What are the best motherboards around right now for Intel quad-core (q6600) overclocking but with a reasonably low (160 pounds at most, less if possible) price tag? No preference for Crossfire or SLI Support, I likely won't use either. Right now I've got a q6600 (and 8800gtx) lying around on a terrible Dell mobo (and case) with no overclocking. To save money until Nehalem comes along, I'd like to extend the life of my current setup by getting a new case and mobo, and keeping as many of the current components as I can (not the Delled RAM and Sound Card though). Thanks in advance.
p35 for non-sli, p45 for never ram support, and newer features. x38 for crossfire, decent boards. I'd suggest a p35, best bang for the buck, and it'll hold its own until the new cpu's are out.
Thanks for the suggestions, I'm looking at probably getting a p35 then. I'm going to take a good look at reviews and so forth, but which brands, or particular boards, should I avoid (or investigate) within those? The P5K Deluxe seems quite highly recommended, and seems near perfect for me, and I expect I could muster up a little extra money for a q9450 and maybe a new graphics card to make it worthwhile.
I've got the abit p35, not the newest model with the black heat syncs though, i have the second newest (gold heat syncs) and i am happy with it. Has a nice lcd readout for troubleshooting, clear cmos button and it supports 45 nm cores. The p5k deluxe also looks good, but i have no experience with that board.
I don't have much experience with using 8800gtx, but I came across this site it has some models of motherboard, hope this could help you.
i have q6600 overclocked to 3.4Ghz on my Abit iP35 Pro, and 8800GTX on it. but my iP35 Pro is rev1.0. they've got a newer version, Abit iP35 Pro EX. get that any questions about overclocking or getting 8800GTX work on the Abit board, PM me.
I'd recommend to go for the Asus P5K Premium-AP/Wi-Fi Black Pearl Edition Rev 2 00 G Motherboard, it has been around for awhile so all the bugs have been ironed out with the latest bios of 0612. Its a great overclocker with the FSB being stable at speeds over 400Mhz and its great with the q6600 as I have one with that configuration. It is a iP35 motherboard so supports Crossfire but the crossfire is not great as you can't get 2x16 PCI-e lanes but you would get 2x8 pci-e lanes, so not really worth it if you really want to crossfire. It is better that you get 1 good GFX than go for a xfire.
