Here's a complete build, looking for input

[saltynay]

This board is allot better than the Foxconn P45 for the same price.

Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TForce TP45HP LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Not after rebates the foxconn is $90

 

[zmatt]

So? Is it worth it? The TP45hp is worth more than it costs. Foxconn boards are cheap. They are the company that makes the crappy oem boards for Dell and HP.

 

[saltynay]

I was just offering an alternative board that allowed for crossfire which was close to budget don't hate me for it.

I would say this gigabyte beats the biostar:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Its cheaper, has better audio, more usbs, more sata ports, has raid the flaw is no crossfire which again comes down to OP choice.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

^^ It isn't quite as good of a overclocker as the tp45hp though and as you said it doesn't have crossfire either. It's also more expensive before mir and only slightly cheaper after.

 

[zmatt]

I'm not attacking you. I was questioning your logic. TP45hP is a really good budget board. It out performs many midrange boards.

 

[saltynay]

It is a good allround board and a good budget workhorse plus isn't too bad at overclocking on air. Bit tech got a E8500 upto 495x9.5= 4.7ghz;
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardwa.re/2008/11/21/gigabyte-ga-ep45-ud3r/1

It is better in all the ways I previously mentioned. We all know that crossfire or sli isn't really needed its more of a stop gap to inch out that little bit more performance out of an older card.

I couldn't find a review site through a quick google that has tested both the motherboards but I think they are about equal just depends what you want from the motherboard

 

[zmatt]

Your link sends a 404. But beyond that I disagree because you are recommending a Foxconn. Why do i dislike Foxconn? Because its Foxconn! They make cheap motherboards. Puddle had one in his family computer and it died the other day. Didn't even last a year. Never overclocked. Why would I recommend something that can't last a year of normal use over a motherboard that can do 700mhz fsb and is universally recommended. Foxconn cuts corners and nobody should be building machines with their parts.

 

[Evolv]

These guys got the TP45 with a E8400 at 580mhz stable. And was able to boot up at 600mhz. The only thing that was limiting it was the DDR2 memory. If it supported DDR3 it would be quite beastly.

Enthusiast Mainboard on a Budget: Biostar TP45 HP Review (page 10) - X-bit labs

 

[kershner]

Looks like I'm going to stick with my original board...the ones you guys suggest are all around $20-30 more expensive, and looks like I'm hearing bad things about the Foxconn. Gigabyte's always been a solid brand for me, and this board seems fine for this computer (it's my girlfriend's general use/moderate gaming PC).

I don't think I want to mess with any server OSs, heh, I'll just shell out the extra for a completely legit copy of Vista.

How is the Barracuda much faster than the Western Digital? Same cache, almost identical seek times..I realize there's probably something I'm missing as I'm not super technical, please let me know.

The HIS 4830 is $2 cheaper than the Saphire, and the Saphire beats the HIS in benchmarks almost every time, think I'll stick with it.

Any specific advantages of the Antec 300 vs. Cooler Master 5? The Centurion looks significantly better and seems to have better air flow it seems, but again, I could be missing something.

Good find on the Red Webcam...what is that all about, heh?

Is the Corsair ram significantly faster than the OCZ Reapers?

Thanks guys!

 

[Evolv]

I would stick with the Reapers. They have 4-4-4-15 timings and the Corsairs have 4-4-4-12 timings. You wouldn't notice a difference. The Reapers are less expensive and have better coolers.