700 series mobos are still pretty expensive...

I wonder how well an 8800GT would hold up against an HD4850...

[DarkAudit]

if you can hold out till GF9000 mobos, you might be able to get some nice Hybrid SLI going on, but I'm not holding my breath for great things there.

I wouldn't either.  Even the gForce 700 series mobos are still pretty expensive...

I wonder how well an 8800GT would hold up against an HD4850...

With a dual boot system, any ATI card is probably going to be hamstrung. Some distros are still waiting for a decent set of propritary ATI drivers *cough*Fedora*cough*, while nvidia users are happily plugging away.

[RobbieThe1st]

Oh dear - Everyone keeps confusing the system I currently have with the one I want. I have edited my first post to hopefully stop the confusion.

It's a very nice build, and would work with any 64-bit OS, but Windows is going to have some problems with that 4GB of RAM, unless it's a 64-bit build.  Not some problems running, it will just be slower than if you only used two gigs.  But it all depends on which OS you'll be running more often.

Oh, thats something I had never thought of. I thought 32-bit windows could support 4gb, but no more, however... Hm. I was planning to go with a dual-channel setup, so should I go with 2gb in a 2X1 configuration, or go with a single 2gb card, or even go for 3gb: 1X2gb + 1X1gb, or 3X1gb?

You can also save some money on the graphics card.  Unless you're going to be doing multiple cards, I'd go with an 8800GT, which was branded with the best value for the last generation, and still holds up reasonably well.  Obviously it won't run Crysis alone with all of the graphics options on high, but it still works well for the price-point.  The only problem being that it gets a little hot when run under load for a while, but that can be dealt with.

Hm... I suppose that might be Ok - Especially if I look for something with a heatpipe-based cooler, or at least a good copper one.

Everything else looks fine.

Edit: Dangit Damien.  But the mobo he's chosen has two PCI-X x16 slots and two PCI-X x1 slots.  And two Legacy PCI slots.  So he's not really hurting for compatibility.

Yea - I specifically looked for as many expansion slots as possible, so I could use just about anything(Aside from ISA stuff... but I don't think they even sell quad-core motherboards with an ISA slot... and I really don't think there is any need for one).

This is the OLD computer you are looking to replace, yes? Please tell me you're not planning on buying a 5950 in this day and age. Hell, you shouldn't have bought it at ANY day and age. The 5-series was a joke. ATi's offerings back then ran circles around it. (Although... the Radeon 9-series was notorious for fan failures.)

Yea, its the old computer.
Although, I don't know about the fx5950 Ultra being bad - I still haven't ran into any games that it *won't* run nicely... and its lasted far longer than a ATI 9-series board I got later to replace it <_<
It was also included in the pre-built machine my parents got that some of these parts came from(Compaq X gaming computer).

If he has any great need of flash or WINE on the linux side, then 32-bit is still the way to go. Flash works in 64-bit, but in all my experiences, it works when it damn well pleases. Which turns out to be only about 2/3 of the time. The other third I get grey boxes where the flash stuff should be. No such flightiness in 32-bit Arch.

WINE also works in 64-bit, but good luck trying to cherry-pick which libraries are missing where when a particular app won't run because it simply must have 32-bit libraries. WoW and Ventrilo are two examples from my Fedora 9 days. WoW needs 32-bit nvidia libs, and Vent needs 32-bit alsa libs. 64-bit just won't do.

Couldn't you simply use 64-bit linux, and then use 32-bit WINE and all stuff relating to it? Forgive me if this is a stupid question.

I've never had much luck myself with Gigabyte, their boards have had BIOS issues and this one seems to be no exception.  This is also a Crossfire board, so if you intend to stick with NVidia, then you will have one lone hombre for video cards.  You might want to go with a GeForce chipset board... if you can hold out till GF9000 mobos, you might be able to get some nice Hybrid SLI going on, but I'm not holding my breath for great things there.  Still it might be good for the gamer that's not FPS hardcore.

Ooh... thats definitely something to think about. When I was searching through newegg, I thought I had "SLI > yes" checked... but apparently not. I chose this board from around four others because only one commenter said that he had bios trouble.

Peeps have already talked on 4gbs of RAM and 32-bit OS's, no need to go there, but that Gigabyte board places the CPU close to the RAM.  That Zalman Cooler doesn't look too wide, but just be aware that those Dominators are TALL, especially if you plan on using that airflow fan.

Well, if things are anything like my current full-size asus board, it shouldn't be a problem(note that with this board, I had to take a 92mm fan and a bit of cardboard to cool my memory sticks - they were getting fairly hot before I did so) - I have plenty of room around the memory.

You should be okay with that PSU, I think it was OCZ that picked up PC Power & Cooling, so PC's rock solid designs are filtering into OCZs hardware engineering team.

I don't know much about that - all I know is that, when I got it I thought it was extremely good(turns out what I bought was a little bit different model), however I haven't had any instability issues with it - and the voltages are nicely within spec(I haven't hooked it up to an oscilloscope however).


-RobbieThe1st

[VSMIT]

You can get 3GB by editing something (can't for the life of me remember what), but you should use more than one module regardless, as it will be a little bit faster.

And what are you going to do with your old Video Card?

[RobbieThe1st]

You can get 3GB by editing something (can't for the life of me remember what), but you should use more than one module regardless, as it will be a little bit faster.

And what are you going to do with your old Video Card?

Well, erm... its an AGP video card, so its not going to work in the new system. I figure I am going to keep it with the other main components of the old system and either A, make a bare-bones server/backup box type thing, or B, use the parts to upgrade/rebuild one of the other compatible systems we have around(We bought three of the Compaq X gaming machines which all have the same motherboard, cpu, and video card - the ones I have. As of right now, two work, one being mine).

Also, I have edited my first post with three possible other motherboards I have found. Could someone please evaluate them?


-RobbieThe1st

[superluser]

Oh, thats something I had never thought of. I thought 32-bit windows could support 4gb, but no more, however... Hm. I was planning to go with a dual-channel setup, so should I go with 2gb in a 2X1 configuration, or go with a single 2gb card, or even go for 3gb: 1X2gb + 1X1gb, or 3X1gb?

My recommendation?  Use the same size module in each slot (and possibly down to the number of chips on each module).  You'll do better that way.  If you have to, leave some slots empty, but performance seems to be better if they're all the same size.

[VSMIT]

Also, I have edited my first post with three possible other motherboards I have found. Could someone please evaluate them?

If you are planning to continue with the 9800+, then the MSI would be good because it includes the possibility of doing 3-way SLI.  If you're going with any lesser card (other than an 8800GTX/Ultra), I'd go with the Gigabyte.

[ShadesFox]

You can get 3GB by editing something (can't for the life of me remember what), but you should use more than one module regardless, as it will be a little bit faster.

I think you are getting different computer issues mixed up.  By default an OS on an Intel architecture system will split memory down the middle, 2gb for the OS and 2gb for the applications.  The flag you are thinking about for Windows is /3gb which can be put into the boot.ini in the C: drive.  This changes the split so that you have 3gb for user applications and 1gb for the OS.  Probably not a good idea though, it has been known to cause issues to use that flag.

I would say go with the 4gb of memory.  I think that most of the 'issues' people have is that the memory is not recognized in full.  Mostly done by Microsoft to ensure that people who could afford 4gb+ of RAM would pay for the more expensive versions of Windows.  On the note of memory, most of the DDR2 1066 that I've worked with won't be recognized as DDR2 1066 unless 'overclocked' in the bios. 

[RobbieThe1st]

Oh, thats something I had never thought of. I thought 32-bit windows could support 4gb, but no more, however... Hm. I was planning to go with a dual-channel setup, so should I go with 2gb in a 2X1 configuration, or go with a single 2gb card, or even go for 3gb: 1X2gb + 1X1gb, or 3X1gb?

My recommendation?  Use the same size module in each slot (and possibly down to the number of chips on each module).  You'll do better that way.  If you have to, leave some slots empty, but performance seems to be better if they're all the same size.

That makes sense.

Also, I have edited my first post with three possible other motherboards I have found. Could someone please evaluate them?

If you are planning to continue with the 9800+, then the MSI would be good because it includes the possibility of doing 3-way SLI.  If you're going with any lesser card (other than an 8800GTX/Ultra), I'd go with the Gigabyte.

Well, I would *love* a 8800 Ultra - If they did as well on that one as they did on my FX5950 Ultra, it would be awesome.
I don't know I will have enough money for one though - Might be able to get one off Ebay, but it still isn't gonna be cheap.
edit: However, after doing some research, the GTX is going to be a better value, and definitely within my price range off ebay. So yea, I am going to see about one of those.

Well, I really don't expect to be doing 3-way SLI - I was looking at two-way SLI in the future however(whatever card I get now, and a top-end ultra card[8x or 9x]).

You can get 3GB by editing something (can't for the life of me remember what), but you should use more than one module regardless, as it will be a little bit faster.

I think you are getting different computer issues mixed up.  By default an OS on an Intel architecture system will split memory down the middle, 2gb for the OS and 2gb for the applications.  The flag you are thinking about for Windows is /3gb which can be put into the boot.ini in the C: drive.  This changes the split so that you have 3gb for user applications and 1gb for the OS.  Probably not a good idea though, it has been known to cause issues to use that flag.

I would say go with the 4gb of memory.  I think that most of the 'issues' people have is that the memory is not recognized in full.  Mostly done by Microsoft to ensure that people who could afford 4gb+ of RAM would pay for the more expensive versions of Windows.  On the note of memory, most of the DDR2 1066 that I've worked with won't be recognized as DDR2 1066 unless 'overclocked' in the bios. 

I expected the bios-meddling for the 1066 speed, but that shouldn't be a problem.

Ram wise, I don't expect needing more than 4gb of ram - So, should I look at 2X2gb modules for dual-channel, or 4X1gb modules(hopefully still dual-channel)?

-RobbieThe1st

[ShadesFox]

4x1 would still be dual channel.  Though I would advise 2x2.  That way if you ever do want more memory you will have the room to expand.  Though this will probably not work, as when you would want to expand the world  would probably have moved onto DDR3, or you will otherwise have problems finding compatible RAM.  Unless one configuration is notably cheaper then the other I would go 2x2.

[RobbieThe1st]

4x1 would still be dual channel.  Though I would advise 2x2.  That way if you ever do want more memory you will have the room to expand.  Though this will probably not work, as when you would want to expand the world  would probably have moved onto DDR3, or you will otherwise have problems finding compatible RAM.  Unless one configuration is notably cheaper then the other I would go 2x2.

Ok, great. The memory I already picked out should be perfect then.

Now, I think I just need input on my motherboard(and CPU perhaps?).


-RobbieThe1st

[VSMIT]

I'm an Intel man, myself, so I don't feel that I'm qualified to comment on the CPU you've chosen.

The mobo in your wishlist (I assume that's the one you're asking about) looks like a good mobo.  The USB headers are in a shitty spot, but that's mostly ok.  The only thing I'm concerned about is the proximity of the CPU socket to the RAM slots.  You may have trouble with spacing if you're using anything but a tower cooler.

[RobbieThe1st]

I'm an Intel man, myself, so I don't feel that I'm qualified to comment on the CPU you've chosen.

The mobo in your wishlist (I assume that's the one you're asking about) looks like a good mobo.  The USB headers are in a shitty spot, but that's mostly ok.  The only thing I'm concerned about is the proximity of the CPU socket to the RAM slots.  You may have trouble with spacing if you're using anything but a tower cooler.

Yea... that was a bit worrying. I am however going to be using what apparently is a tower cooler(See first post), so I shouldn't have any problem.

With this motherboard however, people brought up the issue of no SLI, so I found two other motherboards that ought to work:
They are all compared here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000200022&StoreType=7&CompareItemList=N82E16813138108%2cN82E16813128339&bop=And

1. GIGABYTE GA-M750SLI-DS4
Comments:
I saw several reviews about issues with the RAID, and some bios-issues. However, at least one reviewer said that he was having trouble with this one, and contrasted it with the Biostar TPower N750, which is my second board.

2. BIOSTAR TPower N750
Comments:
I saw some issues with raid stuff and bios with this one also as well as people saying that after returning this board, they went with a board from Gigabyte and had no trouble. I don't know what is up with this - Perhaps people are doing stuff wrong?

I keep running into stuff about raid problems - Perhaps people are doing stupid stuff involving NCQ?

I still haven't found a perfect board; All of the really nice ones I want have some problem. Which is why I have been asking you all.


-RobbieThe1st

[VSMIT]

If you're looking for something that will definitely work (take a grain of salt with this), buy an ASUS mainboard.

Some require you to flash the BIOS, but I think this one would serve you well.

[RobbieThe1st]

If you're looking for something that will definitely work (take a grain of salt with this), buy an ASUS mainboard.

Some require you to flash the BIOS, but I think this one would serve you well.

Well, first off, as you can see, I am currently using an Asus motherboard, and I love it, so I am inclined to believe you.
I do have a large problem with that motherboard: The positions of the PCI slots. Now, as it is, I have need of both PCI slots(Sound card and TV card), and if I put in a normal video card, it will block the first PCI slot(they are generally two slots wide, aren't they)?
I did find one good Asus motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131292
Now, what I had heard was that while older ASUS motherboards were great, the latest generation of them had quality issues(lots of DOA stuff, and problems with one thing or another not working). Can you confirm, deny or shed some light on this?

Thanks for your help so far.

edit:
For anyone that cares, I compiled a short list of motherboards which meet my criteria: List

-RobbieThe1st

[VSMIT]

Off of that mobo list, I think that these two would work well.  And they come with sound cards for PCI-X x1 slots.  However, they're designed for 3-way SLI and you're going to be paying the price for it.  The sound card that comes with the ASUS mobo is a SupremeFX II card, and a short review is here.  The sound card that comes with the MSI is a Creative SB X-fi Xtreme, but I can't find a review for it.  I assume it's good, though.

If you were choosing Intel, I'd probably recommend an eVGA board, but either they don't make them for AMD, or Newegg doesn't sell them.

Now, what I had heard was that while older ASUS motherboards were great, the latest generation of them had quality issues(lots of DOA stuff, and problems with one thing or another not working). Can you confirm, deny or shed some light on this?

I have not purchased a new computer recently, so I can't say anything personally on the quality of workmanship that goes into the current mobos.  I can say, however, what every mobo manufacturer has had to say at one time or another: sometimes some get out that slip past QC.  Only thing you can do then is RMA it and hope that it wasn't a bad run of the mobos, in which case you'd have to do an exchange with Newegg for a different mobo.

[RobbieThe1st]

Off of that mobo list, I think that these two would work well.  And they come with sound cards for PCI-X x1 slots.  However, they're designed for 3-way SLI and you're going to be paying the price for it.  The sound card that comes with the ASUS mobo is a SupremeFX II card, and a short review is here.  The sound card that comes with the MSI is a Creative SB X-fi Xtreme, but I can't find a review for it.  I assume it's good, though.

If you were choosing Intel, I'd probably recommend an eVGA board, but either they don't make them for AMD, or Newegg doesn't sell them.

Well, I really don't plan to be using any onboard or included sound card - I like my Audigy 2ZS, and more importantly, I happen to have the very nice front panel for it, which I love and use every day(It has a nice volume knob for both my earphones and my microphone).

Still, it is something to keep in mind

Now, what I had heard was that while older ASUS motherboards were great, the latest generation of them had quality issues(lots of DOA stuff, and problems with one thing or another not working). Can you confirm, deny or shed some light on this?

I have not purchased a new computer recently, so I can't say anything personally on the quality of workmanship that goes into the current mobos.  I can say, however, what every mobo manufacturer has had to say at one time or another: sometimes some get out that slip past QC.  Only thing you can do then is RMA it and hope that it wasn't a bad run of the mobos, in which case you'd have to do an exchange with Newegg for a different mobo.

Yea, true enough. So, ASUS Crosshair II it is(Hey, the little status readout is cool, and apparently its got one heck of a lot of OC settings).


This is my new wishlist:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=6901754

And, for my video card, a Nvidia 8800GTX off ebay, like one of these:
One
Two

So... suggestions about this *New* list?


-RobbieThe1st