Help! need new motherboard and now really confused - PCI 2.2

[DannyHTE]

Hi all

It's been a long time since I've been here. I even forgot my log in details lol. Anyway. Need help on a new PC system. It's driving me crazy

Was using a DFI Lanparty NF 680i LT for the past 2 years. Was going great. Got Scope (PCI) and a Luna card (with daughter board) which gave me 24 channels in and out. All on seperate IRQ, not shared. Also had a 8600GT and a 6600GT to give me 4 screens. Running XP Pro.

Well on Tuesday night it died. Gave a RMA error.... again. After going back to RMA 3 times, i'm over it and looking to upgrade.

Originally after reading till my eyes hurt on these forums and 'google'ing like a mad man with different motherboard, on top of downloading every single manual from the ASUS site, i had decided on the following

Intel i7-860 2.80Ghz LGA1156

ASUS Maximus III Formula motherboard. - Why you ask. Well after looking through the manual it's the only board that doesn't share PCI EX16 with PCI slots. The PCI slots are 'shared' by themselves. On the table they are at postion F and G. G is only shared with Lan1, and HD audio (which would be disabled). PCI EX16 are on A, B and C. Then upon more reading the manual states that the PCI slots are 2.2. Now I'm scared. I can't find any info on PCI 2.2. I've searched these forums and can't see any mention. I do remember a while ago reading about the 2.2 spec. Wiki only mentions that 2.2 'provide 3.3 volt supply voltage ', so I'm guessing that this will be ok.

On top of that. I've read that gigabyte boards are 98% known to be flaky when using PCI slots, compared to firewire - which typical, i can't find the actual forum post that mentioned that, so sorry to the original topic poster.

Yet everyone seems to be going for the Gigabyte GA-EX58, but their manuals don't have IRQ tables listed. So do they have troubles with PCI slot based Creamware cards?

The ASUS P7P55D seems to have bad IRQ assignements but I guess some people haven't had troubles with that. I would be running Windows 7, and that's said to have better IRQ positioning/auto setting. Or is it that nowadays (as someone mentioned) that P55 chipsets work well with Scope cards.

I'm pulling my hair out here, and confused. Trouble is if I go for the ASUS Maximus board (which has good IRQ according to their manuals) and I find out that PCI2.2 doesn't work with Creamware, I'm buggered. I've ordered the parts already from the computer shop and due to pick them up on Sunday, but of course I can change it.

Thanks and sorry if I sound like a mad man.

[Fluxpod]

I think Scopecards need 5v and not 3.3 on the pci slot.

[garyb]

any of the newer motherboards will require disabling of some usb controllers. i believe that new bios in the gigabytes has made them reliable now. i usually just buy intel. it's not always the highest performing motherboard, but it's usually the most stable...you could get a new DFI too....

[DannyHTE]

Ok, thanks guys for the replies.

After going to bed and having a good sleep, i started with research again.

3.3 Volts is 2.2 whereas 5 volts is 2.1. Weird. However the slots should be different

From Wiki
Typical PCI cards present either one or two key notches, depending on their signaling voltage. Cards requiring 3.3 volts have a notch 56.21 mm from the front of the card (where the external connectors are) while those requiring 5 volts have a notch 104.47 mm from the front of the card. So called "Universal cards" have both key notches and can accept both types of signal.

Looking at the manual it appears that the PCI slots look the same as every other MB i've used before with the Creamware cards

What's also troublesome is future revisions of the PCI slot

PCI 2.1, released on June 1, 1995, allows for 66 MHz signaling at 3.3 volt signal voltage (peak transfer rate of 533 MB/s), but at 33 MHz both 5 volt and 3.3 volt signal voltages are still allowed. It also added transaction latency limits to the specification
PCI 2.2 Power rails to provide 3.3 volt supply voltage are now mandatory.[8]
PCI 2.3 permits use of 3.3 volt and universal keying, but does not allow 5-volt keyed add-in cards.
PCI 3.0 is the final official standard of the bus, completely removing 5-volt capability.

@garyb - yep I know about the disabling of USB. With the DFI LanParty, I didn't have too as every USB controllers weren't shared with my cards. They were by themselves on IRQ. I would probably go Intel but my supplier doesn't stock Intel. I could go somewhere eles, but have build a good relationship with the company, and they seem to be the cheapest this side of town. They recommended Gigabyte, but their lack of IRQ info in their manuals has put me off. Checking their BIOS doesn't seem to give me much option to set IRQ settings either. My NF680i LT board allowed me to change IRQ within the BIOS, though I never needed too. As far as DFI go, I will never buy a board from them again. You might remember I posted troubles with that board a few years ago and you helped me out then. I had to send it back to RMA 2 times, this would be the 3rd. When it ran, it ran great. Was able to record 24 channels in and I recored our band's EP on it, which had up to 100 tracks in Cubase. Want a company that is known for good quality.

Another question. Do I stick with P55 LGA1156, or should I go for the X58 LGA1366? I was told that the LGA1156 outperforms the LGA1366, but further research suggests that the LGA1366 is better suited for audio and future upgrades [however I find this to be foolish, as I've only had my LGA775 for about 2 years and now I need to fully upgrade everything - can't even use the CPU fan lol]

Thanks guys.

[DannyHTE]

Sigh. Well after 10 hours of research I still can't find the answers I need.

The PCI 2.2 slots on the ASUS Maximus III Formula board look the same as standard PCI 3.3V/5V slots. If they were 3.3V only PCI slots, then the card wouldn't fit as the notches would be at the opposite end. These look the same, so I am led to believe that it will be fine. Guess I'll have to test it and hope that I haven't wasted money. Tomorrow night I'll find out.

[garyb]

yes, i do believe that almost ALL of the new motherboards support 5v signalling.

[the19thbear]

I have this motherboard:
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=SChThDvEAJ31GxGV
which only has pci 2.2 slots and it works fine with a pulsar2 and pulsar1, and uad2 (the uad is on pcie though)

[valis]

PCI 2.1, 2.3 and 3.0 are most commonly seen with PCI-X slots (66mhz, 100mhz & 133mhz.) There may be some micro-atx & mini-atx boards that simplify their on-board power circuitry by only choosing to supply 3.3v to pci slots but that's going to be affected by their choice of onboard peripherals as well (ie, anything they add to the board needs to be fully 3.3v compliant if they want to drop 5v from everything but USB.) Keep in mind that usb & other peripherals (firewire, sata etc) also require 5v power lines and you'll see why 5v is still quite common on boards. If you do encounter a board with the 5v compatible keying that isn't actually supplying 5v then you should report that here and anywhere else you can, as it's deviating from the spec.

[DannyHTE]

Thank you guys for the replies. That totally calms me. I was too thinking last night that the 2.2 spec should still include 5v and 3.3, it's just that it has to have 3.3v as outlined in the wiki page. It's seems that it's the PCI 3.0 that removes the need for 5v which might be the bad one.

Thanks to the19thbear - that makes me happy. I was reading all the ASUS manuals and most of them listed PCI, but the Maximus had listed PCI 2.2 which lead to my dilemma and stress lol.

Well I'll be picking it up in a few hours now and building it this afternoon, so I'll post my outcome.

Thanks again, the last comments gave me a good reassurance with the Planet Z forums and the creamware platform. I was even tempted to sell up and go Pro Tools, but hopefully at the end of the day, I'll be able to do what I love and create music again.

[DannyHTE]

Just a quick status update. Got all the pieces and have installed it all. Tried my previous install of XP, but even though it was working it was trying to install all drivers again. So I figured I'd go to Windows 7 a lot quicker then expected. Installed Win7 Pro and it's working great. Just installed creamware drivers (well in the middle of it - just need to find my Sonic Core 5 code [must be in an email somewhere]) and had a quick look at IRQ's.

Happy to say that the two graphic cards (6600GT and some new 2 series nVidia) sits at IRQ 16, whereas the Creamware sits at 21 and 22 (CW DSP). Yes!!!!. Haven't checked if USB and/or other stuff shares, but at least the graphic cards don't. I'm happy to disable USB stuff if need be. Will post some more status reports over the next few days - might even try a Masterverb test too.

Thanks again everyone

Oh and PCI2.2 - no troubles - though at first it didn't boot, but that was due to the DDRAM3 ram in the wrong spot. Mm I'm sure they used to be in the 1st and 3rd slot, but on this board they sit at the 2nd and 4th lol

[garyb]

good news! we'll look forward to a happy report soon!