looking for new motherboard

**buchanan** · #1 09-07-2007, 10:32 PM

Hi guys, i am looking for a new motherboard my old one is an INTEL D945GNTLR.
i was going for the same one (couldn't find d945gntlr, but found d945gnt and d945gntl and was going for one of those) to ensure that it would be compatible.

does anyone know if any other board would be better/or just as good for less money?

who make the best motherboards?

thanks in advance,

buchanan

here are my other components

1 |
INTEL D945GNTLR MOTHERBOARD

1 |
P4 630 3.0GHZ 2MB 800FSB LGA775

2 |
CRUCIAL 512MB DDR2 PC4200

1 |
HITACHI DESKSTAR 250GB 8MB CACHE SERIAL ATA II HD

1 |
NEC ND-3550 16X DUAL LAYER DVD±R/W RECORDER

1 |
XFX GEFORCE 6600 GT 128MB PCIE R2

1 |
INTEL INTEGRATED HIGH-DEFINITION AUDIO 945 (not sure what this is)

**alex** · #2 10-07-2007, 12:12 AM

Originally Posted by buchanan

Hi guys, i am looking for a new motherboard my old one is an INTEL D945GNTLR.
i was going for the same one (couldn't find d945gntlr, but found d945gnt and d945gntl and was going for one of those) to ensure that it would be compatible.

does anyone know if any other board would be better/or just as good for less money?

who make the best motherboards?

thanks in advance,

buchanan

here are my other components

1 |
INTEL D945GNTLR MOTHERBOARD

1 |
P4 630 3.0GHZ 2MB 800FSB LGA775

2 |
CRUCIAL 512MB DDR2 PC4200

1 |
HITACHI DESKSTAR 250GB 8MB CACHE SERIAL ATA II HD

1 |
NEC ND-3550 16X DUAL LAYER DVD±R/W RECORDER

1 |
XFX GEFORCE 6600 GT 128MB PCIE R2

1 |
INTEL INTEGRATED HIGH-DEFINITION AUDIO 945 (not sure what this is)

The 945 refers to the chipset on the motherboard Buchanan. From a compatibility point of view you only need to be looking at a motherboard that is compatible with your cpu, as in LGA775. This refers to an Intel chip, in your case the P4 you have.

For me, and its just an opinion, Asus make the best range of boards.

The 945 chipset is a decent mainstream chipset, the newer version is 965. Why swap though? You're doing ok as you are.

The 'INTEL INTEGRATED HIGH-DEFINITION AUDIO 945' refers to the fact your sound chip is integrated onto the motherboard.

**buchanan** · #3 10-07-2007, 06:10 PM

thanks alex

so all i need to worry about is that it is a LGA775?

would i be ok with a 945 or a 965 if i wanted one?

**buchanan** · #4 10-07-2007, 10:38 PM

ASUS P5PL2-E i945PL SKT LGA775 Serial ATA-300 6 Channel High Definition Audio ATX

here:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/126198

this is the cheapest asus i could find on ebuyer, i thought that it's title said it has onboard sound but this one (a little more expensive)
Asus P5L Socket 775 I945p onboard audio Fsb1066 SATA ATX

here:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/117636

says onboard sound in their title so i'm not sure and i can't tell the difference in the specifications, they seem to say the same thing.
i need onboard sound, i have no sound card. can you tell me if the first board has it, and would be compatible?

if it doesn't have integrated sound i could get the more expensive one

also some other things i'm not sure of
-945p and 945g- whats the difference my old one was a g and these are p ?

-the ram slots seem staggered on the asus board and my old intel they are straight, might i have trouble with my graphics card fitting?

-do all atx boards have the same cpu fan attachment i can't see from the photo's on ebuyer-is it a standard thing

thanks alot in advance

**alex** · #5 11-07-2007, 01:29 AM

Originally Posted by buchanan

ASUS P5PL2-E i945PL SKT LGA775 Serial ATA-300 6 Channel High Definition Audio ATX

here:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/126198

this is the cheapest asus i could find on ebuyer, i thought that it's title said it has onboard sound but this one (a little more expensive)
Asus P5L Socket 775 I945p onboard audio Fsb1066 SATA ATX

here:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/117636

says onboard sound in their title so i'm not sure and i can't tell the difference in the specifications, they seem to say the same thing.
i need onboard sound, i have no sound card. can you tell me if the first board has it, and would be compatible?

if it doesn't have integrated sound i could get the more expensive one

also some other things i'm not sure of
-945p and 945g- whats the difference my old one was a g and these are p ?

-the ram slots seem staggered on the asus board and my old intel they are straight, might i have trouble with my graphics card fitting?

-do all atx boards have the same cpu fan attachment i can't see from the photo's on ebuyer-is it a standard thing

thanks alot in advance

Hey up.

They've both got onboard sound, 6 channel i believe, so should you want to connect 5.1 speakers you'll be fine.

They both accept your cpu.

Don't worry about the ram slots being staggered the card will attach with the cooler on the opposite side to the ram slots.

The 'ATX' specification doesn't refer to how the cpu heatsink/fan attaches. The heatsink/fan attachment depends on the cpu. Current (including yours) Intel cpu's all attach the same way on the same type of mounting, same for AMD.

These boards, whilst they will accept EIDE hdd's do have ports for SATA and SATA2 drives, so you'll be fine whichever type of hdd you have.

They only accept DDR2 ram though. Just mention this as I'm unsure if you've DDR ram.

The only difference between the 945G and 945P chipsets is that the G chipset has onboard graphics capabilities in the GMA (Graphics Media Accelerator) 950.

**buchanan** · #6 11-07-2007, 01:56 AM

Originally Posted by alex

Hey up.

They've both got onboard sound, 6 channel i believe, so should you want to connect 5.1 speakers you'll be fine.

They both accept your cpu.

Don't worry about the ram slots being staggered the card will attach with the cooler on the opposite side to the ram slots.

The 'ATX' specification doesn't refer to how the cpu heatsink/fan attaches. The heatsink/fan attachment depends on the cpu. Current (including yours) Intel cpu's all attach the same way on the same type of mounting, same for AMD.

These boards, whilst they will accept EIDE hdd's do have ports for SATA and SATA2 drives, so you'll be fine whichever type of hdd you have.

They only accept DDR2 ram though. Just mention this as I'm unsure if you've DDR ram.

The only difference between the 945G and 945P chipsets is that the G chipset has onboard graphics capabilities in the GMA (Graphics Media Accelerator) 950.

hey, nice one alex

i had found this gigabye board too (with 7.1 sound)

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124405

but if the cheaper asus has onboard sound i will probably go with that.
i've got a graphics card so the p should do me.

will i need to put thermal paste on the processor, i've been reading about it and it comes up alot?

thanks alot

**alex** · #7 11-07-2007, 02:00 AM

Originally Posted by buchanan

hey, nice one alex

i had found this gigabye board too (with 7.1 sound)

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124405

but if the cheaper asus has onboard sound i will probably go with that.
i've got a graphics card so the p should do me.

will i need to put thermal paste on the processor, i've been reading about it and it comes up alot?

thanks alot

I wouldn't worry so much about 7.1 sound, i don't know of any games or movies for that matter made with it in mind so far.

You'll need to remove the thermal paste from your cpu first and then add some new paste prior to install. I highly recommend Arctic Silver 5. As this is silver based it has much higher heat conductivity than the generic junk you generally get. This will move heat away from the cpu that much more quickly. It only cost's about a fiver.

When it comes to it if you need any help regarding that aspect of it shout up and I'll talk you through it. It's not hard.:)

**buchanan** · #8 11-07-2007, 02:13 AM

will i need some alcohol or something to remove the old paste?

**alex** · #9 11-07-2007, 02:23 AM

Your best bet is to us methylated spirit combined with cotton buds and/or kitchen roll.

I have known people use WD40 but this tends to leave a greasy finish.

When applying your new paste just squeeze a small....err....dollop/drop onto the top of the cpu and using a corner of a sheet of kitchen roll wrapped around your finger tip spread the paste across the top of the cpu.

It should only cover the top, if you get any going over the sides just gently wipe this off using a cotton bud or another piece of kitchen roll. It doesn't matter too much if you leave any excess around the sides but as the paste (over a day or two) will create a bond between the cpu and the cooler you really only want it resident where it should be.

Try not to run the pc at peak for a couple of days (so hold off on any intense gaming) as you want the bond to be created gradually. That isn't a must but I find better results doing that.

**buchanan** · #10 11-07-2007, 02:45 AM

OCZ Ultra 5+ Silver Thermal Compound

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/66688

Zalman ZM-STG1 Thermal Grease

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/125310

i could get one of these at the same time i get my board (because ebuyer don't do arctic silver 5), i will get as5 somewhere else if you don't reckon one of these would be as good.

is any old methylated spirits going to be ok for the cleaning?

**buchanan** · #11 11-07-2007, 11:11 PM

hi

i'm pretty much decided what to buy now, but one thing worries me:

i've decided on the second asus board, the more expensive one, it seems better but the part you put the processor in seems different (it has a dark plastic top to it rather than the cheaper model which is metal and exposes the processor when secured).

my concern is that there would be no contact with the fan on the more expensive board, and what this would mean when it comes to applying thermal paste.

i opened mine up earlier and it seemed more like the cheaper, exposed one with paste on top of the processor and on the bottom of the fan touching each other

i prefer the dearer board but am not sure about this plastic cover it seems to have, what do you think? i can include some photos if it would help.

as ever, thanks in advance
buchanan

**alex** · #12 13-07-2007, 03:58 PM

Firstly, apologies for the delay in replying. My ISP is having major service issues in my area at the mo.

Anyway, what you're seeing on the pic is simply a piece of plastic protecting the socket for the cpu.

Remove that and the metal will show! :D

**buchanan** · #13 13-07-2007, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by alex

Firstly, apologies for the delay in replying. My ISP is having major service issues in my area at the mo.

Anyway, what you're seeing on the pic is simply a piece of plastic protecting the socket for the cpu.

Remove that and the metal will show! :D

thanks alex, i did buy that one (asus p5l) and some arctic silver 5/arcticlean from ebay.

expecting them monday or tuesday

i'll let you know how i get on.

**alex** · #14 13-07-2007, 06:35 PM

Yeah, let me know. I'd be interested.

Any problems, shout up.

**buchanan** · #15 18-07-2007, 01:39 PM

hi alex and all hows it going?

i just got my new mobo and tried to fit it,
unfortunately there is a component in the way which prevents me seating my geforce 6600gt graphics card, so...

i'm just going to send it back and swap it for another one

question i have is they have some different ones now like this one:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/123750
with an nvidia chipset-NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra

would this suit me or should i stick to the 945 chipset? which is better?

thanks alot