Same old same old

OK Wolfe, here's what I've got to say. Basically what you've planned all looks like good stuff. I think that P67 Pro from ASRock is probably you're best bet, seems like a good solid board (looks good too). The rest of the stuff looks OK too. :) Not really a lot I can say about extensions, you know, you kind of get what you get...

One thing you could try is running ReactOS in a virtual machine perhaps? Then you wouldn't need PS/2 support at all. If you want I can quickly try it in a VM for you and tell you if it works or not.
 
I will try a VM when I get the desktop up and working again. Don't have the RAM for it on the laptops.

But what I am worried about is not having enough graphics support for it in VM. Like if I want to try a game, or see what kind of modeling I can do with react, then I will be stuck. But I can see anyway.
 
Graphics are a problem with VMs, yes. How exactly are you planning to run ReactOS on the desktop? As a dual-boot with Windows presumably if you want raw hardware access?
 
can't dual boot. Gunna run it on a dedicated hard drive. It is very early in its development at the moment, so it is not the make or break decision, but I like what they are trying to do, and want to help them, so I would like to be able to use it.

Might be able to get a small P4 setupu with it later. based off something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121373 or something maybe used. I don't know.

If I go with a different system for this use only, then what would be the best board to get?
needs:
  • LGA 1155
  • P or Z chipset
  • At least 3 PCIe x16 slots
  • 4 DIMMs

Want, but not a deal breaker
  • ATA 100
  • Floppy
  • PS/2
 
If you can get an older system I'd say that'd be the best way, or perhaps try it on one of your laptops. I'll leave it up to you to decide on that.

I heard about ReactOS and I did download it because I too thought it was a good idea, but I never got round to trying it out.

As for which board would be best, I've always recommended the GA-Z77X-UD3H to people on here looking at new builds http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544&Tpk=ga-z77x-ud3h Great board, looks good, 3x PCI-E slots, 4 DIMM support, ATX size (dislike mATX myself), Z77 chipset. Would work fine with your 2600K, too. Even has one PS/2 port.

Honestly, if I were going to buy a new board tomorrow (and this time yesterday with the problems I was having with POSTing, I honestly thought I would have to replace my board), I'd seriously consider the UD3H.
 
I have tried it on both the laptops before. the keyboards are hooked up via a USB interface (well, the OS reads it as USB), and does not work. Ill leave it to an older system to try it out.

hmm.. looks like a good board. But is it equal to a UD5H or UD5H-WB? What is the difference in them?
 
The difference between the UD3H and the UD5H is that the UD5H has dual-gigabit LAN and I think the UD5H may have onboard Wi-Fi support and it likely has a better cooling phase, meaning overclocking is easier. Dad has the UD5H, works well for him with an i7 3770.

One thing I forgot to mention, you need to make sure you update the BIOS to F7 straight away if you get the UD5H. Some people have had issues with the older BIOSes on the UD5H. Updating the BIOS is easy though.
 
hmm, Dual Ethernet. What would even be the point of that?

And BIOS update. I know it used to need a floppy to do, as did RAID. How are they doing it these days?

Would you recommend the UD5H over the UD3H? Its not much more.
 
There are some benefits to dual-gigabit LAN. I can't remember what they are but Dad needed it for some reason, so that's why I said the UD5H would be good for him.

Usually BIOS updates work by copying the BIOS file to a pendrive/USB thumb drive and then plugging in the USB drive whilst in the BIOS and then flashing it from there. Each manufacture has it's own little facility in the BIOS to flash from USB. Usually you just plug the drive in, point the BIOS to the file, and away it goes. Job done. It's so much easier these days, and safer too.

As for RAID, usually you don't have to do anything these days I don't think, it's all just in the BIOS.

Would I recommend the UD5H over the UD3H? If the UD5H is like 10 bucks or less more expensive than the UD3H, then yeah, I probably would. Otherwise, not necessarily.
 
Its $30 more. but I am not sure what it is offering for sure. I men, $30 is nothing to me really for a major component.

I have a switch, and got cables coming to work that, so 1 port should be enough, but then again, I could have one port to have set aside specifically for transferring files mondo fast between laptops and the desktop, yes?

okay, if it is as simple as loading the file on a flashkey and going away with it, that is easy.
By RAID I meant the F6 drivers when it goes to boot up. They used to need a floppy with the drivers on it. Not sure how it works now a days.
 
Nah save the 30 and keep it for something else. The UD3H is a great board.

I'm pretty sure if you got the UD5H you could do that, but I'm not entirely sure. I don't know that much about networking and stuff like that really.

Usually it's as simple as putting it on a flashkey, read your manual first though. Sometimes there are 3 or 4 different methods of flashing the BIOS.

You don't need to worry about a floppy or installing RAID drivers before you install Windows these days I don't think (Vista and 7). I'm not sure how good XP support is these days though, you may need to somehow slipstream the RAID drivers into the XP disc, or if you use an XP SP3 disc it may work fine.
 
okay, listening to the newegg review of the UD5H, it sounds good, but he says that the x4 PCIe slot will only work with ivybridge. :( so only 2 cards. That is not good. but don't know for sure.

Something else that caught my eye, and about the same price as the fatality is http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128552. Looks to be one hell of a board fro the price. and 2 x16 and 2 x8 looks very good for the graphics.

Let me put it like this. I just don't want to cheap out again. Seen how that goes already. But then again, the cheapest of the cheap H61 boards has been rock solid for me. :/ But again, not cheaping out on it if I can avoid it.
 
Nice case. Yep, all you'd need is the board and a new case. Power supply and everything else should be the same.
 
It's a lot of money, but I reckon the G1 Sniper + the Switch case looks like a good platform to me.
 
the UD5H would only need the board. But again, the newegg guy said that the 3rd pcie x4 slot only works with 3rd generation processors. I really want to run 3 480s, but I guess we shall see. May just get it.
 
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