Seeking Motherboard for New Q6600 Rig

[imported_Obitron64]

Here is what I have:
Q6600 CPU
Zalman CNPS 9700 LED

Here is what I want:
-Firewire, USB ports included on the board and able to hook up to a front panel on my NINE HUNDRED case
-1333FSB out of the box
-1066 DDR2 Ram Support
-Able to fit my Zalman
-eSata port(s) in the back
-6+ Sata ports
-Won't be running dual graphics cards

I will be using this for 90% work and 10% play so I need something stable. Price is not a problem.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Need to go with add-on cards if you want reliable 1394a/b and eSATA. Almost all those bundled with MBs are buggy.

 

[Heidfirst]

Gigabyte P35-DS3P/DS4, abit IP35 Pro

 

[imported_Obitron64]

Now alot of reviewers give the Asus board the edge, why is the love here for giga and abit?

 

[Heidfirst]

because the Asus boards have lots of problems that users find but that reviewers don't (to be fair sometimes they have BIOS versions that aren't public), their support isn't great & they are overpriced?

 

[imported_Obitron64]

Very interesting. So model # wise I want a high performance board with the above requirements. So which Giga board or abit board would you recommend that will fit my cpu cooler as well?

 

[ginfest]

My last 2 boards have been Asus, P5B Deluxe and the current P5K Premium. I have OC both a Core2 duo and now this Q6600 and I haven't had any problems. I use the 1394 both with my videocam andan external HD, again, the onbord has worked well.
I haven't tried the eSATA as the JMicron controller is IMO the Asus weakspot-I use it for my Plex 716A but I use the defualt windows Dual-IDE controller drivers.
The Asus boards are pricey, for me it's not an issue, if you need a bargain, I'd recommend the Abit.
Although you do see a lot of GB and Abit pimpage here, the Asus are popular at XS and OC forums among others.
Although they have hadthier share of complaints, so have the others. Abit was actually my board of choice a few years back but then they went downhill. And GB used to be raked over the coals on a lot of forums at one time, although thier quality seems to have improved.
When you think of the thousands, tens of thousands of boards sold, from all vendors, the complaints you read on forums are but a small percentage.
Read up, buy what you feel will give you the best price/performance and g'luck with your rig

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: Obitron64
Very interesting. So model # wise I want a high performance board with the above requirements. So which Giga board or abit board would you recommend that will fit my cpu cooler as well?

I know that the IP35 Pro & the 9700 fit.
I would think that the P35-DS3P & DS4 do too but I would check into it more as I can't say for certain.

 

[Bobsled]

Originally posted by: Heidfirst
Gigabyte P35-DS3P/DS4, abit IP35 Pro

Those boards seem to come up a lot. I'll probably be using the DS4 my self.

 

[niggles]

What about this: MSI P6N Diamond Socket 775 nVidia nForce 680i SLI Chipset?

 

[ArchAngel777]

I have had good luck with Asus, Abit and Msi. I don't have much experience with Gigabyte. Asus used to be #1 undisputed leader in motherboards like 6-8 years ago, but times have changed... I hear a lot of problems with Asus boards now and it seems to be that Gigabyte has established leadership in that segment.

Abit on the otherhand has never been a top notch board from a quality stand-point. That might be changing now though. FWIW, I ordered an Abit IP35-E because of it being a stellar board overall and the price was right. Not sure on longevity, though.

The only two motherboards that I had problems with in my life were a Biostar one (it sucked hard) and an Abit. The Biostar was an unstable POS. The Abit failure was a PS/2 port for the keyboard...

Intel seems to have some of the best quality control out there. My place of employment has probably shipped 15,000 systems based on intel motherboards and probably less than 50 have been motherboard related issues over the years. Additionally, the environment that these PCs run in is terrible, which proves to be a good test for longevity...

So, if you managed to read through that, you are probably thinking "great, now what should I get?".

I'd advise these...

Abit IP35 Based Mobo
Gigabyte P35 DS3 Based Mobo

But to be honest, I have read that pretty much all P35 mothersboards are created equal more or less within a few percent of each other.

 

[Ozoneman]

Originally posted by: Heidfirst
Gigabyte P35-DS3P/DS4, abit IP35 Pro

I also agree that these seem to be the ones to get in the less than $200 price range.

 

[imported_Obitron64]

Originally posted by: Ozoneman

Originally posted by: Heidfirst
Gigabyte P35-DS3P/DS4, abit IP35 Pro

I also agree that these seem to be the ones to get in the less than $200 price range.

Does that "totally rad" cooling really make a difference in the DS4/DQ6?

 

[Ozoneman]

I don't overclock my system. So I don't know if it helps or not. I got the DQ6 (Version 1.0) because it looked cool and I thought that the better cooling would make the components last longer. I had the money to pay for the high end model, so I did. I probably could have gotten by with the DS3P.

As far as cooling, this is what Gigabyte says,

http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/Fi...d2/tech_070427_ud2.htm

Click on the 33 Degrees C link.