I'm planning on building my own gaming pc and was planning on putting in the Xeon 5160, but the only motherboards I could find for the 771 socket were dual sockets and looked like they were for servers or workstations. I'm really not sure which CPU to use, I'm just looking for a high-end chip and willing to spend up to 1.5k USD on it. Anyone have any preferences on chips? I was thinking of using two dual cores, but the ones I would have preferred I could only find boards that were intended for server use and didn't have the 3 PCI-E slots I was looking for. I've never used AMD but have heard that they are better for gaming than Intel, and I might just be persuaded to switch if I'm better informed.

Thank You.

When I started this thread my plan was to ask for input on a motherboard, but it looks like I turned it into a CPU inquiry.

Why use an Intel Xeon? Go for a Core 2 duo E6700. $519.00 from ZipZoomFly and compatable mobo.

Just for the record AMD were better for gaming but now, with the launch of Core 2 duos that crown has well and truly passed to Intel.

Hope this helps in some way

Smirnoff

I did a little reading between the time I made the first post and now, and I was planning on going with the Core 2 Duo. I've been looking at motherboards for the Socket LGA775 and was wondering, what is the difference between PCI-E x16, x8, x1, and PCI-X? What should I look for in a motherboard, and does anyone have any suggestions on a motherboard?

PCIe (PCI Express) is very different from PCI-X

PCI Express is the new point to point interconnect for desktop systems, primarily used by graphics card. PCIe can be bound together in multiple lanes, arranged in exponents of two. Current PCI Express chipsets support x1, x4, x8 and x16 modes, exposed as x1 and physical x16 slots.

PCI-X is an extension to the PCI standard for servers that has been around for a while.

You can find more specific information on PCI Express here.