Building System (on Intel Q6600 Quad CPU) Need Motherboard advice. at DVinfo.net

Tyson Persall · November 27th, 2007, 04:44 PM

Im not up to date on the latest Motherboards. Any recommendations? I will be running Adobe CS3 production studio and pretty much pushing my system to the limits for video editing, compositing in Uncompressed HD in 64bit Vista.

But i dont want to spend a lot of money on the NEWest stuff, as brand new, just released, is usually overpriced. Ive figured out everything except the motherboard. I think i need a motherboard that can support PCIe 2.0. I also need am MB with 6 SATAII channels total. I need to be able to RAID 4 drives for my video and have a Raptor System drive and another drive for backup and for my page file and render files. I dont want to have to buy a separate Raid controller if i can find a motherboard that will allow this.

----------------
Here are the specs Im looking at:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz

RAM: I need 8GB Total. But i guess the kind would depend on the motherboard.

GPU: Nvidia 8800GT

System Drive: WD Raptor X 150g

PSU: SeaSonic M12 SS-700HM ATX12V / EPS12V 700W Power Supply

OS: Dual Boot of WinXP Pro and Vista 64bit Home.

Motherboard im looking at: ASUS P5W DH DELUXE. This has 6 SATAII channels however you can only RAID 3 disks together total. I need 4.

Barry Smith · November 27th, 2007, 05:04 PM

Super Micro have robust boards. They also have a whipser quiet enclosure.

Over the years I have used Titan, Supermicro and Intel servers. If you look at the brands associated with engineered enclosures have boards made for the purpose.

I have worked with generic brands before and I find the "fitted" boards are more reliable and easier to maintain.

Has anyone on this forum worked with Apple and bootcamp. I have been using it for some time now but never with an Apple Pro Workstation or Vista.

For HDD controllers I recommend a PCIexpress board with onboard ram. Some intel mainboards have expansion ports where you add both processing ram and CPU processing with a small clip-in board. This converts the onboard controller to a professional RAID device.

Ken Hodson · November 27th, 2007, 05:29 PM

Why do you think you need PCIe 2.0?
I would also question your video card. Are you planning to play a lot of games?

Mike McCarthy · November 27th, 2007, 05:56 PM

I am with you on the 8800GT, but PCIe 2.0 is not required. If you do want it, that will limit your options to the newers generation of motherboards that are currently being developed. I don't remember which chipsets support 2.0, the Nvidia 780i will, the Intel X38 probably does, and the X35 might also.

Shawn McCalip · November 27th, 2007, 08:06 PM

With motherboards, I've never been wronged by Asus boards. I'd suggest sticking to larger name brands, but I think that comes down to a mix of personal preference, price, and features. I've had boards made by Shuttle, A-Bit, and a couple of smaller brands fail prematurely, but I know there are others out there that will swear by them.

For the largest selection, I'd suggest checking out Newegg or Tiger Direct. I know with Newegg, you can check off certain elements to search for, and the site will gradually cull the results. I'd also recommend checking out the Video Guys' website. They have a couple of D-I-Y articles going over what to look for and how much it will cost you. I've gotten some good info from that, so it might be worth it for you.

I also agree with Mike and Ken about PCI 2.0. You'll save a few bucks and get the benefit of a more mature technology by getting the PCI x16 card. you can also save quite a bit by stepping down a notch or two from the 8800 GT and going with something along the 8500-8600 range. All of the 8x00 series cards are more geared for gaming, but they will still perform admirably in the world of video editing/graphics/animation. They're basically wired up to do a great job of refreshing a single window on a single screen- compared to the Quadro cards that are set up to do better at refreshing multiple windows on multiple screens. It's a little more involved than that, but that's a short and simple way of looking at it.

Tyson Persall · November 27th, 2007, 10:59 PM

I decided on the Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 motherboard. It has 8 Sata Channels.

Why would you think a PCIe 2.0 GPU card would cause any problems? No, im doing absolutly no gameing. Only DCC.
Quadro FX cards are way overpriced for there performance? Im not sure its worth it. I own a Quadro FX 560 in one of my computers that i could rip out. I do a lot of complex stuff in after effects. Im alwasy wondering if there is a better sollution to faster previews and such. Thats why i was thinking Maybe PCIe 2.0 would help. Am i wrong?

The big problem is Ram. Finding 2GB models for this board seems to be impossible.

Shawn McCalip · November 27th, 2007, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson Persall

Why would you think a PCIe 2.0 GPU card would cause any problems? No, im doing absolutly no gameing. Only DCC.
Quadro FX cards are way overpriced for there performance? Im not sure its worth it. I own a Quadro FX 560 in one of my computers that i could rip out. I do a lot of complex stuff in after effects. Im alwasy wondering if there is a better sollution to faster previews and such.

The big problem is Ram. Finding 2GB models for this board seems to be impossible.

After reading up a little bit on PCI 2.0, it seems like it wouldn't make too much of a difference with the vast majority of currently available graphics cards. All PCIe 2.0 does is double the bandwidth of a PCIe 1.1. I'm sure that more new cards being released will be able to take better advantage of the increased through-put.

However, since it is newer technology, it will most likely cost more- especially on a board that will do a good job of utilizing it. I think that point was raised because of your concern over keeping costs down.

As far as Quadro cards are concerned, I do think the higher end models are overpriced, but I think the performance gains are definitely worth it. I'm currently running with a Quadro GPU in my laptop, and it chomps through 3D work and After Effects like a champ. Like I said in my last post, Quadro cards are geared more for super-intense design/graphic work. There are different drivers involved, and minor differences in hardware. In my opinion though, a gaming/consumer card will work just as well for video editing and most graphics applications.

That motherboard looks like a good buy though. You're having trouble finding RAM though? There's gotta be a decent selection online at newegg or something.

Tyson Persall · November 27th, 2007, 11:31 PM

As for Ram it looks like im going with this: (altho hard to find)

GeIL 8GB(4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Quad Kit Desktop Memory Model GX28QG8500ERBPDC - Retail
Model #: GX28QG8500ERBPDC
Item #: N82E16820144117

Shawn McCalip · November 28th, 2007, 12:23 AM

Oh, I see why it's hard to find... it's a kit! Why not just find a 2GB stick and just buy four of them?

Tyson Persall · November 28th, 2007, 02:56 AM

Because don't you have to buy them in pairs to be Dual Channel? Otherwise i would. And Also, Newegg doesn't sell any single 2GB moduels. Only 512 and 1GB can be bought single. Everything else comes in a kit.

Brian Brown · November 28th, 2007, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson Persall

Because don't you have to buy them in pairs to be Dual Channel? Otherwise i would. And Also, Newegg doesn't sell any single 2GB moduels.

Tyson, you don't have to buy them in pairs for dual channel. Just buy the same module in multiples of two and you'll be fine. And NewEgg has over 20 different DDR2 2GB modules to choose from when I did an advanced search a few minutes ago. I populated my mobo with 4 sticks of 2GB DDR, NewEgg #20-231-111. The price today is exactly HALF what I spent just two months ago. Amazing!

Like I responded to you in another thread, Vista 64-bit rocks with 8GB.

HTH,
Brian Brown
BrownCow Productions

Ken Hodson · November 28th, 2007, 08:16 PM

The 8800GT is over kill if you are not gaming, but most importantly the Nvidia gaming series (all non Quadro series) have known issues with hardware overlay. I would suggest checking into this. I would suggest Ati or Matrox if you are going multi-monitor (and why wouldn't you with a rig like this)
Also have you considered using any Cineform products? ProspectHD gives you the same quality as uncompressed but at a much lower data rate. That would ease your need for such an extreme RAID setup on a consumer MB, which at times can be flaky. ProspectHD only needs a simple two drive RAID.

Tyson Persall · December 1st, 2007, 02:47 PM

No. I have not looked at Prospect HD. I wonder if it would still allow me to capture over HDMI using blackmagic intensity.

Barry Smith · December 2nd, 2007, 05:34 AM

I will suggest that with all that bandwidth the onboard 8-channels of SATA are going to be a bottle neck. Since the SATA bandwidth is integrated into the chipset I would have favoured a specific CPU driven SATA board to handle that aspect of the I/O.

I agree that Gigabyte and Asus make exceptional boards these days and I think that processor speed adds a lot to the OS performance.

I dont envy anyone trying to choose. It must be a minefield of specifications and stats in order to get an overall picture of what is out there.

Damon Gaskin · December 2nd, 2007, 08:13 AM

My system is based off 965 chipset specifications but it runs pretty great. I am using Matrox hardware:

Abit AB9 Pro Bios 20
Intel Quad Q6600
4GB OCZ PC6400 DDR2
Diamong ATI 1950Pro 512MB(Catalyst 7.11)
System Raid: 160GB Seagate Array(2 drive raid 0) on ICH8R
Video Raid: 600GB Seagate Array(3 drive raid 0) on ICH8R
Samsung 183L SATA DVD burner on ICH8R
LG 62N SATA DVD burner on Sil 3132 controller
Mushkin 550 watt power supply
Prod Premium CS3 with updates
Antec 900 case
Sony FX7 Camera

One thing I am thinking of switching is instead of the 1950(which for the RTX2 is an awesome card to say the least) I am thining of one of the 3870's wich indeed is Pci 2.0, but only 50 dollars more than what what I paid for the 1950, but then again I am snot sure how it would perform. But my system works great. The AB9 Pro however isn't a beginner motherboard(can be a little tricky to setup but abit has done very, very well with the bios updates), but you can get them at a great price and it has 9 SATA connectors including a eSata and 10 USB connectors.. Either way you go, you will have a very strong running machine as long as the ram is stable.

With my current setup, I still have two more SATA connectors for another raid on the Jmicron, so if you have a case that can handle all of the drives(I am looking at the antec P190 which is seriously massive or a Lan Lai full tower to upgrade from the 900.

I actually was looking at that Gigabyte board as an upgrade. If you get it, let us know how it performs.

November 27th, 2007, 04:44 PM	#1
Tyson Persall Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: North Hollywood, Atlanta Posts: 437	Building System (on Intel Q6600 Quad CPU) Need Motherboard advice. Im not up to date on the latest Motherboards. Any recommendations? I will be running Adobe CS3 production studio and pretty much pushing my system to the limits for video editing, compositing in Uncompressed HD in 64bit Vista. But i dont want to spend a lot of money on the NEWest stuff, as brand new, just released, is usually overpriced. Ive figured out everything except the motherboard. I think i need a motherboard that can support PCIe 2.0. I also need am MB with 6 SATAII channels total. I need to be able to RAID 4 drives for my video and have a Raptor System drive and another drive for backup and for my page file and render files. I dont want to have to buy a separate Raid controller if i can find a motherboard that will allow this. ---------------- Here are the specs Im looking at: CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz RAM: I need 8GB Total. But i guess the kind would depend on the motherboard. GPU: Nvidia 8800GT System Drive: WD Raptor X 150g PSU: SeaSonic M12 SS-700HM ATX12V / EPS12V 700W Power Supply OS: Dual Boot of WinXP Pro and Vista 64bit Home. Motherboard im looking at: ASUS P5W DH DELUXE. This has 6 SATAII channels however you can only RAID 3 disks together total. I need 4. __________________ Tyson X

November 27th, 2007, 05:29 PM	#3
Ken Hodson Trustee Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Vancouver BC Canada Posts: 1,315	Why do you think you need PCIe 2.0? I would also question your video card. Are you planning to play a lot of games? __________________ Damnit Jim, I'm a film maker not a sysytems tech.

November 27th, 2007, 05:56 PM	#4
Mike McCarthy Major Player Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Northern California Posts: 517	I am with you on the 8800GT, but PCIe 2.0 is not required. If you do want it, that will limit your options to the newers generation of motherboards that are currently being developed. I don't remember which chipsets support 2.0, the Nvidia 780i will, the Intel X38 probably does, and the X35 might also. __________________ For more information on these topics, check out my tech website at www.hd4pc.com

November 27th, 2007, 10:59 PM	#6
Tyson Persall Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: North Hollywood, Atlanta Posts: 437	Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 I decided on the Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 motherboard. It has 8 Sata Channels. Why would you think a PCIe 2.0 GPU card would cause any problems? No, im doing absolutly no gameing. Only DCC. Quadro FX cards are way overpriced for there performance? Im not sure its worth it. I own a Quadro FX 560 in one of my computers that i could rip out. I do a lot of complex stuff in after effects. Im alwasy wondering if there is a better sollution to faster previews and such. Thats why i was thinking Maybe PCIe 2.0 would help. Am i wrong? The big problem is Ram. Finding 2GB models for this board seems to be impossible. __________________ Tyson X

November 27th, 2007, 11:31 PM	#8
Tyson Persall Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: North Hollywood, Atlanta Posts: 437	As for Ram it looks like im going with this: (altho hard to find) GeIL 8GB(4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Quad Kit Desktop Memory Model GX28QG8500ERBPDC - Retail Model #: GX28QG8500ERBPDC Item #: N82E16820144117 __________________ Tyson X

November 27th, 2007, 05:04 PM	#2
Barry Smith Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 77	Super Micro have robust boards. They also have a whipser quiet enclosure. Over the years I have used Titan, Supermicro and Intel servers. If you look at the brands associated with engineered enclosures have boards made for the purpose. I have worked with generic brands before and I find the "fitted" boards are more reliable and easier to maintain. Has anyone on this forum worked with Apple and bootcamp. I have been using it for some time now but never with an Apple Pro Workstation or Vista. For HDD controllers I recommend a PCIexpress board with onboard ram. Some intel mainboards have expansion ports where you add both processing ram and CPU processing with a small clip-in board. This converts the onboard controller to a professional RAID device.

November 27th, 2007, 08:06 PM	#5
Shawn McCalip Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Anchorage, AK Posts: 315	With motherboards, I've never been wronged by Asus boards. I'd suggest sticking to larger name brands, but I think that comes down to a mix of personal preference, price, and features. I've had boards made by Shuttle, A-Bit, and a couple of smaller brands fail prematurely, but I know there are others out there that will swear by them. For the largest selection, I'd suggest checking out Newegg or Tiger Direct. I know with Newegg, you can check off certain elements to search for, and the site will gradually cull the results. I'd also recommend checking out the Video Guys' website. They have a couple of D-I-Y articles going over what to look for and how much it will cost you. I've gotten some good info from that, so it might be worth it for you. I also agree with Mike and Ken about PCI 2.0. You'll save a few bucks and get the benefit of a more mature technology by getting the PCI x16 card. you can also save quite a bit by stepping down a notch or two from the 8800 GT and going with something along the 8500-8600 range. All of the 8x00 series cards are more geared for gaming, but they will still perform admirably in the world of video editing/graphics/animation. They're basically wired up to do a great job of refreshing a single window on a single screen- compared to the Quadro cards that are set up to do better at refreshing multiple windows on multiple screens. It's a little more involved than that, but that's a short and simple way of looking at it.

November 28th, 2007, 12:23 AM	#9
Shawn McCalip Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Anchorage, AK Posts: 315	Oh, I see why it's hard to find... it's a kit! Why not just find a 2GB stick and just buy four of them?

November 28th, 2007, 02:56 AM	#10
Tyson Persall Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: North Hollywood, Atlanta Posts: 437	Because don't you have to buy them in pairs to be Dual Channel? Otherwise i would. And Also, Newegg doesn't sell any single 2GB moduels. Only 512 and 1GB can be bought single. Everything else comes in a kit. __________________ Tyson X

November 28th, 2007, 08:16 PM	#12
Ken Hodson Trustee Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Vancouver BC Canada Posts: 1,315	The 8800GT is over kill if you are not gaming, but most importantly the Nvidia gaming series (all non Quadro series) have known issues with hardware overlay. I would suggest checking into this. I would suggest Ati or Matrox if you are going multi-monitor (and why wouldn't you with a rig like this) Also have you considered using any Cineform products? ProspectHD gives you the same quality as uncompressed but at a much lower data rate. That would ease your need for such an extreme RAID setup on a consumer MB, which at times can be flaky. ProspectHD only needs a simple two drive RAID. __________________ Damnit Jim, I'm a film maker not a sysytems tech.

December 1st, 2007, 02:47 PM	#13
Tyson Persall Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: North Hollywood, Atlanta Posts: 437	No. I have not looked at Prospect HD. I wonder if it would still allow me to capture over HDMI using blackmagic intensity. __________________ Tyson X

December 2nd, 2007, 05:34 AM	#14
Barry Smith Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 77	I will suggest that with all that bandwidth the onboard 8-channels of SATA are going to be a bottle neck. Since the SATA bandwidth is integrated into the chipset I would have favoured a specific CPU driven SATA board to handle that aspect of the I/O. I agree that Gigabyte and Asus make exceptional boards these days and I think that processor speed adds a lot to the OS performance. I dont envy anyone trying to choose. It must be a minefield of specifications and stats in order to get an overall picture of what is out there.

December 2nd, 2007, 08:13 AM	#15
Damon Gaskin Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Auburn Hills, USA Posts: 217	My system is based off 965 chipset specifications but it runs pretty great. I am using Matrox hardware: Abit AB9 Pro Bios 20 Intel Quad Q6600 4GB OCZ PC6400 DDR2 Diamong ATI 1950Pro 512MB(Catalyst 7.11) System Raid: 160GB Seagate Array(2 drive raid 0) on ICH8R Video Raid: 600GB Seagate Array(3 drive raid 0) on ICH8R Samsung 183L SATA DVD burner on ICH8R LG 62N SATA DVD burner on Sil 3132 controller Mushkin 550 watt power supply Prod Premium CS3 with updates Antec 900 case Sony FX7 Camera One thing I am thinking of switching is instead of the 1950(which for the RTX2 is an awesome card to say the least) I am thining of one of the 3870's wich indeed is Pci 2.0, but only 50 dollars more than what what I paid for the 1950, but then again I am snot sure how it would perform. But my system works great. The AB9 Pro however isn't a beginner motherboard(can be a little tricky to setup but abit has done very, very well with the bios updates), but you can get them at a great price and it has 9 SATA connectors including a eSata and 10 USB connectors.. Either way you go, you will have a very strong running machine as long as the ram is stable. With my current setup, I still have two more SATA connectors for another raid on the Jmicron, so if you have a case that can handle all of the drives(I am looking at the antec P190 which is seriously massive or a Lan Lai full tower to upgrade from the 900. I actually was looking at that Gigabyte board as an upgrade. If you get it, let us know how it performs.