Need a GREAT board to replace my Chaintech 9CJS Zenith P4 mobo

The title pretty much explains it all. The dual channel on my mobo is no longer working due to(possibly) and accident on my part. I can't rma since the warranty is up. Since I am upgrading to two gigs of dual channel ram, I need a new mobo.

As far as what I want, obviously it has to be an 875p mobo. I want something that allows good/great overclockability. I'm not too concerned about being able to push insane voltages through it because the ram I will most likely be getting doesn't need a major voltage boost to oc well, and my current p4 really performs well even at stock voltages. I just want a motherboard that doesn't tie my hands when it comes to bios settings(in particular clock speeds).

Some things that would be nice are 4 sata ports, seeing as I already have 2 sata drives, and would like to get another hdd or sata optical drive in the future. Also, decent audio would be good, but I can always get an x-fi if the onboard is horrid. A slightly superficial preference would be either a black or blue pcb, seeing as that would match literally everything else in my computer perfectly.

In case you need to know more to help pick the ideal mobo, my CPU is a 3.2GHZ P4C Northwood D1 stepping. This is the ram I am most likely going to get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146029

Oh and price isn't really an issue assuming it's less than 160 dollars or so.
Thanks for your help!

P4C800e-dlx or IC7-Max3

Thanks, I'll check it out. btw, which one of those two would be better. And also, I have a zalman cnps-7000 cpu cooler, which is pretty big and has issues with some mobos. Will it be a problem on either of those recommendations? Oh and lastly, any idea where I can find them online? I think I saw an IC7-Max2 on neweggg, but no maxIII

Prodigious said:

Thanks, I'll check it out. btw, which one of those two would be better. And also, I have a zalman cnps-7000 cpu cooler, which is pretty big and has issues with some mobos. Will it be a problem on either of those recommendations? Oh and lastly, any idea where I can find them online? I think I saw an IC7-Max2 on neweggg, but no maxIII

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No idea if the cooler will fit, or where to find one, s478 has been being phased out for well over a year now.

Its a toss up on which MB is better. I'd go with which ever you can find for less money.

Both have a ton of mods that can be done to them as well.

ok thanks. One last question though. I've found a P4P800e-dlx, which appears to have all the same features except it has 8 channel audio instead of the p4c's 6 channel, and it is 865pe, not 875p. I this an issue? I haven't kept abreast of things, but from what I read, 865pe supports just about everything 875p does including dual channel ram and PAT. Will I lose performance going with 865pe, or is it just a newer, cheaper chipset revision that performs that same as 875 despitet having a lower number classification?

hey ebay my friend its great got a IC7-G with onboard intel pro gigabit ethernet for like 90$ theres occasionaly max3 have great resistor cooling

Prodigious said:

ok thanks. One last question though. I've found a P4P800e-dlx, which appears to have all the same features except it has 8 channel audio instead of the p4c's 6 channel, and it is 865pe, not 875p. I this an issue? I haven't kept abreast of things, but from what I read, 865pe supports just about everything 875p does including dual channel ram and PAT. Will I lose performance going with 865pe, or is it just a newer, cheaper chipset revision that performs that same as 875 despitet having a lower number classification?

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865PE is 98% of what the 875P is.

The 865PE does not support PAT, but it does have similar settings.

Sound is part of the SB, not the NB.

The P4P-800e/dlx is a great choice as well, and if you are looking at 865PE Mbs, also look at the AI7.

p4c800-e deluxe baby, most set of features and everything. pretty much the top of the line motherboard for socket 478.

-1cem4n

1cem4n said:

p4c800-e deluxe baby, most set of features and everything. pretty much the top of the line motherboard for socket 478.

-1cem4n

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I agree. You may need to do a vdrop mod, if you overclock.
Thanks

If you are running a Northwood P-4, then the i865 chipset (Abit or Asus) will be perfectly fine. For Prescotts, step up to the Abit IC7 or Asus P4C800 series.

ok I was looking for the P4C800-e deluxe, but it cost like 200 bucks. eff that. No way I'm spending that much on a mobo when I'm building a new computer in a year. On newegg I've seen the IC-7G MaxlII for about 120. I was wondering, is this a really good mobo still?

I mean, reviews of it are great, but I know it was replaced/outclassed by the MaxIII. However, that mobo seems more like an everything and the kitchen sink deal(crossfan blower running across the top? come on...). If the IC7-GMaxII doesn't run at much lower levels of performance than the Max III, I'll get it since it's pretty cheap and has all the features I want/need.

MaxII isn't that great of a MB.

Maybe you should go for an AS8 and LGA CPU to hold you over, untill you move to PCI-e and DDR2.