Intels E8500

Rapidfire48 · Jan 20, 2008, 12:08 AM

Guys I am looking to buy the E8500 when it is released and i was wondering what kind of gaming board to go with. I really don't want to go to DDR3 ram and I would like it to be Crossfire compat. I read the reviews on the front page but I am not sure which of the posted will be compatable to the new CPU. Any help would be appreciated. I am an AMD guy and finally realising that they do not have an answer and I am tired of being crushed.

**kris23** · Jan 20, 2008, 12:10 AM

ASUS Maximus Formula is your answer

Rapidfire48 · Jan 20, 2008, 12:16 AM

Thanks for the quick reply. This will also run 2 ASUS EAH 3870's in crossfire?

**kris23** · Jan 20, 2008, 12:19 AM

yup but i recommend a different brand, those tend to be expensive for what you get

HIS's IceQ3 cards are very nice and clocked at 850mhz

just about any other 3870 is good,

Lowfat · Jan 20, 2008, 01:47 PM

Gigabyte's X38-DQ6 is a reasonably priced crossfire board.

**kris23** · Jan 20, 2008, 02:03 PM

depending on where you go to get it, some places have mark ups like daym

newegg marked it up to 289... clubit has it for like 250 and i think zipzoomfly is also 250

Lowfat · Jan 20, 2008, 02:58 PM

Ya most X38 boards are going to be pretty pricey. The Foxconn X38A board is another that is around the $250 mark.

**kris23** · Jan 20, 2008, 05:26 PM

i wanted to get an X38 DQ6 but i really didnt want to have to go somewhere else to get a decent deal so i just got the maximus from newegg.... pretty equivalent to the DQ6 from reviews it seems....

**ChaosMinionX** · Jan 20, 2008, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kris23

i wanted to get an X38 DQ6 but i really didnt want to have to go somewhere else to get a decent deal so i just got the maximus from newegg.... pretty equivalent to the DQ6 from reviews it seems....

Asus Maximus Formula when properly tuned is probably the fastest X38 board out atm for DDR2.

The Gigabyte is a close second, though have seen some OCing problems on that board, and generally lower FSB than maximus.

Rapidfire48 · Feb 16, 2008, 10:27 AM

I purchased the Maximus and an E8400 cpu. I have the cpu stable at 3.8 ghz and the mobo is quite impressive. I also topped it off with an ASUS EAH3870 and I am happy with the whole build. Thanks for the help and opinions guys.

**kris23** · Feb 16, 2008, 11:22 AM

nice rig.... lol you should be able to get that CPU over 4GHz if you try..... not that hard

but i dont think you can get there with those low end sticks

Rapidfire48 · Feb 16, 2008, 11:52 AM

The ram is the next upgrade.

**kris23** · Feb 16, 2008, 01:04 PM

ok good. there are some good 2GB sticks that have passed 1100mhz in OCing so look for those 1000+mhz sticks by G.Skill, OCZ, and Geil

liverlips101 · Feb 17, 2008, 04:17 PM

Regarding RAM, I'm in a similar predicament...building a rig based on E8500 CPU and Maximus Formula. Wanting to build it with 8GB of RAM, but not sacrifice any of the OC potential of the E8500.

Have lots of power available via single-rail Silverstone DA1200 power supply. My question is, are any of the 4GB dual-channel kits (such as OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 Reaper HPC 4GB) stable at that overclock when doubled up for a total of 8GB? Anyone?

**kris23** · Feb 17, 2008, 04:27 PM

the Maximus Formula can OC 4 sticks of Transcend D9GMH so im sure that 4 sticks of PC8000 or PC8500 can be OCed with no problem, just so you know, the OCZ reaperX sticks cant be used in a Quad channel setup. the Heatsinks are too big

go with Geil or G.Skill for your RAM

liverlips101 · Feb 17, 2008, 04:45 PM

Thanks for the quick reply.

I guess I thought there would be a penalty with 4x2GB vs 4x1GB.

Thanks also for the advice on the ReaperX, I was actually considering the non-X version of Reaper HPC memory, which seems to have a more friendly heat-sink form-factor for this task. What say you?

liverlips101 · Feb 17, 2008, 04:49 PM

Whoops, wrong title on that particular image...the 9200 isnt available in 2GB sticks. I meant the 8500. Same heatsink design, naturally.

**kris23** · Feb 17, 2008, 04:52 PM

those should work.

MooN*FiRE · Feb 19, 2008, 05:22 AM

I also want to get a E8500. I am still debating if I want to get a 775 slot. The whole ideal behind pins on the motherboard for a cpu, makes me siver in fear and agony thinking if the pins get bent I am screwed. Is installing this kind of CPU really that difficult or am I just psyching myself out? I want to build a new computer.
The things holding me back is what motherbord I really want and the CPU like I said.
I was thinking of getting a AMD mobo and CPU for the purpose of bypassing the whole 775 intel ideal. I think it was a very bad thing for the pins to be on the motherboard. I liked it better when they were on the CPU. If you messed up, you only had to replace the CPU and not the whole motherboard.

thenewguy001 · Feb 19, 2008, 11:24 AM

I don't think you can bend the pins unless you are extremely clumsy with it before you put it in the cpu slot, like drop or smash it. In my experience the pins are really solid, and they slide right into the cpu slot just under the weight of gravity alone. There's no fiddling and tight squeezes like installing expansion cards and dimms.

MooN*FiRE · Feb 19, 2008, 05:23 PM

Hmm interesting.. thanks for the info.