Hardware questions!

[RadishTM Veteran]

Right, I'm looking at the ASUS P5W DH Deluxe motherboard and I know it's a well-established board. But want I want to know is that if there are any issues with the IDE ports?

I plan on keeping my PATA drives, I've read around, but can't find a definitive answer :/

And next on to graphics cards, I'm currently using a Gainward Bliss 7800GS (7800GT chip) but if I'm going to purchase the motherboard above I need to get a PCI-E card :yes:

My eye was on the 8600GTS, but when I found out it's somewhat crippled with it's 128-bit interface and 30GB/s bandwidth (my 7800GS has a 256-bit interface and 44GB/s bandwidth) as well as it's reviews - it put me off. And I don't really want to spend a fortune getting an 8800 series card :s

I'm an occasional gamer but do like to play mainstream titles.

I know the GeForce 8 series has DirectX 10, but will any game take advantage of it now? How long will it take for DX10 games to arrive? and their drivers don't have a lot of happy people right now :laugh:

I don't plan on migrating to Vista for a while (at least when SP1 comes out), so what is a good GeForce 7 series card for PCI-E? I was looking at the 7950GT, it's just a bit more powerful than my current card (I don't really need a GTX to be honest).

Or could you recommend an ATi card, been out of the loop since I had my 9600XT :laugh:

Radish?

[Draconian Guppy]

Well just to mention, if you can wait a couple of weeks, ATI's new cards (R600) are said to be just around the corner. This will supposedly bring the current 8800 cards price down a bit or at least that's the rumor on the net.

[GusValentine]

You're not likely to see any true Directx 10 games before the end of the year/2008:

http://www.tweak3d.net/joomla/news/pc-gami...irectx-10-games

List of games with DirectX 10 support

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games...ectX_10_support

It looks like you've already made the best choices for cost/compatibility/reliability, but you may later wish you had got a better video card. In my opinion, it is not worth spending the money now on a NVIDIA 7000 series GTX, but rather save it for a better/Directx 10 card in the future, when ATI will have released theirs, and drivers/issues have been ironed out for Vista. 7950GT is probably the best choice for now and the months to come, especially when running Windows XP, GRAW 2 should run quite smoothly (nowadays you should have a minimum of 2 GB RAM even for XP).

ASUS P5W/P5B are excellent choices for Intel Core 2 Duo (get a CPU with 4 MB cache).

[RadishTM Veteran]

Cool, the 7950GT is rather cheap right now. I've already own a E6600 and 2GB of Corsair PC5300 DDR2.

I also don't really plan on overclocking.

Radish?

[RadishTM Veteran]

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/119682

^ Opinions? :)

Radish?

[chconline Veteran]

There's no problems with PATA. Also, ICH7R has native support for PATA devices so it does not require a third part controller either.

[RadishTM Veteran]

Thanks for the information :)

Which IDE port do the optical drives attach to? Near the RAM slots or below the PCI slots?

Radish?

[chconline Veteran]

The one beside the RAM slot on the P5W-DH is a floppy IDE. The one near the PCI slots on the right under the 24 pin molex is a PATA connector. Don't bother with the one below the PCI slot, because it would be very hard to wire :p

[RadishTM Veteran]

Hehe, I've got very long IDE cables if I were to use that connector :laugh:

Plus, my hard drives are in the bottom chamber in my Antec P180 - so it should be fairly easy. I also bought a Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7 a few days ago.

Also, which one is the native Intel PATA connector? I've read the JMicron PATA connector has it's own software/BIOS? or not?

Radish?

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

what most people neglect about the 8800 series is that it's still a lot faster than the previous generations. everyone focuses on DX10 and its lack of support.

if you buy a new card, i say get the 8800GTS 320MB model. great core, really fast, but the cost is substantially lower. mine was only $266 after shipping and rebate.

[GusValentine]

Here's the manual (I hope the link works):

http://dlsvr02.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket..._p5w_dh_dlx.pdf

The JMicron controller might be just for RAID setups, and these extra controllers can usually be enabled/disabled from the BIOS.

[RadishTM Veteran]

what most people neglect about the 8800 series is that it's still a lot faster than the previous generations. everyone focuses on DX10 and its lack of support.

if you buy a new card, i say get the 8800GTS 320MB model. great core, really fast, but the cost is substantially lower. mine was only $266 after shipping and rebate.

All the decent DirectX 10 games are coming later in the year, by that time the 8900 series would be out.

Radish?

[chconline Veteran]

Hehe, I've got very long IDE cables if I were to use that connecto:laugh:h:

Plus, my hard drives are in the bottom chamber in my Antec P180 - so it should be fairly easy. I also bought a Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7 a few days ago.

Also, which one is the native Intel PATA connector? I've read the JMicron PATA connector has it's own software/BIOS? or not?

Radish?

I am not too familiar with this board since I don't have one (I have an Asus P5W64-WS Professional, which is as close as it gets). ICH7R should have native support for a single PATA controller for up to 2 IDE devices. Judging by the layout of the motherboard, I would guess that the one below the PCI slot is the non-native controller.

I've used JMicron controllers before on a P965 board (I have an abit AB9-Pro, which has ICH8R and has no native support for PATA) and it works quite seamlessly with the other components. No complaints either.

Btw SATA :pw :p

[Andre S. Veteran]

The alternative in ATI is the X1950XT. It's the faster card, although not by much. Don't bother if it's priced much higher.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

All the decent DirectX 10 games are coming later in the year, by that time the 8900 series would be out.

Radish?

yeah, youre right.. but do you want to spend $200 now on a 7950GT (which is still a sweet card) and then spend another $300+ in 6 months for DX10 support?

[RadishTM Veteran]

The alternative in ATI is the X1950XT. It's the faster card, although not by much. Don't bother if it's priced much higher.

Far too expensive here :|

yeah, youre right.. but do you want to spend $200 now on a 7950GT (which is still a sweet card) and then spend another $300+ in 6 months for DX10 support?

The only two DX10 games I'm looking forward to are Crysis and the new Unreal Tournament 3 (out of the two - Unreal Tournament 3), the 7950GT @ ?115 is a bargain IMO.

I'm not a person who likes to stay on the forefront of hardware (I'm coming from an Athlon XP 3200+:pp) as you're constantly spending money. With this new build I'm expecting it to last a while. The 8800 series for me right now doesn't justify the cost unless you're a hardcore gamer or like to have the latest or greatest (I'm neither). Same goes for Vista, going to wait a while till it fully matures.

Also, some of the first release of DX10 games should be compatible with DX9 software/hardware no?

Maybe 6+ months down the line, I'll get one of the new ATi cards;))

Radish?

[RadishTM Veteran]

Here's the manual (I hope the link works):

http://dlsvr02.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket..._p5w_dh_dlx.pdf

The JMicron controller might be just for RAID setups, and these extra controllers can usually be enabled/disabled from the BIOS.

Thanks for the manual, one full-featured motherboard - love the front panel adapter to make hooking those cables up easier.

I saw "AHCI" listed in the IDE/SATA section, worth having enabled?

Radish?

[GusValentine]

Sorry, I don't know the specifics of the motherboard or the new technologies used, it is one of my top choices for building a new system. I'm still running a stone age system right now... When in doubt, Wiki it :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Host...oller_Interface

[RadishTM Veteran]

Wiki FTW, seems to have issues when enabling it :s

I'll disable it somehow :D

Radish?

[GusValentine]

ASUS has a utility to update the BIOS from within Windows. Sometimes issues like these are fixed with BIOS updates from ASUS.

[LaraBoft]

I have this motherboard. I like it a lot. Nice and handy remote to turn on or off the pc.... :) One downside: on the Intel raid controller there are only 3 S-Ata ports. I have 4 harddisks, and I had to turn on the J-micron Raid controller. Haven't tried EZ-Backup yet. Also nice: you can plug your MP3 player and without turning it on, you can listen to music. I don't have any PATA drives anymore.....

For the videocard: well, I have a 8800GTX, and I like it. Bit noisy though. But it is a lot of money to buy. Luckily, mine was a gift....

[RadishTM Veteran]

Yep, it's the small things that are making love this motherboard :)

What would be the equivalent to this motherboard for nVidia SLI?

Radish?

[chconline Veteran]

Asus P5N32-E SLI is the equiv. of P5W-DH.

[RadishTM Veteran]

Looking at the ASUS P5N32-E SLI, I'm also liking the layout and the ability to upgrade to SLI later.

Hmm, decisions decisions :shifty:

Radish?

[chconline Veteran]

Don't get the Asus P5N32-E SLI. I thought you were just asking about the 1:1 equivalent :p Get the Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus. 100% solid aluminum caps, NVIDIA 650i northbridge + NF570MCP southbridge for all the features of 680i, without 680i issues. Personally I would stick with Intel chipsets. Wait for Bearlake, things like the Asus P5K3-Deluxe looks amazing with much better cooling and DDR3 RAM.

You see, I am not a big fan of NVIDIA chipsets when it comes to heat and the such :p I am dumping my Asus P5NT-WS soon and going right back to the P5W64-WS Pro... or the Asus P5K3-Deluxe and pick up some new DDR3 RAM.