# i7 Motherboards Questions



## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

Hey you smart computer folks, I'm not in the loop and don't know where today's technology is in respect to the i7 motherboard. As it turns out, last I knew, June would give us a motherboard that could use the entire suite of capabilities the i7 offers. I was wondering what the current situation is with regard to this, since I have a computer about to die and I will likely need to replace it sooner than later. What is the current buzz on i7 motherboards and the use of the i7's capabilities? Which motherboard manufacturer(s) are providing robust usage with the i7 now and who is expected to be first out of the gate with capabilities?

Thanks ahead of time!


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

I don't know too much about them, except that Newegg has a one-day combo deal today on this new Asus motherboard and an I7 for $580 total. Sale page here. /steve


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

I dont know exactly where we stand, but I do know that they are very fast right now and really the fastest things out there.

Usually for pure stability and good rock solid features, intel boards are where to start. If you want more overclocking, etc. then 3rd parties like Asus or Gigabyte are worth a looksie.


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

Smiddy... make sure the board has the X58 chipset and you are ready to go. The X58 equipped mobos started turning up everywhere just last month.

A warning to i7 chip users ... some issues have recently come to light regarding overclocking memory on i7 motherboards. Please pay careful attention if your motherboard manufacturer has placed a warning sticker over the memory slots. Read the warning and decide if it as an issue in your case... Otherwise have at it!


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

I'm looking at this ASUS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131352R

I've had good experiences with ASUS in the past and not so much with MSI. I also had good experience with Gigabyte.


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## Rob-NovA (Jan 10, 2008)

smiddy said:


> I'm looking at this ASUS:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm not really up on the latest technologies, but I've had very good experiences with the ASUS boards in general. I've bought quite a few of them over the years.

But you realize you're evil, don't you Smiddy? Now you've got me looking at i7 mobos and I'm getting the itch to "upgrade" my home system... Darn you!!!! :lol:


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

I have been using Asus mobos for as long as I have been building PC's... never had a (knock on wood) issue with any of them. Smiddy that's a good board choice!



smiddy said:


> I'm looking at this ASUS:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

smiddy said:


> I'm looking at this ASUS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131352R
> 
> I've had good experiences with ASUS in the past and not so much with MSI. I also had good experience with Gigabyte.


Every Computer that I have built has an ASUS MOBO in it. I really like ASUS and they come with plenty of cables and accessories.


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

Rob-NovA said:


> I'm not really up on the latest technologies, but I've had very good experiences with the ASUS boards in general. I've bought quite a few of them over the years.
> 
> But you realize you're evil, don't you Smiddy? Now you've got me looking at i7 mobos and I'm getting the itch to "upgrade" my home system... Darn you!!!! :lol:


I think your computer is getting sleepy, very sleepy. It is time to put it out to pasture... 

Hey, seriously, you gotta do what ya gotta do man.


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

Thanks gents, now I need to convince mama that I need to spend this much money on a system. I'm planning on getting a solid state drive for the OS.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

smiddy said:


> Thanks gents, now I need to convince mama that I need to spend this much money on a system. I'm planning on getting a solid state drive for the OS.


That would be a smoking fast computer


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

dave29 said:


> That would be a smoking fast computer


You ain't kidding, I'm looking at a nVidia 285 1GB and a 24" 1080p monitor too. If I convince mama, I'll be in heaven...


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

smiddy said:


> You ain't kidding, I'm looking at a nVidia 285 1GB and a 24" 1080p monitor too. If I convince mama, I'll be in heaven...


Your gonna have $1500-$2000 in that baby!!
Don't forget about 8gb of DDR3:grin:


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

dave29 said:


> Your gonna have $1500-$2000 in that baby!!
> Don't forget about 8gb of DDR3:grin:


[table="head]Qty|Product Description
1|Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retai
4|Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM
1|ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retai
1|ASUS ENGTX285 TOP/HTDI/1GD3 GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
1|CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
1|Logitech Cordless Desktop S520 920-000922 Black USB Cordless Compact Keyboard and Mouse Combo - Retail
2|CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C9 - Retail
1|Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition 965 Nehalem 3.2GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601965 - Retail
1|Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM
1|ZALMAN CNPS9900LED 120mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - Retail
1|LG Black Super Multi Blu-ray Disc Burner & HD DVD-ROM Drive SATA Model GGW-H20L - Retail
1|SUPER TALENT UltraDrive ME FTM64GX25H 2.5" 64GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Retail
1|ASUS Rampage II Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard[/table]

Just over $4k with shipping.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

smiddy said:


> [table="head]Qty|Product Description
> 1|Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retai
> 4|Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM
> 1|ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retai
> ...


I was building one on newegg when you posted this, mine came out very similiar to yours. Right around 4 g's:eek2:

I think I will pass for now


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

dave29 said:


> I was building one on newegg when you posted this, mine came out very similiar to yours. Right around 4 g's:eek2:
> 
> I think I will pass for now


You can get it closer to $3k if change a few things around.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

smiddy said:


> You can get it closer to $3k if change a few things around.


Like delete 2 of those Velociraptor's and go with the cheaper i7.
I love Corsair modular power supplies(i have 2 of them)
I also like OCZ Memory


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Don't know much about this stuff, so curious why folks would choose the Rampage II over the Revolution. TIA. /steve


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

That 1000w PSU is way overkill IMO (most people tend to way over estimate their power needs and if you use a good power supply you need an even lower wattage one). I might look at BFG or eVGA for the video card too over ASUS. They probably will be more expensive, but have better warranties and are faster out of the box (at least the BFG models almost always are). and as my final suggestion, look at getting less of the raptors and a storage drive for your media/files/etc. No real big need to have your media and storage on a faster drive that you are paying a lot more for. There are many drives plenty fast for storage, and then use the raptor(s) as OS/Application/Swap/Cache drive(s). 

Overall it should be a great machine though, nice picks on the other stuff 

I want to move to I7 sometime, but right now my C2D is still doing everything I need and thus I cannot justify it yet.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

Steve said:


> Don't know much about this stuff, so curious why folks would choose the Rampage II over the Revolution. TIA. /steve


The Rampage II is $100 less and is a mini ATX. The Revolution is ATX and had some more "slots" and connectors.(by quick glance)


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## thumperr (Feb 10, 2006)

When purchasing memory for the i7 chip set remember to purchase the DDR3 RAM in sets of 3. most of these MOBO should have 6 slots for memory. The new set should perform best with 3 modules because of the 3 channels on the i7 chips. I saw an intel presentation for dual socket workstations requiring 6 modules for dual socket to get the best performance. From the presentation there was a serious drop off in performance for using memory in sets of 2s.

The price quote above shows this also
"6GB (3 x 2GB)"

for the new i7 chipset you'll need to buy memory in sets of 3 or 6


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## timmmaaayyy2003 (Jan 27, 2008)

Smiddy,

Make sure to let us know what your "Momma" says.

I know what mine would say


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

dave29 said:


> Like delete 2 of those Velociraptor's and go with the cheaper i7.
> I love Corsair modular power supplies(i have 2 of them)
> I also like OCZ Memory


Yep, all good stuff. I can't wait to get it into my grubby hands. 



Steve said:


> Don't know much about this stuff, so curious why folks would choose the Rampage II over the
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It was less expensive and there was an open box, and I was still able to get their promotional disc. (Sorry, what is TIA?)



Grentz said:


> That 1000w PSU is way overkill IMO (most people tend to way over estimate their power needs and if you use a good power supply you need an even lower wattage one). I might look at BFG or eVGA for the video card too over ASUS. They probably will be more expensive, but have better warranties and are faster out of the box (at least the BFG models almost always are). and as my final suggestion, look at getting less of the raptors and a storage drive for your media/files/etc. No real big need to have your media and storage on a faster drive that you are paying a lot more for. There are many drives plenty fast for storage, and then use the raptor(s) as OS/Application/Swap/Cache drive(s).
> 
> Overall it should be a great machine though, nice picks on the other stuff
> 
> I want to move to I7 sometime, but right now my C2D is still doing everything I need and thus I cannot justify it yet.


Agreed, my discipline is EE, so I know power, however, I intend on adding more drives and perhaps another video card later. This is a precursor to those items.

I have swapped out the 10,000 RPM drive with a 1.5 TB Seagate, which is less expensive and hold more for this reason. I plan on adding three more at a later date for a RAID.

I am going with the ASUS video mainly because of price and this particular one has a faster GPU actually.

I'm going to use the SDD as the OS drive/Swap drive. It isn't the fastest or biggest but reasonable priced and is the right size for this.



dave29 said:


> The Rampage II is $100 less and is a mini ATX. The Revolution is ATX and had some more "slots" and connectors.(by quick glance)


Yep, I only need one slot with the one graphics card. Since this is a less expensive MB, I can feel good when I go to upgrade it later on. 



thumperr said:


> When purchasing memory for the i7 chip set remember to purchase the DDR3 RAM in sets of 3. most of these MOBO should have 6 slots for memory. The new set should perform best with 3 modules because of the 3 channels on the i7 chips. I saw an intel presentation for dual socket workstations requiring 6 modules for dual socket to get the best performance. From the presentation there was a serious drop off in performance for using memory in sets of 2s.
> 
> The price quote above shows this also
> "6GB (3 x 2GB)"
> ...


Yep, I'm getting 6 2 GB memory modules, for a total of 12 GB. I'm also using Vista Ultimate 64 bit, which will be my first experience with an other than 32 bit OS.



timmmaaayyy2003 said:


> Smiddy,
> 
> Make sure to let us know what your "Momma" says.
> 
> I know what mine would say


Mama, she said, go for it! I have placed the order and it should be here in three days. I am so looking forward to this! Since I backed off on the number of drives I got it down to just under $3,400. The next 72 hours are going to crawl now...argh!

Perhaps now I can install Windows 7, eh?


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## HDJulie (Aug 10, 2008)

Smiddy said:


> Sorry, what is TIA?


TIA = Thanks In Advance


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

HDJulie said:


> TIA = Thanks In Advance


Thanks! Man, I'm educationally challenged, eh? !rolling


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

Awesome, should be a lot of fun


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

Grentz said:


> Awesome, should be a lot of fun


Yeah, no kidding the last one I put together was several years back so it will be nice to open the proverbial can of worms again.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

Congrats on the order(I admit, I am very jealous). Hopefully later this year for me. 
BTW, you should go for Windows 7 ultimate on that baby. 
What exactly did you end up ordering?


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

dave29 said:


> Congrats on the order(I admit, I am very jealous). Hopefully later this year for me.
> BTW, you should go for Windows 7 ultimate on that baby.
> What exactly did you end up ordering?


I got a friendly bump on Windows 7 so I will be putting that on there. The only difference is I order one Seagate 1.5 TB drive instead of the four 10,000 RPM drives. Everything else was the same.

EDIT: considering I've been using ATA-100 drives with an AMD 3000+ with 3 GB of RAM and GeForce 4100 Ti, I'm going to be in heaven!


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

smiddy said:


> I got a friendly bump on Windows 7 so I will be putting that on there. The only difference is I order one Seagate 1.5 TB drive instead of the four 10,000 RPM drives. Everything else was the same.


Ohhh no, a Seagate 1.5tb drive:eek2:

j/k


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

dave29 said:


> Ohhh no, a Seagate 1.5tb drive:eek2:
> 
> j/k


$129...I've not had any issues with their drives like others. :shrug:


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

smiddy said:


> $129...I've not had any issues with their drives like others. :shrug:


I was joking, I have a couple of their 1.5 tb's(in a NAS) as well. Now I have been using WD GP drives in everything.


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## CoriBright (May 30, 2002)

This is the link to the kit I got from CompUSA.

http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4601609&CatId=333

As I said in another post, I paired it with 2 x Sapphire 512mb DDR4 3780s run in CrossfireX mode and purchased another 1.5tb Seagate. It's a wonderful PC.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

CoriBright said:


> This is the link to the kit I got from CompUSA.
> 
> http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4601609&CatId=333
> 
> As I said in another post, I paired it with 2 x Sapphire 512mb DDR4 3780s run in CrossfireX mode and purchased another 1.5tb Seagate. It's a wonderful PC.


That doesn't seem bad at all. Nice setup!


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

CoriBright said:


> This is the link to the kit I got from CompUSA.
> 
> http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4601609&CatId=333
> 
> As I said in another post, I paired it with 2 x Sapphire 512mb DDR4 3780s run in CrossfireX mode and purchased another 1.5tb Seagate. It's a wonderful PC.


Nice stuff. I tried getting teh Sapphire for my AGP setup and unfortunately, which is one reason I have to update, it didn't work.


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