Choosing A Motherboard, Which Is Better?

XiMitchHD · 04-12-2012, 09:52 AM

Buying a new motherboard because I'm due for an upgrade because my other one is so old its nearly turned into ash by the amount of use its had.

GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 775 - GA-P41T-D3P (rev. 1.6)

Or

GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 775 - GA-G41MT-S2PT (rev. 2.1)

Please state which one is better for what ever reason you have, and if is there a better motherboard out there for £50 or under?? :)

Thanks !

**Masterchiefxx17** · 04-12-2012, 09:57 AM

I would pick the GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 775 - GA-G41MT-S2PT (rev. 2.1)

Why? Here is a list of each reason:

Supports up to 8GB of RAM when running Windows 7 64bit.
Has all of the specs found in the other board.
Has Gigabyte DualBIOS.
Supports Power Failure
Supports Heat Failure
Supports Humidity Protection

Infact I like the board so much I personally would buy it.

**cl0udedth0ught** · 04-12-2012, 10:01 AM

The GA-P41T-D3P is ATX which is a bigger form factor board. With that you tend to have room for the bigger gaming graphics cards, you get more PCI slots, etc...

It does require that you have a full size case though. The other board you linked is a micro-atx board so is smaller and you could put it in a smaller case. EDIT*It also supports more memory* 8gb where-as the full size board only supports 4gb.

They are both pretty similar over all though.

XiMitchHD · 04-12-2012, 12:21 PM

Thanks for both your feedback, both very helpful and my computer case is HUGE! And also I think you got the boards mixed up Cl0udedth0ught because its the G41MT that supports up to 8gb, not the P41T. Oh and does the size of the board (The form factor) change the performance of the board i.e. The bigger the board the better or vice versa?

Now that I've had some really good feedback on both boards, is there any other board out there that could top both these for around the same price?? Let's say £60 or under.

Thanks!

**Masterchiefxx17** · 04-12-2012, 12:36 PM

You need to tell us the other specs that you'l be buying along with the motherboard.

XiMitchHD · 04-12-2012, 12:49 PM

Forget the last paragraph, I think I've found another good motherboard:

How's this one: ASUS - Motherboards- ASUS P5G41C-M LX

Thanks again guys!

**Masterchiefxx17** · 04-12-2012, 12:58 PM

I would still stick with this one:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masterchiefxx17

I would pick the GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 775 - GA-G41MT-S2PT (rev. 2.1)

This board still has all of what the ASUS + a DualBIOS.

XiMitchHD · 04-12-2012, 12:58 PM

I'm not going to be buying anything else because I have already got the RAM (DDR2) but if the motherboard only takes DDR3 then I am willing to buy some more RAM. Also I already have a CPU which is 775 Socket so that is compulsory, it needs to be a 775 Socket on the motherboard.

Cheers

**Masterchiefxx17** · 04-12-2012, 12:59 PM

If you only have DDR2 RAM then buy the ASUS. If you can spend the extra $$$ then buy the Gigabyte.

XiMitchHD · 04-12-2012, 01:24 PM

Okay thank you :D

Just need another thing clearing up, I know it may sound a stupid question but I've got somebody telling me that the ASUS on-board video card is good but is it so good that it's better than my PCI-E 512MB PX8800GT Graphics Card?

This is what he put "It has GMA X4500HD with Pixel Shader 4.0, Turbo key (instant Overclock when needed like Turbo boost)
Games Like MW3/Burnout Paradise/Skyrim will run on good fps on normal/High settings
excellent HD audio"

**cl0udedth0ught** · 04-13-2012, 05:35 AM

No, from everything i've seen personally, onboard graphics are terrible for games. You want a dedicated graphics card to play anthing beyond a flash-based online game.

The GMA X4500HD chip has no dedicated graphics memory, but takes from the main memory.(So it hogs your ram.) A benchmark test I came across showed it only getting 17fps on low in MW3.... which isn't even playable really.

Stick with your graphics card.

Tyree · 04-13-2012, 06:11 AM

Onboard graphics are suitable for general PC work but a dedicated GPU will bring life to any PC, particularly with 7, and make your PC experience much more enjoyable.
If you intend to game, you will most assuredly want a dedicated GPU.

XiMitchHD · 04-14-2012, 09:46 AM

Okay Guys, that's some good research and feedback from you both :D Defo going to stick to my own graphics card. Going to have a go at finding the motherboard and purchasing it.

Will post once again when I have more news :) Thanks guys!

Tyree · 04-15-2012, 06:33 AM

You're welcome and good luck.

XiMitchHD · 04-18-2012, 01:32 PM

Got my Motherboard today because I managed to win from eBay for £36. It's the Gigabyte G41M-Combo. Bit late in the day now to fit it in to my computer so I'll get round to it tomorrow afternoon and report back !! :D

Cheers!

Tyree · 04-18-2012, 03:45 PM

Congrats and please post back with results.
Testing on the bench before installing in the PC is always the best option.

Set the motherboard on a non conductive surface. The motherboard box is perfect for this. DO NOT PLACE THE MOTHERBOARD ON THE STATIC BAG! It can actually conduct electricity!
Install the CPU and heat sink.
Install 1 stick of RAM.
Install the video card and attach the power supply connection(s) to the card if your card needs it.
Connect the monitor to the video card.
Connect the power supply to the motherboard with both the 24pin main ATX Power connection and the separate 4 or 8 pin power connection.
Connect power to the power supply.
Do NOT connect ANYTHING else. Make sure you have the power connector on the CPU fan connected.
Use a small screwdriver to momentarily short the power switch connector on the motherboard. Consult your motherboard manual to find which two pins connect to your case's power switch. Then touch both pins with a screwdriver to complete the circuit and boot the system.

If all is well, it should power up and you should get a display. Then assemble the parts into the case and try again. If the system now fails to boot, you have a short in the case and need to recheck your motherboard standoffs.

If the system does not boot after this process, then you most likely have a faulty component. You'll need to swap parts, start with the power supply, until you determine what is defective.

XiMitchHD · 04-19-2012, 11:55 PM

Thanks for the instructions Tyree, I have thankfully got display and it seems to work.. except I had one problem. I got the Blue Screen Of Death :'( So I googled the error code and found out that there could be something wrong with my hard drive partition or that there may be an error on the hard drive. I checked the SATA cable to make sure it was in correctly in both the board and the hard drive and then I changed the cable to a brand new one that came in the box but still no joy. I changed the SATA input socket on the motherboard but still the problem persisted.

So yesterday I kill-disked my computer (because basically I don't care about losing my personal data because I don't have that much on my computer but also I JUST WANT MY COMPUTER TO WORK!!) So later on today I will do a clean install of Windows Vista 32bit.

I will update you guys later on ! :D

Thanks.

Tyree · 04-20-2012, 08:47 AM

You're welcome and please post back with the results.

XiMitchHD · 04-21-2012, 06:48 AM

Good News :D Motherboard works perfect, I have display and everything seems to be running fine :) I've also added a 36gb hard drive that only stores my windows boot up files so in-case anything goes wrong again I will still be able to keep all my personal data on my other drive :D

Got one slight problem though, 2GB DDR2 Ram doesn't seem to be good enough for me to play my games as I can't see my graphics card being the problem. Just a quick question here:

Is there any difference in speed if I get a single 4GB DDR3 Ram or if I use dual channel and buy 2x2GB DDR3 Ram??

Thanks guys and looking forward to your answers :)