What mobo for Intel core2 quad and an original HD3 rig?

[guitarzzan]

I'm looking into a computer build to modernize my rtas abilities etc, but see a dilemma. The new mobos seem to only have a couple pci slots and since I have an HD3 rig, I need 3 pci slots. I've been told that I can't use the pcie slots for my Digi pci cards etc, so I'm not sure what my options are.
Are there any mobos out there that have a supported chipset by digi, that support the core2 quads, have at least 3 pci slots that will accomodate my 3 giant digi cards and will work with sata drives?
I'd rather not downgrade to an HD2 as I sometimes get into that 3rd card, or close to it.

thanks.

[sunburst79]

So far the best choice is the ASUS P5WDG2 WS Professional

Bob Nagy, NickH and Markus44UK are all running HD on it. I beleive it supports HD4.

There is a 79.00 Gigabyte board that x9blade is using that requires some finagling about with the SATA ports but I believe hes got it running HD3 also.

[guitarzzan]

That board only has 2 pci slots. It has 2 pciX slots. ...so will the Digi cards work in a pciX slot?

thanks.

[sunburst79]

The PCIx and PCI slots are interchangable as far as your HD cards are concerned.

It will run HD4

[x9blade]

yes i am using this board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128084
so far so good. it can fit hd 3 without any problems. you just have to insert hd cards starting with core card in the pci slot 5 and work backwards from there. one day i will try putting another hd card in this computer to make an HD 4 machine. the 4th card will be a slight problem because it will line up directly over your first sata connector. i think with a right angle sata cable(with the angle in the correct direction) the card should clear,it will be tight .
so far i had one major problem with this build. in my first session with this machine i did encounter a windows file getting corrupted and i did have to do a windows repair.don't know why it happened 100% but i think it may be due to forgeting to disable windows restore. not sure on that.
otherwise this is the 2nd full weekend of using my new intel quad. baring that first incident,the machine has run all weekend long with no problems.
hey rob maybe one day this week i will give you an update on things. sorry, ive been so busy using this new quad. talk soon and to the original poster good luck. if you have any questions, i will be glad to answer them.

[sunburst79]

Thanks x9blade! I was hoping you would see the post!

Been super busy myself. Got a Q9450 coming and can't wait to see what it will do compared to the Q6600. I'm not expecting a huge differance I just want it to run a bit cooler and I want to put the Q6600 in my new desktop.

[Jantzen]

yes i am using this board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128084
so far so good. it can fit hd 3 without any problems. you just have to insert hd cards starting with core card in the pci slot 5 and work backwards from there. one day i will try putting another hd card in this computer to make an HD 4 machine. the 4th card will be a slight problem because it will line up directly over your first sata connector. i think with a right angle sata cable(with the angle in the correct direction) the card should clear,it will be tight .
so far i had one major problem with this build. in my first session with this machine i did encounter a windows file getting corrupted and i did have to do a windows repair.don't know why it happened 100% but i think it may be due to forgeting to disable windows restore. not sure on that.
otherwise this is the 2nd full weekend of using my new intel quad. baring that first incident,the machine has run all weekend long with no problems.
hey rob maybe one day this week i will give you an update on things. sorry, ive been so busy using this new quad. talk soon and to the original poster good luck. if you have any questions, i will be glad to answer them.

Hi everyone, I have been searching the forum as I'm looking to get an HD system for as low cost as possible. Was thinking mac pro but it's too expensive but a G5 won't cut it as I need the system to run some VIs as well. So now I'm looking to build a PC with as much parts as I've already got for the job, namely 2GB DDR2800 RAM and my E6550 CPU for now (can upgrade later as need arise). One thing though, I was thinking I would need a new motherboard since I thought the HD cards are all PCIX or PCIe? But seeing this post makes me wonder? The Gigabyte board only has PCI slots, are there HD cards that are normal PCI only???

Can someone shed some light on this?

Thanks a lot.

Jantzen

(P.S. System in mind is a P5WDG2 board with my CPU and ram, some new drives and a new graphics card (currently 7600GS, but it would save me the cost of a motherboard if I can run PT HD on shorter PCI slots.)

[sunburst79]

Older HD cards were PCI, The newest HD cards are PCIe. I'm not sure if you can still buy new PCI cards or if the current stock is all PCIe.

The two card types are not interchangable meaning your system must be all PCI or all PCIe and the slots need to be consecutive if your going to run more than one card. Most new motherboards have a mix of slot types which renders them close to useless for HD. If your only going to run HD1 and have no intent of ever expanding the system than any motherboard that has the same slot as your card is probably going to work just fine as long as the card fits-HD cards are HUGE and often interfere with things like southbridge coolers SATA ports, DIMM slots ETC.

Make sure you price the peripherals your going to need to run HD into your budget besides the HD card your going to need at least one I/O interface.

The information above should be correct but since I don't own HD its not something I'm claim to know a lot about.

[Jantzen]

I think you mixed it up with PCIx, what I was saying was, the older ones were PCIx and the newer ones are PCIe.

However, from what I've seen, HD cards were all PCIx (longer than normal PCI), but x9blade is saying he's using a motherboard with no PCIX slots, so I'm quite confused.

Jantzen

[sunburst79]

I think your mixed up about who is mixed up

PCI-X and PCI are interchangable, You can put a PCI-X card in a PCI slot and its backward compatible. At the speeds and bandwidth the HD cards run at it doesn't make much-if any real differance if your running a PCI-X card in a PCI slot.

Regardless of interface the processing is being done on the cards so the bandwidth needs are relatively minimal.

PCI

PCI-X

PCIe

The PCI-X to PCI thing trips a lot of people up. For our purposes they are interchangable.