# Question bout  ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard?



## Delta6326 (May 22, 2008)

ok im geting a  ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard  and was wandering if  mushkin 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 Model #: 996603 will work? with it and 
for my vidieo card can i use a non 2.0 PCI Express x16 even thow the MB is 2x PCI Express 2.0 x16  becuase im trying to decide if i should get  

1x  MSI RX3870-T2D512E OC Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16
              at www. newegg. com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127315
     or
1x  HIS Hightech H385QX512NP Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
        at  www. newegg .com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161215
or
2x MSI RX2600XT Diamond Plus Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16
        will be geting the none open box
    at    www. newegg .com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127303R
or
1x ZOTAC ZT-88TES3P-FCP GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
    at  www. newegg .com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16814500006
 thank you for your help


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## dark2099 (May 22, 2008)

Yes a non PCI-E 2.0 card will work in a 2.0 slot, the technology is backwards compatible, I would think the Mushkin ram would work, if you are wondering about the ram due to listed supported memory modules from the ASUS site, from my experience, modules that are not listed work just fine, those are just tested setups by the motherboard makers.


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## Delta6326 (May 22, 2008)

ok cool thanks do you know what vidioe card i should get?


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## dark2099 (May 23, 2008)

I would say get either the HD 3870 or 8800 GTS as they are the top cards in your list, I have one of those MSI 2600XT cards and if you want I can post screenies later of how it compares to my HD 3870 in benchmarks.


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## Duxx (May 23, 2008)

8800 GT or the 3870, the 8800gt is better performance but at a little higher price.  Basically depends on how much money u want to spend.


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## Delta6326 (May 23, 2008)

dark2099
I would say get either the HD 3870 or 8800 GTS as they are the top cards in your list, I have one of those MSI 2600XT cards and if you want I can post screenies later of how it compares to my HD 3870 in benchmarks.



ok sure that sounds good if you can


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## Delta6326 (May 23, 2008)

ya im trying to stay under the $170 - $180 range


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## Delta6326 (May 23, 2008)

o ya and does anyone know what the voltage is for the ram in the ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard?


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## dark2099 (May 23, 2008)

Here is a screenshot of my 3DMark06 run with my 3870.  The card is not overclocked the CPU is.  Gonna swap out the cards and will post the new score in a bit.


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## Delta6326 (May 23, 2008)

ok cool thanks


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## dark2099 (May 23, 2008)

Here is the run with the 2600XT, as you can see it is alot worse.  This is due to the architecture of the core being 65nm vs. 55nm as well as the technology used by it.


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## Delta6326 (May 23, 2008)

o ok thanks


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## dark2099 (May 23, 2008)

Definitely go for the 3870 or the 8800GT.


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## Delta6326 (May 23, 2008)

can the ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard use the Intel Xeon E3110 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor people say its the same as a E8400 but with better cooloing and only $10 more 
at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117165


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## dark2099 (May 23, 2008)

It is listed as supported on the ASUS site, although the BIOS might require an update before you can use it, depends on which BIOS it comes with.


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## Delta6326 (May 23, 2008)

o ok and i may flash bios to the rampage


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## erocker (May 23, 2008)

I would recommend getting 2 x 2gb sticks of ram over 4 x 1gb.


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## Delta6326 (May 23, 2008)

why 4 x1 spreads everything out so less strean on ram


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## erocker (May 23, 2008)

It stresses out the NB alot more.  I'm currently running 4 x 1gig sticks and it's ridiculous.  I'm actually buying 2 x 2 gb sticks to replace them right now.


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## Delta6326 (May 23, 2008)

well i have to go to the races so bye for now


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## mos187 (May 24, 2008)

If u r getting the maximus, then your best choice for a gpu is the HD3870 as it will give you the option of running crossfire, or crossfire quad with 2xHD3870x2, with an nvidia card u will only have a single card setup as intel chipsets dont support sli.
good luck...


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## AsRock (May 24, 2008)

I have these with 0 issue's  ( G.Skill )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145

Mine run 1066 CLK5 or 800 CLK4 and that with them paired with 2GB of Axeram.  With the latest BIOS for that mobo det ram issue's have gone.

If your going ATI check the Sapphire as they will normally give you a life time warranty.  

You could wait about 2 months for the new 48xx range to come out too.


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