Motherboard for Q6600/Q9300

martian_aphid

martian_aphid

martian_aphid

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Joined
8 Feb 2008
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801
Location
UK
Hey

I'm investigating my first build and apart from a couple of other sticking points I'm still really confused about which motherboard to get, probably mainly due to the vast amount of boards out there to choose from! As well as being unsure whether to opt for something futureproof for the next 3-5yrs or go for something a bit cheaper and upgrade it in 1-2yrs. Any advice on this would be great.

As far as the CPU goes I'm fairly certain I will be opting for the Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 or perhaps stretching to the newer Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q9300 with the 1333fsb.

As far as graphics I'm still undecided. I'm going to be using it for graphics/3d work on 24" monitor [1920x1200] and to hopefully run new dx10 games at the same res. So perhaps the 3870X2/8800GTX or alternatively an sli/crossfire setup to achieve similar results.

Other than that I dont have any other requirements.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
if you don't need RAID or firewire then something like the abit IP35-E, Gigabyte P35-DS3L or OCValue/J&W IP35-S should do you.
 
Really sorry, should have mentioned that I will be aiming for 2x500gb in a mirror configuration - will those boards not allow that, I just assumed they did?

I'll check those out though.
 
That MSI board looks like a good option as well as the RAID, I notice it has dual pci-e 16x slots and supports crossfire - does that mean you cant use a nvidia gpu with it? sorry if this is a totally retarded question :S
 
hi psychas, i'm reading the spec now, is the only difference between the the formula and the extreme DDR2/3?

would you say that the step up the x38 chipset is worth the extra money over the p35, i'd pay the extra i'm just asking the question of whether BUFF's p35 option or your x38 is the most "bang for your buck"
 
i think its only dd3 on extreme and water cooling, as is there no point using ddr3 they are still so expensive.

when you buy x38 you get free stalker and 3dmark06 pro so it compensates extra 40 £ is worth + great overcloker.

i would says asus maximus formula or gigabite ga-x38-ds5 are best mobs at best bang for a buck as they went down in price not long time ago


edit: yes if you want sli ,enforce chipsets to go but they are bad overclokers i would not touch them ,i rather have x38 and 1 nvidia card with overclocked cpu
 
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Yea i'd have to agree at the moment ddr3 does not seem to offer value for money.

Thanks for the recommendation, it seems that the intel chipset seems to be my best option, either a p35 or x38 although I must admit the formula sounds cool with a 2x3870xt setup, plus I think I read that it has a setting in the bios to overclock the q6600 upto the qx6850 3 or 3.2ghz is it.
 
yes there is an options to overclock to 20% withoud doing anything but i prefer do it my self as i want to go at least 3.6
 
yes on air i did not overclock yet im going to do somewhere this weak there few members in this forum that oc'ed it to 4ghz on air
 
Thats pretty impressive, gl for your overclock =D Just wondered how accomodating is the maximus board for the big air coolers considering there is a large array of heatsinks around the socket? ie. the tuniq tower and the thermalright 120
 
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