New motherboard

Dresden

Dresden

Celebrating Mediocrity
Veteran
I figured now is a better time to approach with this question, seeing as there's numerous products available now, as opposed to when I initially asked the product was pretty new. But, I'm buying a Q6600 shortly and I need advice on a solid motherboard. I'm not going to go with my gut this time, I ended up with a mobo which I currently use which has brought me a lot of problems. Obviously more than one user on this forum owns this processor and I don't intend to OC it to death, so that isn't really a factor. Does anyone have any suggestions?
 
I can help out but need some info first. What is the price range, are you going with DDR2 or DDR3, Are you going with single video card or SLI or Xfire? Do you need a ATX or mATX?
 
Ink said:
I figured now is a better time to approach with this question, seeing as there's numerous products available now, as opposed to when I initially asked the product was pretty new. But, I'm buying a Q6600 shortly and I need advice on a solid motherboard. I'm not going to go with my gut this time, I ended up with a mobo which I currently use which has brought me a lot of problems. Obviously more than one user on this forum owns this processor and I don't intend to OC it to death, so that isn't really a factor. Does anyone have any suggestions?
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Interested in multi-GPU setups?You really haven't given enough info for a proper answer to be possible.
 
Sorry. I'm not planning on running Crossfire, I use DDR2 and my current mobo is an Abit AA8XE Fatal1ty and I have an unending POST error with it. I even took the stupid thing to a technician and not even he could identify it. I'm planning on continuing to run a single GPU.
 
Ink said:
Sorry. I'm not planning on running Crossfire, I use DDR2 and my current mobo is an Abit AA8XE Fatal1ty and I have an unending POST error with it. I even took the stupid thing to a technician and not even he could identify it. I'm planning on continuing to run a single GPU.
Click to expand...

Get one of these then:http://us.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_pro....jsp?PRODUCT_ID=5495&CATEGORY_TYPE=LP&SITE=US. It should serve you well. The IP35 from Abit is also nice, but I think you don't want another Abit, do you?
 
I, actually, have used ABIT for years and this is the first troublesome board. I'd like to continue using them, unless there's a reason I shouldn't be ;)

Also, I'd like something with larger than 4 gig ram capacity. I'd like to upgrade from four gigs at some point. That IP35 looks great, actually. Does anyone have experience with one?
 
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Ink said:
I, actually, have used ABIT for years and this is the first troublesome board. I'd like to continue using them, unless there's a reason I shouldn't be ;)

Also, I'd like something with larger than 4 gig ram capacity. I'd like to upgrade from four gigs at some point. That IP35 looks great, actually. Does anyone have experience with one?
Click to expand...

I have an IP35-E and it's a good board for the money (sub-$100 on newegg) and has decent o/c headroom too. I've had my e8400 benchmarking/stress-testing @ 4GHz but my RAM can't handle it so it's @ 9x430 (3.87GHz) for now.

If you want a cheap board that gets the job done it should definitely be on your short list. However, if you'd like something a bit beefier then look at DFI's Lanparty P35 and X38 boards. They'll run you well north of $200 but you can't buy better overclocking boards.
 
ShaidarHaran said:
I have an IP35-E and it's a good board for the money (sub-$100 on newegg) and has decent o/c headroom too. I've had my e8400 benchmarking/stress-testing @ 4GHz but my RAM can't handle it so it's @ 9x430 (3.87GHz) for now.

If you want a cheap board that gets the job done it should definitely be on your short list. However, if you'd like something a bit beefier then look at DFI's Lanparty P35 and X38 boards. They'll run you well north of $200 but you can't buy better overclocking boards.
Click to expand...

Foxconn Mars:p(I know of your dislike for Foxconn, so I couldn't resist:) ).

The IP35 is a very nice board, really. I've toyed with one and it's stable and likeable. The PWM can be troublesome as there have been issues with contact between it and the heatsink, but a minor adjustment fixes that in no time. I think http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=147163 should answer just about all of your questions WRT it.
 
LOL, no, the Mars actually does seem to be a very good board after reading up on it a bit further. I just don't think "enthusiast" when I hear Foxconn is all.
 
What about the stock fan on the Q6600? Should I consider buying an aftermarket one?
 
Ink said:
What about the stock fan on the Q6600? Should I consider buying an aftermarket one?
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Probably. A Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme would be a good idea + 1(2) silent Noctua P12 120mm fan(s) and you'll have a nice quiet combo. Might be a tad on the expensive side though.
 
For anyone who would even consider keeping the stock cooler the Ultra120 seems hopeless overkill to me, the SCMN-1100 is pretty cheap and dead quiet.
 
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The radial finned cooler from Zalman I had had really small spacing between the fins near the center ... which gunked up with dust real quick.

If you want something affordable and quiet I'd go with either the Scythe Infinity or Mine (pretty good performance and come with fan included). If you want the best just read the benchmark sites for whatever is top of the hill at the moment (Ultra 120, or HDT-S1283 for just about the same performance but cheaper). All of them will handle the Q6600 fine.
 
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Fan ordered :)

One final question: Apparently my old mobo and processor could still get me a few bucks. Outside of Ebay, are there any decent online retailers out there, per chance, that buy used parts? I really don't feel like having a yard sale ;) I'm perfectly fine with using Ebay, so long as they actually sell.
 
Glad you started this thread. I was actually looking at pricing a system with exactly the same needs. Thanks for doing my legwork, everyone ;)
 
Installed yesterday and the ram is incompatible. I need to order some new ram. Luckily DDR2 is at an alltime low price right now, 4 gigs only costs $80. Anyone know why Kingston DDR2 wouldn't work? I tested a Corsair stick and it worked fine, unfortunately it wasn't my ram.....

*edit* after a quick googling, apparently my board is HIGHLY tempermental in terms of ram:

http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?t=124502

There's a list of the supported sticks.
 
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