Best mobo for i7 920?
 

Building a new system and am finding lots of conflicting opinions. Amongst Vegas users, which is working out best?

Also, do I need a dual boot system (32/64 bit)? Or can I go with one or the other?

Thanks!

James - I would base a build off of the specs for the i7 Master Suite computers. In addition, I would utilize a dedicated RAID for source files and render out to a separate render drive. Encode any highly compressed footage (AVCHD, DSLR footage, etc) to DI's - either Cineform for AVID's DNxHD. I've done this and seen an increase in stability with Vegas Pro 9.0e 32 & 64. IMO, you're only asking for trouble editing native footage from these types of file formats.

I have a sneaking suspicion that when the next version of Vegas is released, there are going to be some capabilities for utilizing the GPU from the graphics card.

I would play it safe and go that route if you can.

You don't need a dual boot if going Windows 7 Pro 64bit - both versions of Vegas work perfectly - at least they do for me.

HTH,

System
 

I have both versions of Vegas working no problem on Win 7 64bit also. We currently use a Tempest i5400XT (S5396) dual Xeon motherboard with 2.83ghz processors, 16gigs of memory, 3 SAS Raid 0 internal drives, Raptor 300gig 15,000rpm boot drive and 3 external raptors e-sata raid 0 to drives to render to. Win7 64 professional. All water cooled, no slowing this monster down. My son, the builder of this system said something about doing another one using a dual i7 motherboard, but I don't know that set up. I will ask when he's around.

There is no "best" board for everyone. However you will be hard-pressed to find a more stable board for the 920 than the the Asus P6T Deluxe V2. It is a cinch to overclock, has built in Raid on two separate controllers. It has only six internal hard drive connectors, but also has an esata in the rear panel. Very nice board.

I've seen mixed reviews on virtually all boards, but the P6T V2 has among the highest ratings on Newegg. I've built two systems with this board and have been very pleased.

I'm running a Asus P6X58D mobo with I7 930 and it's been great. Also supports USB 3.0 and 6G SATA. I'm not overclocking it, but I've read that it's easy to do.

No need to dual boot. Windows 7 64 bit will run 32 bit applications. There are many options out there for your motherboard, and like Mr. Harper said, there is no true singular *best board*. It varies a lot, but you generally can not go wrong with a full ATX Intel or Asus brand board. Don't waste your time with Micro ATX or other small form factors, they lack on quality and functionality.

Thanks everyone -- much appreciated.

I just bought an AsRock X58 Extreme 3. AsRock is a spin-off from Asus, and the Extreme 3 seems to be stable for overclocking according to Toms Hardware and other reviewers ASRock X58 Extreme : X58 On A Budget: Seven Sub-$200 Core i7 Boards (also good reviews at Newegg).

I paid only $179 at Newegg sale; it has USB3 and other modern goodies that are lacking on the P6T. Also: 2 of its 3 PCIe-16 slots are widely spaced so that you can install a pair of huge graphics cards in case Vegas soon supports GPU-assisted rendering.

I'll be putting a 940 on it (I got mine for $225 - cheaper than I could find for a 920). I should have all the parts in 2 weeks and will report back here on the forum . . .

I've build a lot of editing computers and one thing I now consider is a machine's capability to become a Hackintosh. With that in mind, I lean toward the Gigabyte X58 motherboards.

Actually, there are better choices than the Intel-branded X58 motherboard. This is because the Intel board is missing a few of the tweakable settings that are necessary to attain the optimal performance from any i7-9xx processor. What's more, there have been no fewer than five BIOS revisions that came out for this motherboard this year alone (although one of them has since been removed from Intel's download site). Most other X58 motherboards have had no more than three BIOS versions released for them since the beginning of this year.

I did say "generally", you also have to remember not everyone is a tweaker or overclocker. There is always a better option in some way, if you are willing to go far enough to get it. Since James did not specify if he was building it from parts he was buying individually or having it built for him and was given a couple of options, I find it best to not assume too much.

I am still skeptical that Vegas will ever implement hardware specific render support. Its main selling point is that it runs on anything.

Dont' get me wrong, as someone with an SLI system (if I choose to enable that feature) I'd love to set loose these gfx cards on renders, but I just cant' see Sony changing the course of Vegas that drastically.

Jason, I was also skeptical of Vegas making the switch, that is until CS5. I think Vegas pretty much has to take the plunge now.

Fair enough there. But I stated that there are better options than that Intel-branded board because it is simply too expensive for the features and quality it offers.

Did CS5 enable GPU based render support in Premier? Even if it did, I still find it hard that Sony would abandon the flexibility and "runs everywhere" mind set. I'd love to see it though, and 3rd party plugins may beat Sony to the punch (heck, I coudl see Sony providing support to third parties to do just that so they don't have to).