I'm in the process of selecting some upgrades for my current computer and would appreciate any suggestions/experiences on motherboards for 64 bit Vista or XP.
Current Setup
Antec P180 - 4 180mm fans
2xRaptor RAID0
1x500gig
2xDVD - both connected to PATA
media card bay
550 Antec NEO PS
Nvidia 7800GT
Upgrades:
P35 Mobo
6850 3ghz CPU
8 gigs DDR2
Additional 2x Hitachi 1TB - in RAID1 configuration.
My primary use will be .NET Web/Windows development, utilizing a lot of VMWare virtual machines and database access (big databases.. 80-100gigs, hence lots of storage).
I'm essentially looking for the best 64bit Vista/XP supported solution and ideally Windows 2008 64bit in not so distance future (I current run Windows 2003 on the desktop). It sounds like any of the 64bit OSs want signed drivers, so main priority for any motherboards are:
- Lots of 64bit driver compatibility, especially with any onboard RAID solution
- Lots of SATA, minimum 6 but ideally 8
- A couple of eSATA ports
- No fans - heat pipes only for quieter operation
- Crossfire/SLI not an issue but don't care if they're there
- Decent memory for bit of overclocking but nothing to exotic
From research I have narrowed it down to a variation of the ASUS P5K-E WiFi (Deluxe or premium?) or Gigabyte P35-DS4. Thanks ahead of time for any feedback.
Regards,
X
Current Setup
Antec P180 - 4 180mm fans
2xRaptor RAID0
1x500gig
2xDVD - both connected to PATA
media card bay
550 Antec NEO PS
Nvidia 7800GT
Upgrades:
P35 Mobo
6850 3ghz CPU
8 gigs DDR2
Additional 2x Hitachi 1TB - in RAID1 configuration.
My primary use will be .NET Web/Windows development, utilizing a lot of VMWare virtual machines and database access (big databases.. 80-100gigs, hence lots of storage).
I'm essentially looking for the best 64bit Vista/XP supported solution and ideally Windows 2008 64bit in not so distance future (I current run Windows 2003 on the desktop). It sounds like any of the 64bit OSs want signed drivers, so main priority for any motherboards are:
- Lots of 64bit driver compatibility, especially with any onboard RAID solution
- Lots of SATA, minimum 6 but ideally 8
- A couple of eSATA ports
- No fans - heat pipes only for quieter operation
- Crossfire/SLI not an issue but don't care if they're there
- Decent memory for bit of overclocking but nothing to exotic
From research I have narrowed it down to a variation of the ASUS P5K-E WiFi (Deluxe or premium?) or Gigabyte P35-DS4. Thanks ahead of time for any feedback.
Regards,
X