Motherboard Update Part II

[Atomic Marshmallow]

Hello

Excuse me for again posting about updating my motherboard.

It doesn't seem that the motherboard I would like based on the suggestions I got from my previous thread (the Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3L) can be bought so easily.

The best suggestion I have received so far was my original choice: ASUS P8P67 LE B3 - Socket 1155 - ATX

Here are the specs: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_ ... ifications

I just have to be sure that I am making the right choice before I buy. The person I spoke to said SandyBridge is not an issue anymore and guarantees it and also says he can't imagine any issues. But I trust you guys more and you also understand it is to run my 3 Pulsar cards. The typical sales persosn, friendly and helpful as they may be, don't know much about audio use. So is the ASUS board out of the question and should I just keep hunting down an older board. I don't particularly want to buy something second hand. I want something to last me quite a while and hassle free.

Thanks

[garyb]

well, Sandy Bridge isn't cool at all for pci, although it WILL probably work.

used will last as long as new, either a few days or many years. i go to places like Amazon to find older boards.

here's a current Intel board with an 1156 socket and 3 pci slots:
http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/m ... erview.htm

companies like Supermicro also make 1366 and 1156 models with pci slots, but they'd be more expensive.

[astroman]

as mentioned I have the 1-PCI slot version of this board. While it performed nicely with interrupt sharing, there was barely any PCI performance at all. PCI overflow at the 3rd to 4th masterverb in an empty project...
Warp seems to run it successfully with an XITE, tho...

I wouldn't mind a 2nd hand motherboard - I haven't seen a single one break in more than a decade.
CPU/fan, PSU and harddisk are a different story...

cheers, Tom

oops... to be precise I've had one MSI with those infamous capacitors, but they leaked only after 4 years continous use under extreme conditions. It was a mini desktop 12" square, 3" high with 2 Pulsars on a PCI riser above the CPU.
That thingy was an oven on it's own with every fan set to 5V, CPU around 75 Celsius idle or so. After exchanging 2 or 3 blown caps it served (without Pulsars) as my wife's internet box for another 3 years...

cheers, Tom

[Atomic Marshmallow]

Hello

Thanks again guys for your replies. I guess I will just have to keep hunting for a motherboard that conforms to your suggestions.

I really appreciate your input.

Regards

AM

[Atomic Marshmallow]

well, Sandy Bridge isn't cool at all for pci, although it WILL probably work.

used will last as long as new, either a few days or many years. i go to places like Amazon to find older boards.

here's a current Intel board with an 1156 socket and 3 pci slots:
http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/m ... erview.htm

companies like Supermicro also make 1366 and 1156 models with pci slots, but they'd be more expensive.

Hello

Garyb, looks like I can find the Intel motherboard you suggest fairly easily. Just a final thing before I go buy it; is it a good choice and will it run my three cards problem free without PCI bandwidth issues?

Thanks

[garyb]

yes, i'm reasonably confident that you'll have success. naturally, you'll have to set the system up properly. there will be bios settings to change and probably a few usb ports to disable.

i wouldn't expect quite the level of pci performance of say an old bx or 800 series chipset, but i would expect it to be adequate.

[Atomic Marshmallow]

yes, i'm reasonably confident that you'll have success. naturally, you'll have to set the system up properly. there will be bios settings to change and probably a few usb ports to disable.

i wouldn't expect quite the level of pci performance of say an old bx or 800 series chipset, but i would expect it to be adequate.

Hi

Wow!!!! I didn't expect that quick an answer !!! Thanks. Hopefully nothing too complex to set up, though I will worry about that later. I am just grateful that I can find something easily that will house my cards.

For now I will just buy the board. I will get a CPU ( most likely an 17 ) and cooling ( most likely Scythe) after I get back from my holiday.

With regard to PCI performance, I hope the difference will be negligible, but more importantly, that I get a significant performance boost compared to what I have now.

Oh. Actually one more question, is this Intel board on par with the previous shortlist? I mean the Gigabyte board GA-P55-UD3L or should I still try to keep looking for that particular board?

Fuck, I wish I could make decisions easier.

Thanks

AM


PS. I just found a shop that sells the Gigabyte board GA-P55-UD3L . What's it to be, the Intel board or Gigabyte one?

[garyb]

same chipset.
slightly less features, but the features lost are uneeded.
with the exception of a period when Intel had a bad batch of caps, an industry-wide problem that really is no longer an issue, Intel boards are reliable and stable and they've always worked for me.

make sure that you get a processor from the approved list and be sure that the memory manufacturer approves the sticks for this board and you'll be ok.

as to cpu performance, it should be night and day compared to your old system, even with an i5.

[Atomic Marshmallow]

Hello

I decided to get your recommended board Garyb: the IntelBoard DH55HC http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/m ... erview.htm

Mainly because I could buy it easily. I'll worry about CPU, cooler etc... after my holiday. I hope it will work out. The salesman couldn't guarantee there would be no IRQ conflicts, but you and others said it won't be a problem and I trust your expertise.

I appreciate all your help. Though I will probably be asking more stuff after my holiday like RAM type, graphic card, hard drive, cooling system etc....

Thanks

AM

[Atomic Marshmallow]

Hi

Whoops! Double post.

[garyb]

you WILL have irq issues with any motherboard, but they can easily be sorted. it's nothing to fear.

[evergreensmarthome]

i've been in the electronics engineering and computer industry for almost 20 years.
and if you asked me 5 years ago? i'd say an Intel made motherboard is a rock-solid choice, that other motherboards
should be judged by. however, since then? Intel is no longer the quality, rock-solid choice they used to be.
i don't know if they moved manufacturing to some other plant/country/or third party vendor. however, they are
NOT the quality they used to be.
Supermicro is a much better choice, for a solid board. and even the right ASUS board is a better choice than intel

no matter which choice, you may have IRQ routing issues, and you will have to spend some time tweeking any board config

[garyb]

Supermicro is great! and expensive.

Asus has many features you don't need. Asus boards are always high quality, but i sure have seen a lot of Asus systems that just don't work correctly(pci slots with core i series processors).

Intel did have a run of bad capacitors a couple of years ago and a number of failures were reported around the internet. in many years of building custom systems for others and here on this forum, i've yet to see an Intel system not work as expected.