[Wildmonkeyboy]

Hi,

Having a “CRYSIS” with slow gaming performance, decided to start my upgrades. I have decided to update my GFX card which means a new MB, but which one????

Current spec

MB - P4M800PRO-M v2.0
Processor - Intel core 2 2.4Ghz
RAM - 1.5 gb mismatced RAM
GFX - NVIDIA Geforce 6600 (256 AGP)
OS - XP

Having done a fair bit of reading my limited budget has already taken the hit for a new 2GB RAM kit (to speed up what I have), and now trying to decide on a new MB. Already decide that the current GFX card has to go and be replaced a new PCI-e one. I like the idea of SLI (later when I can afford a twin for the new GFX card).

With the idea of SLI the ASUS extreme get v. good reviews but a lot of folk say that is over priced and only for hardcore OC’ers and I have no use for the shiny blue LEDs I cant find any recent reviews comparing its and its rivals! I have also read about the P5n which is MUCH cheaper – not sure what I should do. What MB should I buy? Don’t want to spend money on shiny blue LED’s for the sake of it! What about other makes?

I have built several home PC’s but never successfully OC’ed anything but like the idea of getting more for my money this way and want an MB that will help!

[baladio]

A good motherboard that is practically the same as the Striker Extreme is the P5N32-E SLI (not Plus version, which is not as good for SLI), and is much cheaper. Some motherboards allow for SLI, but not with full 16x for each PCI-Express slot, for example, some may be able to do 16x and 8x, but not 16x + 16x at the same time. But the P5N32-E SLI does 16x + 16x; it still has lots of overclocking options, etc., but it's just not as easy as with the Striker Ex. Be advised, though, no matter what you do, that Crysis is an extremely demanding game, and may still take a surprising toll on your brand new system. You may want to ask about which video card to get if you are going to play this game. These links may help you decide:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3234&p=3
http://hothardware.com/Articles/NVID...ashed/?page=11

If you are looking at the absolute best video cards right now, here they are in order of best to not-best (as far as I know):
ATI 4870 X2
NVidia GTX 280 or else ATI 4870 (depends on the game, but I think the 280 won in more games)
Around here is where I don't know the order for sure, but there is the (upcoming I think) ATI 4850 X2, and the already-existing ATI 4850, NV 9800 GX2, NV GTX 260, NV 9800 GTX, NV 8800 GTX and 8800 Ultra, and ATI 3870 X2.

[Wildmonkeyboy]

Thank for the advice BALADIO will look into the P5N32-E, and yeah I worked out that crysis is a killer, but my current rig cant cope at all and I am aiming to build somthing that will at least make it playable!

Any ideas about the P5N-D or other boards not by ASUS?

[baladio]

Sorry about the wait; I don't really have any information about P5N-D--although you can look it up on Google: just copy and paste the whole following line into Google:
"P5N-D" OR P5ND review OR reviews

I know Gigabyte is a good brand, among others, but Gigabyte seems to have the least amount of bad-talk. DFI seems to be very good for overclockers and advanced users, but I'm not sure how many problems they have. Also type into Google:
"best motherboard brand" OR "best motherboard brands"
However, it has been said not to trust a brand, but look at each model, like you are doing. A good brand can have a few bad models, and a brand of less quality can have some good models.