Motherboard Choices...

[Tyorik]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131073

VS.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188013

I can't decide which to get. I understand the obvious pros of the EVGA; 1333, 1200 standard memory speed... Do either support EPP? I couldn't find it. Which should I go for? I plan to upgrade to an e6850 when it comes out (Until then I have to use the e6300).

Second question... Ram...

I basically know which ones are good; but EPP compatible ram (If either motherboard support it) at a reasonable price? ~$200? ~$250 for 2 GB?

Thanks for any buying support!

[saphalline]

I'd have to do some more research on the mobo's to pick one for certain, but off-hand they both look good. Minor technical differences between them, but most are personal preference.

And yes, the NVidia 680i SLI chipset supports EPP RAM. And no, you can't get a 2GB kit of EPP for a reasonable price. ;) You're looking at around $200+ for DDR2-800 EPP, and up to $300-400 for the high-end DDR2-1066/1200 EPP. EPP is not much more expensive than non-EPP on the low end, but the price premium becomes more pronouned across the board once you get above DDR2-800. But if you're willing to spend the money...

[Tyorik]

Thanks again! You're always there to rescue me from my own ignorance and indecisiveness. Also, do you think some EPP-enabled DDR-800 (Or even 667) will make a noticeable difference over non-EPP? I found some actually reasonably priced EPP RAM through Tigerdirect, just wondering if it's worth it. Something like

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1558870&CatId=2368

or

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2701646&CatId=2370

What do you think? If they look suitable enough (They certainly seem so to me, but I've been surprised before). 1066mhz is certainly overkill for me, but the price is still good.

Any opinions are appreciated

[saphalline]

Honestly, I have to wonder about the value of EPP when paired with an Intel CPU. The original idea of EPP was to offer staggered ratios between DDR2 RAM and the onboard memory controller of AMD's K8-based AM2 CPU's when OC'ing or using non-synchronous values. Hmmm... that sounded less complex in my head...

Anyway, while I'm sure you'd see improvements when using EPP DDR2-800 (or faster) after running some benchmarks, the real-world performance gains would only be noticeable in RAM-intensive activities when OC'ing. In other words, EPP sounds good on paper, but it's really only practical for a small minority of uber power users. Personally, I'd never be able to justify getting EPP (or quad-core for that matter :rolleyes: ) and I think it's time to ask yourself the same question. If you'll be doing OC'ing, it's a no-brainer! Otherwise... ;)