Any M-ATX / Micro ATX Motherboards for LGA 775 with SLI?

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Classic Rock

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Hi there everyone,

Last year I built myself a nice gaming rig, Q6600, 4GB RAM, 8800GT... You know. Nice.
Anyway, the games coming out now (Shattered Horizon, Mirror's Edge) say these are minimum requirements to play, so I want to upgrade.
However, as I do a bit of LAN-ing (and carrying my Armor+ to these nights gets old rather quickly) I want to cannibalise everything I can and put it into a good LAN-ing case, like the NXZT Rouge SFF. (With red lights of course)

So if anyone out there knows of a Micro ATX Motherboard thats supports the Q6600 and SLI I would really appreciate your input. I'm not too interested in overclocking, so don't let the fact that a board you know of cannot overclock well stop you from telling me : )

Thank you in advance for any input you guys might have.
 
Just on a quick search, there are 10 SLI-ready boards listed in Tiger Direct. Among them is the Asus P5N-D for $120 that supports the Intel Quad 2. There are higher-end Asus boards, of course, but the reason I mentioned Asus is because it is a very good high-performance board that is good for gaming (though I'm not a gamer). I have read that it can be quirky and not as stable as Gigabyte, but I have used low and mid-range Asus boards in several computers I have built and I have not run into any problems.
 
You're correct, it's an ATX board. I used SLI and Quad 2 as keywords, but you can go to Motherboards in Tiger Direct and there is a sub-listing for SLI-ready boards. MSI and Gigabyte are my two other choices for high-quality boards, all with 3-year warranties. All the boards I've seen on Tiger's site are ATX form factors. The other site I look for components is Directron. Another site, Xoxide, specializes in components, cases, power supplies, lighting, and some pretty wild stuff for gamers, but no motherboards.
 
One more note: On Tiger Direct's site, if you look up an individual board, it does list the specifications, and it notes if it is an ATX or Micro-ATX. It also gives a list of processors it's compatible with and if it is SLI-ready. You have to scroll down, but the lists are there.
 
Thanks for looking mate, I have actually gone through the five pages of motherboards Tiger Direct has to offer, (After I had narrowed down the field - Mirco / M-ATX, Intel and SLI is what I searched for in the search bar).

I'm going to have a look at those two site that you mentioned, thanks for that. Are there any more sites that you might know of that could be helpful?
 
I'd trust my instincts and stay away from that one. It's hard to go wrong with Gigabyte, Asus, and MSI. As for sites, Tiger Direct and Directron are my favorites. Some people swear by NewEgg. If you'd like to find some jazzier computer cases, look at atxcases.com. Geeks.com has some terrific deals but I would treat them as I would a crap shoot. I looked them up on the BBB and they have had customer service complaints. But for trying out a cheapie deal, I'd give them a shot.
 
Thanks for that mate, I've already had a look at Directron, they've got some nice stuff there. From what I can tell though, the only M-ATX boards out there that support SLI are the newer X58 boards. So I'm scrapping the plan where I was going to use the NXZT Rouge and M-ATX board. Looks like I'll have to get an ATX case if I want that SLI.

Any suggestions on a case that would fill the role of a HTPC, fit two 8800GT's, and also pass as a decent LAN-ing case? I'm going to have a look at geeks.com and atxcases.com like you said. I let you know if I find anything. Thanks again mate.
 
I am having a look at a HTPC Case made by Thermaltake,

http://www.atxcases.com/products/productdetails.asp?main_catid=1&catid=75&prodid=339

Do you think I could get two 8800's in there?

I've come across some others, what do you think about the SilverStone LC17 and the Antec Fusion Max.

Personally, after readig a few reviews, I prefer the Antec Fusion Max, it just seems more polished. They both look big enough to fit a pair of 8800's and the Antec Fusion Max seems to have enough air flow to cope with that. What do you think?
 
Why bother with SLI? You'd be hard-pressed to find an 8800-series card anywhere except eBay, and a ~$100 card like the HD 4870 will blow away the 8800GT performance-wise.

And not to mention the fact that two video cards consume more power and run hotter than one single card. Dual-GPU configurations are also heavily-dependent on driver support for good performance; some games may see no performance increase due to the second card and in rare cases, performance actually drops in the presence of another card.
 
Hi Rage,

I'm interested in SLI because I already have a 8800GT in my current setup, although you're right. I've had a hard time tracking down a second one. The only one I have found costs about $100 Australian dollars + Shipping. However, looking at MSY - The cheapest computer parts retailer that I know of in Australia - the only other card that I can pick up for that price is the 9600GT or the 4670. For an extra $20 I could grab a single GTS 250, but dual 8800's I think have some more much.

This rig will spend most of it's time acting as a HTPC, but every six or so weeks it will become my LAN-ing rig. So it has to have some power. That's why I'm thinking of using the Antec Fusion Max.

What do you think of that case?
 
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