Advice please on new Mobo with DDR2 for Gaming Rig

[RustyZip]

Hi...

Well, its time throw my wallet into the air and build a new gaming rig...

Im after any advice on which Motherboard to buy - ive been reading many reviews, surfing the net researching, etc, and frankly, my brains starting to fry with the overload.
Basically ive decided so far:-
Intel is the way to go.
Ive bagged myself 4Gb of brand new DDR2 1066mhz Corsair Dominator off my brother for £70 (bargain), so its got to work with DDR2 1066mhz memory.
Budget isnt too much of an issue - say about £130 - £190
Im not much into overclocking, and probably will only slightly tweak it after a year or so of use.
Id like it to be as future-proof as possible.
Normal use will be gaming, surfing etc...

Ive normally used (and been happy with) Gigabyte and Asus boards in the past, and have been looking at their offerings, and been looking at their P35 & X38 boards.
I was leaning towards the Asus Maximus Formula Board, but somewhere i read that i would have to overclock it from 800mhz to 1066mhz so it would work with my memory!?! Is that right??

Any advice / thoughts on any other Motherboards i should consider would be welcome...
Thanks...

 

[Josho495]

I think the nVidia Mainboards are great!

nForce 680i

nForce 780i

 

[Darth_Terra1]

Hi...

Well, its time throw my wallet into the air and build a new gaming rig...

Im after any advice on which Motherboard to buy - ive been reading many reviews, surfing the net researching, etc, and frankly, my brains starting to fry with the overload.
Basically ive decided so far:-
Intel is the way to go.
Ive bagged myself 4Gb of brand new DDR2 1066mhz Corsair Dominator off my brother for £70 (bargain), so its got to work with DDR2 1066mhz memory.
Budget isnt too much of an issue - say about £130 - £190
Im not much into overclocking, and probably will only slightly tweak it after a year or so of use.
Id like it to be as future-proof as possible.
Normal use will be gaming, surfing etc...

Ive normally used (and been happy with) Gigabyte and Asus boards in the past, and have been looking at their offerings, and been looking at their P35 & X38 boards.
I was leaning towards the Asus Maximus Formula Board, but somewhere i read that i would have to overclock it from 800mhz to 1066mhz so it would work with my memory!?! Is that right??

Any advice / thoughts on any other Motherboards i should consider would be welcome...
Thanks...

the Asus website states that the board supports DDR2-1200*/1066/800/667
with the 1200 speed being the only one that requires overclocking so you should be able to run the ram at 1066 as is.

 

[RustyZip]

the Asus website states that the board supports DDR2-1200*/1066/800/667
with the 1200 speed being the only one that requires overclocking so you should be able to run the ram at 1066 as is.

Thanks for the reply Darth - but on Techspots own review here :-
https://www.techspot.com/review/71-asus-maximus-formula-motherboard/

it states :-
"In order to support the latest DDR2 memory types, the Memory Controller Hub (MCH) features wider buses that support Dual-Channel DDR2 at 533/677/800MHz, for up to 8.5 GB/s of peak memory bandwidth. ASUS supports native DDR2-1066 memory with Maximus Formula as well as DDR2-1200 through overclocking. For improved overclocking ASUS has used an embedded 2-Phase DDR2 design that is intended to help users reach higher memory frequencies. ASUS also claims that this will improve component lifespan and provide better overclocking due to cooler temperatures and efficiency.

Im a bit of a n0ob when it comes to overclocking, so im not even sure what that means !

Or has Techspot got it wrong in this instance?

 

[RustyZip]

I think the nVidia Mainboards are great!

nForce 680i

nForce 780i

Thanks Josho for the input, but after reading quite a few reviews etc, it seems quite a few peeps reckon the nVidia boards are inferior to Intels Boards, and state that Intel's P35 or X38 is the way to go at the mo....

 

[k.jacko]

The Gigabite GA-P35 DS3R's are damned good boards, sporting DDR2 and DDR3 support up to 1066MHz.
I have bought about 4 of these already. They are also great overclockers when you desire to do so. And at around £70 are a baragin because they are about as future-proofed as you want really....at a knock down price.

 

[RustyZip]

The Gigabite GA-P35 DS3R's are damned good boards, sporting DDR2 and DDR3 support up to 1066MHz.
I have bought about 4 of these already. They are also great overclockers when you desire to do so. And at around £70 are a baragin because they are about as future-proofed as you want really....at a knock down price.

Thanks Jacko - i'll take a butchers at the reviews... Will report back...

 

[Darth_Terra1]

Thanks for the reply Darth - but on Techspots own review here :-
https://www.techspot.com/review/71-asus-maximus-formula-motherboard/

it states :-
"In order to support the latest DDR2 memory types, the Memory Controller Hub (MCH) features wider buses that support Dual-Channel DDR2 at 533/677/800MHz, for up to 8.5 GB/s of peak memory bandwidth. ASUS supports native DDR2-1066 memory with Maximus Formula as well as DDR2-1200 through overclocking. For improved overclocking ASUS has used an embedded 2-Phase DDR2 design that is intended to help users reach higher memory frequencies. ASUS also claims that this will improve component lifespan and provide better overclocking due to cooler temperatures and efficiency.

Im a bit of a n0ob when it comes to overclocking, so im not even sure what that means !

Or has Techspot got it wrong in this instance?

Techspot are saying what i and Asus said in that your Ram at 1066 will work fine with no overclocking needed, it's the 1200 Ram that requires overclocking.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 is an excellent board, offering PCI-E 2.0 slots, Crossfire support and support for Wolfsdale CPUs, besides other features. Highly recommended.