Should Zach get a new motherboard?

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Should I RMA my current board in favor of the new Intel one?

Yes
5
83%
No
1
17%
 
Total votes: 6

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zachtib
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Should Zach get a new motherboard?

Post by zachtib »

So, i recently RMA'ed my motherboard in favor of a slightly nicer ASUS board, but now Intel is really messing with me. They released a new chipset, the P35, which at a glance I like a lot more that the current P965 in my ASUS board.

I'm tempted to just eat the 15% restocking fee on Newegg and switching to the new board. Here's the links:
My current board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131177
The new board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813121314

Pros and Cons of the new board:

Pros:
  • Newer Chipset
  • Native Intel Gb NIC on the Chipset instead of 3rd party controller
  • Native Intel SATA controller, the ASUS board uses JMicron for some of the SATA ports
  • Better layout of PCI slots, the ASUS board puts them right under the video card, so the first PCI slot isn't usable, here I'd be able to use all three
Cons:
  • The ASUS board has overclocking features which the Intel one doesn't, but I'm not a big OCer
  • I'd have to wait for the old board to send in and be processed, then have the new one shipped out.
  • I'd pay a 15% restocking fee on the ASUS board, but the intel board is cheaper anyways, so I'd still roughly break even.
  • I've already RMAed one board in favor of the ASUS, and I don't want to be blacklisted as a compulsive RMA-er ;)
In case you don't know, the reason I'm so interested in all of the native Intel controllers is for Linux support. Intel hardware has very good Linux support and open-source drivers, whereas the third party controllers don't always have good support. The JMicron controller, in particular, is apparently very finicky when it comes to Linux support.

My ASUS board is only a few days old, so it's well within the return period, but I need to decide what I'm doing fast...

:|
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Re: Should Zach get a new motherboard?

Post by printfXh4 »

From the sounds of it, you have nothing to lose; that is-- price-wise.
I'd say go for it.
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Re: Should Zach get a new motherboard?

Post by Polygon »

id go for it. A motherboard is something that should last a long time so make sure you have the one you like best and will be comfortable having for at least a couple years.
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Re: Should Zach get a new motherboard?

Post by zachtib »

well, I've packed up both motherboards, i think i'm going for it

funny story about that...

For those of you that don't know, Socket 775 is an LGA socket, or Land Grid Array. This means that the pins are on the board rather than the CPU. this way, should a pin be broken during shipping, the motherboard is damaged rather than the (usually) more expensive CPU. LGA boards come with a cap over the socket to protect the pins during shipping, and that cap must be replaced if the board is to be RMA'ed.

Well, once I got everything packed up, I noticed one thing missing: the socket cap. I had thrown it away when i first put my computer together. This meant that I was stuck with a (possibly) defective motherboard. I went out back of our house, and there was a huge pile of trash bags. I started sifting through them, looking for the trash bag that held my computer packaging. Several people happened to be passing through that alley at the time, so I got some interesting looks as I was sifting through the giant pile of trash.

Amazingly, I managed to find the socket cap, and also the static free bag that the board came in. They don't smell the best, but they'll do the trick. Fortunately, all of my computer packaging was in it's own trash bag, so it wasn't soaking in old food or anything.
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Re: Should Zach get a new motherboard?

Post by zachtib »

I've ordered the new P35 board, UPS says it should be here on Weds. :)
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Re: Should Zach get a new motherboard?

Post by zachtib »

well, the board is here and running

sadly, the box is running windows for the time being, but it'll be moved over to linux likely once the summer's over
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Re: Should Zach get a new motherboard?

Post by Cas »

You have just resurrected a 3year old thread, this is bad practice on a forum.

However to answer the question they will require it to be in an anti-static bag and then packed, preferably in its original box, so that no physical damage can occur when transported by careless couriers.
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